For so many of us speaking is a given. We do it every day at a whim or just because we can but what if you couldn't? Vinyl never got that choice she was born with it made for her.
Shout out to my friend and editor Psychic Smith go check this dudes page out!
Everybody takes speaking as a given never wondering what it would be like to never be able to say hello or good morning to people as you walk by. So many people take for granted something that I would give everything I ever had to be able to do for just one day. One day of talking with her, the girl with ebony hair, the girl with lavender petal eyes. It doesn't matter, all the wishing in the world won't make things different but maybe there's another way...
The alarm on Vinyl's phone burst from her bedside filling the room with loud violent wubs. With a fumbling hand she reached out blindly until she found the offending object that had rudely awoken her at the scheduled time. Sitting up in her bed she hit the alarm off switch on the touch screen before giving a silent breathy yawn. 6:00 AM an hour and a half before school enough time to dress herself and eat before walking in. With as much effort as she could muster which given her groggy state wasn't much she got into a crawling position on the busted spring mattress.
Vinyl's room was in truth more like a walk in closet. Given that the apartment her and her mother shared was only meant for one occupant the only room aside from the bathroom that was separate was a large storage space. Alexa had given the spot to her daughter and opted for living in the main room. There was exactly enough space for three things. A mattress, a bedside desk and a pile of clothes. as it was she had to step over her bed to leave the room.
Crawling her way across the bed she reached the pile of cleanish clothes in the corner of her room she selected a plain white tee from the pile and a matching skirt with a music note on it (her favorite pair) she quickly dressed herself and only after putting them on did she realize in her tired state she had gone commando without her purple pants. All it would take was one pervert looking under her desk to be a laughing stock...again. With a sigh through her nose she took them back off before pulling on a pair of panties and her purple sweat pants and replaced the skirt there after.
Now dressed in her cloths that she had only worn three days in a row without washing she grabbed her headphones and picked out a song from her playlist of "Acquired" songs. Once the wubs washed over her she opened the door to the main room of the apartment where she found her mother at the table drinking coffee from a plastic cup and paper bowl of knock off coco puffs in front of her.
"Morning honey."
Vinyl waved at her.
"Did you sleep well?"
She nodded. This was a rather common routine for them as it was too early in the morning for Vinyl to be bothered to use her notepad to write a reply and her mother was still to tired to read it. As such their morning greetings consisted of gestures from Vinyl and questions from her mother. Once she had produced a paper bowl from the cupboard and grabbed the knock off coco puffs from the shelf she sat down across from her mother and poured the cereal into the bowl before eating it in small pinches.
"Make sure you get to school on time today ok honey? I've already gotten three calls about tardies and two about skipping class."
"If she knew how many I got away with she would be horrified." The Blue haired girl thought to herself.
Sensing the stress in her daughter Alexa continued.
"Vinyl...please look at me."
Slowly the teen complied.
"I know your having a hard time with the other students. Some of your teachers told me at the last meeting that they've been bullying you but you need school."
Pulling a small pad from her pocket Vinyl put her pen to paper to reply better.
"Why? I know what I want to do and algebra, chemistry and home ech are not requirements among many of the other things they teach I don't need to know!"
"Vinyl I know you want to work with music but that's a hard field to get into. I'm not saying you can't but it doesn't hurt to be able to do other things as well. Think of it as a buffer."
The blue haired teen slouched down in her chair. Though she didn't want to admit it what her mother said was true and these days if you wanted to be a manager at a fast food restaurant a high school diploma gave you an edge. It was kinda sad really that was the first thing that came to mind. Solemnly she nodded earning a smile from her mother.
"Good girl. I wont be home till late tonight so you can raid the fridge for dinner ok?"
Vinyl nodded the end of the month was coming up and as such Miss Alexa Scratch was trying to stretch the remainder of her last pay check until her next one. As a result they had to stop buying luxury's like milk and washing soap for the next few weeks thus why they were both eating dry cereal. Vinyl finished the bowl by grabbing a handful of puffs and eating them all at once. Finished with breakfast she threw the bowl in the trash can before giving her mother a hug goodbye and heading for the door to get her shoes.
"Have a good day at school dear." Alexa called to her daughter.
Vinyl gave her best fake smile before shouldering her old backpack and walking out the door hoping to beat the morning traffic.
/l\---)O(---/l\
The walk form Canterlot City to Canterlot High was from Vinyl's home a good hour. School started at seven thirty so she was expecting to be around fifteen to twenty minutes early hopefully early enough to avoid some of her less...fond acquaintances. Most of the kids from the city took the bus but Vinyl couldn't afford it let alone her own car so she had to walk. She rode her bike for a time but it had been stolen last month.
"figures." She thought to herself kicking a rock down the pavement.
As she continued down the sidewalk her mood began to lighten a bit. She was nearing her favorite part of the walk to school where she passed the Crystal Apartment complex where the higher ups lived. The apartments in truth were each about the size of a house and there was a permanent staff that attended to the occupants seven days a week. In short it's were those who were well enough off to smoke money lived.
Vinyl had other routs she could take but she took this one every morning in hopes of bumping into her. Octavia Melody was one of the most sought after girls in the school. She could have gone to Crystal prep but went to canterlot high instead for some reason. If she was lucky she might get to see her as she walked past. If she was really lucky she might be able to wave or something. As she neared the complex she saw a figure sitting on the bench at the bus stop. She had long ebony hair and wore a purple dress shirt and long matching skirt.
Vinyl could almost feel her pupils dilating as her heart sped up and her pace quickened a bit. Octavia was sitting at the bus stop by herself with no company but her Cello. This was a chance for Vinyl to talk to her! Well not talk, talk but that was neither here nor there. The pale girl quickly began to fumble in her pants pocket for her pen and notebook. It was then of course she heard the voice of one of her least favorite people in the world.
"Hey Vinyl how's your throat doing?"
Damnit Amethyst Star is here now. She thought bitterly.
Amethyst Star was one of the more popular girls at Canterlot high and as such had a rather high opinion of herself. She was pretty, rich, and her father was the head of ministration which meant even Principle Celestia answered to him. She also had a superiority complex the size of most celebrities and was one of the many people who were not very fond of Vinyl. Try as she might to sink through the concreate and fade from existence she failed and soon noticed Octavia was looking her way with a sympathetic expression on her face.
"Hey Vinyl how's it going? Oh sorry I forgot to bring a white board for you to answer." Jeered the purple haired bully.
Vinyl clenched her fists in defiance but her shoulders slouched as she began walking. She was used to being made fun of, it was a near daily occurrence for her but the look of sympathy Octavia threw her way was humiliating. Of course getting away from Amethyst was harder than just picking up her pace as the girl kept stepping in front of her every time she tried to change course.
"What your not gonna say excuse me? That's what your supposed to say when you walk passed someone you know."
"Amethyst leave her alone! It's not funny!" Said Octavia as she stood up from her seat at the buss stop.
Vinyl bowed her head in shame. Even when people were trying to be nice to her it still made her feel worthless. She couldn't even defend herself from bullies because all they had to do to make her stop was crumple up her reply. As such one of two things tended to happen when someone made fun of her. They either got an audience to join in or someone would stand up for her and make her feel embarrassed at her own helplessness.
"Come on Octavia what are you getting upset about?"
"It's not her fault she can't talk and making fun of someone's disability is low even for you!"
Vinyl winced.
"You do realize who your talking to right? I'm as high up on the ladder of society as you can get!"
"Maybe because you spend all your nights on your knees!"
Vinyl swallowed a lump in her throat not sure what to do. If she left Octavia had no back up, not that she considered herself much back up anyways but if she stayed things would only get worse. Amethyst was already taking menacing steps towards Octavia after the last comment so naturally Vinyl did the first thing that came to mind to prevent the Raven haired goddess from getting into further trouble in her defense. She stepped in front of her with her hands held up in a it's not worth it gesture.
That was when for the first time that day Vinyl got a break. The city bus came to a screeching stop catching the attention of the three. With a glare and a raised nose Amethyst brushed harshly past Octavia before climbing on board and making for the back of the bus. Octavia quickly picked up her Cello before looking at Vinyl over her shoulder with yet another sympathetic glance as she too climbed on board.
With a heavy sigh the blue haired girl shouldered her backpack before turning to keep walking now sure to be late if the bus schedule was anything to go by. She hadn't even made it to school yet and she already wanted to cry. Then she felt something hit her head and tripped forward scrapping her knees in the process while the people in the bus laughed as it drove away with a loud "Nailed it!" coming from a voice sounding like Amethyst. Feeling the back of her head she realized somebody had sacrifice a yogurt cup from their lunch so they could throw it at her. As she touched the thick gooey dairy product in her hair her barriers began to break. getting back up with some sniffles she continued on he way to school this time though she cried as she walked. Better to do it where she couldn't get bullied for it.
Vinyl grimaced as she pulled the dried blueberry out of her hair and a few strands with it. In the time it took her to get to the school the yogurt had dried mostly and now she was trying to wash as much of it out as she could. As it was she was likely already late for class, and her day was off to a bad start. When she scuffed her knees during her fall she had torn her favorite pair of pants on the pavement. These were in fact her last undamaged pair of pants, that is until now.
Dipping her head into the sink and running the water, she scrubbed her hair as best she could to get as much of the gunk out as possible. Suddenly she heard the bell for first period go off in the halls, and without thinking she raised her head nocking it on the faucet. A small sound akin to a scraping cough escaped her throat as she rubbed the back of her head in pain. Wincing and hissing through her teeth she quickly stuck her head under the hand dryer for a few moments before dashing out the bathroom to try and make it to class.
As she ran her still-wet hair clung to her head as water dripped onto her shoulders, back and chest. Miss Cheerilee, though always acting happy, was not the most tolerant of teachers when it came to tardiness. Her policy was to lock the door two minutes after the bell rang and anyone who was late got sent to the office. Vinyl had already used most of that trying in vain to dry her hair. As she rounded the corner she could see the shadow of someone making there way towards the door.
"Shit she's gonna close it!" Screamed Vinyl's thoughts.
She picked up her pace but it was hopeless. She still had half the hall to run, and the teacher's hand was on the door already. Rather than waste her effort on a failed attempt she stopped and watched as the door closed. She wanted to swear and make her anger known to the world, but knew full well all that would come out was a raspy hiss. So instead she leaned her back against the lockers and slid down till she sat. Now she had two choices, go to the office or just chill until second period. She opted for the latter.
Pulling her headphones out of her pocket, she plugged them into her IPhone before scrolling to her playlist of dubstep and picking one that was particularly loud. While once she had pondered the irony of a mute having a cell phone, she had long ago stopped caring. She could text and listen to music. At least she had a way to talk to her mom and Neon Lights, even if it wasn't talking, talking.
As she sat against the locker, listening to the loud buzzes, loops and wubs of her music with her eyes closed behind purple shades, she felt the device in her hand vibrate. Looking at the screen revealed that she had received a text from speak of the devil Neon. Flipping the answer key she looked down at the message on her phone.
"Hey V want to skip school today?"
She pondered the offer for a moment before deciding that while she liked the idea, skipping the day was out of the question. The morning however would be ok she supposed.
"Can't skip the day but fuck the mornings already off to a bad start. I missed getting into Cheerilee's room on time so half the morning is done already. What did you have in mind?"
"I was thinking we would head over to the arcade for a bit. I could spot you some quarters if you feel like loosing to me at some stuff?" He replied.
"You're on! meet me at the statue."
Stuffing her phone back into her pocket Vinyl got up from where she had been sitting and made her way to the front of the school building. Out of all the people she knew, Neon was probably the only one she considered a friend. He was the only person that neither bullied her nor pitied her. He simply treated her like any other person, which was a huge relief. He was the one person aside from her mother who saw past her muteness and acted the same around her as he would anyone else. Better still he had her back when she really needed it.
If she needed access to some equipment for a little DJing, be it for spare scratch or for the school, he would let her borrow his stuff. In fact the only reason she was able to DJ at all was because he was good enough to loan her his equipment when she needed it. The two of them never really seemed to fight, either, even though Vinyl never really did with anyone anyways. There was the one time she stole his car, or as he called it "the Bassmobile" but considering she had done it to stop the Sirens he let her off the hook for pickpocketing his car keys.
Pushing open the front doors to the school building she was greeted by her black haired and blue, grey skinned friend waving. She returned the gesture by fist pumping before doing a move reminiscent of Mirror's Edge to enter his car without opening the door.
"Hey V ready to go?"
Vinyl nodded as Neon put his foot to the gas and more or less peeled out of the school parking lot. As they drove the blue haired DJ hooked up her phone to the sound system in her friends car and turning the volume up as high as she dared letting the Bass wash over them. Vinyl began writing on her notepad a small question to ask her friend at the nearest opportunity. It came when they hit a stop light.
"How are things with Watermelody going? She doing good?"
"She's doing great and things are good. We're going out to The Tasty Treat tomorrow and I've got a little something planned."
Vinyl raised an eyebrow quizzically behind her purple shades.
"It's nothing big I just bought her a necklace is all."
Vinyl took off her shades and rolled her eyes so he could see.
"What?"
The DJ scribbled something down.
"Hoping to get lucky huh?"
The driver turned beat red.
"*Ehem* no it's not like that."
She gave an unconvinced deadpan expression.
"Ok fine it might have had a little something to do with it."
She smiled knowingly and punched his leg lightly.
"Ya ya go on make fun of me if you will but you would do the same thing for a black haired cellist."
The pale young woman went from white to pink.
"You really should talk to her V." He paused for a moment before making a rewinding motion with his right hand. "I mean not talk to her but write to her or I mean...Shit I'm sorry V."
Vinyl waved a hand dismissively and gave a small shrug as if to say it was fine. Neon relaxed a bit after seeing that.
"Thanks I'm sorry I just, you know get in the habit of what I say and..."
Vinyl pointed at him and put her pointer finger to her lips.
"Ya sorry I'll shut up now."
She nodded. They drove in silence for a few moments but Neon couldn't help but speak again, he was known for not being good at being quiet.
"You should try to explain how you feel though to her. I don't know Octavia well myself but Watermelody does and she says she's real sweet."
The DJ looked at her white hands in her lap.
"She also says that Octavia mentions you sometimes."
Her head bolted upright and snapped in his direction.
"She told me that Octavia see's you walk by her place everyday you have school and asked why you didn't take the bus."
She drooped her head again in embarrassment.
"She didn't tell her your stalking her or anything like that she just said you prefer to walk."
Vinyl gave him and irritated glance with furrowed eyebrows.
"What? I didn't do anything!"
Pulling out her note pad again Vinyl angrily scribbled a reply.
"I'm not stalking her! Yes I walk past her place because I hope to bump into her but I'm not following her everywhere she goes or stealing her gym cloths!"
"Whoa hey I didn't mean it like that sheesh I'm sorry ok?"
The girl just folded her arms with an angry exhale.
"Hey tell you what you can have my tickets ok? Will that work as a peace offering?"
The DJ put a curled finger under her chin before promptly nodding in acceptance.
/l\---)O(---/l\
"How? Just...just...How?" Exclaimed Neon Lights.
The final score on Alone a competitive two person stealth shooter in the arcade was over 9000 points for Vinyl with a death count of zero. Neon's score was under 400 with a death count of three, and they had only cleared one area. The blue haired girl gave a cocky pleased smile of triumph against both the robots and her friend.
"You used a gun just once and a tactical baton on all the other take downs! How did you do that?"
Vinyl waved a finger back and fourth before spinning the plastic pistol like a gunslinger and holstering it in the machines holster. Neon drooped his head in shame while she pulled out a sketch pad and wrote down "You mad bro?" before shoving the pad in his face. After reading the note the taller male looked around the paper and held two fingers in close proximity.
"Just a little bit, like this much."
Vinyl's smile got wider.
"So you've kicked my ass at Alone, Psychedelic, Madness and even Spider Tank, further to the point you've beaten my high score on the first and last as well, and to top it all off I'm out of quarters because of all the buy ins I had to take from you using me as a meat shield."
