Hi! :) This is my first fanfic ever and I'm not that great at writing so forgive me if I make any mistakes. Enjoy!

I don't own any of the characters except for a few minor ones that might appear throughout the story.

Penny dragged herself across the room to her friends who were occupying the middle section of the school cafeteria. They could be easily distinguished from everyone else, the hunks, jocks, and cheerleaders, the typical popular group that exists in every high school. On any other day, Penny would have no problem tolerating and pretending to join in with their gossip, but today she just didn't give a damn about who's hot and who's not. She had neither the energy nor was she in the mood for that load of crap. She had had a rough day and she was sure that none of her friends would understand. They never do.

She wished that she had someone to talk to, someone who would be there when she was down and comfort and soothe her and tell her that everything was going to be okay. Even though they might not be okay for a while, it sure would be nice to have someone tell you that it will, but she had no one for that.

She quietly sat herself down beside her friends to avoid any interaction. She took small bites of her sandwich and thought about what she was going to do for the rest of her day. She didn't want to stay at school and put up with all the boring classes, and even if she did with all that has happened to her today she wouldn't be able to concentrate. Not that she ever did anyway.

She thought she might just tell the teacher that she didn't feel well and go home. It wasn't entirely a lie. She did feel sick. Just not the kind of sick that usually grants her the permission to go home. Sick from what she had seen. She needed to go somewhere quiet, where she could just let all the tears that she has held inside out.

"Penny." She was so deep in thought that she didn't hear one of her friends calling out to her.

"Penny!" This time a little louder, jerking her back from her train of thoughts.

"You okay? You seem a little off." Her friend Jillian questioned her with a look of concern on her face.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Penny replied monotonously.

"You sure? 'Cuz you always say you're fine when you're not and we're here for you if you need us, you know?" She gestured to herself and the two girls Abby and Krista around her.

"No, I'm fine, really. Don't worry about it." Like you would understand. The best advice you could give is probably telling me to sleep with some random guy to forget about my problems.

"So how's Matt?" Krista questioned.

Ugh. "He's fine." She choked slightly over the last word, but it went unnoticed.

"You don't seem fine. What is with you and the word fine today?" Abby eyed her with suspicion.

"You know what? I think I feel a little sick, so I'm gonna leave early today." Penny couldn't take all the questioning anymore, and if she stayed she would probably start crying in front of them, and no way was she going to let that happen.

She started to pack up her lunch, and glanced at the clock in the cafeteria. As she stood up she thought she saw someone staring at her and did a double take, but when she did she had lost the person in the crowd.

It didn't matter. Nothing matters. At least for now.

Penny closed the door behind her as she stepped out of the staff room She was lucky that the teacher-in-charge at that time didn't really care and gave her an early slip for her to go home. She whipped out her phone and called the first and only person who could help her right now. It rang for a few seconds and the other end picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Mom, it's me."

"Hi sweetie, what's up?" Her mother replied in a light and happy tone in her voice.

"Can you come and pick me up from school?" Penny said with a tone of desperation in her voice.

"Now? I'm a little busy at the moment, I don't think I can pick you up until at least 2 hours later. Is something up sweetie? Do you need to talk?"

"No, it's fine mom. You're busy, I'll talk to you later. I'll just walk home myself."

"I would prefer if you took the bus home, but I sense that you don't want to be around people at the moment? If that's the case, be careful, okay?"

"Yeah, you know me best." Penny smiled for the first time of that day. "Thanks mom, I'll be careful. See you later. Love you, bye."

"Bye sweetie."

The line went dead and Penny locked her phone before putting it back into her pocket. She decided she would take a little rest before walking home. She made her way to the back gate of the school where she would leave from afterwards. She opened the door leading outside and sat down on the steps a few meters from the back gate.

It was quiet and she noticed there was no one around. Here she could unleash all the feelings that she had held in all day. She could let her tears free, and she would feel so much better after that. But what if someone were to see her sitting on the steps sobbing like a baby? That would make her the laughing stock of the school. She wouldn't be able to face anyone anymore. But it was such a quiet place that no one, she thought, no one would ever step in at this time of the day. Besides, most of them are probably in class by now. It was a tug of war between her feeling better and risking her status in the school. Were her feelings worth risking?

She decided they were.

She closed her eyes and her tears came pouring out. She just hoped that no one would notice her in this sorry state that she was in.

So that's that. :) Leave me a review and tell me what you think.