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“Goodbye, Ms. Tori.”
I’m not sure why she suddenly acts so cold, but I back out of the room. Sometimes it feels like Doris is my only ally and the last thing I want to do is put a rift between us. For now, I’d try with some of the other staff before approaching her again.
Penny wanted to go to New York, so I asked Doris if it was possible to swap the dinner shift so I could head into the city and not worry about getting back in time. Surprisingly, she was okay with my request.
Finally feeling like I can slow down and relax, I go back into the dining hall and grab some scrambled egg with toast. When I go to find a seat, I see a familiar head of pink tipped hair, so I head over to Penny, taking the seat opposite.
She looks up as I sit and tries to mask a wince. “You look…”
“Tired?” I shrug. “I misread my shift and was nearly an hour late for work.”
Nodding, Penny’s attention drifts to her breakfast. She’s got her usual charred avocado and egg, but the food is barely touched, and from the dull sheen on the eggs, I’m almost certain the plate has gone cold.
“Are you okay?”
Chewing her lip, Penny looks up without raising her head. “Don’t be mad, but I need to cancel our Saturday plans. Bubbe has summoned me home.”
“Is everything okay?”
Penny drops her gaze, half shaking her head, half shrugging. “It’s… don’t worry about it. It’s just Bubbe being Bubbe.”
I take a few bites of my breakfast, but Penny aimlessly prodding her food has me lowering my fork. “You don’t look like someone I shouldn’t be worrying about.”
With a long, drawn-out sigh, like Penny has been carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders, Penny lowers her hand and finally looks at me. “Someone called Bubbe,” she says, miserably. “They told her about you, and how we’re friends. So now Bubbe is telling me you and I shouldn’t be friends.”
The news seems to turn the small amount of food in my stomach into a heavy, cold lump. “I understand.”
Penny narrows her eyes. “I spent three hours last night telling Bubbe that she gets no say in who my friends are, and that’s exactly what I’ll tell her on Saturday. I’m upset because I had plans, and now I have to spend probably nine hours with my grandmother ranting the same thing on repeat, and I’m going to have to get up early for thatprivilegebecause she’s sending a car to pick me up at eight in the morning.”
Tears well in the corner of my eyes before I can stop them.
Folding her arms, Penny sits back and gives me a stern look. “Stop acting like I’m some kind of martyr, because I mean technically, after enduring that lecture.” She continues, “Yes, I am. But equally, Bubbe doesn’t get a say in who I date or who my friends are.”
Before I can tell her how amazing I think she is, her phone pings to life.
And it doesn’t stop.
Notification after notification.
A horrible feeling sinks in as I watch Penny pick up her phone and investigate. It takes seconds for the color to drain from her face.
“Penny?”
She shakes her head. “It’s nothing, don’t worry. Just a group chat.”
As she flips the phone onto silent, I quickly reach over and snatch it from her hands.
Just kill yourself.
Worthless scum.
I bet she’s fucking the killerandthe sister. She’s got a boyfriend and a girlfriend!
What a whore!
No wonder her father killed himself – I would too!
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