#ben penderwick

"Skye?" somewhere in the world of microbiology - a world Skye isn't very fond of but has to explore for her semester's grade - she can hear a voice calling her. If it's a sister she's ready to stab her with a pen.

Fortunately, it's not a sister. Unfortunately, it's Melissa Patenaude. Skye pulls her goggles off her head and smiles at Melissa, who's leaning casually against the doorframe of the school's lab, already in her soccer uniform.

"Oh, hey," Skye says, nervously tucking a lock of choppy blonde hair behind her ear.

"Hey Penderwick," Melissa uncrosses her arms then crosses them again. "You're going to be late for soccer."

Skye glances at the clock and - rats - she is going to be late. The being late part isn't that bad, she's good enough that the coach won't yell at her or make her do extra drills. No, the real problem is Jane. After becoming captain, Jane made it a point to make an example out of Skye, and Skye is ready to accidentally push her sister out their bedroom window.

"Okay, yes, give me a moment," Skye says, pulling the goggles back on to gently put the petri dish back in the incubator. Once she's done, she wipes off the bench and pulls off her goggles and gloves. She's acutely aware of Melissa watching her, and for the millionth time, she's frustrated by the blush creeping up her neck. It's not like she doesn't know why - Skye's had a girlfriend before - but she really doesn't know how to deal with liking a girl she was once willing to pitch off the school roof. Not that she'd do that now.

"Science looks confusing," Melissa says as Skye pulls off her lab coat and hangs it on a hook.

Sky tugs her soccer bag out from under lab bench and loops it over her shoulder. "Says the girl who was in a play," Sky counters. After the whole Sisters and Sacrifice debacle, Melissa realized that she not only really likes plays but is good at acting. She’s even taking a stab at producing, and her show is playing this weekend.

“Oh speaking of,” Melissa says, reaching out and grabbing Skye’s arm, pulling towards her. “You’re coming on Saturday right?” She looks up at Skye pleadingly.

“Just as long as you don’t make me act in it, I’ll be there in the front row.”

Melissa grins at Skye as she adjusts her soccer bag. “Good. Now hurry up your sister’s going to kill us.”

The girls don’t talk again until the next day at lunch. “Penderwick, what are you wearing to prom?” Melissa asks as she drops into a seat next to Skye.

“Prom?” Skye asks, munching on a carrot stick. Melissa takes one from Skye’s tray and mimics the way Skye chews on it thoughtfully. Skye sticks out her tongue and Melissa laughs, pulling her dark hair into a bun, directing Skye’s attention to Melissa’s earrings. “Hey we match!” Skye says suddenly pointing to her own ears. Skye had never pierced her own ears since she hates earrings, but she deigned to wear clip-ons after Lydia enthusiastically gifted her shooting star earrings. 

“Yeah, I saw them at the store and they made me think of you,” Melissa says casually, like she knew that Skye would point out the earrings, but she looks secretly pleased. 

“That’s nice,” Skye says helplessly. After the surprise wore off, she now has no idea what to say to something so sentimental. Melissa snorts.

“You look so lost.”

“I am,” Skye says truthfully. This makes Melissa laugh a loud laugh.

“Shall I call Jane?”

“No, it’s fine,” Skye says, laughing along with Melissa. “So anyway, what were you asking?”

“What are you wearing to prom?”

Sky shrugs. “I don’t plan on going.”

Melissa sighs. “I knew it. Well, there goes my fallback.” Skye politely tilts her head, waiting for Melissa to continue. “Well you know how Genevieve and I broke up?” Skye nods. After years of listening to Melissa, she’s learned that trying to talk mid-rant doesn’t work with Melissa. She’s like Jane in that way. “Well obviously I needed a prom date so I asked Jane’s friend Artie - I mean he’s cute right?” Skye makes a noncommittal noise in the back of her throat. She’s never thought of boys as anything other than someone to be friends with. “Well he can’t go, I think it’s because he likes Jane. And so, pride ruined, I asked Pearson and he’s going with Genevieve can you believe it?” 

Skye shakes her head as she chews meditatively on a celery stick. 

“So this brings me back to the only other person I’d like to go with.”

“Who’s that?” Skye asks as she swallows. Melissa stares at Skye for a moment as their friends groan around them. 

“I’ll figure it out.” Melissa says, disappointed. 

“Cool!” Skye says brightly before turning to Molly to ask her about the passing drills they did the day before.

It takes Skye three days - the morning of prom night to be exact - to realize what Melissa had been saying. She sprints down the steps to the kitchen, jumping fully over a tottering Lydia. Iantha, Rosalind and Mr. Penderwick look at her, startled, as Skye barrels into the room. “I’m an idiot!” she announces to the room at large. 

“We already knew that,” Jane says casually as she cuts waffles into pieces. 

“Why?” asks Batty more politely as she leads Lydia into the room. Iantha quickly bends down to put Lydia in her high chair. Ben follows, looks Skye’s face, and skirts around her, heading straight to the pile of waffles in the middle of the table. 

“Melissa was asking me to prom!” Skye cries, clutching at her cropped hair.

