Thirty-Nine: Penelope Peters
2171 Words
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Penelope Peters
Penelope Peters was dead.
She died the day of her Mother’s funeral. Now, she was Lady Crowe. The ward of Lord Crowe. From one of the most powerful family’s in Wales. Crowe’s version of grieving. Which is what I thought I would do during my month off, consisted of etiquette lessons. Along with a wardrobe upgrade.
I got taught how to curtsy.
To walk with my back straight.
Proper table etiquette.
The correct titles for members of the court.
It was swirling in my head, and by the time I’d gotten back to school, I’d forgotten who I was. There was nothing that was mine anymore. I belonged to the crown, and I had to do the crowns bidding now. I was being pushed towards Cadoc. The words hadn’t gotten spoken but I knew that was Lord Crowe’s ultimate desire. I could tell from the way that he talked about me, like I was a thing that belonged to him. My wants and my needs were an afterthought.
Going back to Hollow Hills Academy was a welcomed relief. When I got back, Audrey was there to greet me at the door. “Pen!” She exclaimed, wrapping me in a big hug and pulling me inside our room. “Thank god you’re back! How are you?”
How was I? I didn’t have a clue. I’d spent a month in a strange house, with a strange man and I’d now gotten a title I didn’t deserve. What’s more, everyone was now treating me as if my future had somehow synced up with Cadocs.
“I don’t know,” I answered, my voice coming out in a choked sob. I hadn’t cried. Not since the hospital, but I hadn’t been around anyone that I felt comfortable enough to do it with. Audrey was warm, caring, and around her my defenses crumbled. The second that tears started to stream down my face, her own face fell and she hugged me even tighter.
“Oh Pen!” she gasped. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
I sobbed so hard that I was hiccupping. “No-it’s-it’s fine. I just....” the words weren’t coming, and it didn’t matter.
Audrey pulled me into her bed and I sat with my head in her lap sobbing. “I’m sorry,” I finally managed to gather myself enough to wipe my tears away. “I’ve been trying to keep myself together. Lord Crowe adopted me, and they sent me to his place for a month to adjust. It’s like I’m living in a Bronte novel.”
“Pen, I’m so sorry,” she said, “what can I do?”
“I need to not think about this,” I answered.
Audrey beamed. “We’re going out.”
“Out?” I said.
She nodded. She jumped over to her purse on the nightstand. And rummaged through until she found a glittering invitation. “Bexley Adams is having a birthday party tonight. I wasn’t going to go, but you look like you need this.”
I stared at her. “Isn’t that the girl who was making out with Cadoc?”
Audrey grimaced. “Yes, but she’s lovely, and she was in Magic Manor with me. I know you’d be fangirling if Cadoc weren’t involved! Besides, Fletchers going.”
I raised an eyebrow. “How is that enticement?”
“You need someone to take your mind off of things. Fletchers perfect for that.”
“I thought you were Captain of Team Capen.”
Audrey raised an eyebrow. “You gave yourself a ship name?”
“No, the bloody Welsh Weekly did,” I said, “But I use it in my head.”
“That’s SO SWEET!” she gushed.
“Shut it,” I said, “don’t get on the romance train now. I want to drink and I want to forget.”
“Well,” said Audrey, “I can help with both those things. And Fletch is an excellent distraction.”
“Alright,” I said, “but I don’t have—-“
Audrey laughed. “Darling, you know as well as I do that is never an excuse. My wardrobe es sue wardrobe.”
“I’m certain somewhere a Spanish teacher cringed.”
She waved me off and opened her closet. It took two hours for Audrey to find a look that she okay with for both her and me. For her, she settled on a black off the shoulder dress with a slit up the thigh and pumps. For me, it was a gold dress, complete with strappy gold heels.
“I’m going to fall,” I told her as we made our way from the car to the club where Bexley Adams was hosting her birthday party.
“No, you’re not,” she said, “you’re going to be stunning! You are Penelope Crowe, one of the richest women in Wales now. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”
I flinched. “It doesn’t feel right.”
Audrey’s gaze softened. “Look, I know that what happened was terrible…..that there’s nothing that can make this situation good. But it doesn’t all have to be bad. You’re getting exposed to a world that most people only ever dream about. You might as well make the most of it and have some fun.”
“I could,” I said.
“Yeah, you could,” she told me, squeezing my hand. “Come on. Sometimes all a girl needs to fix her problems is a night out dancing with her friends.”
“To Taylor Swift, right?”
“Always to Taylor Swift,” Audrey seconded with a smile.
She pulled me inside the club where she flashed her invitation to a bouncer and we got inside. Bexley Adams was holding court at a round, black leather couch where a mound of gifts were. Music pulsed through the club, and I groaned as I saw Audrey’s true motivation for being there.
