That following Monday morning, Penelope sat at a bench, next to Lilly, Dan, and a lawyer, with Derek sitting on a bench behind them. A judge sat there, looking through a stack of documents, his eyes narrowed as he studied a set of photos that Lilly and Dan had provided, as well as a disc that contained surveillance footage from the incident at the mall on Saturday.
"Looking at this, Mrs. Filmore, we definitely have enough to grant a restraining order against the minor in question. The minor, in this case, shall also be brought forth on charges of sexual harassment and assault, given the evidence provided to the court and pending testing of the substance that was provided." He said, not trying to call out a name to what had been turned in.
"We understand, Your Honor."
"Additionally, this is going to be added to the case against Mrs. Marks, which currently has a trial date of August 3rd. Now, given that this is a simple hearing for a restraining order and Mrs. Marks is not present with her representation, I cannot take testimony of the case at hand. However, I will emphasize that the court has noted the incident, and the restraining order is hereby granted. The minor in question will be served immediately, and will not be allowed within 100 feet of Ms. Marks for the next six months. Any questions?"
"What about school?" Penelope asked Lilly.
Lilly whispered the question to her lawyer, who relayed it to the judge. "Ms. Marks, you are welcome to continue attending your current school if you'd like. Or, you may transfer. That is up for you and your guardians to decide, as your father's rights to custody have already been terminated." Penelope nodded. What now? She thought. She didn't know if she wanted to leave or stay in her current school. She was probably going to be bullied no matter where she went, so what did it matter?
The gavel dropped, and Penelope realized that the judge had just closed the case for the day. Lilly ushered her up, and they went back out and got into the family's SUV.
"What am I going to do about school?" Penelope asked as she clicked in her seatbelt next to Derek.
"Remember what I said about graduating early?" Derek said as they sat down. "I can set you up with some tutors, and you can finish early. Before the summer is up, even."
Penelope shook her head. "But if I do that, then they win. I can't keep running from everything that they throw at me. I juts can't!" She exclaimed. "Besides, I want to live a normal teenage life. I want to finish school. I want to go to my Senior homecoming. To my prom. I want to walk the stage with everyone else in my class. I want to have friends my age. And sleepovers. And go to the movies, and do all the things that girls my age always get to do that I've missed out on!" Tears streamed down her face. It wasn't fair. None of it was fair.
"Well we can't send you back to where you were going, Penelope." Dan chimed in. "I know that it is your choice at that point, but I don't want to see you get cornered by that boy and his friends. Especially not when it can be prevented."
"What if you moved to a different school? We're outside of your old school's zone, anyways. It would be a long drive to get you there in the morning. What if you went to the one that is within our zone? Or, if you want, there is a prep school nearby as well. Galilea Prep. It is for gifted students like you. I don't think it would be hard to get you in, given your academic record. Derek went there, too. You could graduate on time, enjoy all the things that you want to enjoy, and you could even get some of your basic college classes out of the way, too. What do you think?"
"I don't know." Penelope stared out the window. "A school like that isn't going to be free. You guys have already given me so much."
"Penelope, you are in our care, now. Its our duty to make sure you get the education you need."
"Yeah, but I won't be. My birthday is in just a few days. At that point…"
"Stop." Derek firmly commanded. "You are one of us, now. Whether you like it or not. You have a bright future ahead of you, Pennie. We want to make sure you are afforded every opportunity we can give you to secure it. Its seriously not a problem!"
"Yeah, but. You all work. I don't. I haven't been back to work since-" she trailed off, not wanting to mention what had happened to her.
"And its right there waiting for you if and when you are ready to start again, dear." Lilly spoke softly. "But whatever you make while you're there is for you and you alone. Nobody else. You don't have to provide for us. We already have everything that we need. You will never owe any debts to us, do you understand?"
Penelope swallowed. "Yes ma'am."
"Good. Now, lets turn to some more important matters. I do believe you mentioned something about a birthday in a few days…?"
Appreciative that the subject had changed, Penelope nodded. "Yeah…"
"Well what are we going to do about it?" Lilly playfully demanded.
"Um." Penelope stopped to think about what Lilly had just asked her. She thought back to when the last time she had actually celebrated her birthday was. At least, she tried. The earliest she could remember was a party with her mom and dad. She was dressed in a light pink princess outfit, wearing a crown while everyone had cake and cracked open a pinata. She couldn't even remember how old she had turned that year.
