Free Cherry Bomb by Leigh Wilder Page A

came down the table to dare Dana to eat a sandwich made of peanut butter, fried fish from the lunch line, and toothpaste. Dana did so readily, but Kenny was easily bored, and Penny must have been looking prettier than usual that day, because her hair tie had broken second period and she was wearing contacts. "Why do you sit all the way down here?" he asked her, and she shrugged. "Come sit over by me."
    No one questioned when he made everyone move down, and Jessica gave Penny a look with raised eyebrows. "Whoo! Look, it's Kenny and Penny!" Matt yelled, and she blushed. Kenny just put an arm around her and gave her shoulders a squeeze. "What are you doing this weekend?" he asked. And that was the start.
     
    Penny frowned as she opened the garment bag with her dress in it and hung it up in the closet. Jessica had friends that were much better off than she was, and had gone a-borrowing for her. The dress was a Christine Doi r and her shoes were Vera Wang . No one was willing to loan out any jewelry, but she had convincing fakes, and her bag was a Louis V u itton rip-off from a street vendor. She expected she could pass well enough as the sophisticated Manhattanite she was supposed to be.
    The dance wasn't until seven, and then Saturday there would be a barbeque at Harvest Park. She had some time to kill. Penny to ok a quick shower to freshen up after the long ride and put her hair back into a braid. She changed into a green top and skirt (not designer) and went off to find food.
    It was so strange, driving through a town she hadn't seen in five years, since her grandmother's funeral. Some of the houses were in pretty bad shape, some were gone. There was a new gas station on the corner of Fifth street and Main, but the Denny’s was still there across from Mike's Market, and it was packed with cars. It was the only place to hang out. Everyone went there. During their short and ill-fated courtship, she and Kenny preferred the right corner booth near the emergency exit.
    Penny swallowed down her nervousness and went into the building. She didn't recognize the flustered looking seating hostess. "We're pretty full up," she said. You might have to wait for a table--"
    "Hey guys!" a masculine voice called across the room. "It's Cherry Bomb!" Penny wanted to die right there. This was why Jessica didn’t want her to go. This was why she should have stayed home. "Hey Val, we've got a free space over here." The man speaking was Matt the Quarterback. He was the one that came up with the name .
    Penny tried to smile at the hostess and stepped into the dining room. All of the tables had been pushed together in long rows and about fifteen of her old classmates were sitting together. They were all staring at her expectantly, and she closed her eyes.
     
    She and Kenny had been going out for about a month when Homecoming rolled around. It was a big deal for some reason that she didn’t quite understand, but she didn’t mind getting to wear a pretty dress and afterwards there was a party at Jessica's place.
    Bumbling around in the grass with a bonfire and lots of beer was not exactly the most intelligent thing to do in a pink tulle Cinderella dress, so she urged Kenny to leave early. They took a couple beers with them and walked a few blocks to her Grandmothers' house. It was sitting empty and for sale since she'd had a stroke and was moved to a home, but Penny knew the key was taped up under the old grill on the back porch. Soon they were making out on the living room couch in the dark.
    "You brought me all the way over here," he told her as they kissed. "What are you going to do with me?"
    "I just didn’t want to catch my dress on fire," she told him as his hands felt her up through the front of her dress. Kenny was a handsy person, and it became rather a game, her intercepting his hands before they traveled somewhere inappropriate, and sometimes she would let them.
    She found herself on top of him as they kissed, his hands finding their way