The Emo Girl

Ash Extras: Part 7

I went walking around town. It felt good to walk around as myself instead of in disguise. The day was cold so I wore my sweater. My favourite pink hoodie.
My parents had already gone back to work and I was kinda bored. They wouldn't really mind as long as I don't go too far from home and come home early.
I walked around, thinking about my life at school. I mean, my fake life. I was kinda happy that Penelope had something in common with me. But I think I kinda creeped her out. Should I tell her the truth? I think I should. I really want to be her friend. I think I'll apologise to her first thing on Monday.
I decided to go to the cafe to get a nice hot cup of hot cocoa. It was my favourite cafe and also it was pretty nearby.
There was a traffic light and zebra crossing in front of the cafe. The light had turned green for pedestrians and red for vehicles.
Someone was about to cross the road. They were holding a few shopping bags and were about to cross the road. But then I noticed that a bus was speeding towards the traffic light and the person was already gonna step on the road! Oh no!
I ran to them and pulled them back by their shoulder just in time to stop them from getting ran over by that bus.
They gasped and I think it was a girl. I couldn't really tell because she was wearing a hoodie, with the hood and I only saw her back.
"Hey are you okay?" I asked.
She turned around and I was shocked. It was Penelope! I just saved her life!
"Hey thanks for saving me back there," she said gratefully. "That bus would have ran me over!"
Wait... she doesn't recognise who I am? Well...
"P-Penelope?" Was all I managed to say.
She definitely didn't recognise me. She looked confused when I knew her name.
"I'm sorry, but do I know you?" Penelope asked. "I don't think I've seen you before..."
Yep she definitely doesn't recognise me.
"Hmm..." I said. "You don't recognise me, do you?"
She shook her head. Wow... guess my disguise was good.
"Who are you?" Penelope asked. "How do you know me?"
I feel like I should tell her. This is my chance to tell her. God gave me this chance and I should take it.
"Fine I'll tell you," I said. "I'm Ash."
She looked so shocked. Face just screamed 'WAIT WHAT?!'
She looked at me from top to bottom as if she was scanning me.
"I don't believe you," she finally said. "I know perfectly well what Ash looks like."
Wow she thinks she knows perfectly well what I look like when she doesn't recognise me when I'm right in front of her. Also, we were in the middle of the streets and people were looking at us weirdly...
"Can we- can we talk somewhere else?" I asked. "We're literally in the middle of the streets."
She realised and nodded. We both entered the cafe. We sat down at a table and ordered some drinks. The waitress left and this girl immediately started bombarding me with questions.
"If your really are Ash, then why are you so emo at school when you're not?" Penelope asked, eyeing me suspiciously. "Prove it to me that you really are Ash."
Looks like I have to actually show her that it's me. It's like I have to show her proof that I'm not an imposter. Like that actually feels really weird, as if I was some princess that was replaced by an imposter and I have to show that it really is me when I return...
I sighed and untied my hair. I styled my hair like how I usually did when I go to school. I took my glasses off and wore the face mask that I had in my pocket.. It's a good thing that I left an extra in my hoodie pocket.
As soon as I did that. Penelope stared at me, wide-eyed and wide-mouthed.
"Ash?" She finally said. "But why?"
I had to explain the whole story to her. Well, I exaggerated it a little more just for fun. I made it look like I was an actual detective like Nancy Drew or something. I bet she feels like a spy sidekick now too.
I also explained to her the reason I'm spying on Daniel over our drinks. It actually felt good to sit with a friend in a coffee shop, sipping hot cocoa with a friend.
She praised me for my disguise and finally understood my weird actions. I'm finally free and I can be myself with her. Not pretending to be someone I'm not. Also, it's gonna be easier with someone to cover for you when you need to...
When she told me that most of our classmates were afraid of me, including the bullies, I seriously cracked up. I started laughing so hard that I almost knocked over my hot cocoa! It's a good thing I caught it just in time and put it on another part of the table.
I also claimed that even I was afraid of my emo persona sometimes.
"Alright then," Penelope said, getting up after finishing her drink. "I have to go home now."
Aww already? I was just beginning to have fun! I mean come on, she's my first friend in this town! I also had nothing to do for the day and I found it better to hang out with Penelope than to just sit at home and... rot.
"Can I come too?" I asked. "My parents aren't home yet, and I have nothing to do."
"Sure I guess," Penelope said after a thought. "Come on, my home isn't far off."
Yay! This is kinda the first time I'm visiting a friend's place, especially in this town. I followed her home an she was carrying a lot of stuff. I helped her to bring a few bags for her.
We went to her place and it was a nice house with a beautiful garden and a large tree in front of it. Her house was the greenest in the street. You could easily spot the house even if you're standing on the next block!
We entered and crashed on the living room couch. We talked a bit before going up to her room.
Her room was so pretty and pink. The walls were pink and red and she had a nice study desk with a laptop on it. There was a tablet with a pink casing in front of it, with a Bluetooth keyboard and a boombox next to her. Her bed was pretty too. I liked her bedsheet design.
I sat on her sofa while she took out her tablet and sat on her bed with the the Bluetooth keyboard.
I went to see what she was doing. She was opening Wattpad and was reading her notifications.
"You have Wattpad too?" I asked, looking at her tablet. "That's what I've been reading the whole time! This one writer is really good. Her username is Poppythebest."
She looked kinda surprised and started tapping something on her tablet.
"So you're the mystery reader, huh?" Penelope said, showing meg her profile. "I'm Poppythebest."
No way! No wonder she was good at writing English essays! She was an amateur writer! Wow I never thought she'd have such talent in her...
I was really surprised and I just stared at her open mouthed. It was really surprising to find that she was the writer of the books I loved on Wattpad. Well, it's a small world, isn't it?