What the Hell Happened!?

I was in pain.

Mostly from embarrassment, but also a little bit physical.

The embarrassment came from the fact I was standing in public, the physical pain came from Penny's forceful pokes into my arm as she berated me.

It's been a week since I was kicked out of the guild gym and suspended and the A-tier Dungeon Clearing party was back from a highly successful mission. As a result of that success, Hero's Stand has risen in national and global rankings.

Penny couldn't celebrate too much, however, since she quickly found out about my gym incident and was in front of the gym building waiting for me when I was on my way in for my appointment with the guild board.

She accentuated her disappointment and anger at my actions with a series of surprisingly powerful jabs into my arm as she lectured me. At first, it didn't hurt too bad, but after a short moment, it felt like her finger was made of steel.

"How. Can. You. Be. So. Stupid!?" she half-yelled, "What the hell happened!?"

I hadn't expected her to be there, and to be honest, I still didn't really understand why I acted the way I did.

Weakly and without conviction, I said, "He was…kinda mean."

The look that she gave me literally sent chills down my back.

"It's Darren! Of course, he's 'kinda mean'! He's a prick!"

My mouth was open as I racked my brain to think up a return, but I couldn't think of anything.

Penny sighed and crossed her arms. I was glad she decided to stop poking my arm. It throbbed as I rubbed it gingerly.

"What I don't understand is, why talk to you?" Penny thought out loud.

I know I had been antisocial since Dad died, and my anxiety prevented me from making too many friends…if any at all, but I tried to at least seem approachable and polite in public, so Penny's tone when she said, "Why talk to you?" hurt my feelings.

Penny seemed to notice the look of hurt on my face and quickly added, "Not that I don't think nobody would want to talk to you, it's just, why did he approach you specifically?"

"Oh, yeah…" I mumbled, "I kind of know why he did."

"Oh?" her eyebrow lifted as she waited for me to tell her the reason.

I rubbed the back of my neck uncomfortably, "I think he was a little bit jealous of me for some reason."

"Why's that?" Penny asked innocently.

I gave her a look that questioned how clueless she was. When it looked like she was genuinely asking, I grumbled, "It's a little bit awkward."

She was getting a little bit annoyed now, "Why?"

"Cause you were spending time with me…" I said. I felt my cheeks redden and avoided her eye contact.

"What? Why would he be jealous?" Penny said, "He knows that you and I were really close when we were children, and I was stoked to help you out with your exercising."

I shrugged and then checked the time on my phone, 12:35 pm, my appointment was in ten minutes.

"Look, I gotta go in —"

"I just can't think of a reason why he would approach you," Penny murmured to herself, "It's not like you guys have a lot in common — if anything!"

"Well—" I stopped myself when I realised that it was probably not my place to say anything, but it got her attention, and she insisted on knowing the answer.

"Well, what?" She asked, "Well, what?"

I sighed again, "He just got on my nerves, that's all."

"He got on your nerves, so you put him in a chokehold?" Penny half-scoffed. She was not impressed with my answer, "The sweet, kind, laid-back boy I used to know wouldn't have gotten violent over someone getting on his nerv—"

"But I'm not that boy any more, am I?" I blurted out angrily.

A strong awkwardness hung in the air as strangers who had been walking past at that time suddenly paused and stared over at where Penny and I stood, near the entrance of the building.

My outburst made Penny jolt in fright a little bit, and both she and I avoided the other's eyes.

"A lot of things have happened to me over the past months," I started to explain when I calmed down enough, "Let alone since we were kids and we hung out…

"It's been amazing to have Mum home and her cancer in remission. I— I never imagined that would have happened, you know? — I hoped! I hoped it would happen, but after so many years and so many treatments, you start to lose hope. Or at least, the credibility of that hope starts to disappear…"

Penny stood still. She knew there was nothing she could really say at this point, so she stayed quiet. I was very thankful for her silence.

"When she got home, and I was able to spend more time with her I realised that I didn't want to waste that time anymore," I continued, "After Dad died, I kinda shut myself off from everyone INCLUDING Mum, and I really regret it now.

"So, when you started to help me with workouts and self-defence and we started to hang out again like we used to when we were kids, it was really awesome, you know? It was like we were catching up on the time we — mostly me, I guess — lost. So, when that Darren guy started to talk shit to me, but most importantly, saying really gross things about you, I kinda overreacted, I guess. I felt like I should…"

I struggled to think of the right word to say, but nothing felt completely right, "…protect you? I guess it was kinda protecting-ish…"

Penny looked down at the ground as she processed what I said.

My throat suddenly went dry and I couldn't swallow down the bile that started to creep up my throat as my brain started to spiral in on itself.

Why did I say all that? That was so cringe, I can't believe that happened. I wish I could travel back in time and prevent that. Wait, I kinda do go back in time when I use my Prestige ability!

Quickly, a screen popped up in my vision just right of Penny that told me that I had not fulfilled all the requirements needed to activate the Prestige ability.

Damn it.

Finally, Penny said something.

"He was saying 'really gross' things about me?"

I groaned. I didn't want to relive what that Darren asshole said, but I conceded, "He was saying stuff like he was 'chatting you up' and that I was 'cock-blocking' him, or something like that."

Her nose scrunched up and she scowled, "Ew, really?"

Something finally clicked in her mind and she stopped scowling, "Oh…yeah, I see it now. He always tried to get me to go out and get a drink with him, but I'm always busy with guild stuff so I never take up his offers…"

She then scowled again and shook her head, "Ugh, yuck. Okay, yeah, that's pretty gross."

A massive weight off my shoulders lifted. Guessing from her reaction, I realised that I came to the right conclusion about the whole interaction and that it wasn't just something that my anxiety gaslit me into thinking.

"But you know," Penny said, now in a serious tone and glaring right at me, "You don't have to worry about protecting me or anything..."

She threw a jab at my arm that came and went too quickly before I could even react. It felt like it took almost a whole second later before my brain realised that she had punched me in the same spot as she had been poking at earlier and the pain receptors in my brain went wild.

"Ow!" I exclaimed as I instinctively rubbed my arm.

She grinned cheekily, "I'm pretty sure I can look after myself. Seems like you need more protecting than I do."

I stuttered as she walked past me towards the entrance. What just happened? I was so confused. It all happened so quickly.

"Eric!" Penny called out from behind me.

I turned around and saw that she was standing by the open automatic doors. One foot in the lobby, one foot out.

"Hurry up! You're gonna be late for the board meeting."

As soon as I took my first step, she turned around and walked into the guild building.

"Hang on!" I called out after her as I jogged in, "Are we good?"