Dinner With The Driscolls'
She clutches the permission slip like a lifeline.
Her fingers are scrunched and cramping, the skin turning a unnatural shade of white. Yet she refuses to separate herself from the paper, even though she's read and re-read it at least a dozen times. Mr. Harrington had a complete run though of the permission slip with the class, then Penny re-read it after he finished, then again near the end of the lesson. She then read it a few more times in her physics class, thankfully not being noticed by Mrs. Warren. She was lucky to have three opportunities to re-read the page in history. She of course had to look the paper over again at lunch, where she tallied in four reads. Then one in her woodshop class. And finally after the final bell by her locker.
Penny was a hundred percent sure she could recite the entire slip word for word without stumbling or missing a single line. That's how many times she'd meticulously read over each of the black printed sentences.
Getting permission to tour Stark Towers was a nearly impossible feat. Sure there were the obvious candidates like MIT students which made perfect sense considering Tony Stark, the owner of the building and company, graduated from that very institution. Plenty of Ivy league colleges were permitted to have a grand tour of the floors, but Ned informed her that Midtown was the first high school class that's ever been allowed to have a tour of the building.
Which was exciting, but also rather intimidating as well.
They were the test group. If they represented Midtown badly, Stark Industries will probably never allow another high school class, Midtown or otherwise, to ever tour the building again. Which puts Mr. Harrington's strict guidelines into perspective. Stark Industries is the largest tech conglomerate in the world and that meant professionalism and respectability.
Penny had watched the recorded speech Tony Stark had given to the students at MIT about the September Foundation. She been awe-struck when he'd announced that every student in the audience were approved for the grant and that all their projects were being funded by Stark Industries. She'd called Ned immediately and they'd spent at least two hours fanboy-ing, or fangirl-ing in her case, about it.
It was incredible.
Penny almost felt a touch of envy, which she'd quickly banished the feeling only to have an overwhelming amount of guilt. She felt properly chastised. Money couldn't buy happiness, no matter how much it might seem like it. Then again, she'd heard people say that only people without money said that sort of stuff.
At least those students had been smart enough to get in, Penny doubted she could even get accepted into MIT in the first place. Getting a scholarship to Midtown is not the same as getting accepted into such a private and elite university like MIT.
What would she even do with that money if she had it?
Probably not build something that would benefit the whole of society. More than likely she'd spend the money to help out Spider-Girl. To create stronger and more versatile synthetic webbing. Probably a much better suit that wasn't sown together from sweatpants and an old hoodie.
Those are not the sort of things that the September Foundation should be used for. If anyone of the students who received the grant created anything to benefit society, than they've proved themselves a thousand times more worthy of that grant than Penny would ever be.
The train pulls in a Penny's stop.
She grabs her backpack from her lap and pulls it over her shoulder as she makes her way through the doors, making sure not to hit any of the disembarking passengers. Penny makes her familiar walk to the Driscoll's, her eyes barely glancing at any of the apartment buildings surrounding her.
She missed Uncle Ben and Aunt May's apartment. She missed seeing Mr. Delmar regularly. He owned Delmar's Grocery-Deli and had the best sandwiches in Queens. Penny didn't have pocket money anymore. When Uncle Ben and Aunt May were alive they usually went there at least once a week, especially since Aunt May always burned nearly everything she attempted to cook.
That's why Uncle Ben usually did all the cooking before he'd been killed.
Penny steps soundlessly into the Driscoll's apartment, making sure not to let the door swing shut. Instead she closes it herself. When Penny fist came to the Driscoll's she was unware that the door was quite heavy and tended to slam and was given the riot act by Mr. Driscoll's. Apparently her stupidity was distracting him from his football game.
He grounded her for an entire week. No cell phone, no computer and no leaving the house other than for school. Which meant she couldn't see Ned. They let her out a few times to go to the bathroom and for meals, but aside from that she was practically in solitary confinement.
Peeking around the corner, she sees Mr. Driscoll passed out on the couch, TV blaring as some game is playing on the screen. Mrs. Driscoll's is no where to be seen. Penny knows that she must've gone to pick up Sadie and Augustus from school. They were the favorites.
Mrs. Driscoll always favors the younger children, boy or girl. So long as they are under the double digits they are dotted on by her. While Penny doesn't mind, as Sadie deserves to be taken care of, she is worried about what happens next June when Sadie turns ten.
The last thing Penny wants is for Sadie to be hurt when Mrs. Driscoll tosses her aside.
Their daughter passed away right before her tenth birthday.
Penny makes sure not to make any noise as she passes by Mr. Driscoll's sleeping form and makes her way up the staircase. The carpet on the landing is threadbare and flattened by the number of feet that have walked across it. The wallpaper is vintage and flowery, peeling up by the ceiling. Along the walls are old photographs which have given Penny the creeps ever since she moved in.
She rubs the goosebumps that've risen on her arms.
They are old family photos of the Driscoll's ancestors. The majority are in black and white and are the sort of thing she'd expect to find hung up in a museum. Penny avoids the soulless eyes of the photographs as she makes her way down the hall and into the last room on the right.
Her bedroom.
