#ben aaronson - penderwick

[izzielizzie]

Ben Aaronson-Penderwick

With Batty away at college, only Lydia and her brother Ben were left at home with their parents. Ben was sixteen and cared primarily about watching and making movies with his best friend, Rafael 

Favorite Book Characters from A to Z (2/22)

[the-gardam-street-blog]

Penderwicks and Co. on each other’s instas

[aestheticstuffbystrixaluco]

Spent a hole night creating some aesthetics for The Penderwicks on Gardam Street. I just love this book soooo much. It’got an amazing atmosphere of autumn, adventures and growing up safely with family and friends. 

Part 1 - Penderwick sisters: Rosalind, Skye, Jane and Batty (and also their new young friend Ben). The central pics are borrowed from Russian edition of the book

(and also big THANKS for The Penderwicks Wiki cause I’ve read these books in Russian when I was about hmmm twelve years old and now I’ve got some problems with names in English)

[camercnmass]

Batty and Ben in the backseat: McDonald’s!

Rosalind: we have food at home

Batty and Ben: McDonald’s!

Skye: *pulls into the drive thru*

Batty and Ben: *cheer*

Skye: one black coffee please

Batty and Ben: :/

Batty and Ben: McDonald’s!

Jane: McDonald’s!

Batty, Ben, and Jane: McDonald’s! McDonald’s! McDonald’s! :D

[pppeachyyy]

Penderwicks instas with my fancasts, the first one posted without rosy which was a crime and I'm suing Tumblr, nick and tommy are on another post

[a-hundred-jewels]

Tales of the Vampiric, Ghostly, or Otherwise Unholy Residents of the Penderwick House - ch 1: Sleepless Nights

Ao3

Words: 1630

Summary: "What if the Penderwicks were a bunch of trans ace vampires who lived together in a big strange house a la What We Do In The Shadows?" said me at 2am.

Tags: Rosalind Penderwick/Tommy Geiger, Martin Penderwick/Elizabeth Penderwick Sr./Iantha Penderwick, Skye Penderwick, Jane Penderwick, Jeffrey Tifton, Rosalind Penderwick, Elizabeth "Batty" Penderwick, Lydia Penderwick, Ben Aaronson-Penderwick, Iantha Aaronson-Penderwick, Elizabeth Penderwick Sr., Martin Penderwick, Tommy Geiger, Hound Penderwick, Feldspar (Penderwicks), Sonata (Penderwicks), Yaz (Penderwicks), Carla (Penderwicks), Original Snake Character, Original Ferret Character, Cagney Pelletier, Mrs. Tifton (Penderwicks), Non-Binary Skye Penderwick, Non-Binary Jane Penderwick, Trans Penderwicks, Trans Rosalind Penderwick, ok theyre all trans im just leaving it at that bc that would be a lot of tags, Trans Characters, Miscillaneous Townspeople, Vampires, What We Do In The Shadows AU, Sort Of, like it could very much be considered that, The Penderwicks Are Vampires, Mrs. Tifton is Cisgender, Mrs. Tifton is a Ghost, Mrs. Tifton is a Cat, Jeffrey is a Ghost, Cagney is a Mysterious Growth, They/Them Pronouns For Skye Penderwick, She/Her Pronouns For Jane Penderwick

notes and fic under the cut

Welcome to my self-indulgent therapy fic! Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it. Chapters will probably come out within the vague month of october. If not, then whoops. Anyway.

This first chapter is dedicated to me, without whom this fic would not have been possible.

Disclaimer: Clearly, these are not my characters. However I like to think that Jeanne Birdsall is an all knowing immortal being who can see what I am writing and knows in her heart that it's all canon. Thanks, Jeanne.

Enjoy!

There was something special about that house on Gardam street. “Vampires live there,” a teenager said, not looking up from his copy of Breaking Dawn. “Like the Cullens, except they’re all trans.”

“That’s why the house is painted red!” his friend added. “The vampire thing, I mean. One of the people who lives there--you know, the young one with pretty hair who danced at the community center last winter--said it’s symbolic of the blood they’ve spilled and a reminder of who they are.”

Most of these statements were, in fact, incorrect. The bright red exterior of the house was because it had been Elizabeth Penderwick’s favourite color at the time they repainted, and because the paint store was having an oddly specific sale. (Footnote: Let's just say a new hire had made some mistakes with the monthly supply order. End of footnote). And not all of them were trans. One of the cats was cis.

However, it was true that vampires resided at the Penderwick House on Gardam street. Nine of them, to be exact. There was Elizabeth, who’d changed her name at least three times and was originally some early century English noble; her husband Martin, who would be a lot better at botany if he acknowledged that technology had indeed progressed in the past fifty years; and her wife Iantha, who could name any star visible from Earth from memory, but needed a cookbook to make rice without burning it.

Rosalind had been with them the longest, (though they’d only been able to legally adopt her some time in the twentieth century) and she was the only one of the children to be originally from England, as after she got Turned and joined up with Penderwicks, the family had begun to travel. Skye and Jane were the next to join, from Scandinavia and France respectively. They looked nothing alike and bickered constantly, but were secretly each other’s favourite people on the planet. (Footnote: Jane called it nonbinary solidarity. Skye called chance and proximity. Either way they were Siblings. End of footnote). Batty was next, as well as her ever growing litter of carefully Turned animal children. Then Ben, who thought movies were the greatest thing ever invented, and finally, Lydia, Turned at the ager of fifteen while being an overworked Vaudeville performer who’d run away from home. (She was also “the one with the pretty hair who danced at the community center” mentioned earlier). (Footnote: And these are just the vampires. There were also three dogs, two rabbits, a ferret (all Batty's), a cat (Iantha's), a snake (Rosalind's), two ghosts, and a mysterious growth named Cagney with 702 genders who'd lived in a room on the third floor since before any of them had been born, and only ate red shoes. Needless to say, it was a full house. End of footnote).

