Extra Credit

A pair of soft, brown eyes fluttered awake sleepily; droplets of dew clung to the long, dark eyelashes. A yawn escaped Penny's lips as she stretched out her sore limbs, sitting up properly to have a good look around her.

Apparently, she had passed out in the front yard last night and was now going to pay the penalty for doing so. Her back ached, as did the rest of her body; she couldn't fight back as a shiver escaped her and she sneezed violently, sniffling from the cold weather.

An autumn sun was busy making its way up into the sky, greeting Penny with its warm, beating rays of sunlight. She stumbled her way to her feet - which were covered in dew-soaked socks - and managed to stagger into the house, emitting a few more sneezes as she did so.

The house looked as though there had never been a party there last night; it was entirely spotless, appearing as though it had just received a very deep cleaning. A pair of footsteps came around the corner of the hallway, and the person to whom the footsteps belonged let out a soft scream upon seeing Penny.

"Penny, you scared the bejeesus out of me!" Aqua scolded her friend, looking very polished with her blue hair curled and pulled into a low ponytail that draped over one shoulder, "I thought you went home. Where were you?"

"Outside," Penny mumbled miserably, sneezing again, "I think I'm sick."

"Oh my god, were you out there all night?" Aqua walked the few steps to pull her friend into a hug; she quickly drew away from her, however, with a wrinkled nose, "You definitely smell like you've been outside all night. Go shower. Quickly. We have school soon."

"I don't want to go to school," Penny argued, sniffling pathetically and rubbing the sleep from her eyes like a small child.

"Are you feeling okay?" Aqua put her hand to Penny's forehead, "You never miss school. You love school more than anything." Penny's mind was swimming with memories and thoughts of the previous night; her phone call with Mr. Dawson resurfaced and she groaned, pushing away from Aqua and trudging toward the kitchen.

"I just want to live my life," Penny moaned, sitting at one of the barstools and setting her head down on the counter, "Nobody's perfect and I don't want to be."

"Where is this coming from?" Aqua chuckled at her friend's antics, "Come on, babes. Get ready."

"No. No. Bleh."

It took a lot of persuasion (and Aqua practically had to drag Penny), but eventually Penny got into the shower and cleaned herself up. While in the shower, she thought about how she was going to face Mr. Dawson later that day. She just couldn't, she didn't have the willpower to stand up and face him. Penny was positive that she had never been so humiliated in her life. Maybe she would just skip English class today, so that she wouldn't have to look Mr. Dawson in the eyes and apologize for being so disrespectful.

Penny didn't feel like doing herself up that day, but Aqua insisted on applying her friend's makeup and doing her hair. Despite looking pretty, Penny felt ugly and horrible.

Aqua drove the both of them to school, but when they reached the parking lot, Penny refused to get out of the car.

"Why are you fighting this so hard, Pen?" Aqua demanded to know, "Are you really feeling that bad?" Penny struggled with herself, before explaining to Aqua what had happened the previous night, after she had managed to retrieve her phone.

"Are you serious right now?" Aqua's eyes had grown to the size of dinner plates, "Jesus, Penny, what is wrong with you? He could press charges for harrassment! Not to mention, it'll be really awkward in class."

"Thanks for reminding me," Penny replied through a stuffed-up nose, "You're not making me feel any better." Aqua gave her friend a sympathetic smile, resting her hand on Penny's shoulder.

"Look, we all make mistakes. Hell, I don't know how many people I've called up drunk," Aqua smirked, "But sooner or later, we have to face those mistakes. So that's what you have to do today." Penny said nothing; she simply sighed sorrowfully and got out of the car with her bag, drawing her (Aqua's) coat around her to keep out the cold. She walked to English class, Aqua in stride next to her, but neither of them said a word the rest of the way.

Penny paused in front of the door to the classroom, her hand on the doorknob as she looked down at her feet.

"It's now or never, babes," was all Aqua had to say to her. Another deep breath on Penny's part, and she opened the door.

"Penny and Renee, how kind of you to grace us with your company," Mr. Dawson said as the two girls walked into class late (which was terribly out-of-character for Penny).

"Mr. Dawson, it's Aqua, remember?" Aqua pointed to her blue hair, all attitude and sass as she took her seat in the classroom. Mr. Dawson merely grimaced, his eyes glancing over Penny as she sat beside her friend; a flicker of some other expression graced his features, but he quickly brushed it away.

Penny didn't take notes all class. She didn't pay rapt attention to the words that her teacher spoke, didn't even look in his eye. She stared down at her desk blankly the entire hour, her mind racing with thoughts that had nothing to do with the class period whatsoever. She just had to hope that Mr. Dawson would just let bygones be bygones and he wouldn't speak a word of what occurred around midnight the previous night.

Penny didn't even hear the bell ring, signaling the end of class. She suddenly was brought out of her trance by Aqua shaking her roughly.

"Pen, class is over," Aqua said, "Let's go." Penny nodded her head dazedly, gathering up her English book and blank pieces of notebook paper in her arms as she stood up from her desk. She began to follow Aqua out of the classroom, determined not to make any eye contact with Mr. Dawson. The two were stopped at the door by a voice.

"Penny, could I have a word?" It was Mr. Dawson, so Penny froze in her steps. Aqua cast her one, last glance, a look of apology, as she went to her next class. Reluctantly, Penny turned around to face her English teacher.

"I'm going to be late to my next class, sir, I should really -"

"It'll only take a minute of your time, I promise," Mr. Dawson told her, motioning to the chair next to his desk, "Please, have a seat." Although she didn't want to, Penny sank down in the seat and watched Mr. Dawson, waiting for further direction. He was young for a teacher, early thirties at the oldest - some of the students even though he was rather attractive, but Penny had never had time to think about the appearance of her English teacher.

"So I was thinking about it, and there is a performance of Othello coming up at the end of the month at the Haywood Theater downtown," Mr. Dawson explained to Penny, all-business, "If you want extra credit, you can go and see it and then write a summary about it, discussing the general theme of the play. There's no deadline, as long as you get it to me before the end of the semester."

Penny's only response was a completely dumbfounded look as she stared at her teacher, who looked at her in confusion.

"Is...something wrong?" Mr. Dawson wondered, resting his hands on the surface of his desk.

"Is that really all you wanted to talk to me about?" Penny demanded to know, assuming that he would bring up her disgrace of the night prior.

"Yes...Should we be talking about something else?" Mr. Dawson asked, looking as though he was being tested on something.

"No, nothing at all," Penny shook her head, glad he was playing dumb, "And thank you for the opportunity to do extra credit; however, I don't think I'll be taking you up on the offer."

"Really? And why is that?"

"Someone recently gave me a bit of advice," Penny confessed, not knowing at all why she was doing this, "He told me that nobody's perfect and that I should stop trying to be. He told me that I would just get exhausted trying to please everyone and that I need to just take life slowly and do what makes me happy."

"Sounds like a pretty smart guy."

"He is, sir. Very smart."

The two of them shared a secretive smile, as though they knew more than anyone listening would. And in truth, they did.

"Penny?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Get to class."

"Yes, sir."