Penny closes the door and sighs, setting her backpack beside the doorframe. Her room wasn't anything to gush about, it was actually pretty small in fact. It had once been a storage closet, but was covered into a tiny bedroom. She was thankful for the window that had been added sometime during the conversion. It allowed her to sneak out at night to patrol the city.
She opens her backpack and gathers all her school work and places it on the small desk by her twin size bed. There's still quite a while until dinner and she would rather avoid speaking to the Driscoll's until then. Dinner was the only time where they were allowed to bring school related issues to their attention. Any other time would end up with severe punishments for wasting their time.
Penny decides to work on chemistry first.
...
Mrs. Driscoll calls them to dinner at seven.
The strong scent of garlic wafts through the air downstairs, only growing stronger once Penny steps into the kitchen. Mrs. Driscoll is already pulling the garlic bread from the oven, the spaghetti and sauce already in bowls on the large dinner table. It's an eight seater. At the end of the table, farthest from Penny and near the wall, sits Mr. Driscoll. It's the head seat, just as the end seat nearest to Penny is Mrs. Driscoll's.
Sadie is already seated to the right of the vacant seat. She's far too small for such a large seat, her feet dangle above the floor. She's always been pretty small for being nine. Her honey colored hair is pulled back in an intricate braid that could only be accomplished by Mrs. Driscoll. Her reaches her shoulder and the end it tied of with a lovely bright red ribbon. Her face is pudgy and cute with baby fat and her chubby cheeks are flushed pink.
"Penny!" Sadie exclaims enthusiastically, her blue eyes shinning as she stares at Penny.
"Hey, princess. How was school?" Penny asks, taking her seat across from Sadie and to the left of Mrs. Driscoll's empty spot.
Sadie begins telling her about her math class and how they're learning about fractions and how to round numbers. Penny smiles as Sadie goes on extensively about how hard it was and how she'd complained with her two friends during lunch and that they agreed with her.
Emily is seated next to Sadie. She's mouth words to herself, which must not be audible to everyone else but Penny can tell she's quoting lines from her upcoming play. Penny can see why they casted Emily in the lead role. Emily certainly looked a lot like Elizabeth Bennet was described in the book, having the same dark, expressive eyes.
The seat beside Penny is empty. It's Judy's seat.
She probably missed her train. That's usually what happened when she worked shifts after getting out of school, hopefully she'll get back soon. It's policy in the Driscoll's house that should anyone miss designated meal time, they're not allowed to have anything until the next one. Meaning Judy will have to go all night without eating until breakfast the following morning.
The front door opens, Penny knowing because she can hear the creaking hinges.
Judy steps into the kitchen, her heart pounding rapidly in her chest as if she'd just been running. Which she must have, she would've missed dinner if she walked. Her olive skin a flushed and loose strands of platinum hair stick to her sweaty skin. The rest is pulled back in a messy ponytail. Her hazel eyes a dim and red with exhaustion.
"S-sorry, Mrs. Driscoll," Judy huffs, trying to catch her breath. "I-I just got off and the train left just before I got there so I had to run here."
Mrs. Driscoll waves a hand apathetically as she brings the garlic bread over to the table.
"Just sit down already Judith," she said, sounding annoyed at being spoken to. "Let's get your plate made honeybun," her voice sweetens when her attention turns to Sadie. Mrs. Driscoll makes Sadie's place and then her own before handing the food to Penny.
Making her own plate, she hands it to Judy and down the table it goes until everyone has their plate made. Only then are they allowed to start eating.
"Thank you for the meal Mrs. Driscoll," the all say in unison before beginning their meal.
Penny doesn't participate in any of the conversations, but she does listen in. Augustus is seated directly to Mr. Driscoll's right and the two of them are discussing the latest football game. He's exactly as one would expect a jock to be, tall, big and broad-shouldered. He stood at an even 6'0" compared to her 5'7''. She also hears Augustus mentioning his upcoming away game.
Liam is seated across from Augustus and is pointedly ignoring Emily who's talking his ear off about the book her play is based on. He is tall and lanky, less muscular than Augustus. He has shaggy black hair. He has a nose ring and has a chain connected to his belt loops.
Judy is paying attention to Sadie who's talking a mile a minute to Mrs. Driscoll about her day at school.
It isn't until after dinner, once Penny and the other's have washed their dishes in the sink, that Mrs. Driscoll calls them into the living room.
"Is there anything I need to deal with involving school?" Mrs. Driscoll asks, nursing the cup of coffee she'd made while they were cleaning the kitchen.
One by one they list off anything until Penny is the only one left in the living room.
"My sciences class has been selected to take a field trip and I need my permission slip signed. If that's alright with you both?" Penny's voice is low and hesitant. The Driscoll's weren't as physically violent as her previous fosters, she still dreaded asking them for anything.
"When is this trip?" Mr. Driscoll asked, sounding like he didn't quite believe her.
"Friday, sir."
"And the school is taking care of your transport?" Mrs. Driscoll said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Fine," she said after a moment, not even seeming to care about where the trip was or why her class was chosen in the first place. "Bring it down to me and I'll sign it. I'm not giving you any money to waste on anything."
"Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Driscoll," she said, nodding to them both before going back upstairs to retrieve her permission slip.