Loving Penny

By Diane Dorce

Penny Marie Thompson is your typical 13-year old about to enter her first year of Middle School and she couldn't be more excited. Penny however has no idea that her weight will become an issue with everything and everyone. When her best friend Cher tries out for cheerleading, Penny tries out as well and she makes it as the mascot. The jokes and bullying affect Penny in the worst way leading to depression and binge eating. It's an uphill battle for Penny to regain her self-esteem and tackle her increasing weight problem. Penny ultimately learns that change begins with her, with loving Penny.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Firefly Publishing & Entertainment, LLC.
• Release date: Feb 21, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370908776

Diane Dorce

Diane Dorce’ was born in Gary, Indiana. Her first writing venture was a self-published preteen novel,"Loving Penny" which received rave reviews and a Honorary Mention in the Writers Digest Self-Publish Book Awards. "Devil in the Mist" is Diane’s first mystery-suspense novel. Since then, she has penned "52 Broad Street", a urban drama, as well as contributed to the short-story anthology, "Bloggers Delight", where her short-story "Smoke" received rave reviews. The author currently resides in Georgia, where she is at work on her next novel while also running her boutique publishing company, Firefly Publishing & Entertainment.

Book preview

Loving Penny

Diane Sewell-Dorce

Lighthouse Books

2nd Edition

FireFlyPublishing& Entertainment

Cover Illustration by Michael Richardson

Copyright © 2005 by Diane Sewell-Dorce´

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

Printed in the United States of America

Loving Penny

Chapter 1

It was Penny’s turn at the blackboard. She was at board 1, while, Sidney Marcus stood next to her at board 2, and Mary Ann Wiggly beside him at board three. The assignment was simple, and Penny had already thought long and hard about what she would write when it came to her turn. Miss Apple gave them the go head sign and the three of them began to describe in five sentences who they were or how they wanted to be remembered. Penny wrote. Penny is smart! Penny is funny! Penny is talented. Penny is nice! Penny stopped when the fire alarm sounded sending her and her class up and out for their annual fire drill. Ten minutes later everyone returned to their classes. Penny took her time returning, and was one of the last ones to arrive. The minute she stepped through the door she could hear the giggles and whispers. That’s when she saw it, written in big letters with red chalk, all across the blackboard, PENNY IS FAT!

* * *

Penny sat eyes closed at her window. That was so long ago and yet it seemed like yesterday. Here she was at the beginning of school year and all she could think about was last year. What a bummer! It wasn’t that she didn’t like school, she did. In fact, she had been waiting all summer to see her friends again. Tamika and Cher been on vacation for most of the summer and so the thought of the three of them hanging out made her feel good. Maybe, she thought, this year would be different. Junior High had to be different. In Junior High she hoped there were no knucklehead boys like SidneyMarcus, who she swore she would give a monster wedgie to the very next time she saw him. He wasn’t bigger than a field mouse but he sure could run. If he hadn’t run so fast, or she hadn’t ran out of breath she would have caught him on that last day of school. But that was last year. Today was a new day, and Penny was at her new school, where things would be different. Well, at least she hoped so. Penny tugged at her t-shirt, stretching it further over her rounded stomach. No matter how she tried, she couldn’t do a thing about the little rolls of what her mom called ‘baby fat’. She raised her arms above her head and just like that, the rolls disappeared. She did this over and over again, up, disappears, down, reappear. She tried sucking in her stomach and this worked just as well, but she wondered how long she could keep that up without passing out. Penny let out a long sigh. There was just no way of getting rid of them, at least not today, she thought. Then, all of a sudden she had a brilliant idea. She grabbed her blue jean jacket from her closet and tried it on, over her pink t-shirt, skirt, and EUREKA! That was it! Now, her outfit was complete and no one would be able to see her baby fat. One day, she would grow out of it, no baby fat, or protruding rolls to hide. She would be just like everyone else; at least that’s what she hoped for.

Penny! her mom called from downstairs, Are you ready yet? As ready as I’m going to be, she thought, Junior High here I come.

Penny bounced through the many halls in search of her homeroom, Room 26, no easy task in her brand new heels. She must have slipped five times, but that didn’t cloud her enthusiasm or her love for her new shoes, although slowing down did come to mind.

She stopped to read just about everything posted on the walls and corkboards. There were announcements about cheerleading, French Club, Boosters. There was so much to do and she wanted to do it all.

She made a mental note of the tryout times and days and then continued on her journey. Penny had spent so much time browsing, that before she knew it, she had five minutes left before the last bell.

Oh no, not today. I can't be late on the first day.

She picked up her pace; rounding corners at record speed, tilting here; leaning there only to find herself lost in a maze of hallways. Finally, she located her homeroom class and burst through the door, startling the entire class. Her teacher jumped, and everyone laughed. Penny tried to apologize, but she was so out of breath and embarrassed that her sorry went unheard. Penny could only imagine how she must look. That thought alone made her grin and eventually join in the laughter at her own expense. The laughter lasted for a few minutes before subsiding to low whispers and giggles.

The teacher, Miss Byrd, addressed her seventh grade class for the first time.

Good morning, class. I’m your homeroom teacher, Miss Byrd, you know the flying kind but spelled with a Y." The class snickered.

I’m so happy to be here, and to see a lot of fresh new faces looking like you ready, and anxious, she glanced over at Penny, to start the school year. I know that I am. Summers are too hot and too long, and I couldn’t wait to get back here and see you. Now, being that this is your first day, I won’t bore you with a lot of talk about lessons and lesson plans, but what I will have you focus on today is getting to know one another. Get to know the student sitting next to you. Write down something about yourself that you want them to know, something funny, something stupid, something positive, whatever. This will be our icebreaker, okay.

Okay, the class responded and Miss Byrd handed out sheets of paper, pencils and pens. Miss Byrd was tall and big. Not fat big, but large, firm and strong looking. Miss Byrd walked and stood like her name sounded—a proud bird—an eagle of a woman, majestic and dignified. Her legs were long, and when she walked, she appeared to glide across the floor, as if she were dancing. She wore her hair in a bun, high atop her head. From what Penny could tell, everything about her was neat.

She had almond-shaped eyes and a wonderful smile, just like in those toothpaste commercials. Penny couldn’t explain it and probably no one would believe her, but she felt an instant connection with Miss Byrd. She knew without a doubt that Miss Byrd was her teacher for a reason.

Penny’s late arrival forced her to take the only seat available, in the very front of the classroom and besides a skinny, big-eyed boy she would come to know as Hakeem.

Hi, the boy said to Penny. I’m Hakeem.

Penny, she said and couldn’t help but notice that Hakeem was not only the skinniest boy she had ever seen but also the smallest. Without trying she could see well over the top of his head and clear to the next seat. The really cool people sat in the back of the class and to her left were the really smart kids. So she thought if the really cool kids are in the back, and the really smart kids were to her left. Who and where was she sitting? It didn’t take long to figure that out when she looked her around her, there was the tiny boy with the big name Hakeem, Mia an Asian girl who wore thick, round bottle cap glasses, that slipped down to her nose every time she spoke, which wasn’t much; Andrea, the white girl with the pink hair, whose idea of conversation was what’s up and Yo!—she really should have been in the back, and Penny, who was by her