A/N: I am the slowest updater in the universe.
Enjoy!
§
Previously on "Shadow"...
SWISH!
Just then, the doors to Scary Movie 4 reopened. We turned around, confused. Didn't everyone already leave that room? I asked myself.
Suddenly, Bijou's emerald eyes widened. I blinked. What the--! was all I could say to myself. Crystal and Pashmina gasped lightly. Sandy went pale, looking as if she was praying that she was seeing a hallucination. Unfortunetaly, the "hallucination" was living and breathing.
"Okay, I sent the reply message back to Be..." And it was in BIG trouble too! "...cky." When Penelope looked up again, all time froze.
I didn't blame her for suddenly dropping the phone onto the thick blue carpeted floor.
I couldn't blame her when her jaw dropped open and allowed her mouth to hang by a thread.
And I certainly SHOULDN'T blame her for when her eye began to twitch terribly.
For standing right in front of us...
...eye-to-eye with Penny...
...was Cappy and another girl.
§
Chapter 3: ...GONE BAD!
"Hey Penny! Isn't that Cappy over there?"
The millisecond I heard Pepper's familiar voice, my heart jumped against my chest. Hard. I looked towards the the trace of the voice and I immedietaly broke out into a cold sweat when I met eyes with Penelope. But she wasn't alone. Crystal, Sandy, Bijou, Pepper and Pashmina were all gaping at me with round mouths and looks of total shock. Penelope, however, wasn't even breathing.
Her look of surprise had eventually simmered into a stare of pure hatred. Her pink eyes had slowly darkened into a faded rose and I could see a spark of anger flashing in them. Actually, to be honest, it looked more like a craving to kill me with her bare hands.
Her glossed lips were pressed together in a tight line as she bit on her bottom lip. Her hair was hanging over her shoulders and like her body, it wouldn't move. Her hands were a sickly white while her face was already boiling into a furious red. I saw her cellphone lying by her feet. She must've dropped it.
This girl was fuming.
I saw Pepper lean over and whisper in her ear. She slowly nodded, refusing to take her eyes off of me. Probably because she knew I'd run and hide if she were to dare glance away for a millisecond. I wasn't sure what Pepper said, but I knew that it involved me! Then, Pashmina whispered something else, touching her shoulder. She shook her head.
I gulped. I was dead.
§ Penelope... §
"Psst! In case ya' didn't hear me, Pen, I asked if that was Cappy over there." Pepper whispered in my ear cautiously. All I could do was nod, seeing as which I couldn't find my voice yet. "Penny. Are you alright?" Pashmina asked me quietly, feeling my shoulder.
NO! Because my best friend is standing there with some chick, and I dunno why! I shook my head to a "no." Cause I wasn't afraid to be honest.
Finally, I found the strength to walk towards Cappy. He looked more scared than ever. Say your prayers Cappy, cause I'm coming over! My pace was nice and easy. Well at least, I tried to keep it that way. I tried not to make note of the girl standing beside Cappy eyeing me. He had her stand behind him instead as I appoached them both.
He laughed nervously. "H-H-Hi-H-Hiiiiiii Pennyyyyyy!" he waved weakly. I forced a smile myself. "Hey Cappy!" I squealed in the fakest sweet-voice. Cappy flinched at my tone, sensing my anger. He lowered his voice to a whisper. "Look, before you say anything, I--"
"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYY CAPPYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" Sandy suddenly ran right in between us and patted Cappy on the back. The other girls quickly followed her. "Bonjour Cappy!" Bijou smiled nervously, obviously trying to stall time so I could kill Cappy in a more...appropriate scenario.
After everybody said their joyful hello's, Bijou finally turned her attention to the girl who was with Cappy(then again, somebody had to!). "Oh! Cappy, who eez your pretty friend, and why haven't we met her yet?" Bijou cooed. I glanced at her and I had(coughhatedcough)to admit, she was kinda pretty.
