Penny nodded and motioned for Markl to stand up. She was not about to touch him with sticky chocolate hands. She would be tempted to lick off the chocolate from her fingers if that were the case, and that would have not been a good idea. Markl stood and ran at full speed for the nearest trash can, which wasn't that far off. Once he tossed away the wrapper, he sprinted back and skidded to a halt right in front of Penny.
Penny grinned. "Yeah," she said to Amelia. "Come on, it's only a few blocks down. Besides, I need to get Markl cleaned up anyway. Look at your face!" She pointed to the store window so that Markl could see his reflection. The boy thought it was the funniest thing in the world and giggled incessantly. It was only then that Penny noticed it was the window to Frou Frou's. She wondered for a moment if Annie was at work today.
"Were you looking at dresses?" she asked Amelia. This whole prom business had Penny on edge, as social gatherings often did. But prom was a special type of social humiliation waiting to happen. Besides, if she couldn't go with Bast, she wasn't going at all. And even if the planets aligned and the celestial magistrates shined down upon her and somehow got Bast to take her, she still wouldn't go. The gossip would be too much to bear... says the bird of prey of gossip.