“‘Sup? ;-),” Twilight read Timber Spruce’s latest text to her.
“Not much,” Twilight texted back. “Got up, went to school, and stayed for chemistry club. Although, someone in chemistry club did hurt his hand today.”
“Yikes. What were you guys working with? HF? X-D”
Twilight rolled her eyes as she texted back. “No,” she added a side-eye emoji to her reply, “He cut his hand on broken glass.”
“Come on, Twi. I was just kidding. Anyway, are you ready for our ‘hangout’ tomorrow?”
“Yeah. Hopefully, this time, my plans go off without a hitch.”
“Oh, come on. The last time we went to the planetarium wasn’t that bad. I mean, sure, nothing went the way you wanted it to, but I still got to spend the night with you, so I’d call it a success in my book.”
“Yeah, I guess. I’ve got to get up for school tomorrow, so I’ll have to text you later. See you tomorrow night.”
“C ya.”
Twilight sighed as she read her and Timber’s texts one more time before setting her phone on her nightstand. Then, she pulled her bedcovers up to her chin as she lay her head on her pillows. The last thing she did before attempting to go to sleep was take off her glasses and place them next to her phone.
Twilight shut her eyes and waited for sleep to overtake her. A minute later, she opened them again, turned on her right side, and shut her eyes. Another minute passed before she repeated the cycle, this time, turning on her left side. After maybe the fourth or fifth cycle of tossing and turning, she groaned in frustration, rousing her dog Spike from his puppy bed.
The purple puppy hopped onto his owner’s bed and asked, “What’s wrong, Twilight?”
“It’s my hangout with Timber tomorrow,” Twilight confessed. “I can’t stop thinking about it.”
“Twi, I’m sure it won’t turn out like the last time, and even if it does, it’s not like the world is going to end.”
“That’s not what I’m worrying about, Spike,” Twilight clarified. “I don’t know why, but I’m not looking forward to spending time with Timber as much as I used to.” She sighed. “And I don’t know why.”
“Maybe you just don’t like him that way anymore,” Spike suggested. “I mean, it happens.”
Twilight squeezed her eyes shut as she rubbed her temples with her fingertips.
“But,” she questioned, “why would I not like him that way anymore? We still like a lot of the same things, and he’s still as well-learned, charming, confident, funny, and cute as the day I met him. By all accounts, I should still be liking him.”
“Uh, Twilight,” Spike replied, hesitantly. “I’m not an expert on human relationships, but I don’t think that’s how they work.”
“Besides,” Twilight continued, largely ignoring what Spike had just told her, “I HAVE to keep liking Timber that way. If I stop liking Timber that way, then I’ll have to break up with him, and if he still likes me that way when I break up with him, he’s going to get his heart broken, and I don’t want to be a heartbreaker.”
“Um, haven’t you heard of letting people down gently?” Spike raised one of his eyebrows.
“Maybe I just have to keep on spending time with him. The more time I spend with him, the more likely I’ll start liking him again, right?”
The next night, Twilight and Timber’s “hangout” went off without a hitch. The two of them were able to do every single little activity Twilight had planned for them to do. They didn’t get lost looking for exhibits. None of the shows had gotten cancelled. The sky was perfectly cloudless, giving Twilight and Timber a spectacularly clear view of the constellations, all of which they both named correctly. Even the hot cocoa that the two of them were currently sipping was the perfect temperature, neither too hot nor too cold. She should be absolutely ecstatic with how impossibly perfect this hangout was turning out.
So, why wasn’t she?