The family was big and strange and had been living in Cameron for longer than the collective memories of the townspeople could recall. They’d been friendly neighbors, reclusive weirdos (whatever suited them best at the time), had gone to school, gone to work, ate people, for hundreds of years. Now, though, it was daytime and they were all in their rooms.

At one pm, Skye felt a rustle on their bed. They stirred, slightly, then fell straight back to sleep. The alarm wouldn’t go off for hours and they would need to be well rested for the night’s hunt.

There was another rustle. Skye could have sworn someone poked their foot. They kicked in the general direction of the affront, grinning into the black silk pillow when they heard a yelp and someone mutter “little shit.”

“Go haunt someone else. I need sleep,” Skye mumbled. As they said it, though, they slid over to one side of the bed and pulled back the covers, letting Jeffrey crawl in beside them. He was trying hard to be corporeal right now, and not fall right through the bed or accidentally inhabit Skye’s body. Even after being a ghost for hundreds of years, though, it was difficult for him. Before the Penderwicks had moved into the ancient Penderwick House (previously known as “Arundel”), Jeffrey had floated aimlessly around the grounds, with only a highly judgemental cat for company. It had taken him a while to warm up to the family and to see the point of things like being visible and occasionally even tangible. They hadn’t pushed him, but it was nice to have a friend

“Mmph,” Jeffrey said, burrowing closer to Skye.

“Not fair, you’re melding partially with the mattress!”

He flicked Skye on the nose, semi-successful in keeping his fingers separate from their flesh. “I do what I like, you blood-sucking fiend. Also, it’f more comfy this way.”

Skye rolled their eyes behind closed eyelids. “Spoiled. You didn’t wake Jane when you came in, did you?” They inclined their head slightly to see Jane’s bed across the room, which was outfitted with eggplant colored sheets and matching canopy that she’d made herself.

Jeffrey snorted. “The French Revolution couldn’t wake Jane.”

At that moment, Jane began to rise from her sheets in the creepy stiff-as-a-board way she preferred, speaking in her low, resonant, “drama” voice that was usually reserved for victims, or royalty, or both.

“To the surprise of all but herself, the vampiress reveals that she has been awake for three and a quarter hours, using the guise of sleep to avoid socializing.”

Skye sighed. “Of course you did. Now come over here.” The rest of the house was still asleep and neither Skye nor Jane had ever succeeded at Sound Barrier charms, so it was best to not be shouting across their shared bedroom.

Jane wrapped herself in her purple quilt and levitated across the room in a tangled mess of limbs, plopping dowm beside Skye. For a moment, the three lay in comfortable silence. Then, Jane reached cross her sibling and mussed Jeffrey’s hair (or rather, she would have, had Jeffrey made his head a consistency other than “slightly condensed cloud,” but Jane decided not to mention that.)

“I had been deep in imagining I was dining with Oscar Wilde when you came in, Jeffrey. For a moment, I thought it was that horrid cat--back to bite off another of my toes! Imagine my relief to find it was just a ghost!”

Jeffrey laughed, grinning up at the ceiling. “From what I could tell, Mrs. Tifton seemed to heartily dislike the toe of yours she did eat, so I wouldn’t worry too much.”

“She may be a monster, but she’s not a self-destructive monster,” Skye chimed in, frowning when they saw Jeffrey wince. “Sorry, too far?”

“A little,” Jeffrey replied.

“Noted. Won’t happen again.”

Jeffrey smiled, his usual self again, and they resumed their conversation.

Now, while Skye and Jane were atrocious at casting sound barriers (and, if we’re being honest, pretty much every other form of magic), Batty Penderwick was the best in the house. She had to be, for her room was shared with three dogs, two rabbits, and a ferret--all of them immortal--who she’d acquired over decades of her life. At the moment, in a room on the third floor of the house, Batty was hovering in the darkness. On one side of the room, Hound, Sonata, and Feldspar (the dogs) were sleeping in a den of pillows, while Yaz and Carla (the rabbits) munched on dandelions in their crate. Queen Latifah (the ferret, and a new family member as well) reclined around Batty’s neck, utterly undisturbed by her mother’s floating.

On a table in the corner, Batty’s record player was set up, the needle carefully situated on a groove of The White Album, softly playing “Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except For Me And My Monkey.”

Batty was meditating. As one of the younger vampires--not even 200 years old!--and one who’d had sensory issues even before she was Turned, Batty still found her highly tuned immortal senses annoying from time to time, when they would crowd and overwhelm her brain. Thus, she and her animal children had become accustomed to having a peaceful float in the dark several times a week, while the record player softly serenaded them with whatever Batty was currently obsessed with, even when the music was, objectively, not even remotely relaxing.

The song ended and the record went on to the opening chords of “Sexy Sadie.” Batty sighed (she didn’t like this song), and opened her eyes, floating over to stop the music. She should get some sleep. Her head was mostly soothed, at least enough so that she felt content to turn on her fairy lights (one oof humanity’s greatest inventions as far as Batty was concerned), and crawl under her covers, settling Queen Latifah in her own bed under the nightstand.

But, just as Batty was drifting off, there was a soft knock on the door.

Batty waved her hand to dispel the sound barrier, and called out “come in.” The door clicked open, and her oldest sister padded in on bare feet.

Rosalind’s room was right next to Batty’s and, when the latter had first been Turned (after nearly dying of influenza in 1870), she’d spent many a sleepless day curled up next to Rosalind, being regaled with tales of 14th century England, where Rosalind had grown up. Now, Rosalind crawled into Batty’s bed.

“Why’s your room always warmer than mine?” she muttered by way of explanation, then promptly fell asleep. One or the other of them did this at least once a week. It was nice.

Batty smiled, her head now full warm and happy without the buzz of extra noise or sensation or too-bright colors, and curled up beside her sister, asleep at last.

[izzielizzie]

chapter 5!! it took forever to write and i’m not fully happy with this chapter but i hope you enjoy <3

[izzielizzie]

“Jane, the bird isn’t dead, and don’t you dare try to resuscitate it.” (Rosalind to jane) i feel like this would be set 2 years after gardan street for some reason.

let it be known that i spent at least two minutes cackling at the idea of jane trying to revive a bird

"Jane, the bird isn't dead, and don't you dare try to resuscitate it," Rosalind says harshly as she turns around to find her younger sister hovering over a robin on the sidewalk.

