There was a sharp knocking sound at my door and a soft click, as it opened. In came my older sister Midnight, undoubtedly here to wake me up. I got out of bed before she had a chance to include me in her ‘slightly wet’ waking-up routine. Midnight was wearing her ‘safety glasses’ which made all things colorful appear in shades of black and gray. She was dressed in a short sleeve, body-hugging crop top, along with some black leggings and some high-heeled boots. She also had on her black lipstick and was holding her black school bag. Midnight was the ultimate goth. Anyway, the moment she saw me out of bed, wide awake, she muttered a quick “morning” and walked out.

I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and got dressed in my previously pressed outfit. It was a long-sleeved, bright pink baggy top, along with some loose denim jeans and pastel pink glasses. I also had on some slightly high heels, glittery and pink. I put on my signature ‘hot pink lipstick and grabbed my matching school bag. I went downstairs to eat my breakfast, noting that there were only 15 minutes until the bus arrived. I made a quick breakfast of cereal and milk and gobbled it down, all in 8 minutes 39 seconds. I had about 7 minutes left, so I ran out the door to the nearest bus stop. As if on cue, my bus pulled up. I climbed in and tried to find a seat.

The stench was horrible. I was lucky if I didn’t get hit by a paper plane every few seconds. It seemed that goths and girly girls (known as bunnies, as I later found out) were completely separate. The goths got the best seats, while us bunnies were stuck with the ones someone had probably puked on. I finally found a clean enough seat for me to sit on.

We finally reached school. It was nothing like the pictures. The pictures showed a firm white building with a perfectly mowed garden and a small stadium. In reality, it looked more like a dump. Its walls were crumbling, and the grass was overgrown. It was in immediate need of repair. The sign said Dvnewod Hig instead of Divinewood High. It’s got to be better on the inside, right? Wrong. The inside was just as bad. With locker doors broken, and that horrible stench was still lingering. The goths were spread out over the corridor, while us bunnies were walking in crowds on tiptoe I dumped my books in my locker and got to class. I was made to sit in the back next to another girl, a bunny, named Emma. She was really good-looking, but she always tried to hide her face. When I asked her why she said it was because she didn't want anybody to see her.

In between classes, I was pushed and squashed, just to make space for goth ‘King’ Wayne and his ‘trusty sidekick’ Abby. Abby looked like she didn’t take any nonsense from anybody, especially Wayne. Abby struck me as BFF material, but that would not happen. She was a goth, me a bunny.

When I got home, I decided I couldn’t live with not being popular. I went to midnight and told her the situation. She usually wasn’t a listener, but she patiently heard what I had to say and helped me turn gothic. She showed me how to walk, talk, do my makeup, dress, and behave. She let me borrow some of her outfits and accessories. The next day, I tried to remember everything midnight taught me. “Here goes my 2nd day at Divinewood High,” I murmured.

As I walked into school, everybody stared. At first I thought I did something wrong or blew my cover. Then I realized that Abby, the most popular goth in the entire school, strolled over and didn’t even bother to turn her head to say, “Walk with me.” That was the moment that I knew I was going to be popular in 9th grade. At lunch I sat with all of the goths, and not one of them realized I used to be a bunny. I was so relieved that nobody thought anything different of me, and I finally fit in. I finally had friends.

When the final bell rang, I met Abby out in the courtyard and we exchanged phone numbers. I was about to leave, when she handed me a folded piece of paper.

“Meet me here, follow the directions, and be on time.”

I got on the bus and sat in the closest empty, and clean, spot I could find. Just because I’m a goth now, doesn’t mean that I don’t like sitting next to spilled milk. As I opened the piece of paper, I wondered what I would find inside. A hidden message that needs to be decoded? I just met her, why would she want me to decode something this early on in our friendship? A few more ideas popped into my head before I actually read, but they were all unlikely. I finally decided to read the piece of paper that ended up being a poster for a peace walk. Something about a peace walk in Omaha Square next Saturday at 1:00 pm.

I woke up on Saturday, ready to walk a lot and not really knowing what I was in for. For the peace walk, I wore a black crop top with a dark grey cropped sweater over. I pulled on my tights and skirt, accessorized, and finished with makeup and Converse.

When I got to Omaha Square, there were bunnies and goths and everything in between as far as the eye could see. I called Abby because I couldn’t spot her in the mob of people.

“Hey, what’s up?” She answered.

“Oh, hi. I just got here. I’m by the water fountain, on the dog park side. Is there somewhere where I should go, or are you going to find me?”

“I was thinking that we should meet at the souvenir stand, I wanna show you something.”

When I got to the souvenir stand, I saw Abby in a WW|| bomber jacket over an olive green t-shirt, with black ripped jeans, and her signature Abby gum and Converse. The bomber jacket and green shirt struck me as odd, because she was used to wearing a black leather jacket and crop top. I waved those thoughts out of my head so I could focus on building a friendship. She pointed jazz hands toward the stand. I looked in awe at all of the pins, posters, sweatshirts, t-shirts, it went on forever.

“I left everything at home, not knowing what to expect. So I don't have any money.” I told her.

“It’s ok, I always bring some with me whenever I go to one of these.” Abby stated as she bought 2 pins.

“So, you go to these often?”

“Every week or so, yeah. They’re a lot more fun than you’d think. You get to meet new people, make new friends, and even share some things that you didn’t even know you had. Y’know that I know you used to be a bunny, right?”

Now that caught me off guard. I had no words and I started to stutter.

“It’s ok, I don’t mind bunnies. I used to be a bunny myself even, before you moved of course. Wayne, never used to be a goth either.” I shifted my astonishment to one of more calm. “We all are just trying to fit in. I saw you eyeing my jacket, I don’t mind, though. That is why I brought you as soon as I knew that I had gained your trust. To learn from these people.”

