"Penny, tell the truth."
Miss Sandford sat down on her post and looked at Penny sincerely. Her voice was quiet, but her face was stern and reassuring.
"This morning... are you being targeted?" Miss Sandford didn’t beat around the bush. "It’s okay if you tell the truth. I’ll keep this complaint anonymous if what you’re scared of is angering your bullies more."
Looking at Miss Sandford, Penny couldn’t help but see her as the hope for humanity. "Miss Sandford, I’m okay."
"Penny, I know you are okay, but you have to tell the truth."
"Yes."
Hearing this, Miss Sandford’s face darkened in dismay. She didn’t make a huge fuss about this because everyone was already telling her it was nothing. However, Miss Sandford didn’t make it to this school just by her looks alone.
"I see." Miss Sandford contained her displeasure and offered Penny a smile. She reached for Penny and stroked her hair. "I’ll handle this so they won’t trouble you again."
This ti, Penny shook her head. "It’s okay, Miss Sandford. I can handle this."
"Penny, I know you’re a good child. But this is sothing that the school will not overlook. Once the headmaster hears this, he won’t be happy as well."
Penny knew that. She believed the headmaster and Miss Sandford shared the sa vision and mission. They were righteous people who wouldn’t tolerate any form of bullying. It was why students here learned how to be discreet with bullying and knew which teacher they could easily blind with their families’ nas.
"Miss Sandford, if you do that, then all of them will just say it’s just a re prank," Penny argued calmly, but eloquently. "Against and your words, Mr. Anderson will also stir trouble for you."
"You don’t have to worry about that —"
"I worry that instead of just a fan club, everyone in school will target . Moreover, Lily will also have to co forward, and maybe Ginnie too. If they testified, I’m worried that they’d be troubled because of ," Penny expressed. "So, Miss Sandford, I’m okay. If things get tough, I’ll go to you. Thank you for worrying about , but I can handle it! I’ll be fine."
Miss Sandford pressed her lips, ashad that everything Penny said was true. Even if Miss Sandford would make a case about this, so other teachers would surely try to discredit her. And even if the headmaster would want to hear it, she knew the headmaster couldn’t just decide based on re accusations without proof.
"Then I’ll find other ways." Miss Sandford offered with a subtle yet regretful smile. "I’m sorry, Penny."
Penny’s heart felt warm at the sincerity of her teacher’s words. ’This is probably harder for her as the horoom teacher and also as an adult. Being powerless as an adult... sucks.’
After that, Penny went back to her room. At the sa ti she arrived, the school bell rang. Thus, everyone quickly cleaned up their desks and prepared to leave. As for Lily and Ginnie, they ran to Penny as soon as they saw her.
"Penny, is everything okay?" Lily asked worriedly. "Are you in trouble?"
Ginnie, on the other hand, just opened and closed her mouth but the words she wanted to say didn’t co out of her throat. Her concern, however, was written all over her face.
"I’m okay." Penny couldn’t help but chuckle at their worried faces. "Miss Sandford only reminds about the exams I need to take so I can move up without a problem."
Hearing this, the two girls sighed in relief.
"I thought it was about earlier," Lily patted her back. "If so, I was ready to tell Miss Sandford of the whole truth."
Approaching Penny today was simply to repay her for helping Lily out. However, she found Penny very easy to talk to and very fun. Thus, she lingered around her. Ginnie wasn’t also bad, unlike what she expected.
Ginnie also smiled in relief but said nothing.
Having said that, they cleaned their own tables and walked out of the building together. And just as expected, Ray was outside, waiting — holding two flowers in his hand with a happy grin on his face. The aura around him was light and almost glittering; he was truly blinding.
"Wait a second." Penny took off one of her bag’s straps and shoved her hand inside.
Ginnie and Lily looked at each other in confusion before setting their eyes back on Penny.
"Okay, I’m ready." Penny smiled and marched outside confidently.
"Penny!" Ray called as he rushed to her. "For you..."
Ray was about to offer the flower to her, only to stop when Penny suddenly pulled out sothing from her back. Deep lines appeared between his brows, staring at the little girl holding a holy cross in front of him with such a determined look.
Ray: "..."
The audience: "???"
For the next several seconds, everyone could only stare at Penny with a mixture of dismay and disbelief. Why was she holding that cross at Ray as if she was warding off an evil spirit?
"Bless you," Penny blurted out before she took a careful step, still holding the cross in Ray’s direction.
Ginnie and Lily could only follow their instinct despite the shock. At this point, the two girls were simply on autopilot because they were too mind-boggled at Penny’s reaction.
Until Penny was gone, everyone could only stare in the direction she went. She held that cross in Ray’s direction until they were gone. No one spoke a word to the point they could hear the wind humming and the leaves rolling on the concrete ground.
"How dare she...!" After so ti, a diehard Ray fan seethed with both jealousy and anger.
How dare that kid humiliate Ray for the third ti?! Although they would still get angry if Penny accepted Ray as her lover, they were also angry at her audacity. All the fan girls’ eyes burned, taking upon themselves that Penny would have to pay for this.
Looking at Ray, they felt heartbroken as he kept his head down.
"Oh, our poor Ray."
Soone was even weeping for him. "If only he looks at , I’ll love him with all my heart."
While these girls felt bad for him, Ray could only think about that fierce look on Penny while holding the holy cross at him.
"Haha!" Suddenly, he laughed out loud and cocked his head back. "Goodness! She’s hilarious! How cute!"
Unbothered by his fans’s delusional woes, Ray tossed the flowers and strutted away confidently. "Another day, another failure. Oh, well. I guess a rosary is better than flowers. Hahaha!"
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