The Penn Friends Series Books 1-4: Penn Friends Boxset

by T H Paul

  “What happened to you?” Geoff said, going over to his classmate, though the two of them were far from firm friends.

  “What do you think? I got beaten up, didn’t I. Gang of thugs.” Some of the other boys were around, and they shook their heads in disbelief. He’d apparently just told them all about it as well.

  “Really? So you didn’t hit a chair or anything?”

  “You think a chair would do this, Begbie?” The group laughed and went to take their seats so that it was just Jack and Geoff now. Jack came in closer so that only Geoff could hear what he said next. “Don’t tell me; you were at the cinema on Saturday?”

  “I was.”

  Jack swore.

  “You say anything to anyone, and I mean anyone, and I’ll kick your butt. Got it?” Geoff took a step back.

  “You head-butted me, you daft twat. I was right in front of you! Knocked me clean unconscious, Penny tells me.”

  “What?” Jack looked confused.

  “When you fell, you smashed your dumb-ass face into the back of my god damn head. What’s not to understand?” Jack didn’t seem to be taking any of it in.

  “What?”

  “Jack, get over yourself. You bloody nutted me, okay, and I’ve got the bump to prove it! You whispered something to my girlfriend and then just nutted me. So, now, you listen to me. If you come near me again, it won’t just be your nose that I break. Are we clear?”

  Jack was speechless, and Geoff seemed to have him, somehow, over a barrel. How did he know about what happened between him and Penny on Saturday? Geoff wasn’t sitting in front of him; he’d known that much.

  “Your girlfriend? You mean Black? You were there with her?”

  “Yes, obviously. You got a problem with that?”

  Jack started to laugh, but the pain stopped him. He could feel the dried blood deep inside his nose pressing against soft tissue.

  Just then Penny entered the classroom, both boys looking over, as she looked up, freezing for a moment when she noticed the two of them in a huddled confrontation. The moment passed, and she took her seat, the teacher walking in seconds later and everyone found their place. Penny would avoid looking across to either boy that morning, though it would be hard to avoid them for much longer.

  4

  Seeing Jack and Geoff talking to each other as I walked into that classroom that morning freaked me out more than ever. Not only had I had the whole weekend trying to work out what had happened, what had gone wrong, but I'd also then had to spend the entire first two periods trying to find out what they’d discussed. None of the boys were talking to me, and I heard some girls say a gang had mugged Jack. That was a more natural story to circulate.

  Still, as much as I tried in my quest to find answers, I couldn’t. I wasn’t even able to listen in on Geoff that morning, which still bugged me. Somehow he’d become immune to my powers––maybe that is what happened when an auto gift gets used? My manifestation gave Geoff the ability to float without me thinking it to cover up the other two gifts he already had, and once it was safe to undo all three, that’s what happened, leaving him now immune from anything more? It was the best guess I had at the time.

  What they’d talked about, however, was anyone’s guess. Either could easily give the game away. If the boys were smart enough to share what they each knew, they’d soon realise that something didn’t add up––though I was confident neither was bright enough nor did they trust the other enough to be honest.

  Penny’s paper round each day meant she would rise before six most mornings and get herself dressed, before leaving the house just ten minutes later––she would shower and get herself ready for school once she got back. The extra money she earned was worth it––Christmas would see some very generous gifts left out for her. She’d often treble her usual monthly pay just with those gifts. With her father gone, and a mother failing to make ends meet, let alone have enough left over to provide the essentials Penny needed, it was a welcomed addition. Something Penny had control over; her money, her rules.

  It usually took her just over an hour to complete the round, something like one hundred deliveries across about a dozen streets, all within ten minutes of home. The local newsagents, where she would collect the papers, was only five minutes away, the delivery route starting once she was through the park.

  Each morning, she would think about what had happened to Abbey as she walked through that same park. She would often pause at the spot when they had first realised the dog was there. Penny would glance over at the tree she’d climbed, remembering as clear as day those images of Abbey doing her best to run away, but getting closed down all the while by that charging Alsatian. She would remember what it first felt like when she had the manifestation, what it felt like to see Abbey running faster than she’d ever seen anyone move.

  What it felt like to have a friend to whom she could be close.

  It wasn’t all much more than a year ago, give or take, but so much had changed; it could already have been ten years.

  Penny moved out of the park, now at the other end. It was the spot where she often spotted the homeless man––she assumed he was homeless, given the fact he was most often at that end of the park or in the nearby streets. He creeped her out, and sure enough, that day, he lurked once more on the edge of some trees, before he started walking her way.

  Penny quickened her pace, a minute later entering the first street where she delivered the papers. She disappeared up the driveway. When she returned, she spotted the man standing on the other side of the road, his brown shoes all that were visible other than his long grey raincoat, something he often wore, despite the weather. That was what made her assume he was homeless. It was all he had for a coat.

  She sped along her route, assuming he would lose interest sooner or later, but on each new street, he was there, loitering in the background, like a shadow that won’t let go.