I saw Abby chatting with another girl I couldn’t see. Abby saw me. She smiled a big, happy smile and shouted out “Here!” And then it happened, The other girl turned, trying to locate who Abby was looking at. And she saw me. Her cheeks turned a beautiful shade of red. Our eyes connected. I walked over to them, grinning like a maniac.

“Wayne,” I said to her, extending my hand, “Wayne Dobbinson.”

‘Penny”, She said, taking it, “Penny Vega”

She had a way of talking, where she looked me right in the eye like she was daring me, so I kept looking her in the eye too, like I was daring her right back. “Love your outfit,” she said. I was wearing an ideal boy outfit. Some sneakers, jeans, a denim jacket, and a basic white shirt. “Merci,” I said. ”Ooh French,” she replied, teasingly. She didn’t stutter when she spoke to me as all other girls did. Maybe that’s why I fell for her. Or maybe, it was how good-looking she was, or her calm composed manner. Or it could have just been everything else about her.

After the walk, Abby and Penny came over to my place since my mom was out. See, many years ago, my parents got divorced. After the divorce, for a bit, I spent half the week at my father's and the other half at my mother's. I have an older half-brother who barely knows I exist. For as long as I can remember, I feel like my parents could hardly wait for me to be old enough to take care of myself. I had a girlfriend a few years ago, but it didn’t really work out. I met Abby some months ago, right when we started high school. We both became goths at about the same time, and have been super popular ever since.

Anyway, the three of us sat down to watch a movie, Penny, for some reason sat down with a sketchbook. Whenever a beautiful item of clothing came up, she furiously draw in her book. At the end of the movie, she showed us her drawings. She had drawn a dude who looked too much like me to be a coincidence. I pointed to the drawing and said “Wow, he’s a hottie. She looked at me like Oh please and said “Shocking you think so.”

After the movie, we played a quiz game. Somehow, Penny knew everything bunnies would know, but she barely knew gothic stuff. I thought that was suspicious, but I ignored the feeling at the back of my head. After a while, Abby said she had to go, looking at Penny like You can thank me later. Penny looked her back like I’m not ready yet! Abby rolled her eyes and asked us to come with her to the park for a bit.

We went to the park and chatted, while Penny tried to draw the 3 of us. When she was done, Abby asked her to make copies for both of us, and ran off yelling “I’m Late!”. Penny Invited me to her house, and we walked all the way there. Pennys’ parents were so welcoming, I felt at home instantly. We went up to her room, and when she opened the door, My eyes grew wide. “Penny” was all I could muster.

“I get it. It might be very surprising that all of this is pink and bunnyish, but the truth is-” I cut her off before she could say anything more.

“You're a Bunny.” I said in disbelief. I wove my fingers around each other and pulled my hair back. I was in pure awe.

“You aren’t mad?” Penny looked confused, and utterly confused at that.

“Why would I? This is so cool! I’ve always wanted to try some of this stuff on, but I was always too scared to ask my mom.” I started with a pink feathered boa, and flung it around my neck. I felt secure and comfortable since … since I could ever remember.

Penny let me try on a few things, but she told me that I couldn’t wear some of the other stuff because “You are so big and will rip it all.” I tried on a few more boas, a fedora, and a tutu. It felt GREAT.

We had a good laugh and then I got a text from my mom saying I had to go home, so I wished Penny a good bye. I walked through the park because my house was clear on the other side of town.

I stopped at the boba stand by the water fountain. I got the Thai Tea flavour and sat down on a bench close by.
______

The next day, I went back to the park and got a cup of Cookies & Cream ice cream, my favourite. Abby walked by and I called her over.

“So, how’d it go with Penny yesterday?”

I hesitated not wanting to give away Penny’s secret, if it was a secret. Or maybe nobody asked her about it, I mean why would they. How could you expect Penny to be a Bunny?

“Wayne, Earth to Wayne.” Abby was waving her right hand in front of my face. That’s odd Abby was left handed. She had a brace around her wrist, although you couldn’t really tell because of the way her denim jacket, her signature clothing item, covered it. This time I didn't push my suspicion to the back of my mind.

“Hey what happened to your wrist?” I changed the subject, and Abby forgot about what she had previously asked. She tried to cover it up, but then realised she couldn’t.

“I … was just uhm … I have something to tell. Something that I’ve always wanted to tell you. I do gymnastics.” This was a complete surprise, I thought it would be something like she had a boyfriend. I guess not. I guess everyone has secrets, I thought. “I was practising for our meet this Saturday. Working on tumbling, when I sprained my wrist. That’s what this is.”
She lifted her sprained wrist and pulled the sleeve away so I could see it. I debated on telling Abby about Penny actually being a Bunny.

“Hey, did you know Penny used to be a Bunny?”

“No! Since when was she a Bunny?” Abby was awestruck, pure awestruck.

“Since forever. Her room is like everything Bunny. She also said that her older sister Midnight, I think she’s on the Track Varsity team, gives her all of her goth clothes.”

“I mean I figured she had some sort of secret, but I didn’t expect that.”

I got what she was talking about, but I still didn’t believe that Penny used to be a Bunny. My thoughts were interrupted when a boy about our age, maybe a year or two older, came over. He had a thin face with freckles everywhere, and he was definitely fit for his age.

“Hey, Abby! Oh, you must be Wayne, I’ve heard so much about you!” He held out his hand for me to shake, and I didn’t want to be rude so I shook it back.

“Yeah … How do you know her?” I was very confused at this point.

“I just started on her gymnastics team. I’m Jake, by the way.”