The girl was no older than me and Cappy and was about my height. She had a pile of sexy, wavy light-brown hair with bold pink highlights to match. She was very slim(although she seemed to have a slightly bigger than mine)and nice tanned skin. She had honey-brown colored eyes. She was wearing a white tee with ruffled sleeves and a pink flower stitching embroidered across one side of the shirt. She had on a pink miniskirt(that perfectly matched her highlights)with three layers of ruffles hanging at the bottom. Her pink Puma sneakers completed the look. After a secret bite of my lip, I made it clear to myself that this new girl was definetaly A-list material.
"Ahem." Cappy cleared his throat and allowed this "new girl" to step forward. "Girls, this is Alana. She just transferred from New Mexico." Alana smiled shyly as Bijou introduced herself to her.
O.O She doesn't even LIVE here! Then why the hell did Cappy watch the movie with her?
As the girls introduced themselves to Alana, I angrily glared at Cappy with a "So-your-girlfriend-doesn't-even-live-here-huh?" frown. He caught me and gulped. "Umm..." I heard someone say. I turned around and saw Alana right in front of me. "..aaaannnd you aaarrreeee...?" she urged sweetly.
"Right, silly me. I'm Penelope." I faked a smile as I uncrossed my arms and shook her hand. "So, I hear you're Cappy's best friend!" Alana flashed a smile. What else did he tell you? That I used to suck my thumb as a toddler? "Yup! And yoooouuuu'rrrrre...his cousin?" I nodded. Pfft! Cappy wishes you were right now!
"Actually, no. I'm his friend!" Alana corrected. "Family friend?" I cocked my head. "No. We just met. He's such a nice guy!" Alana smiled at Cappy, making him stare at his shoes as the girls eyed him. I bet he is...
"Yeah. That's why we're friends!" I said, looking over at Cappy. He gave me a pleading "Please-don't-give-me-that-look!" bite of the lip. I ignored him.
As the girls started mingling with Alana, I lightly kicked Pashmina. "Pash. I want a minute alone with my best friend." I growled so nobody would hear us. "U-Uhhh...I-I dunno. Are you sure you won't try to hang him on the Exit sign with a pinata string like you attempted to do last time?" Pashmina asked. "It was pre-K, and he stole my 64 pack crayons! What was I supposed to do?" I countered.
"Tell on him." Pashmina smirked before turning to the girls. She nodded at me and Cappy, letting them know I wanted to be alone. They cautiously pointed up at the Exit sign. WHAT! It was Pre-K for God's sake! I silently whined. Pashmina shook her head. Eventually, they agreed to leave. But they had to take Alana with them...
"Heeeeeeey Alana! Girl, how would you like to know something like, totally super-private about this movie theater?" Sandy patted Alana's shoulder. "Like what? Is it about the price? The bathrooms? The employees lounge?" Alana asked. "Nope! Even better!" Crystal leaned over and hissed in her ear. "C'mon! We'll tell you somewhere else!" Bijou started to lead her away.
"You go ahead! I think I forgot my wallet in the theater!" Cappy lied. "I'll stay with him to make sure!" I went along with it. The girls took Alana and led her away to the other side of the theater. Good. Then, she won't hear me scream even if I'm in the movie room!
The second they headed a corner, I dropped the sweet-hospitalityness, grabbed Cappy by the collar and dragged him to an empty hallway. I slammed him against the wall, and just like that, we were nose-to-nose.
DING DING DING! It was on.
"What the hell are you doing here with them!" Cappy was the first to speak. "Well, what the hell are you doing here with her!" I mimicked. "I asked you first!" Cappy shot back. "Ugh. Well for your information, it was their idea to go watch a movie for our Girls' Night-Out--in case you forgot--and thought 'Oh well, it's not like Cappy'll be here anyways!' But wait. You were here...WITH A STRANGER!" I hissed.
"First of all! Number one: I came here originally to return the tickets. Number two: I wasn't planning on staying either! And number three: Alana is not a stranger!" Cappy held out three fingers. "Number one: Originally, huh? Number two: What made you change your mind? And number three: So, you've been knowing this girl, huh?" I held out three fingers of my own.
"Well, of course not! She just moved here from New Mexico!" Cappy shouted. I tapped my chin sarcastically. "Hmm...sounds pretty stranger-like to me!" I shrugged. This dude is crazy! "ACK! Yes, she may sound like a stranger, but it's not what you think, Penelope!" Cappy sighed. "Yeah, keep talking!" I demanded.