  Halfway round, she lost sight of him finally. He’d never followed her that long before, but her fear stopped the moment he was gone. He was most probably lonely, like she was, friendless and abandoned. Just wanting to be around another human for a while, before returning to his emptiness. She wouldn’t allow pity to enter in, however. She still felt him a creep.

  With the round now finished, she headed back for the park, which offered her the most direct route home, and another opportunity to run down memory lane. It was nearly half-past seven. Turning the final corner, the park in front of her, suddenly the same man who’d been bothering her that morning was ahead of her, facing her, hands in his pockets. Penny stopped twenty feet in front of him when it was clear this time he wasn’t going to scurry away. She didn’t want to get any closer, and she knew she could outrun him if that became required.

  He flashed her.

  She had not been expecting that, and as soon as he’d done so, he covered up his nakedness and disappeared into some nearby bushes. Penny stayed frozen to the spot, unsure whether she should carry on venturing down the street, whether she could pass the place he’d just been standing, the spot he’d just entered the bushes. She was unsure whether it was safe.

  After a full minute––the image of what just happened locked in her mind like a photograph, the same as those pictures she’d seen on Mr Jenkins' computer had been––she kept moving forward, pulling the empty trolley behind her and running as fast as she could. At least it wasn’t heavy anymore. If she needed to swing it to defend herself, she could––besides, her highly charged emotions had put her on full alert. She could just as quickly make him melt like butter or float away as if cotton wall.

  He did not appear again.

  Penny got home in a hot flush. She slammed her bedroom door and ran straight into the shower. She was doing that bloody job because her mother was a drunk, and her father wasn’t home. All so that some twisted man could expose himself to her, without permission and request.

  5

  I was just fifteen the day that man flashed me. Fifteen. In the last year
, as well as that incident, I’d seen Jack rape Abbey and all those horrendous images Jenkins had hidden in his office. I felt broken. Dirty. Abused.

  I had no one to talk to really. I didn’t tell mum about the flasher, not straight away. I think it came out in time, before, well, you know––before it was too late. She didn’t do anything about it anyway. Probably blamed me for being there, for having eyes, for being an attractive fifteen-year-old that would, therefore, make some old pervert want to flash her at seven in the morning. All my fault.

  It was just days after that incident that I would have someone I might be able to talk about it all with––and there was no way I could have guessed who it would have been, either.

  Penny and Geoff’s relationship had stagnated by the end of November, and they were officially just friends again. They would continue to sit near each other in Music––Penny would still focus more on Mr Hanson than Geoff––but they would no longer spend time together outside of school. It was as if the cinema incident had scared them both off the other.

  It suited Penny, who couldn’t risk further examination on the subject.

  Jack, however, had not been able to let it go. He’d been trying to get closer to Geoff ever since, partly because he saw him as a rival to Penny, partly because Jack wanted to get him alone for long enough so he could understand what had happened that day.

  He felt like he was going mad. His one memory from that day had been a complete shock as his face pounded against bone––the pain instant, the surprise overwhelming. Like a small child running head first into what they assumed had been an open patio door, his world had come to a shuddering stop.

  He’d been sure Penny had somehow punched him. He’d said words to her moments before but had not seen her fist coming. Geoff then implied he had been there. Right there. In front of him, next to Penny. Geoff still had a lump on the back of his head.

  One weekend, weeks after the incident, Jack was invited over for the first time to Geoff’s house, the boys playing video games upstairs. They had finally got around to talking about that day at the cinema. Geoff opened up about his bizarre remembrance of the event, all that he’d imagined in his semi-conscious state. Jack even felt the bump that was still slightly evident on the back of Geoff’s head.

  “You were floating?” Jack said, sipping his coke as Geoff continued to fight zombies on the computer game they were playing.

  “Yes, bizarre, right? First I was calling after Penny, then I was floating. No one heard me, of course. I was probably already out of it.”

  Jack had not heard him. He’d not seen him, either. But Jack had felt him. He couldn’t deny that, and his nose would always show the evidence, too.

  Jack left later on that night, mulling over all they’d talked about. He walked home slowly, getting in only after it was dark, climbing the stairs contemplatively.

  “Sis,” Jack said, stopping as he passed the door of his older sister’s room. They were hardly the closest of siblings growing up, but now they were fifteen and sixteen, there had been an element of maturity develop in their friendship. She looked out for him. “Geoff said he was calling out that day when I broke my nose. Said he was standing up. You didn’t see anything, did you?”

  “No,” she said, a little surprised at her brother. There seemed no comprehension whatsoever.

  “He was right there, though. I’m sure of it. I broke my nose on the back of his head. He’s still got the lump I gave him.” His sister looked puzzled and took a few seconds to think about it.

  “Are you sure he wasn’t, you know, doing stuff to her, stuff you couldn’t see?”

  “Stuff?” he said, thinking for a moment. He let out a sound of disgust. “No, certainly not!”

  “You just might not have seen him? He could have been busy, and sat up when he heard you whispering to her, smacking your face as you came forward?”

  It was possible, but he would have seen that. He would have noticed. Despite, he thought, Penny wasn’t that type of girl, or was she? The idea excited him.

  “Speak to her about it,” she said, smiling at him.