“We already knew that too,” Jane says as she takes a sip of orange juice.

“Jane,” Rosalind says in a warning tone. It’s a miracle she’s awake this early. Usually she sleeps late during vacation. If Skye believed in fate she’d pin the presence of her entire family on it. But she doesn’t so it’s all her fault. 

“Iantha what do I do?” Skye asks pleadingly to her step-mother, who’s looking at her with a sympathetic albeit resigned look. 

Iantha purses her lips as she hands a fussy Lydia her recently dropped crown. “I’m not sure honey. It’s too late to get you a dress or a suit isn’t it?”

“Rosy? Do you have your dress?”

Rosalind nods. “I do, but Skye will it fit?” 

Skye heaves a dramatic sigh. No, it won’t. Skye and Rosalind are built differently enough that none of Rosalind’s dresses will fit Skye. Skye turns to her father, always a steady ship in times of crisis. “Dad? What do I do?”

“I’m sorry filia mea but I don’t know. Perhaps just try speaking to her?”

“Speak. That’s a good idea. Thank you,” Skye says mechanically as she turns towards the front door, marching towards it with determined strides, pausing momentarily to grab her car keys before leaving. 

“What about breakfast?” Iantha calls after her. She turns to Jane who sighs. 

“I’ve got it,” she says, secretly pleased at this turn of events as she packs some waffles for Skye. She’s always thought Skye and Melissa had potential. 

Jane’s good mood dissolves, however, when she runs into Skye standing on the front steps looking dejected. Jane, who was ready to trek the mile to Cameron High School, stops short. “What’s wrong? Do you have a headache? Shall I bathe your forehead?”

“Stop with the headache,” Skye says, waving away Jane’s hand. “I just realized I’d promised my science teacher I’d work in the lab tonight, help her clean it before school ends.”

“On prom night?” Jane asks.

Skye throws her hands in the air. “I hadn’t planned on going when I’d accepted!”

Jane doesn’t say anything to Skye, who’s stomping around the front yard trying to find a tree she can kick while she rants about the pressure of school dances and dumb crushes. “Some maidens may balk from the fear, but Sabrina Starr never wavers in the face of pressure.”

Skye stops her pacing. “What?”

“Nothing! Get in the car, we’ll be late.”

As seven in the afternoon draws closer, Skye’s mood worsens, until she nearly stomps into the lab. She’d sat through an entire day of school with Melissa, who seemed glowing as Skye’s heart sank. Now, she feels even worse as she sees Jane fiddling with the rack of graduated cylinders. 

“Jane what are you doing here?” Skye asks as the science teacher steps out of the back room. She catches sight of Skye and grins as she puts the box in her arms on a dry bench. 

“Hello Skye, why aren’t you getting ready to go to the dance?”

“Dance?” Skye asks.

“Yeah don’t you remember? You mixed up the dates when you agreed to help tonight. You thought prom was next week, not this week,” Jane jumps in, making her just go with it face. Skye had seen that face enough times to know nothing good came out of it. “So I offered to help instead.”

“You’re cleaning a lab?” Sky clarifies. She’s pretty sure Jane would rather die than go near anything science related.  

“Of course! I mean who wouldn’t want to wash one hundred graduation cylinders?” 

“Graduated,” Skye corrects.

“From what?”

“Never mind. Jane may I talk to you for a moment?”

Skye not-too-gently takes her sister’s arm and drags her towards the rack of lab coats. “What are you doing?”

“Cleaning gr-”

“Graduated cylinders I know. Jane this isn’t gonna work.”

“Why, it’s just in the gym. That’s a three minute walk.”

“I have nothing to wear!”

Oh. Right. How had Jane forgotten that? She looks around and catches sight of the coats. “There,” she points.

“You want me to wear a lab coat?”

“Yeah. Or you could just stay here and let Melissa go to the dance on her own.”

Skye sighs. “Fine. Help me put it on.”

Ten minutes later, after donning the coat and letting Jane twist her hair this way and that way until her eyes are uncovered, Skye slips into the gym. She looks around for a moment to get her bearing, and instantly someone is wrapping their arms around her. Skye turns to see Melissa grinning at her. Skye steps back and does a double take when she sees the blue gown Melissa chose.

“It matches your eyes,” Melissa says. 

“Yeah,” Skye says, smiling a little.

“God you really don’t know what to say do you?” Melissa asks with a grin. 

“No I do not.”

“Then why don’t I save you the trouble: ‘I, Skye Magee Penderwick, formally apologize to Melissa Patenaude for being dense and not realizing that she’s been asking me to prom for three months’.”

“That works,” Skye says, silently thanking Jane for cleaning the lab so Skye can be here, burning up under the gym’s bright lights in a lab coat as the prettiest girl she’s ever seen teases her. 

“Good. Hold out your hand.”

“What?” Skye asks, doing as she’s told. She looks down to realize that Melissa has tied a white rose corsage around her wrist. 

“Here. To match your lab coat.”

“Thank you,” Skye says softly.

“I assume there’s a story behind the coat?”

“Obviously.”

“And it has to do with Jane?”

“The one and only.”