"Ugh!" Cappy groaned. "Please, lemme explain Penny!" he begged. "Am I cutting in?" I folded my arms across my chest and leaned against the wall next to him. Cappy sighed again and looked at me, but I refused to turn his way. "Sit down." he told me. I obeyed, and closed my eyes. He did the same. "Well?" I frowned. "Okay. It started like this..."
§ Flashback to three hours ago... §
"Thank you sir and enjoy the show. NEXT!" the cashier--or cashierette as Penny and I like to call the female cash register employees--called. I looked up from the Scary Movie 4 tickets and took a step forward. Penny. Speaking of her, I remembered why I was here in the first place. To return the tickets of the movie we had wanted to see for months.
"Yes, how many children?" the cashierettte asked the young man before me. I was up next, so I didn't have to wait long. I sighed as I stared down once more at the two white tickets in my hand. I had never had to return movie tickets before. Penny and I would watch every show! But there was a first time for everything.
When Penelope had told me all about her plans for a girls' night-out, I was pretty disappointed at first. But then I decided to try and be happy for her. This really meant alot to her to feel older for once. Besides, this meant I had time for myself. Hmm...maybe I should watch a guy flick. Penelope hates those! Or I could go home and surf the Web 'til 5 am! I haven't done that since September...
Suddenly, something hit me in my lower tummy. And it was coming down hard. I'm thinking it was the four glasses of iced tea I had today... I started squirming, knowing what iced tea did to me. But the more I tried to shake the feeling off, the stronger it got. Oh God! Just hang on for like, two milliseconds! I'm almost up! But my guts told me they wouldn't hang on for that long.
Finally, I decided to just leave the damn line. Besides, it wasn't long and I'd be back in like, what? Thirty seconds? Fine. You win. Without thinking twice, I turned around, told the lady behind me she could go ahead of me, and ran for the mens' room like a maniac.
When I came out a minute(and twenty-eight seconds to be exact)later, I turned my attention back to the line. HA! It hadn't changed a bit! "Sweet! I am so smart! And now to return those damn movie tickets..." But when I reached into my sweater where I remembered putting them, they weren't there! "...aaaannnddd there's no tickets here?" I checked them again. Nothing.
"WHAT THE--!" I squeaked and checked my other pocket. Nada. I rummaged through my jean pockets. Zip. I took off my hat and shook it. Zero. "Bullcrap! I lost them! Well, there's nineteen dollars worth of trees I'll never get back." I sighed as I plopped the cap back on my head.
"Um...excuse me?"
"ACK!" I jumped at the tap I felt on my shoulder. I whirled around and literally froze when I locked my brown eyes with someone's honey colored ones. They belonged to a girl. She was a few inches--probably two or three--shorter than me and had wavy light-brown hair, pink highlights, and timid little look on her face.
She cleared her throat quietly and stared at the floor. "U-Uh, sorry for scaring you, b-but I-I think you dropped these." she whispered as she pulled something out from behind her. It was the two tickets!
"The tickets!" I gasped. The girl placed them in my palm. "Holy crap, I thought I lost these! Where'd you find 'em?" I asked frantically. The girl smiled warmly. "I was walking in and saw them fall out of your pocket just in time. I could see you were in a bit of a rush." she said, pointing behind me at the bathroom. I blushed. "Sorry."
The girl giggled, revealing a pair of perfect snow-white teeth that seemed to glow against her sun-kissed skin. "Yeah well...enjoy the show. See ya' around." she said. Quickly, she brushed past me, ready to leave. "Wait!" All of a sudden, I whipped around and grabbed her arm. It felt soft on my fingertips. The girl turned to look at me.
I wasn't exactly sure why I had stopped her in the first place. To be honest, I had no clue why! "See...I-I was supposed to watch it w-with...with a friend. But, sh..m-my friend couldn't make it." Whoa! Rewind, and freeze! Did I just exclude the "she" part? "S-Sooo...do you wanna watch it with me instead? You know! Since we just met and such."
