Chapter Text
Of course, they weren’t there.
Penelope Featherington walked into her 5th period class, “Law, The Individual and The Society”, and noticed the area where she and her friends, Michael and John Stirling, normally sat was completely empty. Michael and John were brothers. Michael was in the same year as Penelope and John was one year older, but anyone could easily mistake them for twins considering how much they looked alike and the fact that they did everything together. Like skipping class, or school, which is obviously what they were doing today.
It wasn’t like Penelope would’ve gone with them, she had missed too much school earlier in the year and couldn’t afford to miss any more. It just would’ve been nice to know they weren’t going to be there so she could mentally prepare to sit by herself.
“Some friends they are,” Penelope mumbled under her breath and walked to her normal desk in the back of the classroom. Honestly the word friend was not the proper way to describe her relationship with brothers. The space that existed between acquaintance and friend was where the three were firmly planted.
Penelope had known the Stirling brothers for at least 5 years. Although she and Michael were the same age they didn’t hang out in the same circles. Penelope was on the debate and archery teams. Michael and John played goalie and winger for the football team, respectively and were in the drama club. So, while the three knew each other from years of being in the same schools and overlapping classes they didn’t spend time together outside the bubble of academia. They were close enough, however, to decide to sit next to each other when they realized they would share this class for the semester.
Five minutes before class was set to start Penelope was shocked to see Colin Bridgerton make his way into the room. He took his usual seat, directly in front of her, and nodded slightly in acknowledgement of her presence.
Colin and Penelope were not friends, but in a different way than her not friendships with Michael and John. She and Colin were more like acquaintances by proxy. He was the same year as John and if it wasn’t for this class Penelope is sure they likely never would have spoken. The only reason they do now, however brief, was because John and Michael were his teammates.
Penelope, like most people in school, knew of Colin even before they shared the class. He was arguably the most popular guy in school, and he was the star of the football team. Word on the street was that he wanted to complete university before he joined a professional team, but any club would have him right after graduation if they could. She figured he would also be skipping with the brothers, but he also must not have gotten the memo.
Penelope watched as Colin took his notebook from his backpack then flicked his wrist to check the time on his watch. He lifted his head and looked around. When his eyes stopped on Penelope he asked, “‘The Brothers Dim’ not coming today?”
“I’m going to assume not,” Penelope answered with a slight laugh. “Not that they told me before they decided to skip.”
“Me either,” Colin scoffed. “Would’ve been nice to get an invite or at least a heads up.”
“Agreed.”
Colin turned back to his backpack and rooted around for a few seconds before he faced Penelope again and asked, “got a pen I can borrow?”
“Yeah, here you go,” Penelope handed the pen she was holding before then reached into the front of her own backpack to grab another.
“Thanks,” Colin said before he turned back to the front of the room.
“Don’t mention it,” She replied with a shake of her head.
The sounds of their classmates’ various conversations filled the comfortable silence between them. At the top of the hour the bell rang, and their teacher Mr. Marks rose from behind his desk to start the lesson.