"It's not my fault you can't outsmart a bunch of robots."
"Ya ya laugh while you can. Next time I'm not going easy on you."
Vinyl quirked an eyebrow with a half smile.
"Spose you'll be wanting a ride back to school?"
She nodded.
"Alright then lets get you back in time for lunch."
As the two of them made their way to Neon's car the older male pulled out his phone when a text caused it to buzz. With a few strokes he replied before climbing into the car and starting the engine.
"Who was that?"
"Watermelody asking if I can take her to lunch today."
Vinyl scribbled another question.
"You're in love with her aren't you?"
Neon smiled.
"Can you keep a secret V?"
She gave him a deadpan expression as if to say "Who the fuck am I gonna tell?". Neon chuckled at her look before turning down the road towards CHS.
"I'm gonna ask her to marry me V."
Vinyl's eyes went wide as dinner plates, even her shades couldn't hide her surprise.
"I get it she's a few months short of 18 and I'm a collage sophomore right?"
Vinyl's head bobbed from side to side as if to say "Kinda."
"I know her parents hate me, I know my folks don't approve, I know we're an odd match and I know she hasn't graduated yet but V, I love her. I love her more than my music, my parents and even my signed copy of Ra Ra's new album "Childhood Memories" I can't Imagine a life without her so I'm gonna tell her when she turns eighteen. My birthday gift to her is gonna be the promise that she's the one I choose out of all the others in the world."
Vinyl sat even quieter than normal for a little bit before scribbling a very carefully thought out reply.
"Wow you are sappy."
"Hey just because I'm a dude who can drink a bottle of vodka in one night doesn't mean I can't have feelings! Guys can be sensitive too little one."
With his right hand he ruffled his friends hair till she swatted his hand away in a fury. Neon gave a heartfelt chuckle before putting his hand back to the wheel.
"By the way I'm telling you this because I want you to come to the wedding if she says yes when I ask her. I know a guy usually asks his brother or a dude to be his best man but your the closest thing I got to a sibling and you're my best friend too so will you be my best man?"
He paused before adding.
"So to speak that is."
Dumbfounded it took Vinyl until they pulled up in the CHS parking lot to even think of a reply to write.
"Neon I can't talk! What about the speech? How am I gonna talk about how great you are or humiliate you in front of your new wife if I can't talk?"
"I'm sure you'll think of something V, you always do. For crying out loud when I was watching the battle of the bands with Watermelody and all that crazy shit happened you found a way to steal my car and help save the day! This should be a piece of cake for you. So...will you do it?"
Vinyl was silent for a while before looking at him again. He had been like a brother to her these past few years and while not always the best influence on her he knew how to make a bad day turn around. For crying out loud he would deliver his music equipment for a gig she had even if it was an hour before the performance, just because he knew how important it was to her that she make her music. How could she say no?
"How can I say no to my big brother?"
"Thanks V this means the world to me."
They shared a hug before Vinyl got out of the car and waved goodbye as she made her way towards the school entrance. Neon turned the car engine back on before peeling out of the parking lot and speeding down the street while bass came from his cars subs. The girl smiled as she thought of something, he wasn't like a brother to her, he was her brother even if not by blood.
Vinyl scrolled through the many songs on one of her many playlists as she waited in the lunch line. All throughout the cafeteria the noise of chatting students and bad table manners could be heard. Once she had selected a song to listen to her gaze lifted from the phone to in front of her. Three students stood in front of her with plastic trays in their hands, the closest of which had gold and red hair and a trademark leather jacket.
"Hmm Sunset shimmer is later to the line than usual. Odd, normally she is up here with Twilight and the others but they've already sat down. She thought.
As Sunset reached the front of the line she placed the tray down and grabbed a bowl of fruit before sliding the tray down the line until she was in front of Granny Smith.
"Hey Granny! How you doing today?" She said with a smile.
"Oh just fine deary here you can have a little extra I know you must be hungry as a horse."
As Granny Smith placed a second spoon of mashed potatoes on the girls tray Vinyl noticed Sunset's face go from a smile to a slight frown. Most people wouldn't notice something like that but she was particularly gifted at reading people. It came with years of listening and none of talking. Unfortunately for Vinyl her fixation on the schools one and only magic expert resulted in her missing that there were spilled potatoes on the floor which she promptly stepped in and slipped with the comedic effect one would expect.
Time slowed as it always seems to when one falls and she tried to brace for the impact and the inevitable pain that would come with it, but it never came. When she opened her eye's she was greeted by the blue eyes and red gold hair of her savior. Sunset had looped an arm behind her shoulder and braced her feet stopping Vinyl from falling down. Once she was sure the blue haired girl had her footing back she let go before speaking.
"Whoa watch out there that looked like it would have hurt, you ok?"
Vinyl nodded.
"Wait, Vinyl?"
Another nod though this one came with a surprised expression.
"Hey we never thanked you for your help with the Sirens did we?" She paused for a thoughtful moment. "Come to think of it you have a knack for picking a good time to pitch in, you also helped Rainbow Dash at the Friendship games pep rally right?"
She shrugged her shoulders back with a small smile.
"You don't talk much huh?"
Vinyl produced her IPhone with her free hand and pulled up the text screen to use as an impromptu note pad.
"I can't talk, I'm mute."
Sunsets expression turned to one of horror at her mistake.
"Oh damnit I'm sorry I brought it up, please forgive me!"
"It's fine I'm used to it don't be so hard on yourself."
"Thanks Vinyl I was terrified I'd offended you. Hey do you want to sit with me and my friends? We have space at our table."
Vinyl gave a surprised but enthusiastic nod before falling into step beside sunset. As they walked the aspiring DJ's observational skills kicked in and she noticed a number of things about Sunset. Her jacket while in good condition was clearly worn. The weather had dried and cracked the leather in places, a trait normally only seen in old jackets or ones that had been used frequently in the rain. Anyone with leather clothing knew it ruined the leather to use it in the rain so that could indicate that Sunset didn't have another jacket.
She also noticed that her boots had been touched up in places with marker and the soles of them were well worn. This was easily noticeable to her as she had used this same pair of shoes for the past three years and the only reason they still fit was that she had finished growing early. Last she noticed a small but still present stich in her shirt that was clearly sewn by hand. All these were tell tale signs of something she knew a lot about. Making each pay check stretch as far as it would go.
"She must be hurting for money like me and mom."
Vinyl had been so focused on her observations she barely noticed that they had arrived at the table in time not to crash into it. Quickly sitting down to hide her small misstep. Sunset sat next to her and the pair were soon greeted by five of the other six most popular girls at CHS.
"Hey girls sorry I'm late I got held up at principle Luna's office."
"Your not in trouble are you Sunset?" Asked Fluttershy.
"No nothing like that. She just wanted to ask about the progress me and Twilight were making in the "better understanding of magic" project. Speaking of which where is she?"
Rarity and the others shared a clearly significant glance with one another.
"She and a certain avid reader made a rather important step in their relationship last Friday at one of their study sessions. I think she's going to spend the next few lunch's with him to umm enjoy things a little bit." Said Rarity with a knowing smile.
"You mean they..."
"Shhh Darling! mums the word!"
"No, right, Sorry! I just can't believe they finally got there. I was really starting to wonder if it was ever going to happen!"
"The poor dear was having a hard time explaining things she was wringing her wrists and-"
"An' then Rainbow Dash charged in and guessed it by dropping the F bomb, among other things." Said Applejack.
"I'm gonna throw a Twilight lost her V-"
"Pinkie Pie this is not the sort of thing you make public or throw a party for!" Exclaimed a horrified Rarity clasping her hand over the pink girls mouth.
Vinyl sat as an island in the storm of all this with her eye's darting back and fourth between whoever was speaking and whoever cut them off. Sunset eager to de-rail this subject before it got out of hand broke in the middle of Rarity explaining how this particular act of love their friend had experienced was a private matter and why a party was inappropriate.
"Hey girls this is Vinyl! You might remember her from the battle of the bands or some of her other performances?"
"Oh but of course! Where are my manners? How wonderful to meet you more properly darling!" Said Rarity in her trademark manner.
"Howdy!" Said Applejack taking her hand in a crushingly strong shake.
"Hey the DJ from the Pep rally! Awesome!" Rainbow Dash yelled fist pumping.
"Oh maybe I can throw a welcome to our school's lunchroom table party for Vinyl! Said Pinkie with a burst of confetti coming from seemingly thin air.
Fluttershy simply waved with a soft smile as Vinyl, barely recovered from the barrage of welcomes waved a reply before pulling out a notepad to write out a proper one.
"Thanks for letting me sit with you guys, and thanks for the welcome."
"Well why wouldn't we be happy ta see ya suger cube? We might not have stopped the Sirens without your help! We owe ya a lot more than a place to sit at lunch."
"Thanks but this is more than enough, I get tired of sitting by myself sometimes so...thanks!
"Why do you sit alone?" Asked the quietest of the bunch.
"I don't really have any friends that go to this school so I just keep to myself mostly."
"WHAT!" Burst out the pink one after reading the reply.
Vinyl felt hands on her shoulders as pinkie reached out and shook her making her glasses slide to a lopsided position.
"How can this have happened! A person with no friends to sit with at lunch and I didn't know! We have to throw you a party and get you lots and lots of friends stat!"
"Pinkie Pie let her go you'll strangle the poor dear!"
"Oops...sorry."
Vinyl took a moment to catch her breath and recover before scribbling down a sloppy "Sall' good!."
"Darling if I may ask why do you write instead of speak?"
Sunset was about to interject but Vinyl put a hand on her shoulder before shaking her head with a smile. Sunset seemed to get the message and sat back down as Vinyl tor off the used up sheet of paper and began writing down the answer.
"I haven't been able to talk since I was born, it's got something to do with my genetics is all the doctor could tell me."
"Oh my we're sorry to hear that." Rarity paused a moment before putting a hand over her mouth and correcting herself. "I mean read not hear because-"
Vinyl raised her hand with a smile gently shaking her head from side to side. Looking back at the group of girls across from her she pointed at them then herself before giving a double thumbs up. They all gave a collective sigh of relief as the DJ began to scribble out a sentence.
"It's ok I know it takes some getting used to in order to talk to someone like me. It's pretty hard to offend me so don't worry about a slip up every now and then. We're cool."
"That's very good of you Vinyl." Said Sunset putting a hand on her shoulder.
She simply smiled and shrugged.
"well I think I speak for all of us when I say we'd be more than happy to have you sit our table Vinyl, if you want to of course." Said Sunset.
Vinyl smiled broadly at that.
"All my friends call me V!"
/l\---)O(---/l\
The final bell. The sound that almost every high school student in history waits for every single weekday. That was the sound that all of CHS heard at this moment and it took mere seconds for the halls to be filled with students running to their lockers, cars and the bus so they could go home and do as they pleased. Octavia Melody a woman of punctuality, poise and precision found herself in a difficult situation. She had been re-stringing her cello and lost track of time while doing so and as a result the bell had caught her off guard.
By the time she had packed her cello and made it outside to the bus stop the vehicle was long gone. She released an exasperated sigh of frustration while tugging on her hair. Hard enough to relieve some stress but not enough to pull out strands. Once she was calm again she sat down on the bench and pulled out her phone. A quick text revealed that her mother was not going to be able to pick her up which meant that unless she wanted to wait two hours for the next scheduled city bus arrival she had to walk home...with her cello.
As she put a hand to her forehead in frustration someone entered her peripheral vision causing her to look up. She was greeted by a note pad.
"Are you ok? You look upset."
"Oh I'm fine dear I just need to figure out how to lug this great thing home by myself." Replied the grey skinned girl.
"Don't you take the bus?"
"Yes I normally would but I missed it today, I was tuning my cello you see and I lost track of time. Now I need to find a way to get this big hunk of wood home with me and I live ten blocks away."
Vinyl had put away her notepad by the time Octavia had finished saying "missed it", and was now shouldering her backpack so that it was supported by both shoulders. Much to the astonishment of the Raven haired cellist Vinyl picked up her cello and gestured down the road in the direction of the apartments she walked by everyday.
"Are you...? No I couldn't ask you to carry my cello all that distance for me! I'll manage I'm sure."
The DJ took a few steps foreword and waved her hand in a follow me motion.
"But I..."
Vinyl just smiled and gestured for her to follow again finally the young woman complied.
"This is most decent of you but if it gets to be too heavy please let me know alright?"
She gave a thumbs up with her spare hand.
"You won't be going out of your way will you?"
She shook her head.
"Might I ask your name? I see you walk by my home often but I never asked."
Vinyl pulled out her phone from her left pocket and picked out the text screen. With her thumb she typed her reply.
"My name is Vinyl Scratch."
"Thank you for your help miss Scratch, I'm sorry you must find it rude of me to not know your name despite seeing you go passed my house often for four years. Not to mention after you offered to help me get my cello home."
"It's ok I'm happy to help and it's no trouble, I go passed the Crystal Apartments every time I walk home so it's on the way."
"Still at least for today you're my hero."
Vinyl tried desperately to hide her growing blush and even harder not to go into a fantasy world where she was saving Octavia from some high up tower with naught but a sword and a shield. The thing she fought hardest to not think about was the idea of a hero's reward for saving her.
"Are you alright dear? You look a bit flushed."
Vinyl quickly shook her head before dry swallowing and nodding in reply.
"Well when we reach my place I'll be sure to get you something to drink as a thanks for helping me, perhaps a snack as well?"
Vinyl shook her head no with a small smile but her stomach rumbled loudly causing her face to get redder. Octavia giggled before speaking up again.
"Dear me you must be hungry, don't worry about trying to be polite and proper thanks is in order and if you are thirsty, hungry or both it's the least I can do to say thank you."
With a quiet sigh Vinyl nodded in defeat. Besides if she said yes it meant she would get to spend time with Octavia...at her house...Alone...where her bed was-"Damnit Vinyl get your head out of the gutter and stop fanaticizing!"
/l\---)O(---/l\
As Vinyl carefully carried the cello case through the door Octavia followed close behind closing the door after them. The blue haired girl soon found herself amazed at the sheer size of the apartment and the fine finish on the walls and woodwork. In the main room hung numerous paintings and a gas powered fireplace, the windows were crystal clear and there were even stairs leading to a second floor of the enormous apartment.
"You can set the cello down in the corner when your done looking around dear."
Vinyl started in place before complying as Octavia opened the chrome finished fridge and withdrew a tray of egg salad sandwiches cut into triangles. Once placed on the kitchen island she returned to the storage unit and produced a pitcher of iced tea. Upon turning back around she saw that Vinyl was already on her third sandwich and seemed to be eating hungrily.
"My you were hungry weren't you?"
Vinyl swallowed before typing out an apology on her phone.
"Sorry! I didn't mean to be rude!"
"Oh it's fine dear don't worry, help yourself while I get some glasses for the tea." As she turned her back to fetch the glasses she realized something. "She's awfully thin for someone who eats so ravenously, It must be all the walking she does."
Vinyl had finished half the sandwiches by now and was forcing herself not to swallow the rest. the truth of the matter was that today had been the most she had been able to eat all week. She got lunch on weekdays due to the schools system paying for her but more often than not there was no breakfast at home towards the end of the month and dinner was even rarer. nights that she went to bed full we're uncommon to say the least. Octavia carefully poured out two glasses of tea at exactly the same height before pushing one towards her guest who drank three gulps in quick succession.
"I say you must have been thirsty! I'll pour you a bit more shall I?"
She prepared to pour more of the beverage but stopped when Vinyl placed her left hand on top of the glass and wrote a sentence down with her right.
"Don't worry this is enough."
"Oh, alright then."
The two sat in silence for a moment as they both sipped their tea. The DJ pushed the tray of sandwiches towards Octavia but she promptly pushed them back and told her to go ahead as she rarely ate them. The blue haired girl persisted but was beaten when the cellist refused to hear contrary. Finally Octavia broke the silence with a question.
"Why is it you don't speak if I may ask?"