Now rewind, freeze and ZOOM IN on that! Did I just invite her to watch the movie with me? Like, as in on a date or something? But you don't know her! my conscience wailed. Besides, what would Penelope think if she found out? I had a point. I was supposed to return these. Not give 'em away for free.
But the question was why I had done it. I looked at her timidly. She looked a bit surprised. All we could do was stand there, my hand on her arm, staring at each other silently, wondering why I had asked such a question.
Finally, her glance shifted down to her Puma sneakers. Her rosy cheeks grew slightly rosier. "W-We-W-Welll..." she managed to choke out. "...i-i-it-i-it's just th-t-that I-I don't really know my way around here y-yet and--"
"Hang on, hang on! Hold it!" I stopped her, making a time-out sign with my hands. "You mean...you don't even live here?" I asked her. Her cheeks went from dark pink to faded red. "U-Uh-U-Uhhh...not t'il now. I just came here from New Mexico a couple of days ago." she replied shyly. Oh, look what you did, you evil Cappy! I scolded myself. You invited a poor new girl to a movie mistaking her for a citizen!
I smiled, deciding to make this a little more comfortable for her. "Well, why didn'tcha say so! I could've welcomed you properly a long time ago! My name's Cappy." the girl smiled back, relaxing. "Thank you. I'm Alana." she nodded in thanks. We shook hands. "Say, ahem, Alana?" Alana giggled. "How 'bout we watch the movie and you can tell me more about yourself. I'll even show you around town!"
Alana slowly nodded, her face glowing. "I'd like that...Cappy!" I laughed softly and offered her my arm. "Ya' hungry?" I said. Alana was hesitant, but when she looked at me, she smiled and linked arms with me and nodded. Smiling as well, I led her to the snacks counter. "So, what grade are you in, Alana..?"
§ Flashback ends... §
"...and when I came out, I just saw you!" Cappy took in a deep breath from the long speech. I nodded as if understanding. "Gosh, Cappy. You know what? I had no idea how serious this was." I said gently. "Serious? What's so serious?" Cappy squinted in confusion. "I had no idea how seriously LACKING YOU ARE IN BRAIN ACTIVITY!" I exploded out, tapping at my head mockingly.
"WHAT!" Cappy looked taken aback. "Cappy, you were supposed to return those damn tickets! Not auction 'em off to some girl! No matter how big her butt is!" I was fuming at how stupid Cappy could be. "PENNY!" Cappy sounded like my sister. "Hey! Don't blame me cause all guys are equal!" I scoffed and stood up. I was so outta here.
Instead, Cappy grabbed me by the arm and forced me to spin around. "Let go of me, you perv!" I demanded. "Listen Penelope. I already told you: we met, we said hi, I invited her over for a movie and we just chatted! Nothing else, I swear!" Cappy reassured me, standing up as he did.
"Oh really?" I cocked an eyebrow. "Yeah, really!" Cappy nodded. "Yeah? Then, why don't I believe you!" I spun on my heel. Cappy grabbed me and turned me around. "Okay, what is your deal?" he asked. "What's my deal? What's MY deal!" I shouted so loud, Cappy let go of my shoulders. "WHAT'S YOUR DEAL? YOU TOOK A STRANGER TO A MOVIE WITH MY TICKET! BEHIND MY BACK! ON MY NIGHT! SO THE QUESTION HERE IS, WHAT IS YOUR DEAL?"
"PENELOPE, WILL YOU GET A GRIP? CALM DOWN, PLEASE!" Cappy spoke just as loudly as I did, on account I was freaking out. "Penny, please! Just listen to me for like, three seconds!" he pleaded. "Too late! You already wasted four seconds of my life by just saying that line!" I shook my head. "Penny, I--"
"Look Cappy. I've had enough of this..." I interrupted, but Cappy cut in right back. "Listen, Penny. I was trying to be friendly! What else could I have done?" A million evil little options ran through my mind. I decided to go with none of them. "You could've returned the tickets like you promised me you would before running off to the boys' room just to drop them and have her clean up after you!" I suggested sarcastically.
