Willow Academy (Spanking Story)

Chapter 9, Part 2: Owen's POV

I always thought high school was going to be my glory days- easy, free, and the best of my life. Yeah, I know what they say: those people who peak in high school always grow up to be next to nothing. Well, I totally disagree. If I could peak so early in life, surely I'd be even more successful in college and out in the real world. Not that any of that mattered now anyway, seeing as my high school career was going downhill faster than the Kingda Ka at Six Flags.

Penny just kind of shut down. After the whole "Suspension-Detention" fiasco blew over, I expected things to go completely back to normal, just like they always did. I expected we would get back to the regular school routine, going to classes ON TIME and eating dinner with our brothers every night. Life should have been simple.

But it wasn't. It never was.

I wasn't exactly sure what happened between Dana and Penny after he found out she knew all about the lunch detention. Okay, I knew what happened, but I didn't know what else happened to cause this zombie that my sister had become. She was definitely still Penny- snarky, fun-loving, social as she was. Not many would notice the difference in her. That was my job. I always knew when something was bothering her- this was just the first time I was unable to fix it, and that realization was driving me crazy.

She had stopped eating, more or less. Where she put the food, I wasn't sure; it just didn't wind up in her stomach. My sister wasn't starving herself, per say, but she had always been a vivacious eater. She never left the table without having seconds. Now, she barely even finished her firsts.

Her studies were going almost as downhill as my high school career. We'll set her at a downhill level of about the Texas Giant- still no good. Penny was similar to Dana in that she was always very organized, especially with her schoolwork. It wasn't like her to be getting worse grades than me.

Last but definitely not least, my little sis was never around anymore. Not at home, not at my soccer games, not even at family dinners. I had always thought those were a sure thing, something I had to look forward to at the end of a hard day. But somehow she had managed to avoid most of those evenings, leaving my brothers and I to scrape our forks around our plates and try to pretend someone wasn't missing. It never worked.

I'd like to say I used the free time I was granted by Penny's absence to improve my social life. Of course, I'd like to say a lot of things. Once again, I can't.

While Penny's newfound zombieness with our family allowed her to up her social life dramatically, mine went downhill. Like, El Toro downhill. Okay, enough with the roller coaster references. My life was collapsing around me, and there was nothing I could do about it.

Danny was pretty much the only one who put up with me. If he wasn't my best friend, I'm not sure he would have. I still talked to people, still joked around with them in the hallways. But it wasn't the same. Those friends who would show up at my dorm room at ungodly hours of the night, laughing or crying or even both, stopped coming around. They became one of those faces you only saw at school- not friends, but... acquaintances.

So, to sum this whole pity party up: my life sucked, Penny's life sucked at home and rocked at school, and both of us were secretly depressed. Simple, right? Hah.

~*~

The clock downstairs chimed four o'clock. I was home even before my brothers were. My homework lay untouched on my desk. Just because I'd become antisocial didn't mean I was going to turn into a total nerd. I'd do it later.

Penny, as usual, wasn't home. I wouldn't know where she was, nor did I care. She'd made it obvious she didn't need me anyways. My head was currently a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions, and I had no idea even where to begin; I needed a nap.