Vinyl swallowed the sandwich she was chewing before looking down at the table. For a minute the raven haired girl thought she had offended the other woman but she looked back up and producing the note pad again wrote the answer to her question.
"I was born without properly developed Larynx so I can't make most of the sounds needed to speak. I can make sounds like f,s or sh but that's it, I can only make those because they use the tongue and lips instead of the Larynx to be pronounced but since I can't make vowel sounds I can't talk."
"I'm sorry to hear that Vinyl and I'm sorry asked you such a personal question I shouldn't have intruded."
"It's fine Octy, I wouldn't have told you if I didn't want to."
"Octy?" Asked the cellist with an amused look. Vinyl's face paled as she franticly scribbled a reply.
"Sorry I was just short handing! If that's not cool than I'll write your full name next time!"
"Vinyl dear it's fine, I actually kind of like it. It has a certain ring to it, Octy...it's nice."
The DJ gave a silent sigh of relief before glancing at the clock on the wall and seeing the time had gone to four thirty.
"I should go, I need to get home and clean up some before my mom gets back from work."
"Oh alright then, have a safe trip home dear."
She gave a thumbs up.
"Oh and Vinyl?"
She paused at the door.
"Thank you for being so kind today, If you want you can sit with me and my friends at lunch I'll save you a spot."
The DJ smiled and blushed a bit before nodding and waving as she left through the door. As she walked down the steps to the street she found herself smiling happily, for a bad start to the day it had turned out pretty good after all.
Vinyl awoke with the usual aches and pains that accompanied a night sleeping on her old mattress. Most every morning began like this and today was no different. Stretching and cracking her knuckles, neck and back she pushed the door of her closet open with her foot and crawled out across her bed into the main room of the apartment. Her mother was still asleep on her old couch snoring softly so she treaded carefully towards the kitchen area.
After checking what remained of the provisions she opted to skip breakfast for her mothers sake. There was only enough cereal to make even a meager breakfast for one person let alone splitting it in two. So with an empty stomach and a sore body Vinyl made her way to the door put on her shoes and slung her backpack across her back before walking out the front to go to school early. The nearly empty box of cereal remained atop the table as she had left it.
/l\---)O(---/l\
Water dripped off of Vinyl's bangs as she trudged forward through the rain. She had been walking for a full three minutes before the first drop of water landed on her nose and was soon followed by it's companions in quick succession. Now every other step was in a puddle and every step that wasn't in a puddle was made with the squish of a soggy shoe and sock. She was nearing the Crystal Apartments and was hoping to bump into Octavia this morning. If she was lucky they could talk for a bit before Octy had to go on the bus and she had to continue in the rain.
When the Crystal Apartments bus stop came into view Vinyl was warmed by a most welcome sight. Octavia sat at the bus bench with her cello and an umbrella and there was no Amethyst Star in sight. Picking up her pace with a slight spring in her step she walked over to the Raven haired Cellist and was greeted with a friendly smile.
"Oh why hello- Oh my, Vinyl your soaked to the bone!"
The DJ shrugged before sitting down on the bench next to Octavia.
"What are you doing walking in weather like this! You should at least be wearing a rain coat, you'll catch your death in this weather!"
Grabbing her phone from inside a protected pocket in her pack Vinyl gave a reply.
"It's fine I've lived through worse."
"No dear it's not fine, your not even dressed warm! Your hands are shaking for goodness sake!"
Sure enough Vinyl's hands were pruney and cold, even paler than usual as well. Octavia reached into a pocket on her cello case and pulled out a purple scarf and a pair of black gloves handing them out to the freezing girl beside her.
"Put these on this instant I insist."
Vinyl tried to object by holding up her hands but to her surprise Octavia used it against her and slipped both gloves on faster than she could pull away. Seconds later the scarf was tied in a comfortable knot around her neck.
"There that's a bit better now you can be warm until the bus arrives."
Vinyl shook her head, pointing at herself then the sidewalk making walking motions with her pointer and middle finger.
"No Vinyl your not going to walk to school in this weather I won't allow it!"
Her fingers now covered in gloves, couldn't type well on her phones text message screen so instead she reached into her pack again and produced a fortunately still dry pad of paper and a pencil holding them in the safety of the bus stop roof and Octavia's umbrella.
"I can't ride the bus, I don't have any tokens."
"Dear they accept money too, it's only a dollar a day."
Vinyl sighed reluctantly before scribbling an honest reply down opting for truth rather than a lie. She hated lying and only did it if desperate.
"Mom doesn't really have any money to spare for that sort of thing and she won't let me get a job because I'm in school."
"Oh? Oh...I see..."
Suddenly things made more sense to Octavia. She thought back to yesterday and Vinyl's sandwich binge. Until now she simply assumed that she had a large appetite but now she saw that the girl probably didn't get enough to eat. As if on cue Vinyl's stomach growled somehow louder than yesterday.
"Please tell me you've had breakfast."
She gave an unconvincing nod followed by an even louder growl causing her to clench her stomach from the empty ache. That was all Octavia needed to know to make her next decision. Standing up she lifted her cello with her spare hand while holding the umbrella above her and her new friend with the other.
"We're going to Sugar Cube corner and you are going to pick out anything you want and eat it along with a nice coffee or tea."
Vinyl shook her head then pointed to herself with her thumb before making a don't worry I'm fine foreword wave.
"I'm not asking dear I'm telling you to get your rear off that bench and come with me to get some food."
With a quiet sigh and a shrug she did as she was told but unwilling to be a burden she reached out and took Octavia's cello case from her before pointing down the road as a signal to lead the way.
"Fine you can carry it if you promise to eat your fill and not what you think would be polite." Said Octy sternly.
/l\---)O(---/l\
When they arrived Octavia handed Vinyl a ten dollar bill and said she wouldn't take a penny back and it was hers to do as she would. When the DJ returned with her purchases she had a large coffee, a scone, a muffin, a small bowl of fruit and a plastic wrapped cluster of three cookies. Once again she ate hungrily but this time with a bit more restraint so as not to embarrass herself in front of her crush.
Octavia sat across from her sipping a cup of tea quietly thinking and feeling a bit guilty about her privilege compared to Vinyl. She had never had to worry about her next meal and anytime she wanted new shoes or a CD or anything of that nature all she had to do was ask. Vinyl had none of these privileges and yet still she took Amethyst Star's bullying without any resistance and would help others at the drop of a hat. She found herself feeling upset that life had been so unfair to this sweet person cross from her eating cookies like they were bite sized.
Here was a person she didn't know much about but still felt drawn to help out of...pity? No that wasn't it she was actually enjoying just sitting quietly with this friendly individual. Vinyl was just sort of likeable. She had made a good first impression when she offered to carry her Cello home yesterday but that still wasn't it either. Frustrated at being faced with a perplexing question she didn't know the answer too Octavia blurted out the next one that came to mind.
"Why we're you so kind to me yesterday Vinyl?"
The DJ coughed on a bit of cookie caught off guard by the question and not sure how to respond. It wasn't like she could just say "Oh I've had a crush on you for the passed three years so I was thrilled when I had an excuse to talk to you." Instead she took a sip of her coffee to hide her blush and despite her poor skills and hatred of lying gave the best fib she could think of on short notice.
"Because you stood up for me in front of Amethyst yesterday."
Vinyl gave her best smile as she ate another cookie, while Octavia continued to think. Looking out the window she saw that the rain had stopped and while the sun wasn't shining the weather was improving slowly. It was then that the blue haired woman across from her felt her phone buzz in her pocket. pulling it out she read the message, seeing it was from Neon. Her irresponsible brother figure had sent her an invite to something that peeked her interest and in a moment of bravery she scribbled a question to Octavia.
"Hey Octy, what would you rather do? Go to school today or go on an adventure with yours truly?"
The Cellist was Silent for a moment but for some reason, despite every fiber of her upbringing screaming the opposite she felt both intrigued and energized by the Idea of doing something bad and skipping school. She was having a good time with Vinyl too and she wanted to hang out more so why shouldn't she? It would be rude to refuse an invitation from a friend wouldn't it? Against her better judgement she gave the reply she felt like giving rather than the one her parents would approve of.
Vinyl and Octavia sat on the curb of Sugar Cube Corner awaiting the arrival of Neon Lights, who was picking them up for their little "adventure". Cars passed them by on the busy street and the quiet was becoming more awkward by the moment. Looking for any way to ease the silence Vinyl pulled out her earbuds and offered one to Octavia. The Cellist looked at it quizzically as the young DJ typed something out on her I Phone.
"I was wondering if you wanted to hear one of the remix's I made? I'm always looking for a second opinion.
"Oh well, in that case I'd be delighted Vinyl."
With that she took the spare earbud and rested it in her right ear while the blue haired girl put one in her left. Careful not to turn the volume up too high and burst the raven haired girls eardrums she set the volume to thirty and hit play on the remix she had titled "Free We Can Be". As with most of her songs there was a low roll of base in the background while other sounds of machines took over the foreground of the song.
For Octavia this was a new type of music, she was used to string instruments, the sound of Violins and on occasion drums and other such things. Rock was by far not her favorite type of music, but she partook from time to time. In fact it occurred to her that this was her first time listening to electronic music.
The sound of the beats in the background continued to rise as well as the other sounds. She could feel her ears vibrating from the intensity of the growing noise but for some reason she liked it. The sound of Dubstep was completely foreign to her, it was a kind of music she had never heard but, while incredibly different and in no way close to what she was used to, it did have it's own charm. It was loud, it was rude, it was the opposite of everything her parents had told her she was supposed do and everything she was supposed to be.
The music only got louder but suddenly stopped. for a split moment she thought the song was over but then a mechanical sounding voice shouted "BASS DROP!" and her ears were bombarded by the loud screeches and the blasts of scraping wires and technology crying in her mind. She flinched at first but didn't pull the bud out, finding that this only continued to feed the fire that she was feeling from the earlier part of the song. It was like this music, this song, was an act of protest against the world's Ideals of decency. It was like nothing she had ever heard.
As the song came to an end Octavia found herself almost remorseful as the feeling of renegade behavior was leaving her. Still, no song can last forever and this ones end was at hand. Removing the earbud from where it hung on her lobe she turned to Vinyl.
"That was wonderful Vinyl! You made this?"
"Well sort of yeah. It's a remix of a song, so I took one that already existed and threw my own spin into it. I liked the song but I felt that if I could change it a bit I could change the meaning of it."
"What was the message supposed to be and what was the original song about?"
The DJ took a second to remember the interview with the author she had seen on YouTube before answering by typing a reply on her phone.
"The origonal song was called "Damned Are We". It was supposed to be about how we're being oppressed by the people who run our world. At least that's what the guy who made it said he wanted the message to be. I kept a lot of the background, but changed some of the louder parts and the quieter ones while re-writing different portions."
"But you changed the message when you changed the song right? What was it supposed to mean?"
She smiled, typing out another reply.
"When you listened what did you feel?
Octavia took a moment to think about how to answer, after a full few minutes she was able to piece together her feelings as best she could.
"I felt...free, rambunctious and...and..."
Vinyl cocked an eyebrow with a coy smile accompanying it.
"And, guilty..."
"What I was shooting for was that if we want things to change, but they aren't changing, we have no one to blame but ourselves. Change comes from action, not from wanting it."
"Well, that was...deep Vinyl."
The DJ smiled and nodded in thanks. Octavia was about to ask if Vinyl had any other songs that she had made, but was interrupted by the growing sound of bass from a different source. Looking to her right she saw that Vinyl had stood up and was looking down the road, waving a hand as if to get someone's attention. As she got to her own feet a black haired driver pulled up on the side of the street and leaned towards the DJ.
"Hey V! Ready for the party?"
She nodded and pulled out her phone while turning to face Octavia.
"Octy, meet Neon Lights, my big brother."
"Neon Lights, as in Water Melody's boyfriend Neon Lights?"
"The Very same." He replied. "I take it your Octavia?"
"Why yes, I am."
"Nice to meet you, I've heard a lot about you from Water Melody. I take it Vinyl asked you to tag along with us?"
"Yes, she was kind enough to invite me to come along."
"Cool, hop in and we'll head out."
With a cocky smile Vinyl vaulted over the cars back door into the backseat of the open roofed car before opening the door for a surprised Octavia. The Cellist climbed in before turning towards Vinyl.
"That was quite the display! How did you do that?"
"I took parkour classes for a while. I'm not the best but I can climb a two story building and do a lot of the basics."
With yet another cocky smile the DJ kicked up her feet upon the top of the passenger chair and leaned back in the seat. Neon revved the engine before putting his foot down and pulling a U turn that Octavia was sure he would have been fined for had an officer been present. As they drove towards the east side of town Neon did his best to make conversation. So naturally the first thing he asked was...
"So I take it you were expecting me to be younger, and not a sophomore in collage right?"
"Wait your in college! Umm, well, I..."
Vinyl snorted into her hand at the bluntness and the reaction it got out of Octy. Neon joined in with a hearty chuckle as he made a left turn on a yellow light.
"Relax, I get it. I'm a bit old for her right?"
"I didn't say that."
"But you were thinking it right?"
"Well...yes."
"Yeah, her folks hate my gut's and my parents are pissed too, but sometimes you got to just say fuck it. In my case, love is more important to me than others approval. That's why Water Melody comes first."
"I thought I saw you at the Friendship games with Crystal Prep though?"
"Yeah, that was me. I went there when I was younger but sometimes if they're short staffed for a field trip I help chaperone. Miss Pencil Pusher was sick that day so I took her place."
"I see."
"Your taking this better than most people do, so thanks for that."
He looked back with a smile as he stopped at a red light.
"Neon's a good guy Octy. Well ok, he is a bad roll model, but he's like a brother to me and he always has my back."
"Like a brother to you?"
"Me and Vinyl aren't related but we might as well be. We've been friends since she was seven. We used to be neighbors before I moved into the school dorms. We started hanging out because we were pretty much the only people who could tolerate each other's irresponsibility."
Vinyl held out her hand for a high five and Neon was quick to accept. More comforted by the show of kinship, Octavia finally asked the question she had been holding on to for a while.
"So where are we going?"
The blue haired DJ smiled wide.
"It's a surprise my dear Octavia. It's a surprise...
Octavia had long ago given up trying to guess where Neon and Vinyl were taking her. Every time she thought she had figured it out they would either drive passed it or turn down a different road. Now they were nearing the edge of Canterlot City and she was well and truly out of ideas. Even so, when they arrived at their destination she found herself perplexed. There were many cars, vans, and even some motorcycles but they were at a junk yard of all places. As Neon killed the engine Vinyl once again neglected the door as she hopped out. Still she must have seen the confused look on Octavia's face since she grinned wickedly as she pulled out her phone.
"We're here Octy!"
"We're at a junkyard?"
Vinyl nodded, her smile only growing.
"I'm afraid I don't understand?"
The DJ typed furiously, clearly excited.
"It's a junkyard raid! Amature bands from all over the city come out and perform as loud as they can while everybody either dances and listens to the music or loots the place for whatever they want! People bring food and drinks and just cut loose, it's awesome! You haven't lived until you've been to one of these!"
"Is this legal?"
Vinyl scratched the back of her neck with a nervous grin.
"As long as we don't get caught."
Octavia paled a bit, if her parents learned she had been here for this they would be beyond furious but...she felt it again. She felt excited, sick and naughty all at once! She was breaking rules, it was Taboo, and even though she felt like she could vomit, at the same time she felt...alive. She was pulled from her thoughts when a hand waved in front of her face and she saw a concerned looking Vinyl holding her phone out for her to read off of.
"Are you ok with this? If it's too much or your uncomfortable I can ask Neon for the keys and take you home.
The Cellist thought for a moment. On the one hand she had an out now, Vinyl had offered and she could leave. She could go back to town and pretend this never happened and if she was lucky her parents wouldn't even know she'd skipped school. On the other hand though, she was already here and didn't want to ruin Vinyl's and Neon's fun either. On a final note she had to admit that breaking all these rules was giving her a sickeningly good rush, like she had drunk a dozen cups of coffee on an empty stomach! Cracking an excited and nervous smile she gave her answer.