Cappy sighed as if trying to keep calm. "Penny, you know I couldn't have done that. Alana's new here! What if she were to get lost or something?" he told me. "So? That's her parents' problem!" I shrugged carelessly. "Penelope, don't you dare bring up her parents like that!" Cappy warned. "What-EVER!" I rolled my eyes. "Penny, relax! It's no big deal!" Cappy tried to smile.
"Well, it's a pretty big deal for me! You promised we'd see that movie--together!" I whined. "I know I did! But what do you want from me? Seriously! I mean, me and Alana are just friends!" Cappy threw his hands up in the air. "That's not exactly the way we saw it..." I muttered to myself. But when I saw Cappy stare at me speechless, I realized he had heard me.
"What do you mean by that?" he asked quietly. I hung my head, hoping he wouldn't see me blush. "Penelope...is this about Alana?" Cappy added. "Cappy, what is wrong with you!" I immedietaly changed the subject, as my head shot upwards. "You said we'd see this together! Remember? We've been waiting for months for this movie--!"
"Penelope, don't change the subject! Now answer me! Is this about Alana?" Cappy stared straight into my eyes. But I broke the eye contact. "NO! Okay? This is about you and me! Not Little Miss New-Girl!" I quickly answered. "Now answer my question Cappy. Why did you watch this with Alana when you knew damn well those seats were reserved for us!"
"Because, I...because...I-I..." Suddenly, Cappy was stuck. "I-It was cause..." For a few moments, I stood there waiting impatiently. That is, until he hit me. "You have nothing to say, do you?" I asked coldly. "No! No, it's not that! Really! It's just that I--"
"No. No." I shook my head. "It's okay." I frowned angrily at him. Then without another word, I shoved past him and stalked off. "Penelope!" Cappy called my name. But I refused to look back. I heard him running after me. This made me break out into a run as well. I went around the corner and slipped into the girls' bathroom right when his hand was inches from my shoulder.
"Penny, please!" Cappy begged from behind the door. But I refused to say anything. Finally I heard him sigh in defeat. I leaned against the door, my heart's endless thumping squeezing my chest. I bit my lip. I felt like sinking my teeth into my lip's flesh and tasting the blood so badly, just to make my anger vanish.
That jerk. That asshole. That son of a bitch. How could he be so stupid? How! I couldn't breathe, so I inhaled and exhaled gulps of air through my mouth. Those stinging tears you'd feel when you were completely pissed off started forming in the back of my eyes. I was so angry at him, I felt numb.
Eventually, I sunk down to the floor and pulled my knees to my chest. Wrapping my arms around my legs, I buried my chin in the space between my knees. The tears burned my eyes, but they never slid down. I squeezed them shut to shake them off.
I just don't get it. We had an understanding! I trusted Cappy. I really did. And he totally understood me for the Girls' Night Out. He said he'd return those tickets. But he didn't. Did he feel bad for that girl? I mean, Cappy's that kind of guy! But still! If he was to watch a movie, why did it have to use my ticket to let her in! I dunno why, but that part just...blew my top! You know? It's like auctioning off my home to her! Damn! Cappy, why did you betray me? Why did you take advantage of my trust? Why did you lie to me? Why?
The entrance and exit doors could be seen from the bathroom's point of view, so I decided to take a peek outside to see if Cappy had left already. Suddenly, as I opened the door, I felt his presence closing up on me. My heart jumped, afraid he was still standing out there and we would be face-to-foot(I was still on the floor here). However, I looked.
And I saw him. This time though he was with Alana. Holding her hand. I felt like I had been slapped in the face. They were heading for the exit doors. And right before he left, Cappy turned around and stared sadly at the girl's room. I don't think he saw me, though. He slowly shook his head. And then, Cappy was gone.
I shut the door, unble to speak. My tongue was stiff as a board. Yet my brain was too caught up in the memory of Cappy and Alana holding hands. It was burned in my mind like a hot iron. Or like a scar that would eventually heal physically from doctors, yet the painful memory of that scar could never be erased like the lead of a pencil.
Suddenly, I shook my head wildly. "C'mon, Penny! Get a hold of yourself. You're gonna lose it thanks to that bastard-of-a-so-called-friend, Cappy!" I scolded myself. Besides, with Cappy and that Ana girl(or whatever her name was, I didn't really care)gone, I knew the girls were now waiting for me.
