Time Warp: It's Her Fault

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

March, 2014

The last thing Penelope had expected was this. That morning, the Brit had gone into her usual morning routine. The same one she preformed every day. The one that happened while one Lucy Serrano slept the entire time, only to wake up with a spare few minutes to pull on clothes and get to class. So when she returned to the dormitory, it was surprising to see that her counterpart was not just awake, but gone.

As were a few handfuls of Penelope's flour baby.

The project was due today, and Lucy was nowhere to be found, which was likely a smart move for the ink manipulator, as Penny had every intention of making her regret the decision to ruin her project. Violent words and possibly actions would have been exchanged.

But with little time left, the Brit had no choice but to confront her partner of the project. The boy she swore would be the cause of any problem to her grade, and now she had to explain herself.

With pursed lips and an open sack of flour in her arm, Penelope gave a purposeful knock to the common room door. Although normally not one to offer an expression to another person, she looked right angry.

[Oliver Barnes]

The morning had started off like any other. Oliver finished buttoning up his plaid shirt, fumbling with the small buttons. Grabbing his backpack off of his bed, he felt ready to start the day. Just needed to grab breakfast from the cafeteria and he'd be set.

Oddly enough, Oliver didn't feel so anxious about the flour baby assignment being due today. Penelope had offered to take it for the last night, and there was no reason for him to say no. Although she still scared him, Oliver liked to think through the project they reached some level of understanding. Maybe.

He left his dorm room, humming under his breath, as he heard a knock, not thinking much of it. Probably one of his roommates locking themselves out again. The thought got a small laugh out of the introverted boy, as he crossed the common room area to the door. To his surprise, it wasn't any of his roommates, but Penelope. He registered her furious expression, which made him flinch.

"Uh.. hey Penelope." Oliver stammered with a frown. "What.. are you okay?"

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Even as the door opened, Penelope's cross expression remained etched into her features. Seeing Oliver in front of her did nothing to ease away any of the irritation she felt. If anything, it made her more frustrated than ever - not that she had right to be mad at him, but rather, it was just another reminder of this whole incident involving a project she had no need to actually worry over.

He flinched, and Penelope didn't offer the slightest response of her own at the way his expression shifted. Her lips remained pursed as she took in a heavy breath, jaw clenched as she had to work to rid it of some of the stress before she could manage to open it and speak.

"We have a problem." She stated, tone taking on a lower, more threatening register as she shifted the sack of flour in her arms to show the boy exactly what had happened without having to verbalize it just yet.

[Oliver Barnes]

Although Penelope had been the perfect partner to work with; serious, hardworking work ethic and a determination to pass the project, there was still the undeniable part of her that made Oliver a little uneasy and scared of her. Of what would happen if anger consumed her.

Which he appeared to be dealing with now. The silent sort of anger, with pursed lips and a tense posture.

He stood in the middle of the door frame, his gaze moving towards the movement in her arms. Towards the sack of flour. For the assignment, that was due today. It took Oliver a second to realize what happened, and when he took notice, his mouth fell agape. A small "Oh..." passed through his lips. "What happened?"

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Although Oliver didn't seem to be as rightfully angry as Penelope herself was, his surprise was still evident. As much as she disliked working with a boy for this project, she had to admit that this boy wasn't all that bad. He was focused on getting a good grade, and seemed to listen well enough. Had the Brit not been so focused on her own anger, she might have felt bad for dragging his grade down as well.

Lips parted as she went to try to explain, but her frustration got the better half of her as she let out a short, almost desperate breath. Taking another moment, her tongue crossed the line of her lower lip as she shook her head slightly.

"What happened," she started, feeling evident tension shoot through her form, "was Lucy Serrano." That idiot. Her idiot, admittedly, but that was hardly the point. Trying to explain further, she let out another sigh of irritation. "She was bound to fail her own project, and decided to steal flour from ours." Although she had yet to see Lucy herself that morning, it seemed quite clear what had happened. How else would a few handfuls of flower go missing along with her Australian counterpart so early in the morning?

[Oliver Barnes]

He tried to fight the break in composure; afterall, Oliver was sure the last thing Penelope wanted to see was his deer in the headlights expression or questioning what happened. Clearly, something had gone wrong, and while he was shocked that it happened under her supervision, he could only imagine how much worse she felt. Something that had translated into anger.