"I'll follow your lead Vinyl, I trust you."
Vinyl's heart skipped a beat at those words. She felt fuzzy and warm like the first time she had downed a shot of Whiskey, strangely enough it was at one of these raids. She felt high on life and in a moment of adrenaline she flung open the car door and pulled Octavia out by her hand and rushed passed the junkyard gate with the Cellist in tow.
As they hurried through the place, passing mountains of scrap metal and other forms of debris, the sound of electric guitars and makeshift drums began to get louder and louder. The pair could hear it growing, and their hearts sped up both from the running and the growing intensity of the music. Once they rounded the final pile of stacked old cars a glorious sight for Vinyl and a new one for Octavia came into view.
In a large clear area of the Junkyard was a makeshift stage crafted from old car beds. All kinds of people were about jumping, dancing, head banging, and even a few pairs dancing in provocative, suggestive manners. There were people with dyed hair and black clothes adorned with bracelets, rings, chains and all manner of gothic clothing that jangled as they danced. There were people with long braids, dreadlocks and tie-dye, wool and plaid shirts and even others who looked completely normal. In fact Octavia was sure she could see a familiar black and yellow leather jacket and a two toned head of sunset hair.
On the stage the current players were saying their thanks to the crowd and making way for the next performers who were dressed in black paint and leather clothing of the same dark shade. While they did this one of the members from the group taking the stage was setting up gear where they removed. Drums and guitars all made from hashed-together materials! On the drums were old trash can lids and the bodies of the drums were old cut up oil drums. Even the electric guitar was covered in salvaged matierals for a junk yard look as was the microphone on stage.
To say that Octavia was experiencing culture shock was an understatement but at the same time she was invigorated. Her blue haired guide to this strange new world was smiling at her watching as her friend took all of this new place in.
"Vinyl this is...I don't know what to call this!"
The pale girl gave a toothy, beaming smile before flipping out her phone again to respond.
"It's bitchen right? The first time I came to one of these I had so much fun I got an adrenaline rush and threw up!"
"What am I supposed to do though?"
"Whatever you want! There's no limits here, we're free to do anything! That's the whole point of these things, we tell society to leave us alone and make our own! Don't worry, stay close to me and Neon and we'll keep you out of too much trouble."
Vinyl winked as Octavia read the last part before grabbing her hand again and pulling her through the crowd. Octavia held on firm, while she was trying to be adventurous she would be lying if she said she was completely comfortable. This place, while exciting, was entirely foreign to her and she would be lost without a guide and someone to help her. As a result she found herself incredibly happy that Vinyl was making sure to keep her close at hand.
When they finally found Neon he was at the front of the crowd with a surprisingly familiar face that should have been at the same place Octavia and Vinyl we're supposed to be.
"Sunset Shimmer?" Exclaimed Octavia.
"Hey! There you two are, Neon was just telling me that you guy's were here too!"
Vinyl quickly reached out and high fived Sunset before typing a quick question.
"I never knew you were into these kinda things! When the hell did this start?"
"You kidding? I love these raids! I haven't been able to make one since freshmen year though."
"I thought you were reformed now though?"
Said Vinyl teasingly. Sunset laughed loud enough to be heard over the crowd.
"I may be reformed but I never quite stopped being a bad girl, you've got to live from time to time right V?"
Vinyl gave a happy and approving nod but before she could type anything more there was a great noise from the stage.
"How is everybody today!" Yelled the performer into the microphone.
The crowd cheered.
"Great to see you all here today! We just need a few more minutes to set up then we're gonna rock this junk yard till it falls down!"
The crowd, that at Octavia's best guess made at least fifty in all, cheered at the top of there lungs. The Cellist had to clasp her ears at the sheer volume. Turning toward Vinyl she saw the girl had an excited look on her face but somewhere within that smile she still saw...sadness? Sorrow? It was strange, it was both a sad and happy smile at the same time. Vinyl was unaware of Octy's observations, all the same though, unknown to the black haired Cellist, they were right.
While Vinyl loved the crowds and the music it was impossible for her to be in a setting like this without being a bit sad too. While others would cheer, she had to be silent. Where others would sing, she had to be silent. Where others would laugh, she could only cough. Her smile was slowly turning to a frown as she continued to think of the same thing she always thought at times like these. No matter how bad she wanted to she would never be able to do the things the others could. She would never find a voice to call her own.
Just when she was about to lower her head to hide her frown she felt a hand on her right shoulder. Turning to look she saw the soft purple eyes and calm grey skinned face of Octavia looking at her with concern. Leaning foreword she spoke directly into vinyl's ear. "Are you all right Vinyl?" Unknown to the Cellist Vinyl's heart sped up, her pupils dilated and her skin got goose bumps. Octavia was touching her! She could feel the beautiful girls breath on her ear and the touch of her finger tips on her shoulder. She was having to fight not to hyperventilate or worse still get over excited. With a deep gulp and flushed cheeks she hurriedly fumbled out her phone and pecked with anxiety at the keys on the screen.
"I'm fine Octy don't worry just thinking a bit."
"What about?"
"Its not important, don't worry, we're here to have fun and cut loose!"
Vinyl followed up the message with a reassuring smile. Octavia didn't quite believe her but before she could say so the sound of a guitar rang out from the stage. The croud cheered and the band started playing.
Suddenly the stage erupted with the sound of loud drumming and screaming guitars. The lead grabbed the mike practicaly stratling it. Howling like a wolf with his heart in the song the crowd gave way to the passion in the bands music. Right now the were free, no one owned them and no one could tell them what to do. The music only got louder and the cheering only doubled.
Everyone in the crowd cheered, danced, and screamed, jumping, howling, and singing along. Everyone, Octavia noticed, except Vinyl. The DJ had her eyes closed as if she was in a world of her own, then as if out of nowhere Vinyl's eyes shot open and she moved foreward out of the crowd into an open space. Then she began.
Vinyl would be lying if she said she wasn't unhappy about not being able to sing along and cheer the band on. But something happened when Octavia touched her shoulder and spoke with concern. The Cellist was worried for her, like a friend about another friend, yet they had only hung out together for two days, counting this one too. The girl must have stepped incredibly far out of her comfort zone to be here and she was doing it because Vinyl had asked her, she was doing it because they were friends.
If Octavia was willing to do that, then Vinyl figured she had nothing to complain about by contrast. That meant in her mind she had two choices, she could either continue to fuss or do something bold like Octavia had. She opted for the latter. In front of the crowd, between them and the stage, she took her place. She started small with basic arm and leg movements but as the music claimed more of her she got more adventurous more bold.
One moment she was dancing upright the next she had flipped onto her back, using the momentum of the flip she rolled towards her head and ended with a handstand. From there she fell foreword, landing again on her feet before rolling off them, keeping up the momentum to make it a backflip. Move after move, motion after motion, she continued break dancing and before long the crowd was not just cheering for the band but for her as well. Sunset let out a loud "You go girl GO!" and Neon swung his hand around above his head as he cheered for her. Through it all Octavia stood amazed at the display.
"She's gone her whole life bullied for being different and never being able to speak but she doesn't let it hold her back! She pushes on and lives like no one I've ever seen! She wont let her problems keep her down, she lives for life!"
Octavia continued to watch as the song came to an end, mesmerized by the world she had stepped into. She had taken a huge chance today and she was glad she did. It had paid off well.
When the song came to an end so did Vinyl's dancing. As she finished and moved back towards rejoining the crowd everyone she passed gave some kind of a gesture of appreciation, be it a pat on the back or a "you did awesome girl!" The DJ retook her position between Octavia and Neon Lights with a small grin on her face. She had done something bold and brave and, for the moment at least, she felt great about her achievement.
"Vinyl that was awesome!" Cheered Neon.
"Fucking tits V!" said Sunset slapping her on the shoulder heartily.
"It certainly was quite the performance Vinyl." Added Octavia with a genuine smile.
The DJ blushed making a 'it's no big deal' gesture with her hand to brush off the deed. Still, on the inside she felt great, if a bit dizzy from her performance. Once more everyone's attention was drawn to the stage as the lead singer spoke into the microphone.
"I see your all having a good time here! Especially you miss break dance!"
The crowd cheered and whooped as the singer pointed out Vinyl in the crowd. The girl tried to shrink, shying away a little bit from the large amount of attention she was receiving. Before she could disappear though, Neon swept her up and lifted her onto his shoulders amongst the crowd as they cheered in approval.
"We got another song coming up that I think your all gonna love! After all, we're all rebels here right! He yelled into the mike.
The band started up again, moving with the music in their element, heads banging with black hair swinging in the air as they played their hearts out for the people in front of them loving their music. Octavia found herself moving with the music a bit as they played and when she looked to her left she saw that her blue haired guide had come down from her perch and was now jumping with the crowd beside her.
The Cellist's gaze lingered on the pale girl beside her, taking in the joy on her face and the energy radiating off of her. The sadness she had seen there earlier was gone now, at least for the moment. Something had changed after she had gone dancing, and whatever it was she was glad it had helped her friend. Not realizing she had zoned out Octy was suddenly staring into the purple shades of her new friend who was smiling back at her.
Octavia stammered out an apology for staring as she backed up, bumping into somebody on accident. In return she felt a shove on her back as a pair of hands pushed her for bumping their owner. Falling foreword, Octavia let out a small yelp of surprise as she plummeted towards the ground and the inevitable pain that would follow, but it never came. Thinking on her feet the DJ held out her arms to catch the falling angle in front of her before she could hit the ground. Succeeding in stopping her fall, she helped the girl to her feet again before lowering her shades to make eye contact and type a question.
"You ok Octy?!"
"Yes Vinyl I'm fine, thank you."
Nodding the blue haired girl carefully moved Octavia to the side before typing on her phone again and roughly grabbing the arm of the person who had dared push the raven haired girl. Once he was facing her she recognized him as Bulk Biceps' older brother Granite Brick, He was tall, bulky, and known for havin a mean streak. It didn't make any difference to her though. Shoving the phone in his face she sneered at him.
"What the fuck's wrong with you prick! Don't you touch her again or I'll kick your ass!"
The taller male in front of her shoved the phone away and got close to the DJ's face so that when he spoke spit landed on her nose and face.
"Fuck off Dike!"
That was the last straw. Octavia watched in horror and astonishment as Vinyl head butted the taller man in the nose and followed up by grabbing his shoulders to help her knee him in the groin. He fell to earth as Vinyl went to kick him in the chest to send him prone. Instead of what she intended however the larger bully grabbed her foot before it made contact and pulled her down. The DJ fell with a thud and hiss of pain as the brute tried to push his advantage by twisting her ankle. Vinyl Coughed out a hurt rasp as he did this, before using her other foot to kick his chin, making him loose his grip. Hobbling back into a standing position she raised her hands, ready to continue the fight as her foe stood back up doing the same. Just as she was preparing to launch another punch however, a voice called out that caught her attention.
"Vinyl please stop!" Cried the Cellist.
The DJ turned to face the girl but her challenger took the opportunity to get a free punch in, smashing his hand into the left side of her face. He followed it up with a blow to the gut and Vinyl stumbled back gasping with a bloody cheek, lip, and mouth. Her enemy let out a loud guffaw at her expense.
"Dumbass! You can't fight for shit!"
"Hey."
"Yeah wha-"
A loud smack rang out as Neon punched his adversary in the nose with his fist closed tight. He had used their fighting as a chance to sneak up behind Granite Brick so he could help out Vinyl. When the large man had stopped to laugh at her he took his chance and decked him. The blow was followed by a loud scream of pain and a very rewarding cracking noise as blood splattered the ground from the broken cartilage. Neon spit on his fallen enemy as he shook off the pain in his fist. Funny as it was to do so, hitting with a closed fist took it's toll on both parties, just one more than the other. While the aggressor lay rolling in pain, blood, and snotty tears, Neon stepped on him rather than over to get to Vinyl. Sunset and Octavia were helping to hold her upright as the crowd that had been at first watching music and dancing was now fixated on the beat up girl being kept upright by her two friends.
"All right everybody fuck off." Said Neon to the crowd. "Nothing to see here, go back to listening to your music."
The crowd gradually complied as a few people dragged the still crying bully out of the group, every so often another cry could be heard when they dragged him over a stone or bit of rubble. Neon gently moved Octavia out of the way and took her pace in helping keep the dizzy and hurt Vinyl upright. The four of them all silently agreed it was time to go and made there way for their vehicles. The Cellist followed as close to Vinyl as she could, watching as the pale girl limped with the help of her friends.
When they reached the car she took the opportunity to open the door as Neon and Sunset helped lower her onto the seat and get her bad leg in with as little pain as possible.
"You gonna be ok now V?"
She nodded and gave a thumbs up. Sunset patted her on the shoulder before speaking.
"I'm gonna head out. If I hurry I can make it to the school around lunch and maybe sneak in without being caught."
Vinyl pulled up her phone to type out a reply.
"Thanks for the help guy's, sorry I ruined everybody's day by picking a fight."
"Hey, that prick had it coming, right Sunset?" Chuckled Neon.
The girl nodded in response.
"You go on ahead to school, I'll take these two back to the city and drop them off at Sugarcube Corner so they can catch their breath before they do anything else."
"Gotcha, see you two at school ok?" Replied Sunset to the high school duo.
Octavia and Vinly nodded while the latter pressed some tissues from the glove box to her bleeding jaw. As Neon started the engine and backed out, the Cellist looked to her left at the beaten and bruised DJ beside her. She had started bleeding from her nose now too and was having trouble stemming the flow of blood from her lip and nose, even with her head tilted back.
"Here let me."
Octavia pulled out some more clean tissues and gently craned Vinyl's head forward while wiping the blood off her face and mouth. Unknown to both of them, Neon Lights was watching the display through the rear view mirror. The Raven haired girl continued to dab gently at her friends cuts and bruises trying to keep them clean.
"I don't know why you did that, he was practically twice your size."
Vinyl pulled out her phone and typed a reply on her text screen.
"He pushed you, almost made you fall down and get hurt."
Octavia's eye's widened.
"You got in a fight because of me?!" With her exclamation she pressed a bit too hard on the largest cut on Vinyl's cheek making her flinch in pain. "Oh sorry, sorry ,sorry!"
The DJ waved it off with a hand.
"I gave as good as I got."
"Vinyl, while it was sweet of you to try and protect me, it wasn't worth all this."
She frowned at Octavia's response.
"If someone hurts one of my friends it's always worth it."
"I...Vinyl, why will you stand up for everybody but yourself? When Amethyst Star or someone else is being mean to you, you...you won't do anything!"
The blue haired girl sighed through her nose accidently sputtering blood and making herself cough due to the gut punch she took.
"Oh my are you all right?"
The DJ nodded once she was done coughing. Typing on the phone again she answered the question.
"I don't do anything about it because I'm not worth it. My friends are."
"Oh Vinyl, you are too worth it. You're very sweet, kind, and brave to boot, not a lot of people are like that these days."
The pale girl blushed brightly at the compliment, shying away a little bit. Octavia giggled at the response as she touched up the last two bleeding cuts on her cheek.
"I think he must have had a ring or something on when he hit you, these cuts are pretty bad."
Vinyl shrugged.
"Hey girls we're here, V, have a five on me and get a drink to calm down. It's been a rough day so relax a bit and then head home is what I'd recommend."
She nodded as she took the bill with her right hand and climbed out of the car, careful to keep weight off her bad ankle. Once they made it inside the coffee shop Neon waved and drove off, leaving the two of them alone. The Cellist guided her friend to a table and then went to order their drinks and a few snacks before returning. There was quiet for a bit before Octavia broke the silence.
"I had a good time today.."
Vinyl raised a curious eyebrow.
"Up until the fighting I mean."
Her expression changed to a small smile.
"It was very different, and completely new to me. I haven't ever felt that...what's the word? Alive? Yes alive, I've never felt quite like that before! It was all so new and foreign to me, It was exciting!"
The DJ smiled.
"I'm glad, I was hoping you had a good time."