  “What? No, I can’t.”

  “You like her, don’t you?”

  “Penny? No, not really. I mean, yeah, she’s cute. But she’s weird.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “She just is, that’s all. Can’t explain it. Stuff happens around her. She’s not like any of the girls at school.”

  “And that’s a bad thing; I take it?” She was playing with her younger brother.

  “No, actually, it’s quite appealing, now that I think about it.”

  “So you do like her?” she said, sounding concerned.

  “What’s it to you if I do?”

  “Nothing,” she said, trying to brush it off. “I just don’t think she’s good for you.”

  “You’re policing my love life now, are you?” He was smiling.

  “No, not really. Look, brother, let me say this. If you want to get to know her, you have to talk to her. Talk about what happened that day. See what she says.”

  “See if she’s easy, you mean?” He didn’t get her point.

  “No,” she said, firmly and a little ashamed that her brother would jump to that conclusion. “See if she’ll talk about it. Maybe she needs to talk to someone? Just be careful.”

  “Be careful? She’s a girl. I think I can handle her, sis.”

  “A girl? I could kick your butt with my eyes closed.”

  “Well,” he said, laughing, “that’s because you know that I don’t hit girls.” They both let it drop.

  “Talk to her, Jack. You might be surprised.” Suddenly it felt heavy. The silence went on a little longer than was comfortable for either of them.

  “Okay, then…I’ll be in my room,” and with that Jack moved down the corridor, shutting his door behind him. Laying back on his bed, looking up at the ceiling, suddenly Penny seemed like a completely different girl. He couldn’t stop thinking about her and had the confidence to talk to her, he knew it already. He would speak to her at school, just the two of them.

  It wasn’t until the way home the following day that Jack got any time alone with Penny.

  “Hey, wait up,” he called, running to catch up with Penny as she started out from school. They didn’t live near each other. “I’ll walk with you; I’m going this way.”

  “Where?” She felt invaded upon. Jack was the last person with whom she felt like walking. They were by the path that led to the woods behind the school, the same route along which she’d watched Jack lead Abbey by the hand. The same woods in which she had observed Jack push Abbey to the floor. The same spot in which he’d raped his former girlfriend. The same boy, now standing right next to her, wanting to walk with her.

  “Nearby,” he said.

  “You don’t even know where I live,” Penny said, clearly defensive.

  “Can I walk with you or can’t I?” Jack seemed disappointed that she was so hostile.

  “Okay, then,” she relented after a few seconds. Abbey was coming out of a sweet shop at that moment, paused as she saw the two of them walking together, before moving away as if she hadn’t seen anything. Penny let it go. She had more pressing things at hand.

  “Look, I don’t blame you for the nose, okay.” He was smiling. She always found his smile cute. She’d fancied him in year seven, and even in year ten, if she was honest, those feelings had not completely gone away. She would not admit that to anyone, however, let alone him, if she could help it.

  “Finally admitted it, have you? You fought with the back of a soft chair, and the chair won.” She was sniggering.

  “Yeah yeah, very funny. No, I know that it was Geoff who I hit.” She stopped walking.

  “How?”

  “He told me.” So they had been talking that morning at school, though that was weeks ago.

  “Okay,” she said, but had nothing with which to follow that up. She didn’t know what Geoff had said.

  “He was
sitting there; I just couldn’t see him.” He sounded calm.

  “Okay,” she repeated, but at a loss for what to say next.

  “He was invisible. I don’t know how, I don’t know why, but it’s the only explanation.” They both laughed.

  “Because a chair couldn’t have done that to your nose?” Penny said, laughing again, though he wasn’t. He seemed earnest, relaxed as if he believed what he’d just said.

  “Exactly.”

  “Are you serious?” Penny was facing him now so that Jack could not keep walking. His eyes seemed to be brighter than ever, his broken nose working well for his looks, in Penny’s mind. He carried a more rugged, battered look. She liked it.

  “Yes, I think I am,” he said, calmly. He had heard the words; he’d been there as he had spoken them, and as bizarre as they sounded coming from his lips, Jack seemed to believe them. It all seemed perfectly rational, reasonable even. It explained everything.

  “Oh,” she said, caught out. “I see.”

  “Make me invisible too,” he said, seconds later, the breath taken out of Penny for a moment.

  “What?” Her shock was the exact opposite of his calm. Again, he had heard the words coming out of his mouth, as if a recording, as if he was listening to someone else, yet now he believed it, now he trusted what he said. It felt right.

  “You heard me. I want to know all about it.”

  “I can’t make people invisible, Jack. That’s impossible.”

  “You did it with Geoff, though. He was sitting right there, and I couldn’t see him. Smashed my face right into him like a complete numpty.” Neither said anything, once again Jack hearing his words as if they were not his words, but then latching on to everything he had just spoken and owning what he’d just said.

  “You want me to make you invisible?”

  “Yes.” He was calm. She was freaking out. It was Jack. She nearly loathed him as much as her father, as much as her former dance teacher. Jack. And yet here he was, not freaked, not exposing her. He was rational, calm even. Jack.