The Last Goodbye
Sept 19, 2019 2:48:56 GMT -8
Post by jazz on Sept 19, 2019 2:48:56 GMT -8
‘So you’re really leaving us?’ Chelsea asked, her nose wrinkling into a sneer. Behind her, Kim and Ami shot each other nervous looks. The three of them were huddled around Penny, their melancholic mood contrasting with the sea of excited schoolkids that chittered and gossipped around them; the start of the school holidays was an exciting time for everyone but these four.
‘Going on a training journey has always been my plan,’ Penny pointed out, trying not to cringe at the look of disgust Chelsea had made when she’d said ‘training journey’.
‘Yeah, but that was… I mean, you’re one of the top scorers in the class!’ she spluttered, ‘I thought you were enjoying school!’ One of the other girls tried putting their hand on her shoulder, but she roughly jerked away from them; Chelsea had a temper to match her frizzy red hair and, even though she was one of the prettiest girls in the school, no boy had ever even dared to approach her. She had sharp features that gave her a predatory look and a white-hot temper so intense that even Penny, tough as she was, couldn’t help flinching when she glared.
‘I was! But I really want to do this -- it’s important to me.’
‘And it’s not like we’ll never see her again,’ Kim pointed out. ‘It’s fine!’ She was a petite and dainty little thing, as short as Penny but with none of the muscle, and she nearly screamed when Chelsea whipped around to jab a finger into her chest.
‘It is not fine!’
Penny and her other friend, Ami, stepped forward to put themselves between Chelsea and Kim. ‘Arceus!’ Ami snapped. ‘What’s wrong with you? This isn’t okay!’
‘None of this is okay!’ She snarled back. ‘Penny’s about to go and waste her life running around in the woods with some stupid pokemon, and nobody seems to give a shit!’
Penny stiffened. ‘I’m not wasting-’
‘Uh, yes you are!’ Chelsea interrupted, turning on the girl of the hour again. ‘Just think about it for a second. Right now, you get good grades and everyone at that dumb swords club loves you! But if you leave, you’d be throwing that all away, and for what? So that you could play with some stupid pokemon!? It’s not even like you’ll really end up getting that far, let’s be honest.’
Penny didn’t know how to respond to that.
‘I mean, I thought you were smarter than all the idiots that go running off the instant they turn thirteen. But no, you’re just throwing away everything good that you’ve ever had, and soon you’ll be crawling back to your mummy and daddy, just as soon as you realise how shit you are at training. Then try to guess what happens. Guess what fucking happens Penny. You work at their stupid mall-dojo for the rest of your stupid life!’
‘Chelsea!’ Ami gasped, eyes wide with a look of mortified shock.
‘Actually, you know what? Go waste your life, I don’t ever want to see you again.’ And with that, Chelsea spun on her heel and stalked away, leaving the others to their stunned silence.
The plastic ID card Penny held in her hands suddenly felt a lot colder now. She’d wanted to keep this secret from the others so that she could reveal it as a fun surprise, imagining cheering, laughing, maybe a few tears, but not this. Never this. After so many days spent studying and hanging out together, long nights sleeping over and pretending to get work done, she thought she would’ve known Chelsea better, but… well…
‘Sorry, for all that,’ Penny said, finally breaking the silence. The other two winced.
‘No-’
‘Penny, that wasn’t your fault!’
‘I know!’ She replied, grinning awkwardly. It felt forced. ‘I just… I probably shouldn’t have kept this secret from you guys. That was stupid.’
‘I think she still misses Alessi a lot,’ Ami said. Of course. How had Penny not thought of that? ‘Maybe she thinks that you’re abandoning her for him? Or maybe she thinks you’re planning on hooking up with him while she doesn’t have a chance.’’
‘If this is about boys, I’m going to shoot myself,’ Penny groaned. ‘She does know that he’s way ahead of me, right? That there’s no way we’d be able to travel together? He says he’s close to getting his first gym badge, and I kind of believe him, his Nidorina is terrifying.’
She rubbed her eyes with the heel of her palm, trying and failing to ignore the churning weight in her gut. It was like she’d swallowed a geodude, and now it was twisting up her insides with its fists. Everything Chelsea had screamed at her was rattling around inside her mind, and with each passing moment, she started to wonder if Chelsea had been right.
‘It wasn’t that secret anyway,’ Kim said. ‘It was obvious why you picked pokemon training as one of your electives.’
‘Yeah, she’s probably just been pretending that you just picked it as a bludge subject. It’s her own fault for not being realistic.’
Penny rubbed the back of her neck, grinning mareepishly. ‘Yeah, um, I guess that was kind of a giveaway. Do you think you could maybe talk to her once she calms down?’
The two looked at each other. ‘Wait... when are you leaving?’ Ami asked, cocking an eyebrow.
‘Today,’ she admitted. ‘I’ve already got everything I need, and I’m gonna go meet with my family for dinner. Then my sister’s dropping me off somewhere out of town, we were thinking maybe South Godai.’
‘...oh.’
‘Yeah, sorry. I uh, I kind of feel like a dick now.’ Penny shuffled her feet, feeling another spike of guilt. ‘But um, I’ll probably be in Scurarte soon. I’ve got a list of places that I want to go, and a ton of them are around here. I just want a chance to go on an adventure further out, just to start with you know? But if things get rough-’
‘It’s alright, we get it,’ Kim cut her off, smiling. ‘This is super exciting for you! It’s not like half of us aren’t going away on vacation soon anyway. You should just have fun!’
Ami opened her arms wide and gestured to Penny. She smiled, stepped forward and let her friend wrap her in a hug. It was warm, comfortable. For a time, she could pretend that there wasn’t a gnawing seed of doubt in her mind, steadily chewing through all of the lofty goals and plans that she’d ever had. Then, it was over.