Jane's in her soccer uniform, peering up at Rosalind dubiously. "Are we sure about that?" Jane looks back down at the robin, who seems to have been frozen by the shock of being chased by Hound, who is now safely eyeing the bird behind Tommy.

Rosalind waves her hands around in frustration. She just wanted one peaceful walk in the park after school but her siblings just won't let her. "It's wings are moving Jane. What dead bird moves its wings?"

"Chickens run around after they've been deheaditated," Batty offers up serenely, her hand clutching Ben's.

"Decapitated you birdbrain." This is Skye, standing apart from the group with her arms crossed over her chest. Her blonde hair is flying everywhere in the autumn breeze.

"Okay Jane-o I think it'll be okay. Let's just give it some space." Tommy pulls Jane up so she's standing. "If it's not better on our way home you can try to revive it."

This seems to pacify Jane, who promptly cartwheels down the street after Skye.

Thank you Rosalind mouths at Tommy. He winks back in response and lopes an arm around her shoulder.

[izzielizzie]

heyo ok so u have me curious. how do you think the other penderwicks siblings should have grown up (besides jane). i agree with your assessment of her being aged the most accurately, but im curious to know what you think should have happened with the others

hi!!! let me preface this by saying that seeing you in my notifications always makes me so happy!!

Rosalind

Rosy should be a teacher!!! I will not settle for anything else. She's so good with kids and she'd love it so much. I can imagine her teaching elementary school students because she gets to teach every subject so she doesn't have to choose. I always pictured Rosalind to be the type of girl who grows up in a small town and then goes away to some fancy college and then comes back to raise her family in the house she was raised in and then everyone tells her kids stuff like "well I remember your mother doing the same thing" at random moments at it makes Rosy laugh. She'd be the kind of person who's super involved in the community: she'd manage PTA bake sales and run the community garden and she'd make sure all the fields and parks were clean. Honestly she'd be the unofficial mayor. People would ask her to run but she never would.

Skye

I liked that Skye studied the stars in California. Yes good, correct. A husband was bad though. Because obviously she'd have a girlfriend that she lives with in an apartment and I like the idea of the gf doing something in the humanities, like history or English. Oh! Or she'd be an actress! I feel like Skye would be a professor? I know that I headcanon Rosy as a teacher too but Skye would be a different teacher, one who teaches college students and is really funny and swears in class and has deadpan reactions and all the students clamor to get a seat in her class. At some point she'd get married, but it would be a total surprise. She'd come home for Christmas and she'd call her partner "my wife" and the entire family would be shocked and excited and they'd be so happy for her. She wouldn't have kids but she's the family's Cool Aunt™. She takes a lot of inspiration from Aunt Claire.

Batty

Batty is harder. I feel like she'd wander around for a while. Maybe she'd work at a theatre playing live music. Maybe she'd tour with Jeffrey. Honestly she does a lot of random things in her mid-to-late twenties and the entire time she'd write music in her free time. Eventually, when Ben becomes a really famous director, he starts to write his own movies, and what do you need with movies? Yep. Music. Batty's a really big family person so it makes sense that she'd end up working with her younger brother. She lives in a loft with Keiko and they'd steadily deny being in love but it's also really obvious and it's like a romcom it takes forever for them to realize they like each other. They don't get married, marriage isn't really for them. But they do adopt like,,, five dogs.

And, why not, let's do some other characters too

Ben

Ben and Rafael are dating!!! They are in love!!! And Ben becomes a famous director bc one of his videos where he films Raphael doing something stupid goes viral and so people watch his other videos and some fancy director guy realizes that Ben's actually pretty good and offers him an internship opportunity and then somehow Ben charms himself into being famous (and he also works really hard but literally no one can say no to him). He and Raphael get married and it's a super chaotic wedding and they spend the rest of their lives living in an apartment and it's always a mess and they're a lot of laughter.

Tommy

Tommy is a pilot and he gets to speak a billion languages because I really loved that he wanted to be a pilot when he was in middle school it really suits him.

Jeffrey

He becomes a famous jazz player and spends all his time touring Europe or hanging with the Penderwicks and flirting with Jane. (I refuse to let go of Jane/Jeffrey I just love them so much!!!)

Nick

Nick retires from the army and becomes a football coach in Cameron and his kids are raised across the street from Rosy and Tommy's kids.

[izzielizzie]

could you do Taylor Swift songs for the Penderwicks characters/couples?

Rosalind: Lover

Most of Rosy's arcs were about love, and she found it with Tommy, and Lover really talks about finding your person ("all's well that ends well to end up with you") and being so perfectly happy about being with them.

Skye: Fifteen

This one was hard but I think Skye realized that she has bigger and better things to do, so she's not going to fall in love

Jane: Seven

Seven is all about losing your childhood to adulthood, but it's also a little nostalgic and desperate, like the singer wants to keep a small part of their past, and I feel like that's what Jane is doing with her writing

Batty: The Outside

Batty's always been a bit of the outsider in her family, finding solace instead in her dog, and at some point she looks around and realizes that she's lost her comfort and now she's just... lost and it gives me The Outside vibes.

Ben: The Best Day

This one is another hard one, but I adore Ben's relationship with his mother so I had to choose this one

Lydia: Never Grow Up

Lydia's just the little baby of the family, the oldest we see her is 11, and she's really innocent and sweet, and it's kind of easy to tell that she and her family just want her to stay that way (Jane literally said "Just enjoy being eleven at Arundel" or something like that)

Jeffrey: Hoax

"Your faithless love is the only hoax i believe in"??? sounds like how he'd feel about Skye around In Spring. and also "Don't want no other shade of blue/But you/No other sadness in the world would do" sounds a little like how he'd feel about Alec after the whole drama in the third book

Mrs. Tifton: Mad Woman

okay I have a slight soft spot for Mrs. Tifton because she just wanted to win the garden competition and these kids were getting in the way and like... I feel that. also she was kind of misunderstood and then assumed to be bad but she just wanted what was best for her son but she didn't express it right.

