Chapter 9, Part 2: Owen's POV

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I always thought high school was going to be my glory days- easy, free, and the best of my life. Yeah, I know what they say: those people who peak in high school always grow up to be next to nothing. Well, I totally disagree. If I could peak so early in life, surely I'd be even more successful in college and out in the real world. Not that any of that mattered now anyway, seeing as my high school career was going downhill faster than the Kingda Ka at Six Flags.

Penny just kind of shut down. After the whole "Suspension-Detention" fiasco blew over, I expected things to go completely back to normal, just like they always did. I expected we would get back to the regular school routine, going to classes ON TIME and eating dinner with our brothers every night. Life should have been simple.

But it wasn't. It never was.

I wasn't exactly sure what happened between Dana and Penny after he found out she knew all about the lunch detention. Okay, I knew what happened, but I didn't know what else happened to cause this zombie that my sister had become. She was definitely still Penny- snarky, fun-loving, social as she was. Not many would notice the difference in her. That was my job. I always knew when something was bothering her- this was just the first time I was unable to fix it, and that realization was driving me crazy.

She had stopped eating, more or less. Where she put the food, I wasn't sure; it just didn't wind up in her stomach. My sister wasn't starving herself, per say, but she had always been a vivacious eater. She never left the table without having seconds. Now, she barely even finished her firsts.

Her studies were going almost as downhill as my high school career. We'll set her at a downhill level of about the Texas Giant- still no good. Penny was similar to Dana in that she was always very organized, especially with her schoolwork. It wasn't like her to be getting worse grades than me.

Last but definitely not least, my little sis was never around anymore. Not at home, not at my soccer games, not even at family dinners. I had always thought those were a sure thing, something I had to look forward to at the end of a hard day. But somehow she had managed to avoid most of those evenings, leaving my brothers and I to scrape our forks around our plates and try to pretend someone wasn't missing. It never worked.

I'd like to say I used the free time I was granted by Penny's absence to improve my social life. Of course, I'd like to say a lot of things. Once again, I can't.

While Penny's newfound zombieness with our family allowed her to up her social life dramatically, mine went downhill. Like, El Toro downhill. Okay, enough with the roller coaster references. My life was collapsing around me, and there was nothing I could do about it.

Danny was pretty much the only one who put up with me. If he wasn't my best friend, I'm not sure he would have. I still talked to people, still joked around with them in the hallways. But it wasn't the same. Those friends who would show up at my dorm room at ungodly hours of the night, laughing or crying or even both, stopped coming around. They became one of those faces you only saw at school- not friends, but... acquaintances.

So, to sum this whole pity party up: my life sucked, Penny's life sucked at home and rocked at school, and both of us were secretly depressed. Simple, right? Hah.

~*~

The clock downstairs chimed four o'clock. I was home even before my brothers were. My homework lay untouched on my desk. Just because I'd become antisocial didn't mean I was going to turn into a total nerd. I'd do it later.

Penny, as usual, wasn't home. I wouldn't know where she was, nor did I care. She'd made it obvious she didn't need me anyways. My head was currently a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions, and I had no idea even where to begin; I needed a nap.

I wish that Penny would have just gone to that stupid lunch detention. I wish her and Dana could fucking fix whatever the hell was going on with them. I wish she could just get over it and be the Penny I knew so I could get on with my life. But NO. Everything is always about Perfect Penny.

So, my life was no longer comparable to the Kingda Ka. It may as well have been pushed off the edge of the Grand Canyon for how much it had downgraded since this afternoon.

Soccer was usually the one place I could push out all the shit in life and just be free. I could drill my foot into the ball as hard as I wanted, I could run until my lungs dried up, I could push myself until my legs turned to jelly. Without it, I would have gone zombie, too.

That afternoon, I had walked out onto the field, avoiding contact with my teammates as usual. Cooper was nowhere to be found, and I almost considered running a couple of laps around the track until he got here. At least then I would be doing something. On second thought- hell no. Even I'm not that crazy!

Instead, I grabbed a ball and headed out onto the empty field. Nobody offered to kick with me as they would have done a few weeks ago. Things had definitely changed.