I waited until I got the feeling back in my legs for me to stand up. I looked at myself in the mirror. My blonde hair was slightly messed up from leaning on the door. I looked tired and my eyes were slightly glazed from those angry tears that wouldn't come out. Sighing deeply, I took out a pocket brush and brushed out the cowlicks of my hair. I reapplied my eyeliner, mascara and my lip gloss. I pulled out a stick of gum to brighten up my face a bit.
Finally, when I felt ready to face my sister and her friends, I stuffed everything in my pocket and opened the door. When my eyes landed on the exit doors, that horrible vision of Cappy staring back at me before leaving with Alana came back. But I shook it off and walked straight towards the girls. They were all just chatting away like nothing had happened.
Crystal was the first to see me. "Penelope!" she ran over and hugged me. "Oh thank God you didn't hang Cappy by the Exit sign!" Crystal let out a sigh of relief. "Where were you anyways? Putting away the rope?" Sandy teased. "Maaaybeee!" I shrugged, playing along with their joke. The girls giggled.
Then I realized that Pashmina was amiss. "Say? Where's my sister?" I looked around. "Oh. She eez buying us all tickets for Scary Movie Four." Bijou replied. "Can ya' believe it? They actually agreed on somethin' tonight!" Pepper taunted overexcitedly. The girls glared. "That won't be a problem, will it?" Sandy asked me worriedly.
Well, Cappy saw it without me. So I'm gonna see it without him! HMPH! "Sure! Scary Movie sounds perfect!" I answered snootily. "Oh, great! Cause that Alana girl told us that Cappy said that you said that it was a must-watch! She said it was super-chistoso and that it would totally make our night!" Crystal gushed. I almost lost it when I heard both names, but I kept control. "Really?" I fought to maintain my smile.
"Here are the tickets! One for each of us!" Pashmina came up from behind me just then, holding out six tickets. "Thanks!" we all took our individual ticket with gratitude. "Oh, hi Penny! Say, what did you and Cappy talk about back there? He seemed pretty quiet when he came back for Alana." she asked me.
My lungs shrunk. Ohhhh sh--!
"Oh nothing! Just about school and stuff! Don't worry, I only had the 'Kill-him!' look on my face to scare him a bit." I lied right through my teeth. Nobody seemed to notice. "Whew! Thank goodness! Cause that look freaked us all out!" Pashmina smiled. We all laughed(mine however, was forced).
"C'mon! Let's just go watch the damn movie!" Sandy said excitedly. I couldn't help but be a little anxious myself. After all, whether I had Cappy or not, I still had wanted to see this movie!
But when the movie started, I couldn't even concentrate on what the characters were saying. All I could think about was Cappy and Alana. About those two and how they must've been laughing their butts off watching the movie in this very room. Possibly in the very seats we were sitting at! Together. Next to each other.
Then, I thought about Alana's pretty little hand and how it was wrapped tightly around Cappy's when they ran out of the movie theater a few minutes ago. And the way Cappy was looking at her when I caught them walking out of the movie room.
I coudn't help but feel a pang. Why did Cappy never give me that look? He looked so happy and on top of the world when he looked at Alana. Then, it all seemed to vanish when he locked eyes with me. Course, it was cause he wasn't supposed to be caught by me. But still. What was it with Alana?
I closed my eyes and fought to erase Cappy, Alana and those images away from my mind. But they kept flying right back everytime I threw them out the door. I was overcomed by a huge burden. I felt a hollow lump in my throat, but I knew better than to cry.
But that aura around Alana. It was so enchanting, almost like anyone could fall for her. Cappy, my friends, my sister. Standing next to her, I didn't feel anything for myself. I swallowed hard. I hated this.
Suddenly, the room cackled out loud. Shit. I thought. I had already missed three comedy scenes, all because of Cappy.
It was all his fault.
It always was.
Everyone was laughing so hard, they were too preoccupied to realize that I hadn't laughed with them. Which was good.
Because I wasn't even smiling.
§
A/N: Read. Review. Done!
I am so slow when it comes to updating.
Crystalgurl101 ♥