Rosalind and Tommy: It's Nice to Have a Friend

inthaf is the friends to lovers anthem and Rosy and Tommy are the friends to lovers relationship and even the small things in the song like "School bell rings, walk me home/Sidewalk chalk covered in snow" just makes it so easy to picture Tommy and Rosalind

Iantha and Mr. Penderwick: You Belong With Me

this one came to me and i honestly could not stop laughing because its such a niche song but at the end of the day it's about someone having relationship troubles and another person who's like "excuse you i'm right here!!" and honestly that fits with the whole Marianne Dashwood thing and the Save Daddy plan

[izzielizzie]

Any Penderwicks headcanons you could spare?

of course!

Rosalind wants to be a professional baker for practically all of her life until she goes to college and volunteers at a farm with some of her friends and she falls in love

i can just imagine her talking about her career change with such enthusiasm

"plants are great Tommy! they're like kids that don't talk back or demand food! And I can bake with them! and they're so pretty especially flowers! flowers are so pretty! and i like gardening who doesn't? no wonder Dad's a botanist!!!"

honestly she's just so happy

Mr. Penderwick is happy too because he loves plants and now he talk about them without people rolling their eyes at him

although Rosy is very against all the pressed plants in his office

okay i feel like this is generally accepted in the fandom but no Penderwick sibling is straight

Rosy? bi. no one is that obsessed with their best friend Anna

Skye? oh Skye's a lesbian and she has a very dramatic enemies-to-friends-to-lovers thing going on with Melissa and she's also ace

Jane? well no one really knows her orientation not even her but "love is a vibe guys if someone has the vibe then i'm in love"

(cue Skye rolling her eyes in the background)

Batty is also ace and she's also hopelessly in love with Keiko

Ben and Rafael have been in love since the first grade and they can be found in their apartment making movies, speaking Klingon, and adopting dogs

and Lydia and Alice are being bad influences together for all of eternity

Jane spends a year during college studying literature in the UK and she comes back with the fakest British accent ever

she actually keeps up the charade for a like a solid month until Skye laughs at her so hard she just gives up

no one is allowed to talk about it

Batty and Jeffrey put on concerts every vacation

Rosalind tried to teach Lydia how to bake once

and only once

Nick is still, to this day, trying to find Batty her sport

Under Penderwick Family Honor, no one is allowed to tell Nick that Batty joined the tennis team in high school with Keiko

this leads to a lot of hilarity whenever Nick's home

someone always trips up and almost talks about it and Batty just dramatically whips around and glares at them

she and Skye are very good at glaring

Skye is always on the roof of their garage

Iantha and Mr. Penderwick know but she hasn't died yet so they let her be

when Aunt Claire got married Skye almost refused to be in the wedding because of the past flower trauma at her uncle Gordan's wedding

Hoover the dog gets a very special shout out at Claire and Turron's wedding because without him Claire wouldn't have broken her ankle and she and Turron wouldn't have fallen in love

when Keiko and Batty get married they joke about only inviting people's pets and leaving the people at home

Ben and Rafael are so upset that Cameron High School doesn't actually teach Klingon that they start a protest

no one actually goes but that doesn't stop them

they become such a nuisance that the principle - sick of the Penderwicks and their hijinks after the first four and already terrified of the sixth one - just lets them teach themselves the language in the back of the library during study hall

Lydia and Jack become best friends and Alice hates it but also loves it

i actually can't tell if i like Jack/Lydia or Alice/Lydia better

whatever either way that trio is iconic

after Skye moves to California Jeffrey and Jane grow closer

idk why i ship them so much but i really do

maybe it's because Jeffrey wrote music for her

he still does

a lot

the Penderwicks never cease to be chaotic and i miss them

[izzielizzie]

the penderwicks for the asks?

favorite female character

Jane Penderwick

favorite male character

Rafael. He was perfect in the single book he was in. Also he and Ben? Comedic geniuses and amazing boyfriends. While only one of those are canon in the book, they're both canon in my mind.

favorite book

The Penderwick on Gardam Street. It was perfect and I love books set in the fall

my favorite ship

Rosalind and Tommy. The ultimate friends to lovers. But also Rafael and Ben. Try to tell me they didn't get married and make movies with a reluctant Lydia and her very enthusiastic husband and sister-in-law Jack and Alice and speak Klingon to each other.

a character I'd die defending

Mercedes Orne. She worshiped both Skye and Jeffrey, adored Jane, and was a sweet friend to Batty. I wish she was invited to Rosy's wedding so we could have seen her all grown up :((

a character I just can't sympathize with

Dexter Dupree. Ugh.

a character I grew to love

Both Lydia and Mrs. Tifton, which actually goes hand in hand. I couldn't stand Lydia in the fourth book, and I hated Mrs. Tifton in the other books, but they were the comedic duo I didn't know I needed in the fifth book.

my anti otp

Jeffery and Batty. It's so wrong on so many levels. Let Batty be with Keiko and Jeffery with Jane.

[izzielizzie]

could you write a Penderwicks fic about the relationship with any of the two siblings? They have really interesting interpersonal relationships.

[izzielizzie]

Hey you know how I’m At Last it’s mentioned that Skye went to prom last minute in a lab coat? Maybe could you do a fic where Skye goes with Melissa?

yes i do remember that! fic under the cut

"Skye?" somewhere in the world of microbiology - a world Skye isn't very fond of but has to explore for her semester's grade - she can hear a voice calling her. If it's a sister she's ready to stab her with a pen.

Fortunately, it's not a sister. Unfortunately, it's Melissa Patenaude. Skye pulls her goggles off her head and smiles at Melissa, who's leaning casually against the doorframe of the school's lab, already in her soccer uniform.

"Oh, hey," Skye says, nervously tucking a lock of choppy blonde hair behind her ear.