"I did. In fact, I wanted to ask you for your number so we could talk, if you wanted to spend some more time together?"
Vinyl practically beamed with joy. In near a frenzy she pulled out the contacts section of her phone and began adding a spot titled Octy.
"556-785-9983" said the Cellist with a smile.
The DJ hurriedly typed it in before giving her own.
"556-023-0991 is mine! Text me any time you want!"
"Very well, I will.
Vinyl smiled, fighting and getting beat up sucked, but she wouldn't trade today for anything.
It was Saturday at the Scratch household some days after the events at the junkyard, and yet Vinyl was still incredibly sore. She had gotten a good scolding from her mother upon her arrival home that day, though she eased up a bit after she found out she did it for a girl. Under the circumstances she was only grounded a week rather than two. The penalties of this grounding were that she was not allowed to use her phone for purposes other than writing and she couldn't leave the house except for school. The obvious problem with this though was seeing as how Alexa worked seven days a week, only one of which was at home, there was virtually no way to enforce this and so Vinyl was now laying on her bed listening to music with her shades on and eyes closed.
She tried to focus on the music she was trying to listen too but it wasn't working. No matter how much she wanted to empty it, her mind was so preoccupied by the bombardment of her thoughts that she could find no peace. Her and Octavia had been doing a good deal of texting to each other since Vinyl was grounded as it was the only way they could communicate at present, and even then only when V's mother wasn't home or being too observant. Right now she had nothing to do but think since Octavia was attending Cellist lessons for the next three hours.
Neon was on a date with Water Melody, and Sunset and the others we're busy working on some kind of project making use of the schools lab. While she had tried watching YouTube, listening to music, and even playing Tetris, nothing could take her mind off of one topic in particular,. More specifically one person in particular. The Raven haired angle, as Vinyl would call her in her mind, was at the forefront of all her thoughts. Try as she might the only thing she could think about was the girl she was crushing on. More and more with each day no less.
They were friends now, and for the first time Vinyl no longer had to hope to bump into her on "accident" or admire from afar. No, now she could text with her and meet up to have fun or just chat over coffee. Heck, they were spending more time talking now than her and Neon usually did! So why was she less content than usual, probably if she had to guess more than ever? She let out a quiet sigh of frustration with a small pound of her fist on her bed to join it. She knew why but had no way to vent or change it that came to mind.
She was friends with Octavia, good friends in fact but at the same time while she loved being around her she wasn't happy with just being friends, she wanted more than that. But what could she do? It wasn't fair to pin this on Octavia and she had no way of being able to know how she felt about her. She had no way of knowing if the feeling was mutual or if it would drive her away. Much as she wanted more from Octavia than friendship, the Idea of scaring her off worried her more than it hurt to be stuck where she was.
Life felt like purgatory. sometimes she was happy and would find a joke funny or be able to enjoy her music and hanging with Neon or the other girls, but then she would hear a song or see an image or something on the TV and all the pent up frustration of being stuck would come roaring into the forefront of her mind and take over the next several hours of her day. All she could do was sit and dwell on how much she was frustrated and how much it sucked.
She rolled onto her side and pounded the bed again, this time harder and recoiled with a hiss. Her hand was still sore and bruised from her scrap with Granite Brick. People always seem to forget that when you punch somebody it hurts your hand as much as it hurts the person taking the blow. Especially so if you hit something hard like the scalp or the elbow. She curled and uncurled her hand to ease the pain a bit. She may have been bruised and sore from head to toe and still limping if she moved faster than a walk but it was worth it. On the same note she would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy a good scrap every now and then anyways.
She felt herself starting to laugh through her nose and was quick to clutch her stomach in pain. It still hurt to breath if she took one that was too deep. Those cheep shots that prick had taken were in no way light blows. Looking down she lifted up her shirt off her belly to see a large dark purple blotch the size of a soft ball. It was indeed still prominent and likely would be for a few more days, the soreness had gone down to a dull occasional throb but if she moved she was soon reminded of that eventful day.
She pulled the shirt back down and sat up on her bed. Moping and whining wasn't gonna get her anywhere, what she had to do was figure out what she could do to make this feeling of angst go away. The question was, how was she going to do that?
Octavia carefully drew her bow across the strings of her cello, her movements were poised, precise and near perfect. Her talent and training were both on display as she played in front of her instructor. The prim, proper, and stern but sweet Miss Fleur or as the musical world called her Fleur De Lis de la voix de soie, was a retired singer and cellist from overseas. Despite speaking with a thick, yet charming to many, French accent she was versed well in English, Spanish, German and French. She could sing in any of these languages and with the beauty of an angle as many men and the occasional woman would say, she had spent some time modeling as well.
With such a glamorous, well lived life and more than enough money to retire several times over it was, in the eyes of most in the community, very strange that she had decided to take up being a private tutor for aspiring cellists. Whenever this question came up her typical response was, "Why, because I love music monsieur and it is my gift to others now." She was one of the most sought after woman in all of Canterlot and although he had put up a good effort even Fancy Pants had failed to convince her to go out to dinner with him.
Any time someone asked her to a party or a dance as their date or on rare occasion simple offers of marriage she would simply smile and say "My apologies but music is my only love now." To everyone in high society she was this strange unattainable thing, like a mermaid or a siren always sought after but forever out of reach to all. To be honest that was how she liked it, at least the cheeky playful part of her did.
Octavia's hand continued to skillfully pull the bow across the several strings of her mahogany instrument, each pull and push of it creating sweet melody pleasing to the ears of all present. As she finished the final note and brought the song to an end her teacher smiled and began to clap the back of her hand lightly in approval.
"Magnifique ma chere Octavia! You have done most excellent."
"Merci beaucoup Miss Fluer!"
"Ah, I see your French is coming along most splendidly no?"
"Yes thank you." Smiled the cellist.
"Your lessons for today are done but could I interest you in some tea?"
"Yes of course Miss Fluer thank you." Replied Octavia.
The elegant woman before her burst into a light lady like laugh.
"No no no no, just call me Fluer, Octavia, we've been doing these lessons too long not to call each other friend."
"Of course, Fluer."
The woman smiled and gave a small nod as she led the way to the living room and called out in her elegant voice for the maid. Soon after the young woman appeared.
"Yes madam?"
"Could you please bring us some tea and biscuits Lilly?"
"Yes of course what kind does her lady wish for?"
"The earl grey S'il vous plait."
"Oui Madam, right away."
The maid quickly departed and the lady of the house turned back to her guest.
"Octavia I wanted to ask you something."
"Yes of course Fluer, what do you want to know?"
"You know you are my Protégée yes? There is a concert at the Canterlot Pavilion in two weeks time. I want to recommend to the manager of the party that he hire you for a performance there, if you would like to perform of course."
"Oh, yes Fluer I would love that!"
"Oui, then it is done, I shall notify him tomorrow! You can even bring a plus one as you will be a performer."
Octavia beamed, this was going to be wonderful! She could hardly wait to tell Vinyl and her friends about this!
/l\---)O(---/l\
As Vinyl shuffled about the house in her pants, a bra, and a pair of grey sweat socks with black trim, she continued to feel the angst in her mind. She was still suffering from thinking too much about Octavia and the more she thought about her the more she wanted to see her, be with her, kiss her-"No Stop it! Bad DJ! Bad brain, shut up!" She sighed again with her hand placed on her bruise preemptively to help deal with the pain from her injuries.
"No matter how hard I try I can't stop thinking about her!"
She closed her eyes, thinking about the cellist she so often dreamed about both at day and night. Her long black hair and piercing purple eyes. The way she had taken care of her cuts that day of the fight. She was beautiful in both body and mind, and her music oh her music...Vinyl had only heard her play once at the battle of the bands. A chance to hear her crush play her cello was one of the few things that could convince her to take her headphones off. That day though...oh how she'd played with each pass of the bow on those strings, she felt her spine get colder and her skin prickling.
In a way, they were two of the same kind. They both cared about their friends, they both loved their music, and that was just the beginning of the reasons she liked her. Her gift for music was wonderful and she was one of the most beautiful girls she had ever seen, Vinyl had been crushing on Octavia since she was a freshman. She had seen how Octavia treated everybody around her with respect and kindness, she loved the way she put passion into everything she did whether she was playing the cello or listening to music. She was brave too, stepping out of her comfort zone like she had done on the day of the raid must have taken guts, and even though she was rich she never thought she was better than anybody else. At school and after, she treated everybody like they were on the same level as her, she treated them with respect and kindness.
Vinyl finally came to a realization as she stared down at her grey sweat socks with black trim.
"I don't have a crush on her...I'm in love with her..."
/l\---)O(---/l\
While Octavia was on her way home she found herself thinking very hard about who her plus one should be if the manager of the concert accepted Fluer's proposal. She was virtually certain they would though, when it came to music and fashion you doubted Fluer De Lis at your peril. She could ask Water Melody but given when the Concert was and how much she raved about Neon and their weekends together she figured it would be best not to get in the way of that.
As she thought about it she decided that, assuming Vinyl wanted to go, she would be a good choice. They were friends, though relatively new ones, and this would give them a chance to bond and spend time together. Also, if she was being honest, the Idea of showing off to her new friend was an appealing one to the slightly more vain side of her. She made a small smile at that, showing off once in a while was ok right? Yes, Vinyl was the best choice out of the options, assuming she wanted to go. Reaching into her purse she produced her phone and went through her contacts. as she searched she saw the time was three PM. Finding Vinyl, she hit the call button.
/l\---)O(---/l\
Vinyl stood still, looking down at her socks, she was stuck, unable to stop thinking it over and over.
"I'm in love with Octavia, it's not just a crush I'm in love!"
She was finally pulled from her reverie when she heard her phone's text notification go off. Running back to her closet she pulled open the door and grabbed the phone, wondering who it was that had texted. When she saw the name she felt her heart skip a beat.
"Hello Vinyl! I have great news! My cello teacher is going to recommend me for a position in a concert and I get a plus one! Would you like to come and hear me play?"
With wide eyes she furiously pecked at the keypad to give a reply as soon as possible.
"Hell ya Octy! Count me in when is it?"
"Two weeks from now! Oh I'm so excited!"
"I'll be there for sure! Already adding it to my calendar!"
Thanks Vinyl! See you later!"
Vinyl closed her phone after the last text with a sigh. On the one hand she was happy, Octavia had got great news and she was going to get to spend more time with her! But on the other Vinyl wasn't sure how much longer she was going to be able to be happy with just being friends. She exhaled through her nose sadly. She would rather have Octavia in her life as a friend than not at all. For now, and as long as she could, she was going to keep her feelings hidden.
Vinyl sat at the table with her six friends poking her plastic spork into her chicken fried steak. Ever since Saturday she had been dwelling more and more on the Raven haired girl she worshiped. The more she tried to shove her feelings down the harder it got to keep them buried. Every time Octavia texted her heart sped up and a smile took over her face, every time she saw her in the halls her eyes dilated and she felt warm and happy and every moment they were separate at the very least was boring and dull.
Her world wasn't without joy or fun but whenever Octavia was around to share it with her the enjoyment of everything was multiplied. She loved her but didn't know what to do or say. Should she tell her? Should she keep quiet and hope it went away? She didn't have the answers she needed to these questions. So there she sat poking her food with no apatite for even the best looking things on the menu, how could she eat while being eaten on the inside?
"You gonna eat that?"
The DJ's vision was suddenly a blur of pink as the party loving girl to her left turned and leaned so that she could look directly at her. Still frowning Vinyl shook her head and pushed the tray to her friend. Pinkie took no time at all to dig straight in and had devoured a good portion in the time most would have taken a few bites. It was almost as if her mouth was a black hole or at the least could unhinge it's jaw. As the rest of the girls continued to eat (Or in Rarity's case shield her eyes) Vinyl could no longer stand the public setting. Pulling out her notepad and pencil she quickly scrawled out "I'm not feeling well I'm gonna get some air." With that she stood hoping to leave without any questions being asked, naturally what you want and what you get tend to be very different.
"Vinyl darling if your ill you should go home and rest, or if you like we could get you some tea? The cafeteria has hot water dispensers and I try to keep some echinacea on hand for when I'm not feeling too well."
After Rarity made her offer Twilight was quick to chip in and Applejack soon after.
"Rarity is right, the tea would likely ease your stomach if that's what's bothering you."
"And if your not a tea person I'm sure Granny Smith has some soup in the kitchen. Aint nothin better for a sick day meal than a good bowl'a soup."
Vinyl smiled at her friends but shook her head with a sad smile. She pointed through the window outside than just gave a thumbs up. While most wouldn't get the gesture the group had been around Vinyl enough to understand most of her gestures fairly well. Unknown to Vinyl her fake smile had been seen through by a Sunset and a pink haired individual who with a glance and a nod knew they had seen the same thing. With a few words and a quick "excuse me" the two of them headed off after their sad friend.
/l\---)O(---/l\
Vinyl leaned against the front of the C.H.S. statue facing the street watching cars go by as she mulled over her thoughts unhappily. She was starting to reach the point where she was thinking about calling Neon for a ride and asking if he wanted to hang out or go to the arcade again or something when someone behind her broke the silence.
"Hey Vinyl how you doing?"
She turned from behind the statue to see Sunset and Fluttershy both looking at her, concern in their eyes. Still trying to keep up the façade the DJ gave a thumbs up with an unconvincing smile.
"V I'm good at knowing when someone is lying to me and I can tell you are right now."
Vinyl's head dropped as her feet suddenly became very interesting. Sunset took a few steps closer putting her hand on her shoulder before continuing.
"Hey Vinyl listen. If you don't want to tell us what's wrong that's up to you but we're your friends. We want you to know we're here to help whenever you need us."
To Vinyl's surprise Fluttershy moved towards her and reaching into her backpack pulled out a bunny.
"Here hold Angle, you'll feel better I promise."
The DJ accepted the small furry animal and gently held it in her hand. To her surprise soon after the small criter began nuzzling her and she felt compelled to lightly hug it causing it to nuzzle even deeper into her tummy.
"Ahhh he likes you!" Cooed the pink haired girl quietly.
Sunset moved so that she was half hugging Vinyl with her arm draped around the DJ's back and her hand on her opposite shoulder.
"Do you want to talk about what's bothering you now?"
Vinyl's defenses broke and the tears started flowing freely as she sniffled and sobbed huffing in small gasps of air. Nodding she handed the bunny back to Fluttershy before slumping down against the statue and crying into her hands. Sunset took to sitting on her left and the animal lover sat taking up a post on her right. Sunset pulled Vinyl's head onto her shoulder as she waited for V to write out her reply. After about five minutes of crying she managed to pull herself together enough to pull out her pad and scribble somethings down.
"I'm in love with Octavia and I don't know what to do! I've been crushing on her since freshmen year and now were friends but I feel worse than ever but I can't tell her that because it would hurt her and I don't think she feels the same! It's eating me up inside and I don't know how much longer I can hold it in! I don't know what to do!"
She broke into tears again as she finished writing the last part and dropped her notepad on the ground. Sunset had been watching as she had written with wide eyes and when Vinyl broke again she went back to consoling her to the best of her ability. Fluttershy picked up the paper pad and read it quietly with a contemplative look. Sunset hugged the weeping girl a bit harder before speaking up again.
"It's ok Vinyl, everything is going to be ok..."
The DJ's reply was continued sniffling.
"Hey listen this is just my opinion but what I would suggest is you try to work up the nerve to tell her. If you don't it will just fester inside you till your being eaten from the inside out. It's not healthy for you and even if Octavia says no at least you'll be able to start healing. I know you're worried about hurting her but if she's a real friend than she'll at least be nice about it and if she doesn't feel the same she'll let you down easy. Don't worry about wrecking your friendship, if she's a good friend she'll understand and stick around."
Vinyl sniffed a few times and wiped her tears away with the back of her hand.
"Keep your chin up V. Your a great girl and someday I just know your gonna meet someone who's gonna make you as happy as you make them. Whether or not it's Octavia remains to be seen but someday you'll have a very special person in your life."