I drove my foot into the ball, sending it sailing towards the goal. It felt good to take my frustrations out on this defenseless ball; better it than someone's head! I reared back to kick another one, and went at it with all I had. The soccer ball predictably flew right over the goal. "Great," I muttered dejectedly, walking off the field and around the back of the goal. The sun shone brightly, and reflected off someone's hair.

Wait. That someone was very familiar. Penny. This wouldn't have been a big deal, except that my sister was wearing a team jersey. A girls' team jersey. From the girls' SOCCER TEAM! WHAT THE HELL?!

I stormed over to where Penny was, shoving through the players gathered like a raging linebacker. Maybe I should have tried out for football this year; then this whole situation could have been avoided.

I grabbed my sister's shoulder, whirling her around so fast her loose hair whipped around her, temporarily shielding her face from my angry gaze.

"What the hell, Penny?" I snapped at the same time she exclaimed, "What the hell, Owen?" I quickly got the upper hand of this conversation.

"What the hell is this? Why are you wearing a uniform? You did NOT join the soccer team!" I seethed, spewing spittle in her face.

She scrunched her nose in disgust and roughly pushed me back, putting her hands on her hips defiantly. "Yes, I did," she answered, sarcasm practically dripping off her tongue.

"WHY?!?" I all but shrieked, throwing my hands in the air. "This is my thing," I growled, shoving my pointer finger in her chest. "You can't just have everything you want, Penny!"

Her eyes glinted menacingly, and I knew then my sister was a force to be reckoned with.

Her pointer finger came right back into my chest, just as hard. "I didn't take anything from you, Owen! Why in the hell are you having a tantrum over me joining something that I WANTED to do? This isn't even about you, so just get the hell away from me!" Her voice had gone several octaves higher with each declaration.

I balled my hands into fists at my sides, resisting the urge to punch the thing nearest to me. That, however, was my sister, and I would NEVER resort to that- no matter how angry I was.

"This is my fucking thing! Can't I have one damn thing without you pulling this shit? You get better grades, you're more popular, you're the youngest, you're the only girl! What more could you fucking want?" I yelled, barely resisting the urge to stomp my foot like a toddler. A crowd of spectators had formed around us, but I didn't care one bit at that moment.

Perhaps I was overreacting. No, scratch that. I KNEW I was overreacting. However, my reaction wasn't completely unjustified. What I had pointed out was more or less true. Soccer was my thing. The only thing I had, really. The only thing I was actually good at.

Penny reared up on her tip toes so our gazes could be level. "I want you out of my life, that's what I want! I wish you weren't my fucking brother!" She screamed, tears pooling in her eyes.

I stepped back, hurt, but trying to hide it. My mouth gaped open, lips forming words that wouldn't come out, leaving me looking like a fish out of water. It was at that moment that Cooper chose to interfere.

My brother hauled through the crowd almost as efficiently as I had done. Hell, maybe he should have been the football coach, too.

"WHAT is going on here, exactly?" he demanded, standing between his two younger siblings. I avoided his gaze, instead looking sullenly at the ground. Penny, of course, was more than happy to answer.

"Owen is freaking out just because I joined soccer. He thinks he gets to decide what I do now," her voice was so calm- it amazed me. I wouldn't have even been able to get two words out without cursing my brother into oblivion. Cooper sighed, turning to face me completely.

"Seriously, Owen? I don't even have the time or patience to deal with this right now..." he muttered, used to my antics when I got worked up.

"Why are you taking her side?" I exclaimed, pointing accusingly at my little sister. "She just wants to get all the attention!"

"I do not!" Penny argued, but Cooper put a hand up to stop her.

"Owen, this is ridiculous. If you can't act your age and stop this temper tantrum, then go change out and go home." Cooper's voice had taken on a condescending tone.

"Fine, I'll go change out. In fact, I'll just clean out my locker. I quit!"

I ran off the field too fast for Cooper to catch me.

The clock downstairs chimed four o' clock. I was home even before my brothers were. This was sad.

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