"Hey Penderwick," Melissa uncrosses her arms then crosses them again. "You're going to be late for soccer."

Skye glances at the clock and - rats - she is going to be late. The being late part isn't that bad, she's good enough that the coach won't yell at her or make her do extra drills. No, the real problem is Jane. After becoming captain, Jane made it a point to make an example out of Skye, and Skye is ready to accidentally push her sister out their bedroom window.

"Okay, yes, give me a moment," Skye says, pulling the goggles back on to gently put the petri dish back in the incubator. Once she's done, she wipes off the bench and pulls off her goggles and gloves. She's acutely aware of Melissa watching her, and for the millionth time, she's frustrated by the blush creeping up her neck. It's not like she doesn't know why - Skye's had a girlfriend before - but she really doesn't know how to deal with liking a girl she was once willing to pitch off the school roof. Not that she'd do that now.

"Science looks confusing," Melissa says as Skye pulls off her lab coat and hangs it on a hook.

Sky tugs her soccer bag out from under lab bench and loops it over her shoulder. "Says the girl who was in a play," Sky counters. After the whole Sisters and Sacrifice debacle, Melissa realized that she not only really likes plays but is good at acting. She’s even taking a stab at producing, and her show is playing this weekend.

“Oh speaking of,” Melissa says, reaching out and grabbing Skye’s arm, pulling towards her. “You’re coming on Saturday right?” She looks up at Skye pleadingly.

“Just as long as you don’t make me act in it, I’ll be there in the front row.”

Melissa grins at Skye as she adjusts her soccer bag. “Good. Now hurry up your sister’s going to kill us.”

The girls don’t talk again until the next day at lunch. “Penderwick, what are you wearing to prom?” Melissa asks as she drops into a seat next to Skye.

“Prom?” Skye asks, munching on a carrot stick. Melissa takes one from Skye’s tray and mimics the way Skye chews on it thoughtfully. Skye sticks out her tongue and Melissa laughs, pulling her dark hair into a bun, directing Skye’s attention to Melissa’s earrings. “Hey we match!” Skye says suddenly pointing to her own ears. Skye had never pierced her own ears since she hates earrings, but she deigned to wear clip-ons after Lydia enthusiastically gifted her shooting star earrings. 

“Yeah, I saw them at the store and they made me think of you,” Melissa says casually, like she knew that Skye would point out the earrings, but she looks secretly pleased. 

“That’s nice,” Skye says helplessly. After the surprise wore off, she now has no idea what to say to something so sentimental. Melissa snorts.

“You look so lost.”

“I am,” Skye says truthfully. This makes Melissa laugh a loud laugh.

“Shall I call Jane?”

“No, it’s fine,” Skye says, laughing along with Melissa. “So anyway, what were you asking?”

“What are you wearing to prom?”

Sky shrugs. “I don’t plan on going.”

Melissa sighs. “I knew it. Well, there goes my fallback.” Skye politely tilts her head, waiting for Melissa to continue. “Well you know how Genevieve and I broke up?” Skye nods. After years of listening to Melissa, she’s learned that trying to talk mid-rant doesn’t work with Melissa. She’s like Jane in that way. “Well obviously I needed a prom date so I asked Jane’s friend Artie - I mean he’s cute right?” Skye makes a noncommittal noise in the back of her throat. She’s never thought of boys as anything other than someone to be friends with. “Well he can’t go, I think it’s because he likes Jane. And so, pride ruined, I asked Pearson and he’s going with Genevieve can you believe it?” 

Skye shakes her head as she chews meditatively on a celery stick. 

“So this brings me back to the only other person I’d like to go with.”

“Who’s that?” Skye asks as she swallows. Melissa stares at Skye for a moment as their friends groan around them. 

“I’ll figure it out.” Melissa says, disappointed. 

“Cool!” Skye says brightly before turning to Molly to ask her about the passing drills they did the day before.

It takes Skye three days - the morning of prom night to be exact - to realize what Melissa had been saying. She sprints down the steps to the kitchen, jumping fully over a tottering Lydia. Iantha, Rosalind and Mr. Penderwick look at her, startled, as Skye barrels into the room. “I’m an idiot!” she announces to the room at large. 

“We already knew that,” Jane says casually as she cuts waffles into pieces. 

“Why?” asks Batty more politely as she leads Lydia into the room. Iantha quickly bends down to put Lydia in her high chair. Ben follows, looks Skye’s face, and skirts around her, heading straight to the pile of waffles in the middle of the table. 

“Melissa was asking me to prom!” Skye cries, clutching at her cropped hair.

“We already knew that too,” Jane says as she takes a sip of orange juice.

“Jane,” Rosalind says in a warning tone. It’s a miracle she’s awake this early. Usually she sleeps late during vacation. If Skye believed in fate she’d pin the presence of her entire family on it. But she doesn’t so it’s all her fault. 

“Iantha what do I do?” Skye asks pleadingly to her step-mother, who’s looking at her with a sympathetic albeit resigned look. 

Iantha purses her lips as she hands a fussy Lydia her recently dropped crown. “I’m not sure honey. It’s too late to get you a dress or a suit isn’t it?”

“Rosy? Do you have your dress?”

Rosalind nods. “I do, but Skye will it fit?” 

Skye heaves a dramatic sigh. No, it won’t. Skye and Rosalind are built differently enough that none of Rosalind’s dresses will fit Skye. Skye turns to her father, always a steady ship in times of crisis. “Dad? What do I do?”

“I’m sorry filia mea but I don’t know. Perhaps just try speaking to her?”

“Speak. That’s a good idea. Thank you,” Skye says mechanically as she turns towards the front door, marching towards it with determined strides, pausing momentarily to grab her car keys before leaving. 

“What about breakfast?” Iantha calls after her. She turns to Jane who sighs. 

“I’ve got it,” she says, secretly pleased at this turn of events as she packs some waffles for Skye. She’s always thought Skye and Melissa had potential. 