Her tears coming to an end at last the DJ reached out and hugged her friend tightly receiving a few assuring pats on the back in return.
"Just tell her when the time feels right, don't try and plan it out too much just let your heart do the talking and it will speak the truth."
Vinyl hugged her tighter and while she may not have said anything the message was clear.
"Thank you Sunset."
Fluttershy joined in the hug as well to show her support in the matter and the three sat there for some time letting the atmosphere they were in do the talking for them. No words needed to be exchanged they all knew what needed to be said already. Vinyl finally found herself ready to stop crying. Sunset was right, a time would come when she would tell Octavia and when that time came for better or worse it would be worth it. It might not be now, It might not be next week but when she did she could finally know she had been brave enough to not run and hide from herself or her feelings.
Sunset left first after a brief whisper exchange with Fluttershy turning back to the school doors as the pink haired girl moved a bit closer.
"Umm... Vinyl I want to help so-o-o I'm gonna tell you something I've only ever told two other people..."
/l\---)O(---/l\
The end of the school day saw Octavia riding the bus home with her cello beside her. While she enjoyed her lessons with Fluer she had to admit that the walk home she had to take was a bit tiresome and often she found herself wishing that the bus schedule coincided with her lessons. At the moment she was having trouble staying still and not fidgeting in excitement. Fluer De Lis had called her before school to let her know she had secured the spot for her to have a solo performance and even a mention in the venue! Safe to say it had taken up all of Octavia's mind all day and she had trouble thinking or focusing on anything else.
When the bus came to it's stop at the crystal apartments the Cellist heaved her cello up and began to make her way towards her home. As she disembarked she felt a rough shove on her left shoulder and a quick glance forward showed a Dark two toned stretch of long purple hair and the showy cloths one would expect the daughter of the schools dean to wear.
"Oh my Octavia I didn't expect to see you here! I expected you would be off with that Dike girlfriend of yours Mute Mouth!"
The raven haired girl had not had to try this hard to keep her poise and not strike the girl in front of her since the time she saw Snips and Snails messing with her cello in the music room.
"Vinyl is my friend Amethyst, I would kindly ask you not to be so rude towards her."
"Really no snappy comeback this time? Not to mention you never said I was wrong about you being her girlfriend, that said I'm not surprised you probably hopped in bed with her right after she beat up Bulk's brother! Oh and by the way just so you know I can rat you out to your parents any time I want so watch your step, I own you now!"
"I-I..."
"Oh poor Octavia, at a loss for words all of a sudden? Tell you what, keep your mouth on that mutes crotch where it belongs!"
"You know what? At least I'm not so full of hate from my abusive father that the only way I can be happy is to be a sadist! You may be high and mighty now but once high school is over you'll just be another average airhead heiress living by licking her parents boots!"
Red faced and not as good at holding her temper Amethyst recoiled her hand and brought it back across Octavia's face. The slap echoed across the open area as the cellists head reflexively turned downward and her hands came up to her hurt face as her cello case fell to the ground with a thud. Through the ringing in her ears she could hear the girl in front of her yelling something with hate but suddenly the shouting turned to a scream of fear. When Octavia came back to her senses she was once again faced with an angry and vengeful blue haired girl.
/l\---)O(---/l\
At first on her walk home Vinyl had been feeling a lot better about herself and her emotions. After her talk with Sunset and Fluttershy. She had even felt well enough after some venting and compassion from her friends to be able to make it through the rest of the day. She was on her way home getting close to the Crystal Apartments when the bus her beloved Octavia took went passed her.
"Maybe if I hurry I can meet her as she gets off the bus! I may not be ready to tell her how I feel just yet but maybe I can ask her if she wants to spend some time together this weekend!"
She picked up her pace as the bus got a bit farther away. She assumed she would have about a block to go by the time the bus stopped at the waiting station so she would probably have line of sight of Octavia by the time she rounded the corner, that is if Octavia didn't head straight inside. When she got closer she could hear Octavia's melodic voice but as she neared her black haired angle she could tell that she was fighting with somebody. She rounded the corner and had line of sight just in time to see Amethyst slap Octavia across her ear and side of the face.
Something in Vinyl snapped when she saw that happen. Her good mood was dead but she was no longer sad, she was enraged. In seconds she had dropped her backpack and was charging a surprised Amethyst Star at a speed Rainbow dash would find impressive. Her enemy barely had time to scream before she was tackled to the ground having blows rained upon her all over. Their was no aim, rhyme or reason to were Vinyl struck her. All the rage, sadness, confusion, frustration and hate she was feeling was being channeled into her fists, she struck her in the chest, stomach, gut and anywhere else she could land a blow.
Her usual pale skin was crimson with rage and she could hear something in the background but not enough to be intelligible. It wasn't until she felt a soft hand on her shoulder that she saw sense enough to stop swinging blindly. Somehow that touch and it alone whipped away her rage like it had never been there. She knew who was trying to stop her before she even looked behind her. Breathing heavily she climbed off of the crying Amethyst who as soon as she could scrambled to her feet and ran painfully into the entrance of her home. Vinyl finally caught her breath enough to see a teary and frightened Octavia in front of her.
"Vinyl why did you do that? Do you have any Idea who her father is? Do you have any Idea what you've gotten yourself into?" She exclaimed through sobs in a shrill voice.
The DJ Instantly felt ashamed of what she had done and began fumbling through her pockets for her notepad or phone whichever she found first.
"Vinyl why did you do that?" Octavia said quieter still crying from the intensity of the scene she had just witnessed and the sheer shock of the experience.
The Blue haired girl stopped fumbling in her pockets trying to figure out how to convey why she had acted that way. Looking at the developing bruise on the Cellist face she reached out and gently cupped her palm to it before pulling Octavia in for a hug. No words were said but the raven haired girl knew what Vinyl meant instantly.
"You did all this because she slapped me?"
Vinyl withdrew from the hug but kept her arms on her Octy's shoulders nodding, shame written on her face.
"Vinyl her father is the dean! He could have you expelled from school! do you have any Idea what you've done to yourself?"
Her head got lower and a few tears fell to the pavement as well.
"Damnit Vinyl you worry too much about everyone except yourself! You are so reckless!"
Vinyl had gone back to crying quietly her face towards the ground and tears raining on the pavement. Octavia swayed her head from side to side in a mix of frustration and worry before hugging her friend and leaning the crying girls head on her shoulder and shushing her quietly.
"Come on were gonna go upstairs to my house and get you some tea. You'll feel better with some food and a hot drink."
Vinyl nodded and slowly backtracked to grab her backpack before returning to Octavia. Ushering the girl towards the doorway the pair made their way towards the inviting apartment above.
/l\---)O(---/l\
While most of Vinyl bruises from her fight with Granite brick where healing well, those on her hands were now freshened and painful again. She even had small cuts on her hands from the ferocity her strikes had wrought and it was likely that at some point it the commotion Amethyst had used a book or something as a make shift shield given the present damage. Octavia sat across from her friend who at the moment was staring into her mug like the secret to longevity was in their somewhere. Cupping the small porcelain tea cup in her hands the cellist lifted it from the saucer and took an awkward sip before setting it down. Finally deciding to break the Silence she spoke.
"I'm not mad at you Vinyl I'm just...mad about what the consequences of this could be. I don't want to see you get expelled and there is no way this isn't going to be all over the school by tomorrow with the way the student body is! My parents will no doubt be upset about the whole ordeal as well and will want to wash their hands of every aspect of it they can."
Vinyl gave a heavy sigh through her nose. pulling out her pad she scribbled a question, one she feared the answer to.
"Do you still want to be friends? If you don't I can leave, it's probably the wise thing for you to do."
"Oh Vinyl of course I want to stay friends! You have to be one of the most loyal people I've ever met even...even if sometimes you take it too far."
The DJ felt relieved as she gave another huge sigh through her nose.
"But Vinyl, we have to be secretive about it. My parents won't like this one bit and...I'm scared of what could happen if they found out I was still spending time with you."
With a perplexed look Vinyl wrote another message out.
"What do you mean?"
"Vinyl my parents are very influential and are extremely...fussy, about their public image. If they found out we were friends after all this...they would do whatever they could to make sure we never talked again. I wouldn't even put it passed them to ship me to Baltamare for a private school like they did to my brother when he *ehem* made certain friends, that liked to smoke a certain plant, that is not legal in certain places."
Vinyl nodded in understanding before responding.
"I suppose I should stay away from your recital then. Your parents will want to see you play and if I'm there it would cause problems to say the least."
"Actually you can still come just be discreet, my parents won't be attending."
Vinyl quirked a curious eyebrow.
"They would come if they could trust me, it's a big event, but they were just asked to come to a business conference that is more pressing. If you come they won't be there to stop us spending time together."
Vinyl cheered up a bit at that and gave a small smile as she wrote her last reply before holding it up for Octavia to see.
The rate at which things had gone from fine to a shit storm were amazing even to Vinyl. She had beat up Amethyst on Monday by Wednesday she had been expelled. On Thursday she filled out an application and by Monday she was a high school drop out working part time as a trainee waitress which would change to full time within the week. Octavia had been right and her actions came with consequences.
It turned out that beating up the most powerful person in the school districts daughter was a bad idea especially when he was known for his temper and had a Vendetta against every living thing that wasn't him. A pissed off figure in power was a machine that could not be stopped and in the case of Fallen Star the machine was well oiled and finely tuned to perfection.
The day that Vinyl had gotten expelled was obviously rather shitty, she had been forcefully removed by the schools security officer despite not resisting. She was fairly sure that the dean had made it clear to the entire staff that she was no longer welcome as every faculty member she passed as she was literally pushed out the door either gave her a sympathetic look or a scowl. Cheerily had been a rather funny exception though.
Once she was off school grounds and turning to leave, the window to the pink skinned teachers classroom opened and a matching hand threw a paper airplane in her direction. When Vinyl retrieved and opened it she found twenty dollars had been paper clipped to the inside with a note reading "Thanks for pissing off the dean! He was so livid I had to try not to wet myself laughing. He's a total jerk, here's a little something for your trouble!"
Vinyl smiled as she opened the door to the ally behind her place of employment. Despite Cheerily's best efforts not to show it most people knew she hated working at Canterlot high for a multitude of reasons. The dean, crap pay, and the fact she used to work for Canterlot College before getting sacked to cut costs a week before getting tenure just to name a few.
The DJ pulled a pack of Cigarillos from her pant's pocket before producing a match pack flipping the back of the pack so that the match was clenched between two pieces of cardboard before pulling it to light the twig of cardboard. Touching it to the tip of her death stick she inhaled before flicking the spent match to the pavement and taking a good draw of the soothing kill you slow time goodness. She wasn't big on smoking and had never touched a cigarette but her first day on the job at the Taste of France had taught her that her co-workers were jerks and her boss was an Asshole with a capital A. The Nicotine was her ticket to both a fifteen minute break from them and helped ease her nerves.
She sighed in contempt exhaling the smoke through her nose earning a slight burn. She was a minimum wage employee who could only serve food and not take orders meaning many of her lazy fellow legalized slaves pawned their work on her. If nothing else it kept her busy and meant she got to piss them off every time she took a break which made them do their jobs. She coughed out a quiet mute laugh through her nose. Octavia may be right that she didn't stand up for herself as much as others but she made up for it by being passive aggressive.
She took another draw from the smoke as she pulled out her phone, she couldn't use it during work but she could on break! pulling out her contacts she swept her thumb through them till she found the name of her beloved Octy. three days and she would be listening to the lovely melody of her cellist skills and getting to spend time with her after. At the thought she frowned and took another draw from her death stick. While she had kept in contact with Octavia school had kept her too busy to spend much time together and with her schedule Vinyl didn't get off work till her parents were home.
Basically if she spent time with Octavia it had to be through texts and never in person lest the raven haired girl get shipped up to Baltimare. with her brother Harpo. The DJ glanced at the clock on her phone as she prepared to text the cellist she Idolized, the time was eight, ten so she had about fifty minutes till her shift was over, not much longer till she had her freedom. Clicking the buttons with her thumb she finally finished typing the message and sent it.
"Hey Octy! How you doing?"
after a few seconds she got a reply as her phone buzzed in notification.
"I'm fine just practicing for my place this weekend, only five days left to do so!"
"You don't even need to practice this stuff, I heard you play at the battle of the bands you got this!"
"Perhaps if it we're something I already knew but right now I'm studying a new piece I don't have experience with so I need all the time I can get! I wish I had someone to play for though a second opinion would go a long way."
It was at that moment Vinyl had a spark of mischievous inspiration, she took a few minutes to search her memory for some precious information and once she was sure she had remembered right she sent a reply.
"Leave your bedroom blinds open tonight k? I have an idea! ;)"
/l\---)O(---/l\
When Octavia received the last of Vinyl's texts she was quick to reply but unfortunately the DJ did not respond. Frowning she read the text over a second time to try and figure out what the DJ had meant but while it was clear enough to make her worried it was mysterious enough that she had no idea what the blue haired girl was planning. Despite wanting to think this over further she was interrupted from her speculations when a knock came at her door. Standing from her seat she moved to the door and opened it, her mother was on the other side.
"Octavia dear your father and I are going to the airport now!"
"I thought you weren't leaving till tomorrow?"
"That was the plan at first but we had to change it yesterday when we found out there was storm warning apparently their is going to be hail on Thursday night. We decided to fly in early and beat the storm."
"You changed it yesterday?"
"Yes we did, we'll see you next Tuesday but we'll keep in touch when we can."
"But why didn't you tell me sooner that-"
"Philharmonica dear were going to be late for our flight! It leaves in an hour!"
"Ok honey be there soon!" Called back the older woman "Sorry darling we have to go now I'll call you when we're at the hotel!"
With that Octavia's mother was gone out the door with her suitcase and purse before Octavia could do much else. With a frown and a sulky sigh she sat back down and pulled out her phone. Might as well tell Vinyl she didn't have to be all secretive when she came by or whatever she was planning to do. She sent a quick text but no response came so with yet another sigh and a roll of her eyes she went back to practicing her cello. If her parents wanted to ditch her without warning and Vinyl wanted to make things harder for herself that was fine by her so long as she could practice undisturbed.
/l\---)O(---/l\
An Hour and a half later saw Vinyl off work dressed in her usual well worn clothes and checking her breath and hair to make sure she was presentable. She was standing outside the Crystal Apartments staring at the third floor windows planning her way up. She was still blissfully unaware of Octavia's attempt to text her of her parents absence so she was still planning on taking her current path to reach her friend.up.
Making her way to the base of the building she took a quick look to size up her climb before dusting her hands with some of the chalky dirt that made up the gravel patch at the base of the building. her hands now nice and dry she jumped up and grabbed the nearest window frame and began pulling herself up. Vinyl had more experience then most when it came to urban climbing as the first apartment that her and her mother lived in was two floors up and as a kid she was fond of sneaking out to play in the yard when she was supposed to be asleep. She had never been very good at bed times.
Years of practice climbing out of her bedroom window had taught her how to properly brace herself against the walls and window frames so she could distribute her weight. She knew to use both her hands and legs as well as where and when to take chances. Luckily the building was much easer to climb then her previous home. The structure was made from cut bricks of stone with occasional lumps and more hand and foot holds. It was meant to make the place stand out and look more "Posh". Vinyl had heard Octavia use that term to describe her place of residence. Granite might be expensive but Vinyl wasn't about to argue with something that made her current task easer.
Once she was passed the first window things got a bit more tricky, She had to clear a yard and a half of open space where her only holds were bumps and indents in the stone. She achieved it though not without a slip, a mental curse and a scuffed knee. It was hard being Vinyl, you were lucky to go a day without bleeding or being bruised. Finally her fingers gripped onto Octavia's lower window frame and a quick look inside showed the cellist playing on her instrument.
With a cheeky smile Vinyl knocked lightly on the window making a surprised and dumbfounded Octy do a double take and rub her eyes to confirm what was before her. Realizing she wasn't going insane Octavia quickly opened the window and held out her hands for the crazy blue haired girl to grab onto. Vinyl did so quickly and let the cellist pull her into the room making a slightly noisy entrance when her feet hit the floor with a stomp.
