The Pinky Swear

Alison Caiola
(this monologue cannot be used for auditions, training or uploaded to youtube without the sole
permission of the author)

“I knew it was wrong. . .how they were treating her … the things they were saying,
I knew it was wrong.
At the time that it happened, Penny had been my best friend for 10 years. We
met the very first day of second grade. I was miserable. During recess I sat by
myself, I wanted to be anywhere in the world except on that playground. I looked
at the black fence and thought if I could just climb over, I could run all the way
back to my old school with all my old friends.
That’s when Penny marched over to me, like a little nerd, stuck out her hand and
said “Hi I’m Penelope Birchwood, wanna hula hoop? I remember thinking she was
the strangest-looking girl I’d ever seen. With her red frizzy hair and freckles all
over her face. Oh and her front tooth was missing so she had this really goofy
smile. I shook her hand and from that day on we were always together. Dad used
to call us the Bobsey twins, he’d say: “Those two are closer than two peas in a
pod.” Whatever that means.
Penny knew everything about me and I knew everything about her. We used to
pinky swear on our life that we would always keep the other one’s secrets. And
we never broke that promise, not once. . .
One Summer Penny went on vacation with her mom and dad. It was Puerto Rico
or Jamaica. Some island, I don’t know. When she came back she was quiet, like
really moody. When we were alone she told me that she had met this hot guy
who worked at the hotel. He told her to meet him on the beach later that night.
Penny snuck out of the room and she and the boy sat on the beach talking for
hours. Then they started making out and…one thing lead to another, and they
ended up having sex. It was her first time, she was just 16 years old!
When they were done, she asked him if he wanted to hang out the next day. He
laughed and said. “Are you kidding me? And have my friends see us together? You
are way too ugly to hang out with in the daylight.” I was the only one that she
told. I swore to her, pinky swore to her, that I wouldn’t tell anyone
Next year, Senior year we didn’t see much of each other. I got on the
cheerleading squad and started hanging out with the girls on the team. I was at a
sleepover at Katrina’s, everyone was sitting around just talking shit about all these
geeky girls at school. Everyone took turns. I really didn’t have anything to say
about anyone. So when my turn came, I panicked. I didn’t mean to tell everyone
what happened to Penny that summer, it just came out, like I had no control over
it. First they were quiet and then they couldn’t stop laughing. That’s all they
talked about the rest of the night. I felt like crap. I called my mom to pick me up
early. I told the girls I had cramps.
The next day, Penny walked by our table at lunch and Maggie called her over.
They started making fun of her. Katrina said they were going to post what
happened to her on facebook. Penny ran away crying and everyone laughed.
Something inside me screamed “Get up! Go, run after her!” But I didn’t. I
couldn’t move. All I did was drink my stupid diet coke until the bell rang.
She was going to be my best friend for the rest of my life.
Twenty four hours later they told me she took all her mom’s sleeping pills and she
was found dead in her bed.