Forever and Always ✔️

Chapter twenty - Penelope.

"You cancelled therapy?" My dad yelled as the rain continued to pour and patter on the living room window.

"Yeah." I said bluntly, chatting on my phone through Facebook Messenger.

"Why on earth would you do that? Dr. Reed said you're not ready!" He yelled, making me jump.

"Dr. Reed is the mother of one of my friends." I said, hoping he would believe me.

"Which friend? I didn't know you had any friends. You never tell me anything, Penelope!"

I sighed, looking up from my phone. "His name is Zack Adams."

Dad grunted in an annoyed tone. "Well, you could have changed therapist! You didn't have to cancel it completely."

He was right. But who wanted to admit that they're right?

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "I'm doing fine, can't you see? I don't need therapy anymore, I'm cured!" I laughed, making a joke out of it.

Dad crossed his arms angrily, not finding it funny at all. I stopped laughing and stared blankly at him. "Are you really fine, Penelope? No mental breakdowns? No cravings for a drink? No hunting for parties to crash?"

Okay, maybe I was not totally okay but, I was getting there.

I remembered the night behind the diner where I completely lost it. Again. And Zack Adams witnessed it. I was surprised he didn't run a mile. "Nothing like that." I lied, hoping he would fall for it. He had before, what was to say he wouldn't again?

He nodded. "Okay but, I'm still finding you a therapist and I don't care what you say."

I wanted to yell that I didn't want to have a therapist but I had no choice. "Fine," I said as I got a phone call, "gotta take this, it's Maddie."

I raced upstairs and answered the phone, it was the holidays soon and I was hoping I could see her. "Hey, Penelope!"

"Hi, yourself. How are you?" I asked, shutting my bedroom door.

"Great! Turns out, I can come up to Miami and I'm bringing my boyfriend. You remember Austin?" She said and I could hear the excitement in her voice.

I heard chuckling in the background. "Hi, Penelope!" I heard Austin's voice in the background.

"I'm glad, you can stay in the spare bedroom." I offered with a smile. Finally, some of my old life coming back to me.

"Yay!" She exclaimed. "We're coming next week."

I was surprised by how soon they were coming and I couldn't wait. "Great, I'll see you then."

She laughed and replied with an 'okay' and then hung up. I fell back on my bed with a small smile. I hadn't seen Maddison since I left and it would be nice to catch up. Maybe she would meet Molly or even Zack.

Wait, why was I even thinking about Zack? One word: girlfriend.

I sighed, getting up and running downstairs where my father was sitting. "Maddison is coming next week, can she and her boyfriend stay here?"

Dad sighed and looked over at me. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Oh, come on!" I said, annoyed. "She's from my old life, dad and you took that away from me when we moved."

He cleared his throat and in an instant, he nodded. "Fine but, if anything happens while they are here then I'll be sending them someplace else."

"Thank you!" I smiled, giving him a huge hug and running back to my bedroom.