Free Penelope by Rebecca Harrington

Jason started whispering very animatedly to Glasses.
    “Hi, everyone,” said Ted, and sat down at the table. The whispering ceased abruptly.
    “What are you guys doing here?” said Nikil. “I thought you had chorus practice or something.”
    “We messed up the time,” said Ted.
    Jason giggled.
    “Oh, man,” said Jason.
    “You should have texted us,” said Nikil.
    “Why?” asked Ted.
    “Catherine is with us,” said Nikil. He cleared his throat. “She’s getting a waffle.”
    “That’s fine,” said Ted in a clipped tone.
    “That’s fine?” said Nikil.
    “That’s awkward!” yelled Jason. This made Glasses start laughing.
    “It’s fine,” said Ted. “I’m going to get food.”
    “Me too,” said Penelope.
    Penelope ran after Ted.
    “Let’s not get waffles,” said Ted. “They take too long.”
    “OK,” said Penelope. They entered the servery as far away as possible from the waffle line.
    Penelope helped herself to two large servings of corned beef hash. Then she said, “Those guys are acting kind of funny, huh?”
    “I guess,” said Ted.
    “OK, maybe they aren’t,” said Penelope.
    They went back to the table. Catherine had just arrived from getting her waffle. She was wearing see-through striped pajama pants, pink furry slippers, a zip-up Harvard sweatshirt, and a lime-green spaghetti-strap tank top without a bra.
    “Hey,” said Catherine in a soft, tremulous way. Ted started eating his cereal quickly.
    A painful awkwardness overawed the table.
    “Hey!” said Penelope, who had been looking at Catherine’s waffle. “I didn’t know the waffle irons here had the Harvard coat of arms on them.” Catherine’s waffle was much like a normal Belgian waffle, except there was a large divot in the middle where syrup and butter were collecting. Embossed in the divot was the Harvard motto, “Veritas,” emblazoned in a shield.
    “Oh, yeah,” said Catherine. “All the waffles have the Harvard coat of arms on them. I think it’s so cute!”
    “But does it ruin the waffle-eating experience?” asked Penelope.
    No one said anything to this. Ted ate his Marshmallow Mateys with a stricken look. Jason and Glasses started whispering to each other again. Penelope looked up at the face of James Russell Lowell and resolved to read his biography, if he had one.
    “I’m gonna go,” said Ted. He got up from the table. Penelope had never seen anyone eat cereal that quickly. She hadn’t even started on her second lump of corned beef hash. By the time she finished this thought, Ted had already bused his tray.
    “Me too,” said Nikil, who also stood up. “I have so much work to do it’s ridiculous. I’ll probably be working for the rest of my life.”
    “What do you have to do?” asked Penelope.
    “I have a paper I need to get a head start on. It’s due in four weeks,” said Nikil. “And I have to prepare for class. You can’t go to class unprepared.”
    “Well, you can,” said Penelope.
    “No, you can’t,” snapped Nikil. He turned on his heel and walked away.
    Glasses and Jason stood up hazily, as if unsure of what to do.
    “Well,” said Glasses, “I guess we better be going too.” Glasses glanced absentmindedly at Penelope. She wondered if he remembered that yesterday he had kissed her and vomited on her shoes. It seemed like he didn’t.
    “Yeah,” said Jason.
    “OK,” said Penelope.
    And with that he and Glasses walked away. This left Penelopeand Catherine sitting across from each other. Penelope ate more corned beef hash.
    “Those boys are so cute, aren’t they?” said Catherine.
    “Hmm?” said Penelope.
    “I love all those guys,” said Catherine. “They are hilarious.”
    “Ha ha ha,” said Penelope.
    “Still,” continued Catherine, drumming her fingers on the table impatiently, her eyes flitting around the room like moths, “it’s nice to have girl time. I need to hang out with girls more. I never hang out with girls.”
    “They are dumb,” said