"Vinyl are you insane! Please tell me you used a ladder at least!"
The DJ gave an unconvincing nod and the raven haired girl was quick to walk over to the window and call her bluff. When she turned back around she was clearly upset at Vinyl's reckless action of free climbing her way up the building but at the same time grateful she hadn't fallen in the process. The DJ waited for a "Don't you ever do that again!" or a "You could have broken your neck you idiot!" instead Octavia said something else.
"I guess you didn't get the text that my parents weren't home."
Vinyl stared for a moment before doing the enviable face palm at hearing that. Octavia burst out laughing while Vinyl pulled out her note pad and scribbled a reply while trying and failing to look angry.
"You mean I didn't have to sneak in tonight? They were gone the whole time!"
Octavia couldn't stop laughing so she did her best to nod instead. Vinyl clutched her head briefly in frustration before bringing her eyes back to Octy's smiling face. On second thought it didn't matter that she had to go the extra mile to get here, her efforts had made the cellist smile and that was worth all the trials it took to get here all by it's self. Putting pencil to pad once again the blue haired girl decided to state why she came in the first place.
"Well you said you wanted someone to listen to you play for a second opinion right? Well here I am so lets see this new piece your practicing!"
Octavia read the reply quickly before yet another smile graced her features.
"You mean you climbed three stories to my window just to hear me play my cello?"
Vinyl smiled with a happy nod following after.
"Vinyl that is incredibly sweet of you."
The DJ waved a hand dismissively before taking a seat on Octavia's bed and rolling her hand in a "go on and play" gesture. Trading her smile for a poised expression the cellist obliged. She sat back down in the chair at her desk taking the cello and her bow into her hands to begin her solo private show. Vinyl sat listening intently as Octavia began to play and swiftly drew the bow across the several strings with the grace one would expect only a goddess to have (at least in Vinyl's eyes.)
The tune was caught somewhere between fast flowing and slow, jumping from one to the other in different places, the requirement for skill clear as Octavia played. The speed at which the bow danced across the strings was amazing and the practice and natural skill of the cellist was on it's finest display. As the DJ listened the cellist let herself become lost to the music, fingers dancing on the strings in an eloquent display of talent. Her cheek rested against the side of her beloved instrument, her eyes closed so her ears could focus more greatly on the music she was creating. She was an artist and in the DJ's mind the skill on display made her a rival of Leonardo da vinci, Picasso and even dare she say Vincent Van Gogh.
As she continued to play both began to feel as if they were in their own world were only three things existed, Vinyl, Octavia and the music the latter created. Vinyl sat eyes glued to the alter of beauty in front of her. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she watched her long time love play her heart out just for her an audience of one. Tears began to well in her eyes as she gazed at the raven haired girl. She felt as if the music was both breaking and stitching her heart together at the same time and she felt overwhelmed with both sorrow and joy at the tune. This moment was one she wouldn't trade for anything, this moment of her Octavia and the music so beautiful it made her cry.
As the song came to an end the cellist raised her head opening her eyes to see the teary eyed DJ in front of her. Unaware that it was her music that made the girl cry tears of joy she rested the cello on the ground and hurriedly sat next to Vinyl shushing her quietly.
"What's going on Vinyl? What's wrong? Why are you crying?"
The DJ brushed the tears from her eyes before grabbing the pad and paper off the bedside table where she left it and writing a reply.
"Octavia that was one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard! You were amazing! How can you think you needed to practice when you can play like that?"
The cellist blushed bright red at the compliment unsure at first how to respond. Had she truly moved the DJ to tears with her performance? A part of her felt that the praise from Vinyl was more important than that from anyone else, though she didn't know why she felt that way for sure. Thinking for a moment she carefully planned out her next words.
"Vinyl I don't know what to say at receiving such praise! Did you really love it that much?"
Vinyl's heart lodged in her throat and she had to fight back a crying fit. This moment felt so, so...right. She felt compelled to reach out and hug the girl in front of her, kiss her and finally let her feelings be known. She wanted nothing more than to be able to speak just this once and tell Octavia what she felt, to say what was on her mind. "Octavia it was lovely! It was like being in heaven for the time you played! I loved it and I love you! I've wanted to tell you for so long how I feel about you and your music makes me want to all the more!"
But she couldn't, she couldn't speak and she was too scared to write what she felt down. The thought of Octavia saying she couldn't feel the same and making this beautiful moment change to one of sorrow for her was too much pressure so instead she swallowed and merely nodded with tears still falling from her eyes, only now they were tears of repression and hurting instead of joy. After a few more moments she swallowed again and putting pen to paper gave a final reply, a half truth that was the most she could say for the moment.
"Will you keep playing please? I want to hear more of it if your willing. I really did love it."
Octavia smiled at the response and nodded.
"For you Vinyl, of course."
Reaching for her cello Octavia began to stand but felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. Turning she saw Vinyl with a pink tint to her cheeks holding up her pad.
"Could you sit next to me while you play?"
While the cellist was a little surprised as well as curious as to why it mattered, she decided to humor her guest and do as she requested. Swiftly she retrieved her cello and went back to sitting near her friend as she took the bow in her left hand and rested the cello on her neck once again. She was just about to start playing when she felt one of the strings vibrate from being plucked. Looking to her right she saw a sheepish DJ looking at her with apologetic eyes.
"Do you know how to play?"
Vinyl shook her head no before grabbing her pad and writing a quick response.
"No but I'd like to try something if that ok with you."
"I suppose what is it?"
The DJ smiled and made a go ahead and play gesture by rotating her hand in a forward motion. Octavia obliged and began to pull the bow across the one of the strings. As she brought it back against another one and the tune began she started flowing further into the song. Once the beginning was established she felt the strings being lightly plucked at different heights on the cellos neck. Glancing right she could see Vinyl experimentally plucking the strings adding a deep low echo and hum of noise accompanying the singing of the strings.
Not quiet sure what her friend was doing she continued to play on as more of the strings were plucked and soon after joined by the echo of gentle pats and light thumps on the body of the instrument. Octavia continued to play as her elegant ringing of the strings filled the room with cello bass and hollow echoes playing along. The strings were like high pitched vocals to a song and the noises of the DJ's efforts were lower and more somber. Still they worked together rather well. Instead of changing the speed at which the cello was played the pace stayed the same and instead the change in the song was made by the deeper tones. It was like nothing Octavia had heard before and part of her was screaming at how this was not the way to play a cello. It was different, improper and broke all the rules of a professional musician, but...she liked it.
The tune was not the work of one musician but two somehow working in harmony despite having not planned this out in the slightest. Octavia soon realized she wasn't even playing a song she knew anymore. Her and Vinyl were improvising now! This was a special moment the two of them were sharing as friends. "No not friends" Octavia thought. "Best friends sounds better to me."
Unknown to the cellist Vinyl had different thoughts in her mind at the moment. "This is so perfect! If the world ended this very moment I wouldn't care! As long as this moment was saved and preserved I could care less! The girl I love is sitting next to me and were making music together that is all our own! This is our song and no one else',s this moment and this song belong to us! Me and the woman I love."
Vinyl was fighting a war within herself not to put an arm around the cellist and pull her into a loving kiss and embrace. At this moment if Octavia asked for the moon Vinyl would oblige if for no other reason than to make her smile. It would be so easy right now to pull her head forward and kiss her. She could do it right now! Her head screamed no but her heart beat in her chest like it was trying to break out saying Do it, Do it! With closed eyes and a slight frown she let her mind win. This moment was too precious to risk ruining and she was near certain that kissing her would do so. With a heavy heart she bit her lip as their song that had gone on for untracked moments came to an end.
As Octavia drew the bow one last time across the resonating strings and the DJ plucked out a final note, their song found it's own end. In the wake of it's ending the cellist rose from her seat on the bed and gently placed the cello in its case, closing the lid and snapping the latches in place. Looking to the clock on her wall she saw the time and gave a small "Oh my it's late isn't it?" The time read 10:56 PM much later than Octavia usually stayed up. When Vinyl saw where she was looking and examined the time she waved goodbye with a smile and started towards the door. To her surprise though she felt a velvety hand grab her wrist and stop her.
"It's pretty late and dark Vinyl I'm not sure it's a good idea to walk home this late."
The DJ raised a curious eyebrow as if to say "I don't follow." Picking up on this Octavia continued.
"I've never had a sleep over with a friend before and my parents wont be back till later next week so if you wanted to stay..."
Vinyl smiled enthusiastically before nodding happily. As she turned the rest of the way back she made for the bed and grabbed one of the spare pillows placing it on the floor. She was about to lay down when Octavia spoke up.
"No no no, Vinyl you don't have to sleep on the floor I've got a king sized bed you know."
The DJ's cheeks flushed a bit at the Idea of sleeping in the same bed as Octavia, on the same mattress, in the same sheets...Snuggling-"Bad brain stop it" she screamed internally. As the cellist pulled back the covers and sat down on the bed Vinyl placed the pillow back in it's place before doing the same. Pulling the covers over them Octavia gave a small sigh as she began to feel warmer from the comfort of the layers. Vinyl was adjusting as well trying to find a good position to sleep in.
"Are you having trouble getting comfortable Vinyl?"
The DJ held up a finger as she turned on her side so she was facing Octavia before giving a thumbs up.
"Good, I suppose I should turn out the light so we can sleep shouldn't I?"
The blue haired girl shrugged.
"We could talk for a bit if you want I suppose."
Vinyl elevated her palm to rest her head on while giving a "your kidding me right look".
"Oh I mean not talk talk but...umm...I'll shut up now."
The pale girl simply smiled and gave a quiet raspy laugh into her palm. Octavia gave a pouty look before hmffing and turning away in the bed.
"That will teach me to try and be sensitive of my best friends feelings."
Vinyl started surprised at that, with a more serious look on her face she grabbed her note pad and poked her bed mates shoulder. With mock frustration Octavia turned around surprised at the serious expression on the face of the girl in front of her.
"I'm your best friend?"
Eyes softening the cellist answered.
"Yes Vinyl of course you are. How could you not be after all you've done?"
Vinyl's eyes watered a bit but before they could get any worse she pulled the raven haired girl into a tight hug. While she couldn't speak the message was clear as day.
"Thank you Octavia, that means the world to me."
Patting her on the back Octavia waited until she was released from the hug to speak again.
"Your welcome Vinyl, but I'm tired so can we go to bed now?"
Vinyl Nodded and with that the cellist turned off the lights and snuggled into her pillow closing her eyes for a good nights sleep.
The sun woke Octavia before her alarm did the next morning. This though not a common occurence had happened before on numerious occasions. One thing that had never happened was her waking up in the embrace of someone else. She soon remembered last nights events and gave a small smile. Last night had not only been a lot of fun but she had experienced her first sleep over with her newly found best friend. Turning slowly so as not to disturb her bed mate the cellist rolled on her side so she could see her companion.
Vinyl, still sound asleep had a serine exspression on her face as she slept. Not so much a smile as a happy and contented look that one would expect to see someone who had acheived inner peace to have. Blue hair covered much of her face and Octavia deduced that at some point in thier sleep Vinyl had latched onto her. At the moment the DJ's slender hands were lightly wrapped around her waste and she had also pulled her closer to herself as well. It was funny, Octavia felt strangly safe in the arms of Vinyl, almost as if as long as she was being held there nothing in the world could harm her.
Of course that was what Vinyl seemed to do a lot of, Protecting her. From the first day they spent togeather when she stepped between her and Amethyst Star when they were fighting, to last week when said girl had struck her and Vinyl had tackled her and beat her to the ground. The Raven haired girl crindged a bit at that particular memory. While Vinyl had meant well the girl had been expelled and taken things too far that time. All the same though, when Octavia looked at the sleeping Vinyl she saw many things and one of them was her gaurdian angle.
For a moment Octavia thought about getting out of bed and starting her day early but decided against it. Lying here in bed was nice and if she was being honest the embrace from Vinyl was an added boon to the warmth of the sheets and blankets. Cuddling was deffinitely one of the better benifits of having a best friend.
Snuggling in a bit deeper caused the DJ to move a little and as the cellist tried to situate herself she was quick to discover that a sleeping Vinyl wanted to keep her cuddle buddy close. Seconds after she started to move the DJ's arms tightened around her waist and pulled her close with surprising strength. Octavia couldnt help but laugh at this, which to her slight dissapointment caused Vinyl blink her eyes open.
"Good morning Vinyl." Said the cellist.
The DJ on the other hand started awake and quickly withdrew her arms from around Octavia resulting, unknown to her in a mild dissipointment from the hugged party before sitting upright and grabbing her phone off the bedside table in a hurry.
"Sorry Octy! I didn't mean to get so clingy in my sleep! I must have grabbed you at some point in the night and just held on cause I was cold!"
"Vinyl don't worry it' fine, friends can cuddle right?"
The DJ's face went from a look of terror to one of relief. Octavia picking up on this simply smiled as she climbed out of bed and placed each of her small feet into a morning slipper by her door.
"I asume you would like some breakfast? Come downstairs when your ready and I'll get the waffle maker up and running."
The DJ smiled in gratitude at her friend which the cellist was quick to return before heading out the door. With her bed mate gone Vinyl flopped back down on the matress in releif. When she had awoken to find herself hugging Octavia like it was "the morning after" she had been terrified that she had overstepped her bounds. Instead Octavia had seemed happy at her morning greeting for which Vinyl was thankfull and frankly...flattered.
She would have been lying through her teeth if she said she had never daydreamed or thought about what it would be like to wake up with the woman she loved in her arms, and if she was being honest she couldn't wait for their next sleep over.
/l\---)O(---/l\
Octavia stood at her kitchen counter with a mixing bowl cradled in her left arm while her right mixed the waffle batter with a wooden spoon. She had already put the kettle on the stove and had the French press prepared with the Columbian roast ready to steep. For the first time in what seemed like ages she felt like she had slept for a solid week without any form of disturbance. In fact it was the best nights sleep she'd had in longer than she could remember.
As she continued to stir the waffle batter she could hear footsteps comming from up the stairs. Turning about she was greated by a still sleepy looking Vinyl with a sevear case of bed head, at least as far as most were concerend. With Vinyl everyday looked like a bed head day.
"Go ahead and have a seat Vinyl, the waffles will be ready in just a minute. How do you like your coffee?"
The DJ waved her hand foreword in a gesture meant to convey it didn't matter. Despite the lack of verbal comunication Octavia understood as she poured the boiled water into the press so it could brew. Vinyl meanwhile took a seat at one of the chairs by the kitchen island before placing her hands togeather and interlocking her fingers as she waited.
The coffee now steeping the cellist began to pour the waffle mix into the special pan before flipping it over to start the timer. This done she turned around to face her friend.
"How did you sleep?"
The DJ gave two thumbs up with a pleasent smile as her anwser.
"Glad to hear-I mean glad to know that."
Vinyls smile grew as she shook her head side to side in a humorous manner at her best friends slip up.
"Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes but in the meantime I'll fetch you some coffee."
As Octavia began to prepare two mugs of the dark brown beverage the blue haired girl pulled out her note pad and began to scribble out her first message of the day.
"Thanks for letting me spend the night, I had a great time listening to you play."
The cellist set one mug down in front of her friend and the other in front of the chair next to her before reading the reply and smiling.
"I should be thanking you Vinyl, not every friend would climb several stories of a building to listen to someone play her cello. I had a good time too, I think it's safe to say my first sleep over was a smashing success."
"This was your first sleep over?"
"Well, yes actually. Mother and father don't really approve of me spending to much time away from home and they don't like me bringing friends over very much so..."
The cellist let the statement hang in the air.
"You don't talk about your parents very much. Is there a reason why or something?"
Octavia's expression turned somber and the DJ almost immediately felt she had asked something too personal and was about to try and apologize when the raven haired girl spoke up again.
"Mom and dad spend most of their time working so I don't get to see them very often."
"What about the day we met then? Could you have gotten in trouble?"