Jane’s good mood dissolves, however, when she runs into Skye standing on the front steps looking dejected. Jane, who was ready to trek the mile to Cameron High School, stops short. “What’s wrong? Do you have a headache? Shall I bathe your forehead?”

“Stop with the headache,” Skye says, waving away Jane’s hand. “I just realized I’d promised my science teacher I’d work in the lab tonight, help her clean it before school ends.”

“On prom night?” Jane asks.

Skye throws her hands in the air. “I hadn’t planned on going when I’d accepted!”

Jane doesn’t say anything to Skye, who’s stomping around the front yard trying to find a tree she can kick while she rants about the pressure of school dances and dumb crushes. “Some maidens may balk from the fear, but Sabrina Starr never wavers in the face of pressure.”

Skye stops her pacing. “What?”

“Nothing! Get in the car, we’ll be late.”

As seven in the afternoon draws closer, Skye’s mood worsens, until she nearly stomps into the lab. She’d sat through an entire day of school with Melissa, who seemed glowing as Skye’s heart sank. Now, she feels even worse as she sees Jane fiddling with the rack of graduated cylinders. 

“Jane what are you doing here?” Skye asks as the science teacher steps out of the back room. She catches sight of Skye and grins as she puts the box in her arms on a dry bench. 

“Hello Skye, why aren’t you getting ready to go to the dance?”

“Dance?” Skye asks.

“Yeah don’t you remember? You mixed up the dates when you agreed to help tonight. You thought prom was next week, not this week,” Jane jumps in, making her just go with it face. Skye had seen that face enough times to know nothing good came out of it. “So I offered to help instead.”

“You’re cleaning a lab?” Sky clarifies. She’s pretty sure Jane would rather die than go near anything science related.  

“Of course! I mean who wouldn’t want to wash one hundred graduation cylinders?” 

“Graduated,” Skye corrects.

“From what?”

“Never mind. Jane may I talk to you for a moment?”

Skye not-too-gently takes her sister’s arm and drags her towards the rack of lab coats. “What are you doing?”

“Cleaning gr-”

“Graduated cylinders I know. Jane this isn’t gonna work.”

“Why, it’s just in the gym. That’s a three minute walk.”

“I have nothing to wear!”

Oh. Right. How had Jane forgotten that? She looks around and catches sight of the coats. “There,” she points.

“You want me to wear a lab coat?”

“Yeah. Or you could just stay here and let Melissa go to the dance on her own.”

Skye sighs. “Fine. Help me put it on.”

Ten minutes later, after donning the coat and letting Jane twist her hair this way and that way until her eyes are uncovered, Skye slips into the gym. She looks around for a moment to get her bearing, and instantly someone is wrapping their arms around her. Skye turns to see Melissa grinning at her. Skye steps back and does a double take when she sees the blue gown Melissa chose.

“It matches your eyes,” Melissa says. 

“Yeah,” Skye says, smiling a little.

“God you really don’t know what to say do you?” Melissa asks with a grin. 

“No I do not.”

“Then why don’t I save you the trouble: ‘I, Skye Magee Penderwick, formally apologize to Melissa Patenaude for being dense and not realizing that she’s been asking me to prom for three months’.”

“That works,” Skye says, silently thanking Jane for cleaning the lab so Skye can be here, burning up under the gym’s bright lights in a lab coat as the prettiest girl she’s ever seen teases her. 

“Good. Hold out your hand.”

“What?” Skye asks, doing as she’s told. She looks down to realize that Melissa has tied a white rose corsage around her wrist. 

“Here. To match your lab coat.”

“Thank you,” Skye says softly.

“I assume there’s a story behind the coat?”

“Obviously.”

“And it has to do with Jane?”

“The one and only.”

Melissa links her arm with Skye’s. “Tell me all about it.”

[izzielizzie]

could u do a short Rosalind and Tommy fic?

This is by no means short and also it’s not that great but enjoy anyway! Also? the football coach? Definitely took some inspiration from my soccer coach. 

Tommy was having, to put it plainly, a terrible day.

It had started that morning, when he awoke to the most obnoxious bang he had ever heard. Not fully awake yet, Tommy jumped, falling out of his bed.

"Where's the canon?" Tommy mumbled, running his fingers through his rumpled dark hair. It took him a moment to realize that he wasn't talking to anyone. Tommy made the effort to scramble off the floor and venture out of his room, calling for his parents as he looked into the rooms of his house. Empty. He glanced out of the kitchen window and saw his older brother Nick in the driveway. "Nick?"

"Out here Kid!" Nick called back from the driveway.

"Obviously," Tommy mumbled. Nick was back from the military for a two month long vacation, something that had been as much of a surprise to Nick as it had been to his loved ones, and in the past three days Nick had managed to cause general chaos on their beloved Gardam Street.

Tommy pushed through the side door, bypassing the coat rack on his way out. This was his first mistake.

He stepped into the frigid early December air to see Nick staring into the hood of his car.

"What was that noise?" Tommy asked, stepping up next to his brother.

"The car, I -"

"Hello," a voice called from across the street, interrupting Nick. The brothers turned to see Rosalind, Skye, and Jane Penderwick trekking across the frost covered street to their house, Jane in the lead, waving at them. "Whoops," she said as she nearly slipped. Tommy saw Skye roll her eyes at Jane, but he looked past her at Rosalind. Tommy smiled at her, despite the intense shivering that overtook him. She looked adorable in her beige peacoat and black cap that looked a little like a beret, sitting jauntily atop her curls. Rosalind raised a hand to wave at him, and Tommy waved back.

"You're going to get a cold," Rosalind said as a way of greeting when the sisters reached Tommy and Nick.

"No I'm not," Tommy responded, pulling her into him for warmth anyway. She giggled and rested her head on his chest, her arms around his waist.

"So what happened to the car Geiger?" Skye asked, punching Nick in the shoulder gently.

"Not sure," Nick says truthfully.

"Maybe the battery was stolen. We know how to put it back," Jane said, peering into the car, mimicking Nick's stance.