She was sure there were at least a couple more birthdays before her parents split, but she couldn't recall them. After her dad married The Witch, her birthdays had been nothing more than a cake, a few sets of thrifty clothes that were too baggy to fit, and maybe a few cleaning tools- if Penelope was lucky. Her dad sometimes got her something decent. A new sketchbook with some pens, markers, colored pencils. But that was about it. Now that Penelope had people surrounding her that actually wanted to celebrate her, how was she supposed to do it?
"Don't worry, we'll figure something out. There is still time." Lilly promised.
When Dan dropped Lilly and Penelope back off at the house, Derek stopped her before he moved up to the front passenger seat. "Think about it, Penelope. Ok? The school and your birthday. I want you to go where you feel safe. And I want you to feel special on your special day. Okay?"
"Okay. I'll think about it." Penelope promised. Deep down, she knew she wasn't going to have a choice but to change schools at the very least. In thinking about it, a fresh start would be nice. Maybe with a new school, she wouldn't be bullied. Or, maybe they would notice how shrewish she was and pick her apart on day one. Anything would be better than continuing to go to school with Greg and his goons, though.
She gave Derek a hug before he got back in the car. "I hope you have a nice day today." She smiled as he kissed her on the cheek.
"I will now that I got a hug from you." He grinned.
Penelope fought the urge to roll her eyes at him. She knew he was half teasing her, but she also knew that he meant it. They hadn't spent much time together since her release from the hospital, but she was growing even more fond of him.
Her daydreams were filled with thoughts of riding off with Derek into the sunset. He was her prince, and she was so grateful that he had saved her from The Witch. She knew, though, that he was caught up in his work, though. Even Princes couldn't attend to their Princesses day and night. At least, that's what she told herself. Still, she was grateful for the time she was able to have with Derek.
Would her daydreams end with them being together? She didn't know. She wasn't sure if she could live the lifestyle of a billionaire's wife. Not after seeing how Lilly had reacted to Dan being gone so much. Although it looked like a sacrifice that Lilly was willing to make, Penelope wondered how happy Lilly was with him being gone all the time.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Lilly asked as they walked through the front door.
Penelope pondered her thoughts before she decided to ask. "Lilly, whats it like staying at home all the time with Dan so busy with work?"
"Oh, well, I guess it has its ups and downs. Sometimes it can be taxing, but you get used to it after awhile. Dan always makes up for it by doing something special for me. Or we go on a special vacation. That's an interesting question. Why do you ask?"
"Um, I, Uh…" Penelope paused for a moment. "I was just wondering, I guess. You seemed a little sad the other day when he still had to go to work."
"Oh, that! Yes, sometimes I do get a little upset. Its not because I am lonely without Dan here. If that's what you're wondering. It's more that I hate to see him work himself so hard. And Derek, too. While I appreciate the effort that they put into everything that they do, I don't like to see them overworking themselves. It makes a wife and a mother worry." She admitted.
"I see. Is there… anything we can do to maybe help them relax when they get home after a long day?"
"Not really. I let them take the reigns and decide what they want to do. If they want to watch a movie, we watch a movie. If they want to be left alone, we leave them alone. There are plenty of things that we can do around the house to help us relax."
"What do you like to do to relax?"
"Me? Well my go to is the garden. And if I don't have anything to do in the garden, than I take out a horse and go for a swim."
'That sounds nice. Derek pointed out the stables to me, but I haven't been out there, yet." Penelope had practically forgotten about their existence. "I've never ridden a horse before. I can't imagine how freeing it must be to feel the wind blow through your hair as you gallop down a trail!" she exclaimed.
"Would you like to saddle up and go for a ride?" Lilly offered.
"Oh, no. No, no, no. Thank you." Penelope shook her head. "It sounds nice in my head. But… maybe another time." She smiled. Truth be told, the fantasy of riding a horse was amazing. The thought? Not so much. Knowing her luck, she'd probably fall off and get herself bucked. The fear of getting hurt on such a large beast was real, and Penelope wasn't sure if she wanted to see the latter come into fruition.
Instead, she decided to don one of her new swimsuits and go out to the pool. Swimming had become her favorite pastime, and she was perfectly fine with that. Life for Penelope had changed dramatically. It was so much that she was still struggling to process it all. She would continue to struggle with processing it all for awhile. So she was going to do what was familiar to her. She was going to do what was safe.
Swimming was safe.
Little did she know that Lilly had taken note of what she'd said. She smiled as she watched Penelope jump off the diving board. She had her own thoughts stirring through her head, and she was going to make sure that she did everything she could to help Penelope discover just what her ability to blossom was like.