The name was vaguely familiar to Oliver. He didn't think he'd met the other girl but had heard her name in passing. Stolen flour? Frowning, he asked "Isn't that... sabotage or something? Cause that isn't our fault.. your fault." She couldn't be blamed for Lucy's actions. Penelope was, in Oliver's mind, the least likely culprit to fail the flour baby assignment. How ironic.

He ran a hand through his hair, with an audible sigh. "I.. I don't know what to say, or what we can do." He admitted. Maybe someone had some flour laying around his dorm that they could use to perform a last minute surgery? "Maybe if we wrap it up, you know.. they won't notice?" As the suggestion left his lips, Oliver processed how.. dumb it sounded. "No, that's a bad idea. Do you have any suggestions?" They didn't have much time before class started.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Had Penelope worked to keep her own composure, she might have caught a break in her partner's, but as it stood, she was too busy fuming to notice his expression. Dozens of ideas were filling her mind and being dismissed just as quickly. It was clear a decent amount of flour was missing; simply sealing the bag would do little to amend the situation, and the teacher would likely realize if they filled it with something else instead.

There wasn't time to go and get flour herself without being late to class.

Before she could dismiss Oliver's attempt at an idea, he did so himself. She looked back up to him, jaw clenched as tightly as her hands gripped the bag of flour as she let out an audible groan. Likely the most expression she offered him yet since they met at the beginning of the project.

"Kill Serrano." She snapped, clearly not meaning to actually put the Australian in physical harm, but her tone was certainly vicious enough to take seriously.

[Oliver Barnes]

A couple of other ideas crossed Oliver's mind as he struggled to think of a solution to their problem. Class was starting soon, too soon, and the pair couldn't afford to be late. Showing up late with a disfigured and mangled sack of flour? That especially wouldn't go well for their grade...

Maybe the cafeteria had something? Then again, the staff were probably warned about the assignment. Oliver could only imagine the embarrassment if he and Penelope went by to ask for flour and the staff members reported them to the teacher. His cheeks burned faintly at the thought.

Eyes widened at her suggestion. Was she serious? He hoped not, but then again, Oliver couldn't tell with her tone of voice. That was the hard thing with Penelope; she was so serious with each and every measure that he couldn't tell what was serious and what was not. "Uhm... I get that you're angry because it's justifiable but.. I don't know if that's the best idea either." He said, beginning to ramble. "Do you think we could.. I don't know, talk to them?"

Because the two of them were fairly well respected students. Penelope soared academically in every way possible. Oliver managed to maintain high grades. For them to fail was.. cruel. Although he didn't know Lucy on a personal level, the trouble she caused was frustrating.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Judging from the way Oliver's eyes widened, she finally believed her anger came across correctly. Although she had no real plans to take out her Australian counterpart, she certainly was fuming because of her. A perfect GPA, now dragged down because of her actions.

Fists clenched, the Brit took in a long breath in an attempt to at least listen to what the boy had to offer. Because she herself wasn't offering a solution. At this point whatever he had she would take into consideration.

"I don't even know where she is." Penelope replied flatly, assuming she was talking about approaching Lucy. The ink manipulator was an idiot, but not completely without credit. She likely was hiding away someplace out of reach from the Brit. Lifting her arm, she took the sack of flour into both her hands, inspecting it. Ruined. Completely. The Australian didn't even have the courtesy to keep the top of the bag from tearing as she ripped into it.

Letting her breath, she shook her head with evident frustration as an idea came to mind. "I'm going to write a letter about this."

[Oliver Barnes]

Silently, Oliver ran a hand through his hair, pulling slightly on the ends. The panic was beginning to soar through his veins; their perfect project coming to a tragic end. It really was unfair since he and Penelope had done exactly what they needed to do, save for the ending where Lucy had apparently decided to borrow some of their flour. His eyes landed on the destroyed exterior, trying to think of a way to quickly salvage their project.

"Do you think confronting her right now is a good idea? I don't know if it will achieve anything in the end..." He trailed off, with a small sigh punctuating the end of his sentence. What were they going to do, steal their flour back? The bag was already torn open, clearly tampered with and ruined. Nothing could fix the damage, especially in such a tight time frame.