‘Thanks, you guys.’
‘No problem!’ Ami said, nudging her in the ribs with her elbow. ‘And we’ll deal with Chelsea. You go kick some ass!’
‘Going on a training journey has always been my plan,’ Penny pointed out, trying not to cringe at the look of disgust Chelsea had made when she’d said ‘training journey’.
‘Yeah, but that was… I mean, you’re one of the top scorers in the class!’ she spluttered, ‘I thought you were enjoying school!’ One of the other girls tried putting their hand on her shoulder, but she roughly jerked away from them; Chelsea had a temper to match her frizzy red hair and, even though she was one of the prettiest girls in the school, no boy had ever even dared to approach her. She had sharp features that gave her a predatory look and a white-hot temper so intense that even Penny, tough as she was, couldn’t help flinching when she glared.
‘I was! But I really want to do this -- it’s important to me.’
‘And it’s not like we’ll never see her again,’ Kim pointed out. ‘It’s fine!’ She was a petite and dainty little thing, as short as Penny but with none of the muscle, and she nearly screamed when Chelsea whipped around to jab a finger into her chest.
‘It is not fine!’
Penny and her other friend, Ami, stepped forward to put themselves between Chelsea and Kim. ‘Arceus!’ Ami snapped. ‘What’s wrong with you? This isn’t okay!’
‘None of this is okay!’ She snarled back. ‘Penny’s about to go and waste her life running around in the woods with some stupid pokemon, and nobody seems to give a shit!’
Penny stiffened. ‘I’m not wasting-’
‘Uh, yes you are!’ Chelsea interrupted, turning on the girl of the hour again. ‘Just think about it for a second. Right now, you get good grades and everyone at that dumb swords club loves you! But if you leave, you’d be throwing that all away, and for what? So that you could play with some stupid pokemon!? It’s not even like you’ll really end up getting that far, let’s be honest.’
Penny didn’t know how to respond to that.
‘I mean, I thought you were smarter than all the idiots that go running off the instant they turn thirteen. But no, you’re just throwing away everything good that you’ve ever had, and soon you’ll be crawling back to your mummy and daddy, just as soon as you realise how shit you are at training. Then try to guess what happens. Guess what fucking happens Penny. You work at their stupid mall-dojo for the rest of your stupid life!’
‘Chelsea!’ Ami gasped, eyes wide with a look of mortified shock.
‘Actually, you know what? Go waste your life, I don’t ever want to see you again.’ And with that, Chelsea spun on her heel and stalked away, leaving the others to their stunned silence.
The plastic ID card Penny held in her hands suddenly felt a lot colder now. She’d wanted to keep this secret from the others so that she could reveal it as a fun surprise, imagining cheering, laughing, maybe a few tears, but not this. Never this. After so many days spent studying and hanging out together, long nights sleeping over and pretending to get work done, she thought she would’ve known Chelsea better, but… well…
‘Sorry, for all that,’ Penny said, finally breaking the silence. The other two winced.
‘No-’
‘Penny, that wasn’t your fault!’
‘I know!’ She replied, grinning awkwardly. It felt forced. ‘I just… I probably shouldn’t have kept this secret from you guys. That was stupid.’
‘I think she still misses Alessi a lot,’ Ami said. Of course. How had Penny not thought of that? ‘Maybe she thinks that you’re abandoning her for him? Or maybe she thinks you’re planning on hooking up with him while she doesn’t have a chance.’’
‘If this is about boys, I’m going to shoot myself,’ Penny groaned. ‘She does know that he’s way ahead of me, right? That there’s no way we’d be able to travel together? He says he’s close to getting his first gym badge, and I kind of believe him, his Nidorina is terrifying.’
She rubbed her eyes with the heel of her palm, trying and failing to ignore the churning weight in her gut. It was like she’d swallowed a geodude, and now it was twisting up her insides with its fists. Everything Chelsea had screamed at her was rattling around inside her mind, and with each passing moment, she started to wonder if Chelsea had been right.
‘It wasn’t that secret anyway,’ Kim said. ‘It was obvious why you picked pokemon training as one of your electives.’
‘Yeah, she’s probably just been pretending that you just picked it as a bludge subject. It’s her own fault for not being realistic.’
Penny rubbed the back of her neck, grinning mareepishly. ‘Yeah, um, I guess that was kind of a giveaway. Do you think you could maybe talk to her once she calms down?’
The two looked at each other. ‘Wait... when are you leaving?’ Ami asked, cocking an eyebrow.
‘Today,’ she admitted. ‘I’ve already got everything I need, and I’m gonna go meet with my family for dinner. Then my sister’s dropping me off somewhere out of town, we were thinking maybe South Godai.’
‘...oh.’
‘Yeah, sorry. I uh, I kind of feel like a dick now.’ Penny shuffled her feet, feeling another spike of guilt. ‘But um, I’ll probably be in Scurarte soon. I’ve got a list of places that I want to go, and a ton of them are around here. I just want a chance to go on an adventure further out, just to start with you know? But if things get rough-’
‘It’s alright, we get it,’ Kim cut her off, smiling. ‘This is super exciting for you! It’s not like half of us aren’t going away on vacation soon anyway. You should just have fun!’
Ami opened her arms wide and gestured to Penny. She smiled, stepped forward and let her friend wrap her in a hug. It was warm, comfortable. For a time, she could pretend that there wasn’t a gnawing seed of doubt in her mind, steadily chewing through all of the lofty goals and plans that she’d ever had. Then, it was over.
‘Thanks, you guys.’
‘No problem!’ Ami said, nudging her in the ribs with her elbow. ‘And we’ll deal with Chelsea. You go kick some ass!’