*Penelope’s POV*
His name is Michael and I’ve been seeing him for about three years now. He doesn’t know that I have a steady boyfriend back in the U.S. and that I've kept my real life separate from him. I traveled abroad to England about three years ago and met him in a small cafe. He was amazingly smart, handsome and he was so sweet but I already had a boyfriend back in America. I told him I was there visiting abroad and he was so excited that I wanted to learn more than just what my school was teaching me. He volunteered to show me around. We ended up just walking around London and he showed me his apartment.
We went on a few dates and then we became serious; I lived with him when I was in the U.K. and thought of him constantly when I wasn't there. As far as he knows I'm going to school for journalism and he knows the bare minimum about my life outside of his involvement in it. I do love him, and I know I shouldn’t drag anyone through my issues but I just can’t get him out of my mind. He deserves the world and I’m keeping him from realizing it because I’m a selfish and horrible person. I wish that I had enough strength to let my boyfriend from college, Jack, go but I can’t do that either. We’ve been through so much together and it would only make him hate me to find out what I did. I don’t want to break his heart; he’s done so much for me. These thoughts cloud my mind every day and often distract me from my classes...
“Miss Penelope, do you have an answer for me?”
“Uh...sorry, I didn’t hear the question, Professor,” I say and look down at my notebook which has nothing but doodles and his name scribbled all over.
“I asked if…” he started to repeat himself but I zoned out again.
I wish I could just grow up and tell Jack that I want to break up with him and transfer schools but I haven’t gathered up enough courage to do so. I can’t tell anyone but my best friend what’s truly going on so I’m always nervous about talking about my relationships with my family. My best friend Sophia always encourages me to tell Jack, and this afternoon is the time I think I’m actually going to tell him. I tried to think up what I was going to say, but I can’t even put the words together in my mind. I walk back to my dorm room with Sophia and we started to talk about tonight.
“I just don’t know how to say it Sophia, what if he reacts badly?” I ask her. She gives me such a dirty look.
“Obviously he’s going to react badly, Penelope! You’re cheating on him with a random guy from England!” She yells out as we sit in my dorm room and I immediately go to cover her mouth.
“Sophia, you can’t yell, what if he hears you? He could be on his way home right now!”
*Jack’s POV*
I walk up to the dorm room that I share with Penelope and I reach into my backpack to get my key, but stop as I hear her and Sophia talking to each other. I shrug my shoulders and open the door and throw my bag down onto the couch in the common room. I walk past her room and I hear Sophia yell loudly, “Obviously he’s going to react badly, Penelope! You’re cheating on him with a random guy from England!” My shoulders drop and tears fall from my face. I go back into the common room and take my backpack with me. I walk back out of the dorm room and call my best friend who lived in England.
“Michael, she cheated on me. I don’t know for how long but apparently a while!” I cried into the phone.
“Oh man, I’m so sorry mate. I wish there was something I could do. I could fly out and see you, if you think seeing me will cheer you up?” Michael said. He knew seeing him would cheer me up. We spoke for a little while longer and then hung up. I wasn’t going to go back and confront her but I had nowhere else to go. So I walked back to the dorm and sat down on the couch. I knew that it was too soon to confront her without a little bit more evidence.
She and Sophia eventually came out of her room and as soon as they saw me Peneople’s face filled with guilt. I looked up and didn’t say a word. She opened her mouth to speak, but I stood up and walked into my room.
*Penelope’s POV*
Sophia and I finished our conversation, and we left my room. I saw Jack on the couch and I went to ask him how his day was but when he turned and saw me he stood up and went into his room. I felt guilty, but I knew he hadn’t heard anything. We didn’t even hear the door slam like it always does. Sophia told me that she had to go home and study so she left and I went back into my room. My phone buzzed and it was Michael texting me, telling me that he was coming to visit his best friend, so he thought that he could come and see me as well. My eyes went wide with panic and I tried to tell him that I had a bunch of exams coming up so it wasn’t a good time but he insisted.
I sighed in defeat and told him I would, and he told me that his plane would be here tomorrow night. I turned my phone off and put on some pajama shorts and a tank top and went to try and talk to Jack again. I knocked on his door and said, “Hey Jack, it’s me. Are you alright?” I heard him shuffle out of his bed and he threw the door open and had bloodshot eyes like he’d been drinking and crying. My heart sank further down into my stomach and I looked down at the floor. His voice cracked as he began to speak.
“What do you want? I’m trying to process something right now…”
“Well I can help you. You know you can tell me anything,” I said quietly and I reached for his hand. He pulled his arm back into his room and shook his head.
“I’ll be fine. I have someone coming tomorrow to help me. You can sleep without guilt now. Go to sleep, Penelope,” He said sternly, and I felt like a small child being scolded.
“O-okay,” I stuttered. “You know where to find me if you change your mind.”
He nodded his head and closed his door. I slowly walked back into my room, got into bed, and fell asleep.
*Jack’s POV*
I woke up with a tear-streaked face and a message from Michael letting me know that his plane was going to be here later, but that he didn’t need a ride. I responded quickly and got out of bed to make some coffee. I saw Penelope in the kitchen, I walked right by her and grabbed a mug for coffee.
“Jack, please talk to me. What did I do?” she asked as I walked around her and sat down at the kitchen table.
“You know what you did. I don’t feel like talking about it anymore,” I said quietly.
“You haven’t talked about it at all! You’ve said nothing to me since you came home yesterday.” She argues and walks closer to me. I flinch away and try to stand up but she pulls my arm and keeps me sitting.
“No, you’re not going to walk away from me. Tell me what I did, please Jack.” She begs and I sigh and shake my head.
“It’s over, and soon you’ll know what you did. If you can’t figure it out then that’s part of the problem right there.” I choke on my words and feel the tears slide down my cheeks. I stand up and go back into my room and wait for Michael to land.
*Penelope’s POV*
I get a text from Michael, telling me that his plane will land in half an hour, so I take a shower and get ready. I text him my address and wait for him to arrive. I hear the bell ring and I open the door, but Jack also comes out of his room at the sound of the bell. Jack walks up to Michael and hugs him, as I stand there confused. “You two know each other?” I ask and stare at the two men before me hugging.
*Jack’s POV*
“This is Michael. He’s been my best friend since he came to visit America when we were ten or so.” I say into Michael’s arm and I back away to look at him.
“Oh...this is your best friend? Are you sure?” Penelope asks shakily and Michael takes a long look at her and his jaw drops.
“This is Michael, the guy I’ve been seeing when I’m traveling abroad…” she said and tears run down her face.
Cora is a fearless writer, as she is not afraid to say what she feels in both her writing and when talking to people face to face. She took creative writing freshman year with Mr. Kupiec and couldn’t wait to take it again. As senior year came around, she took three writing courses, English lll with Mr. Kupiec, Journalism ll with Miss Nye, and Creative Writing with Mr. Zukowski.