The mysterious Lennon Lucas that she was still obsessed with, it seemed.
“Audrey,” I groaned.
Audrey blushed upon making eye contact with the pop star, who was looking at Audrey like he wanted to devour her. Everyone else in the room didn’t matter when they were together. “Don’t look at me. I had no idea that he was going to be here.”
“Uh huh,” I said, doubtful.
She only smiled. “Well, we should go say hi.”
“Right.”
“It’s only polite,” she insisted, “besides, he’s already seen us.”
I said nothing as she pulled me over to the couch. It was bizarre. Seeing a bunch of people that I had grown up watching on television or in movies being right there in front of me. This wasn’t supposed to happen.
“Audrey!” Bexley squealed, jumping up from her seat to wrap her in a giant hug.
“Bex!” Audrey exclaimed. “Happy birthday. Hope you don’t mind! I brought a friend.”
Bexley pulled away and glanced over at me. “Oh goodness, you’re the girl who----”
“Lord Crowe’s heir,” Audrey said, stopping her before she could say anything that would be awkward.
Bexley smiled. “Right. Lord Crowe’s new heir. Lovely to meet you!”
“Yes,” I said, “lovely to meet you too.” I would have been in awe in any other situation, but it was too bizarre meeting her at her birthday. With Audrey bringing me there as her guest. There was the added weirdness of the pictures of her and Cadoc too.
“Tell me Audrey,” said Bexley, “have you heard from Cadoc?”
Audrey shook her head. “Under the circumstances, Cadoc’s been very busy.”
“Of course, of course,” said Bexley.
“Audrey,” Lennon Lucas’s deep voice called. Audrey’s head swiveled to look to where he was. “Hey.”
“Hi,” she said.
“You didn’t call me after New Year’s,” he said, “and you still haven’t told me anything about Spring Break.”
“Well, things changed, Lennon,” she said. “One of my dear friends went through a traumatic experience. I’ve got to be here for her, and you need to understand that.”
“Understand what?” he said. “I don’t understand anything about this. One minute, you were in my hotel room and the next----”
“Lennon, this isn’t the place,” she said.
“Of course not!” Bexley interrupted. “It’s my birthday and you know what I want to do? Dance. Come on, Lennon, you can’t monopolize Audrey all night. Besides it’s my special day!” She got up and dragged Lennon away onto the dance floor.
I looked at Audrey in surprise. Their interaction hadn’t been anything like the one that had happened at Cadoc’s party. “What was that?”
“That was the end of us,” she said.
I sat down on the couch with her. “The end?”
“He got a girl pregnant,” Audrey explained, “and it wasn’t any girl.”
“Who?”
“My sister,” Audrey said, “they’ve been sleeping together off and on for years. It’s why we broke up the first time. Why we’ve broken up again. He can’t seem to make his mind up between the two of us.”
“Oh Audrey,” I wrapped my arms around her, relieved to have someone else’s problems to focus on besides mine.
“I can’t even stomach looking at him anymore,” she told me.
“I don’t blame you,” I told her, “what are you going to do?”
“I have no idea,” she admitted, “he was what I wanted for so long. I thought that he was my future.”
I grimaced, not knowing what to say. This, I thought, was why I kept on pushing Cadoc away. I didn’t want to cling to the idea that he was my future. I had my own dreams. Ambitions to chase after. Things that I didn’t even know if I would get to do now. Things could change inn a second.
“Yes, you do,” I said, “you’re Audrey Andrews. You’re going to keep on being Audrey Andrews. You’re an amazing actress! You’ve won a Teen Choice Award.”
“I’m nothing,” she said.
“You’re wonderful,” I said, “and you don’t need him to have your own happy endings. You can make them up yourself.”
She smiled through her tears. “You’re strong, you know. That’s why you’re going to get what you want.”
I shook my head. “I don’t even know what I want anymore. Nothing makes sense. Not since I lost my Mum.”
“You’ll figure it out,” she told me, “we both will.”
“I hope so,” I said. I looked around at the people dancing. I could see Lennon Lucas distracted by Bexley Adams as she grinded against him. I stood up and took Audrey’s hand. “Come on. This isn’t where we should be right now.”
“No?” she said. “Where are we going then?”
“Home,” I said.
“To do what?”
“To dance to Taylor Swift and forget our problems. At least until Monday comes.” That was exactly what we did.
We left the fancy party, went home to our dorm, blasted Audrey’s Alexa, and danced to Taylor Swift. If anyone in the world understood true love and broken hearts, it was the girl who wrote the soundtrack for it.
- Writer