"No we don't banana head," Skye said, kicking at Jane's slippers with her own. Unlike their older sister, Jane and Skye were still wearing pajamas underneath their heavy sweaters. "We know how to remove one though," Skye added as an afterthought.

"Maybe not mention that out loud," Tommy joked as the rest of the Penderwick family approached them, Batty and Ben in the lead, Ben holding his sister's hand.

Nick instantly turned to swing Ben high above his head. "How are you doing on this fine morning Bravo-Echo-November?"

"Golf-Oscar-Oscar-Delta," the boy giggled as Nick placed him on his shoulders.

"Ugh Nick, don't encourage him," Rosalind said from her place in her boyfriend's arms. "He's been using that alphabet for the past two days."

"Buck up Rosy, Ben's learning how to spell," Mr. Penderwick said, clapping Tommy on the shoulder.

"Car trouble?" Iantha asked pleasantly, the last one to arrive. Like her step-daughter, she was dressed in her day clothes.

"It would seem so Iantha," Nick said solemnly. He brightened instantly though. "How's the baby?"

Iantha smiled like she did every time Nick asked that question. "Very good at sapping my energy," she said with a smile as she put a hand on her stomach.

"My brother's gonna be as cool as you!" Ben informed Nick with a little clap.

"Ben dear, the baby might be a girl," Rosalind said, shaking Ben's little foot from his high perch.

"No," Ben said in his stubborn voice. Rosalind rolled her eyes, but Tommy knew she was not actually upset. She loved Ben too much for that.

"Well, how will you get to school Tommy?" Batty asked, speaking for the first time. Both Geiger brothers looked at each other, not considering Tommy's options for getting to school.

"Are your parents at work?" Mr. Penderwick asked. He was dressed for work too, and Tommy noticed the car keys dangling from his hand. Both boys nodded. Tommy turned to Rosalind.

"Can I go with you Rosy?"

Rosalind's face fell. "Oh Tommy I'm sorry, but I'm not going to school remember?"

Oh. Rosy had taken the day before winter vacation off to drive to Rhode Island to take a self-guided tour of Brown, a college on her list for years.

"I remember. It's okay."

"Tommy if you're ready Iantha and I can take you on our way to the university," Mr. Penderwick said.

"It'll have to be right now though," Iantha added. "We have to go to the kindergarten and the elementary school first to drop off Ben and Batty."

Tommy looked down to his pajamas and his bare feet, which were becoming numb. "I might not be ready in time," he said.

"Why you can walk with us!" Jane said brightly. “And tell us about Russian class and your football team!”

Skye rolled her eyes again. As a freshman, Jane was still too excited about being in high school, and her excitement oozed into everything she said and did. 

“But we need to leave soon too. I have a question for my physics teacher,” Skye added.

Tommy agreed, and the two families dispersed, leaving Tommy to quickly pull on his warmest clothes and brush his teeth. He decided to forego breakfast, since Skye was ringing their doorbell incessantly. 

“Hey Nick, where’s my hat?” Tommy called to his brother, who was getting ready to go back to bed after calling the towing company. 

“Mom sent it to the cleaners!” Nick called back over the doorbell. 

Right, Mrs. Geiger - fed up with the mud Tommy got on his winter clothes - decided to send all of his outerwear to the cleaner, forcing Tommy to wear one of Mr. Geiger’s old jackets. Tommy - after realizing that he could search for the hat and annoy Skye and himself or just leave - called goodbye to his brother and stepped out. It somehow had become even colder than it had been earlier. 

Tommy walked to school behind the sisters, letting their conversations drift towards him as he shivered violently. As they neared the school, Jane looked back at him. 

“Are you alright?”

“Just cold.”

“Shall I bathe your forehead?”

“Jane stop with the forehead bathing. Not all ailments need you and your cold washcloths,” Skye said giving Tommy an apologetic look. 

“Why do you always ask?” Tommy asked, genuinely curious.

“Because no one ever said yes,” Jane said irritably. 

Tommy shook his head at Jane as his stomach rumbled. He ignored it.

He spent the next three and a half hours ignoring his stomach until his lunch block. 

“I have never seen you walk so fast,” Brendan - one of his football teammates - said as they headed to the cafeteria. 

“I haven’t eaten all day,” Tommy responded.

“Why?”

“Long story,” Tommy responded as he fished around in his school bag for his wallet. Tommy searched for a few moments, growing more and more panicked until he realized that his wallet was always in his gym bag which was always swung over his left sh-

Wait.

“Brendan have you seen my gym bag?” Tommy asked frantically as they stepped forward in the lunch line.

“No, you didn’t have it with you in class.”

“Oh no,” Tommy said, realizing that he had put his gym bag in Nick’s car. 

“What?”

“It’s in Nick’s car.”

“Can’t you go to the main office and call him? I mean he remembers how scary Coach is. He’ll drive it over.”

“Yes he would, except his car was towed since a pipe burst or something.”

Brendan nodded wisely. “Always the pipe.”

Tommy shook his head in exasperation. “What do I do?”

Brendan put a placating hand on Tommy’s shoulder. “The team will pool our money, don’t worry, and we’ll deal with Coach when we cross that bridge.”

Between Brendan and their teammates, they managed enough money for an apple, a bag of pretzels, and a carton of milk, which Tommy only managed to eat before the bell rang for their next class.

“Alright students, pull out your group projects, we’re presenting today,” their history teacher was saying as Tommy and another of his teammates - Jackson - entered the room.

“Group projects?” Tommy asked Jackson as they sat in their seats in the middle of the room. Tommy usually sat in the back, but Rosalind was in the class and she liked to sit in the front, so they compromised. 

“Yeah. About the Silk Road? Remember? You worked with Rosalind.”

“And she’s not here,” Tommy whispered harshly, briefly wondering how his day could have gotten this bad. 

Jackson made a face of comprehension. “Sorry Geiger, you’re on your own.”

They turned to their teacher as he started speaking. “Going alphabetically, Tommy Geiger and Rosalind Penderwick are first to present.”

With a sigh, Tommy raised his hand. “Yes?”

