Penelope is a popular, white and beautiful girl at Reardan. She is close friends with Roger. But she has some big problems, she thinks that nobody takes her seriously, she feels lonely and her father is a racist, maybe that’s one of the reasons why she dates Junior. She wants to show her dad, that she isn’t a little and pretty girl.She has bulimia.
The friendship with Junior starts when he notices that Penelope also has problems. She tells Junior that her dream is to go away from Reardan, because it’s boring there, she wants to study architecture and to discover the world. Just as Junior but on another level.
The protest against the treatment of homeless people, shows that she is a social girl.
Penelope changes her behavior towards Junior because in the course of the novel she gets more open and Junior shows her that, she also can do it. Maybe Penelope doesn’t come closer to her dreams, but she has more hope for following and realizing her dreams as before the friendship with Junior.

The chapter is about Penelope’s problems of anorexics and how Junior and Penelope come closer.
It starts with Junior’s walk to the school toilet. Sitting on the toilet he hears some bad noises, like someone is vomiting. Then he knocks on the girls’ bathroom door, where the noises are from. A girl says that he should go away. So he goes but after a few meters he turns around and goes back. Shortly after, Penelope comes out of the bathroom, chomping on a bubble gum when Penelope asks him what he is looking at, he answers that he is looking at a bulimic. After he tells her that she should not give up she starts crying and tells Junior that she is lonley.The next few weeks the two become friends to the disapproval of Penelope’s dad and Junior gets a higher level in school, he is more popular. the teachers also show him more respect. One day Penelope tells him that she hates Reardan and that it is her dream to go away and to discover the world. She wants to study architecture with the intent to build something fabulous and being remembered. Junior says that he have the same dream, but for Penelope they are possible to reach. He likes her idea to go away, but he also says, that she has to eat more, if she wants to realize her dreams. He tells the readers that he loves to look and stare at the “crazy beautiful” Penelope.