A letter. He raised an eyebrow, not judging, but out of curiosity. It sounded like an old school idea and wasn't something that immediately came to mind. Maybe seeing the school officials in person, but a letter? "Right now? Or later? I can help you.. you know, if you would like. Back you up." Although Oliver hardly knew the older girl, he could trust in her. Why else would she come to him about what had happened?

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

It was evident that the boy was stressed as well, which, really only added to the psychometrist's irritation. Not that she could blame the poor boy, but the stress of others easily fell on the Brit when she herself was involved. It was part of the reason why she so rarely involved herself with others as it was. Academics was supposed to be where Penelope thrived, and she was - in part - to blame for this disaster, only due to falling under the belief that Lucy would have some sort of moral respect over grades.

Really, confronting Lucy wasn't an option. Best was to approach her counterpart in private, for Penny knew that the ink manipulator had an advantage in an public setting. She had no standards, which made it arguably harder for the Brit.

"Tonight." Penelope denoted with a firm nod. Knocking out a decent letter within the time span they had was impossible. "Yes, I need you to-" There was a brief, almost unnoticeable falter, "help. I'll speak our professor before class starts to best explain the situation, as that should help." Or rather, Penelope hoped it would help.

Still, she was fuming. Although writing up an official complaint should help, the anger she felt refused to settle. She settled a hand on her hip, jaw clenched as she looked to the boy for his opinion, if he had one at all.

[Oliver Barnes]

Tonight. Her tone had a certain finality to it, one that implied she wasn't joking around. Not that Oliver took Penelope to be the type to make a joke, especially at this point. Tonight she would confront Lucy and sort things out, hopefully. As best as they could.

If they even could. Oliver didn't want to think pessimistically, but the rules of the project had clearly been outlined on the first day. Take care of the flour sack... baby. Watch it at all times. Sabotage was bound to happen with a bunch of high school students. Still, he didn't blame Penelope; how was she to know this Lucy girl intended to ruin their project this morning?

He nodded immediately. Although Oliver couldn't help much, the offer was there. He would stand by her. "I'll come with you." But it was best to leave the talking for Penelope, as he was a nervous wreck when it came to public speaking. Especially to teachers. "See what we can do. Maybe... maybe write the letter later as well. If they hear us out."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

As serious as Penelope was, it was refreshing to see that her partner wasn't joking around, either. That he instead was working towards finding a solution as well. He'd go with her - although the Brit had quickly decided she'd do most the talking herself, two students were better than one. His presence alone was appreciated, which stated a lot for the psychometrist who had no interest in being around men in general.

"They will hear us out." It wasn't optimism, it was determination. In no way would she allow this to do any other way.

Quickly, she turned on her heel, starting the first step of many to start heading to the gym in order to speak with the teacher. "Come on." She almost demanded, moving whether or Oliver was ready or even going to follow or not.

[Oliver Barnes]

The sound determination in Penelope's voice was enough to assure Oliver that it would work out in their favour. That had to be enough to sway administration; someone like her who evidently cared about her grades and put so much effort into each and every thing she did. He admired that about her, thankful that even though the project hadn't turned out like either of them expected, that she cared.

And, Penelope didn't mind leading the way, which was another plus in his books.

She started walking, Oliver nodded as he followed her lead. As usual. "Who are we going to talk to first?" He asked, even though he intended to just let Penelope talk. And he figured she knew that.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope had to be somewhat thankful that Oliver followed her; backup was not only helpful, but needed in this instance. She didn't know the boy well, but he wasn't stupid, and Penny had to give him credit for that. Hopefully it reflected in his grades well enough to hold up a case. Neither of them were likely to let this happen. They might have been in charge of keeping sabotage out of the picture, but this was different.

She walked with quick, forward steps down the hallway, not having to glance back to realize that the boy was following. Between the sound of his footsteps and the question he posed, she could only imagine he wasn't far behind.

"Monroe." Penelope announced the name of the physical education teacher in charge of the assignment. The one who had stated it would be a substantial part of their grade. "And if she refuses to listen, I am not afraid to bring this to Morgenstern." Speaking to the headmistress might have seemed like overkill, but hardly a road bump for the angered Brit.