“Sir, Rosy - that is, Rosalind isn’t here today.”

Their teacher sighed. “Then present on your own please.”

“But, Rosalind has the project.”

“Why didn’t she give it to you?”

“She must have... I mean, I must have forgotten.”

“You forgot?” The look Tommy was receiving was worse than any of Rosy’s withering looks. Tommy sank down in in his seat a little as Jackson flinched sympathetically next to him.

“Yes sir.”

“Well, I hope you understand this will be reflected in both of your grades.”

“Yes sir, I know sir,” Tommy said, mentally kicking himself. He didn’t care much for his grade but Rosy had worked so hard, and he hated for her to not get the marks she deserved. 

Tommy passed the next two classes in a blur tired hungry, cold, and more importantly, incredibly angry at himself for letting Rosy’s grade slip. 

He let himself wallow in self pity until he stepped out into the football field and realized - to his dismay - that it was snowing. And not the delicate flurries that had been falling on the walk to school. No, this was the heavy, wet snow, the kind that could block roads and make passing drills rather difficult. 

“Alright boys, into your workout clothes. Snow never stopped football players!”

“Have fun telling Coach,” Jackson said, referencing Tommy’s missing gym bag.

“We’ll wait for you in the locker room,” Brendan added more kindly. 

“Thanks,” Tommy mumbled as he headed towards his coach. “Coach?”

“Geiger! Into the locker room!”

“Yes sir, I will sir, but um...” Tommy trailed off, shaking his hands to get the cold numb feeling out of them. 

“Speak up!”

“I don’t have my gym bag.”

��Why?”

“It’s um, in Nick’s car? And it broke down?”

“Is that a question?”

“No? I mean... no.” Tommy kicked at the snow with his sneakers, not meeting his coach’s eye. 

“Well then, you can run laps.” 

Tommy looked up. “What?”

“You’re not getting a free pass Geiger.” Coach looked down at Tommy menacingly, as if he thought very little of people who tried to get out of football games. Not many things scared Tommy, but Coach was most definitely on the short list. 

“No sir. But what should I wear?”

“Jeans are fine.”

Tommy opened his mouth to ask another question, but his coach was already walking away. With a sigh, he went to the locker room to put his bag away. Thankfully, Brandon offered him one of his sweaters so Tommy would have only a slightly less chance of getting pneumonia. 

“Coach was brutal today,” Brandon announced three hours later as the boys headed to the parking lot. Tommy, trailing after them, shivering so violently his teeth were chattering. 

“At least you’re not Geiger,” a team member said, doubling back to clap Tommy on the shoulder. His knees nearly locked. “Sorry!”

“It’s f-f-fine,” Tommy responded as they neared the line of parked cars. 

“Want a ride home?” Brandon asked.

“He doesn’t need one,” Jackson said. 

“What?”

Jackson pointed to an old blue car at the edge of the parking lot, where a figure in a beige peacoat and a black cap was sitting on the hood of the car. Upon seeing the group of boys, the figure slid off the car. 

“But Rosy is in R-r-rhode Island,” Tommy said in disbelief. 

“Apparently not,” Jackson said with a grin.

“S-s-see you later,” Tommy said suddenly, breaking into a run despite his protesting legs. He barreled towards the car at full force, stopping only to grab Rosalind in a hug and swing her around, despite his screaming muscles. He could hear his teammates cheering somewhere behind them, but he was too busy hugging Rosalind as tight as he could. 

“What are you doing here?” he asked into her hair.

“The roads were closed so I cam back home. No point in being stranded in the middle of nowhere.”

“I missed you.”

“Gosh Tommy you’re so cold,” Rosalind said in response, pulling away.

“It’s been a long day Rosy,” Tommy said, brushing snow out of his girlfriend’s hair.

“Wait, tell me in a moment, let me grab something.” Rosalind reached into the car and pulled out a garment bag from the Cameron Dry Cleaners. She unzipped it to reveal Tommy’s jacket, hat, and gloves.

“How did you -”

“I remembered your mother brought them in last week and I needed to pick up some stuff for Batty and Jane. I thought you might be cold without them so I got yours too.”

With a laugh, Tommy reached forward and kissed Rosalind, long and hard. “Thank you. But did you pay?”

“Yes but don’t worry about it.”

Tommy nodded, secretly resolving to pay her back. He knew her family’s finances worried her. Unfortunately, Rosy knew him enough to know what he was thinking.”

“Stop worrying Tommy, really. Here, put these on you’re going to get sick.”

Rosalind helped him into his jacket. He pulled his gloves on, and with a giggle, Rosy pushed his hat onto his head. It didn’t fully sit on his head properly, but she looked so adorable standing on her toes to reach his head that he had to pull her in for another kiss, forgetting about the cold and the snow.

“Thanks beautiful,” he whispered to her.

“Any time. Come on, I’ll drive you home.”

Tommy took his usual spot in the passenger’s side, and Rosalind slid behind the wheel. “Oh, one more thing.” Rosalind pulled a thermos out from the back seat cupholder. “I made hot chocolate. I didn’t get to taste it but-”

Tommy cut her off by pulling her into him in a tight hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you Rosy.”

Rosalind pulled away, laughing. “Of course. I knew you’d be cold. Especially since I heard about your disastrous day.”

“You did? How?” Tommy asked, surprised, as Rosalind started the car and backed out of the lot. 

“Skye and Jane told me. Apparently you got yelled at during history?”

“It was project presentation day,” Tommy supplied. Rosalind glanced over at him. 

“Don’t worry about the grade. I’ll talk with him.”

“I feel so bad,” Tommy admitted.

“No, it was my job to remember to give it to you. Anyway, it’s winter vacation. Just enjoy the time off with your brother, okay?”

“And you,” Tommy said emphatically.

“And me,” Rosalind agreed. She cut a glance over to him as they turned into the chaos of Gardam street. “I love you Tommy.”

“I love you so much more. You have no idea.” 

Rosalind smiled. 

[the-gardam-street-blog]