"Yes I suppose so, but you had been so chivalrous that day I felt I owed you some kindness in return."
"Octy you don't ever owe me anything, I'm just happy to call you my friend."
After she finnished reading the DJ's reply Octavia couldn't stop a smile from spreading on her face even if she had wanted to. Reaching out she wrapped her arms around her best friend in a warm hug before speaking up again.
"Thank you Vinyl that's very sweet of you."
Vinyl relished the embrace never wanting it to end. When she had realized her feelings for Octavia went beyond a crush and on to love every one of these close moments with her beloved became more and more cherished. While she was within the cellists embrace she couldn't help but take in her scent. She smelled of cinnimon and vanila with a hint of sweetness more akin to honey than sugar. It was a scent she could get drunk on easily, and when Octavia parted from her she felt as if a peice of her was torn away as well.
The Raven haired goddess before her turned back towards the table and the drink in front of her before taking a sip of the steaming beverage. Once finnished she continued where they had left off.
"Mother and father tend to put work before anything else. I spent most of my younger years in prep schools and private tutoring with maids and nannies. Most nights I was asleep before they even came home."
Vinyl remained silent but did reach out and place a hand on her friends shoulder squeezing it a bit to show support. This prompted a small smile from the sad woman and gave her the strength to continue.
"It's not that I think they don't love me it's just...I think they love their own lives more than me. I can't remember the last time mom or dad gave me a hug or kissed me goodnight."
Octavia was doing her best to hide it, but someone with Vinyls perception could easily see she was fighting back tears. Wrapping her right arm around her friend and tearing the used up page of paper with her left, the blue haired girl wrote out her carefully thought out reply.
"Octy I can't say I completely understand what it's like to grow up in a home lacking in love. My mother has always been there for me, but I can relate in some ways. My mom is the only other person I've ever talked about this with so it might be a bit hard for me to write it. Still I'm gonna try ok?"
Once she was sure that the cellist had read what she wrote she continued to scribble flipping the pad as needed when she ran out of space after showing her somber friend.
"Before my mom had me she worked as an "Escort" in Canterlot city to pay the bills. A lot of the people she worked for were not really high in the moral or class department and in short many of them were junkies. One day she finds out she's pregnant and she had to make a choice. She chose to leave that life and nine months later I popped out into the world, soon after she noticed I didn't cry or scream like most babies did and took me into the hospital. Thats when she found out about my vocal condition. The doctors say that whatever drugs my deadbeat dad had been using at the time had messed me up as a fetus and I never developed proper vocal cords as a result. I can't say I know what it's like to feel alone but I can relate when it comes to feeling your mising something important. But Octy that's why we all need friends, so that when we need a shoulder to cry on, or a little extra support we have someone to turn to. Any time you need me, day or night all you have to do is call and I'll come running. Ok?"
Octavia read the reply in silence her expression growing in focus and concern. As she read the last few words she allowed her defences to break and began to cry quietly. Vinyl pulled her into a warm embrace resting her loves head on her shoulder while cradleding it with her left hand. The two sat there while the DJ waited it out as her friends calm in the storm until Octavia had cried out her last bits of pain. By now the waffle maker had turned it's self off so as not to burn it's product and the room had taken on the pleasant smell of the food. Octavia wiped her eyes before turning her gaze to meet that of her best friend.
"Thank you for sharing that with me Vinyl. I know it must have taken a lot of trust to say all that. I'm truly humbled."
The DJ cracked a smile and patted the cellists shoulder before standing and making her way to the waffle maker. Once she had the breakfast item out of the cooker she placed it on a plate and poured a bit of suryp on before adding a clod of butter and placing it in front of her host.
"No Vinyl I made this for you."
With a raspy sigh, a smile, and amused rolling of her eye's the DJ got back up and made her way to the silverware drawer. Producing a second fork she sat down again, placing the plate between the two of them making her intentions known. Octavia smiled.
"Very well, we'll share."
Just as the pair were about to start eating the sound of a bass filled text alert sounded from Vinyls pocket. Quickly pulling out the offending device she saw the number and her face turned paler than usual.
"What's wrong?"
The DJ presented the phone to her friend showing the name of the texter.
"Mom."
"Oh dear, you didn't notify her you were spending the night did you?"
The blue haired girl swallowed nerviously before swiping the veiw option and reading the text.
"Vinyl, I want you to come home as soon as you can. You're in trouble and I'm sure you know why."
The two shared a glance as they read the message, the cellist was the first to speak.
"Oh dear, I could try to talk to her if you think that would help?"
The DJ shook her head before pointing a thumb at herself and giving her most convincing thumbs up. Standing she made her way up the stairs, Octavia following behind her waited in the doorway with clasped hands as Vinyl tied her shoes.
"Is there anything I can do to help? This is my fault after all."
Her guest shook her head no pointing to her before pointing at herself and nodding to indicate where she believed the blame was. Octavia had offered her a place to spend the night but not telling her mother where she had gone was on her, not the cellist. As the two made their way towards the door to the the apartments hallway Octavia nerviously swung her hands back and forth. Unwilling to just walk out the door without a proper goodbye Vinyl turned back around with her phone in hand.
"Don't worry about me Octy, I've been in far more trouble than this before. I'll see you this weekend one way or another."
Octavia sighed but nodded.
"I hope you're right. Goodbye Vinyl."
The DJ smiled and winked goodbye before heading out the door and starting home.
/l\---)O(---/l\
"Do you have any idea how mad and frustrated I am with you right now?"
Vinyl stood with her head bowed as Alexa vented her anger at her daughter for all that had gone wrong of late.
"First you beat the shit out of one of the cities most influential people's daughter, the dean of your school no less and then I find these in your room!"
She held up a half empty pack of smokes in her rage shaking hand.
"And finnaly as if you hadn't done enough by getting expelled from school you stay out all night without my permision or so much as a text message!"
Finnaly loosing the remainder of her control she screamed the last few words. Vinyl stood looking at her feet with great fascination afraid to meet her enraged mothers gaze.
"Are you trying to destroy your future Vinyl? Do you have any Idea how worried I was and still am?"
Vinyl remained silent.
"Honey I'm terrified for you right now. What has gotten into you? You never used to pick fights and be so wreckless, so irresponsible."
Alexa's tone was softer now, she'd finnished yelling and was now expecting her daughter to give answers. Vinyl pulled out her note pad and began to scribble.
"I'm sorry mom, I just spaced last night when I was with Octavia. She asked me to spend the night and I just got so excited I forgot about everything else."
Alexa sighed placing a hand on her forehead.
"Honey I know Octavia is...special to you and you really care about her but you can't just foresake everything for one girl."
She paused.
"Is that what the fight was about the other day? Is that why you attacked that girl?"
"She hit her and I just couldn't take it. I'm sorry I snapped and went so far but I just couldn't control myself when I saw her hit Octavia."
Once she finnished reading her daughters reply the older woman placed her head in her hands before dragging them across her face. With another great sigh she placed two fingers to her forehead before looking at the carpet and speaking again.
"Vinyl when it comes to...love, romantic love, I don't know much about it. I've never had it and I've never been in it but honey, you can't give up everything for a highschool romance. Chances are things wouldn't work out even if, well she reciprocates. Vinyl you need to worry about yourself right now. I don't know what else to say or do, at a certain point it's up to you where you go from here. I can't watch over you forever and I can't make your choices for you. Only you can decide where you go from here."
Alexa walked over to the coffee table before grabbing her purse and heading towards the front door.
"I love you dear, but I don't know what else to say or how to help you. I have to go to work, I'll see you later."
With that Vinyls mother stepped out the door closing it behind her leaving the room in a tense silence. The DJ gave a raspy sigh before heading to her closet and clibing onto her matress closing the door behind her. She hated making her mother upset and she felt guilty for doing so. She knew she took things to far with the fight and she knew a lot of what her mother said was true, but she loved Octavia. There was nothing she could ever do for her that she would regret if it made the cellist happy.
Octavia's big day had come at last. Her performance was set to take place here at the Canterlot pavilion at noon, and just an hour till curtain found her still practicing out of nerves and anticipation. Every note on her cello had to be perfect, every draw of the string precise and exact. Today she had to give a perfect show not just for her judgmental crowd, but the reputation of her teacher Fleur De Lis. She was her protégée, and thus her performance would reflect on the skills of her teacher.
As the cellist began to bring the piece to an end for the fourth time this morning, she gave a small sigh. She loved playing her cello, yes, but she felt as though something was missing in this rehearsal of hers. More specifically, the encouragement that came with the presence of her best friend. It was strange that someone she had known for such a short time had come to be such an influence in her life, but none the less, she was. Vinyl may not have much to say, but her personality was anything but ordinary. Heck, she had convinced Octavia to go to a party in the junk yard while skipping school just because of the enigmatic way she had presented the idea. Whatever it was that made Vinyl so singular Octavia found intriguing, fascinating, and a little bit frightening. Still she had to ask herself: maybe that was what drew her to Vinyl. Not just the similarities, but also the differences.
Sighing, she opted to take a break from practice to get dressed for the recital. If she was going to perform in front of some 100 plus members of Canterlot's upper class, she had to look the part. Plus, Fleur had gotten her a dress specifically for this occasion...
/l\---)O(---/l\
Vinyl was practically frantic as she hurried about her home, shoving food in her mouth and hopping on one foot while pulling a shoe onto the other. Of all the days to oversleep she had chosen the day of Octavia's big performance. Now she was moving as fast as she could to not only be on time, but to make herself look presentable. The more she tried to hurry however, the less it looked like she would be either of those things.
Finally succeeding in getting her first shoe on, the DJ chanced a glance in the direction of the clock on her kitchen stove. What she saw there made her eyes go wide. 11:33 was the time, and on average it took her at least a half hour to get from her house to the Canterlot pavilion, and that was if he hurried.
"Shit, fuck, son of a bitch, Damnit all to hell in a motherfucking handbasket with a neatly wrapped bow of fuck all!" She screamed internally. For once in her life, Vinyl was glad she couldn't speak for fear of her still sleeping mother awakening to the chain of profanity. She was out of time and then some with no car or any other means of transport. Even ringing up Neon was out of the question as he was on an all-day date with the love of his life while she was stuck trying to get to hers.
As fast as she could, Vinyl slipped on her second shoe ran to her "room", snatching up her smokes and virtually kicked open the door before speeding down the sidewalk like Road Runner, but without the classic ’Meep, Meep!’ If she was gonna make it on time she needed a miracle...
/l\---)O(---/l\
Octavia took a deep breath sitting behind the curtains of the pavilion stage, cello in hand her eyes fixed on the clock. She was set to start her performance in the next ten minutes and Vinyl was yet to appear. She at first had waited for her at the entrance but that had been twenty minutes ago. Now the opening of her first professional venue was about to begin, and her best friend had so far not yet arrived. Being honest with herself ,she was nervous. Who wouldn't be at their first official recital? Vinyl was supposed to be her anchor, her friendly face being the reassurance that she was going to be fine and everything would be as rehearsed.
The Cellist took a deep breath to calm herself. In through her nose, and out through her mouth. Vinyl would come, and when it was time to perform her best friend would be in the front row in her reserved seat smiling like always. Vinyl had never failed her once yet, the blue haired girl she called friend was not like her mom and dad, she would be there to support her and everything would be just fine...
/l\---)O(---/l\
No matter how fast Vinyl ran towards her destination, time seemed to be pissed at her. For each step of progress she made towards her destination, the clock kicked it up a notch into double-time. She had only five minutes to make it two thirds of a mile on foot. She knew it was a futile effort to try, but if this fancy show had a policy even close to the movie theater, if she was late she wasn't going to be let in. She'd be damned if she was gonna let that happen. If she just had a bike or even a pair of roller blades she might have a shot at being on time. Most of the home stretch was downhill and wheels would make it all the easier but it wasn't often she was so-
As the DJ rounded the corner, a potentially delightful and terrifying sight stood before her. Three girls, that looked to be freshmen at the oldest, were gathered together in a driveway. The red haired one held a camera phone out while another with two toned hair laid on her back halfway down a hap hazard stunt course, leaving the last one holding a skateboard and wearing a cocky grin. To top all this wonderful chaos waiting to happen off, the course continued after the frightened girl and halfway down the steeply sloping road in the form of traffic cones, more ramps and what appeared to be an open manhole.
"Ok Crusaders! Ready to become a viral sensation?" Said the red head excitedly.
It was at this moment Vinyl felt the need to intervene for their sakes as well as her own. Running forward she pulled an entire weeks pay from her wallet before grabbing the skate board from one while handing the wad of bills to another. Finally she flopped the board down and with a thumbs up she kicked off and started down the hill. Still as much as she wanted to set a good example for these young and impressionable children, she couldn't deny herself the rush of jumping the ramps on their course, followed a three sixty, and popping one final ollie over the uncovered manhole as she sped down the road. If she was really lucky she just might make it on time now.
/l\---)O(---/l\
Time was up. Octavia was set to start her performance in three minutes and Vinyl was nowhere to be seen. If she hadn't made it by now she wasn't going to. The cellist swallowed hard. She was having a severe case of stage fright at the moment. Sure she had performed at the Battle of the Bands and in a few music classes, but back then the only person she was risking disappointing was herself. Right now if she messed up she was going to let down Fleur, her friend and teacher, as well as the person who was letting her perform! What if it strained Fleur’s friendship with him? What if she didn't want to teach her anymore? What if, what if- She was interrupted by the performance manager?
"Octavia it' show time in three, two, one"...
/l\---)O(---/l\
With a hard step on the end of the skate board and a swift hand to grab it, a hurried and out of breath Vinyl pushed through the front door, waving a middle finger to the man trying to close the door. Vinyl all but barged into the Pavilion just as the lights began to dim in the room, and more seemed to focus on the stage. With her new ride tucked under her arm, and a quick crouched dash to the front row, she managed to take a seat just as the curtains began to lift. When they did though, the DJ was met with a sight that made her jaw drop. When Octavia had invited her to come to the show, she knew it was going to be a fancy affair, at least by her standards. What she didn't expect was for Octavia to be an even bigger knock out than usual.
The girl who she already perceived as a goddess was wearing a black dress with intricate lacing at the bottom hem. It hugged her form, well showing off her perfect curves and enhancing her already obvious beauty. The sleeves stopped just above her elbows with yet more lace showing off her perfect skin. The light was hitting her in such a way that she was glowing like an angel. Her hair was done up in a perfect bun with a jeweled pin holding it together, and her lips the perfect shade of pink. The sight of such a perfect creature made Vinyl’s heart stop. She couldn’t breathe. Just the sight of this goddess was making her feel speechless, (at least, more speechless than normal). Despite trying Vinyl just couldn’t keep her hands from shaking.
"Ok there is no way this girl is human. No human is this beautiful. There is no way she could become more perfect, and she’s already at a hundred and ten."
It was at that moment that the cellist saw Vinyl sitting in the front row and smiled at her.
"Oh shit I think my heart just burst..."
/l\---)O(---/l\
The moment Octavia saw Vinyl sitting in the front row, all her worries disappeared into thin air. Her best friend and port in the storm had made it, and was smiling at her like a Cheshire cat. Her support was here, and now she was ready. With a warm smile at her friend Octavia bowed her head and began to play the first song of the night.
/l\---)O(---/l\
Vinyl sat through the whole show, eyes glued to her idol as she made her imageless fleeting art. Each pass of the bow on the strings, each careful placement of the fingers on the fingerboard to change the sound so subtly. She wasn't even sure she had blinked since that girl first smiled. There was no denying it, she was smitten. Only when the lights came back on and the cellist stood and bowed did she realize the show was half over and an intermission had begun.
While the bulk of the crowd stood and went to the bathrooms, buffet tables, or remained seated, the DJ fought her way through the crowds to the door that led backstage. A turn of the nob found her inside but unfortunately also right in front of an angry looking stage hand. Vinyl was about to try and back out before getting kicked out when she heard a familiar voice call say her name.
"Vinyl you made it! It's ok Mumford she's a friend and my plus one."
The one Vinyl assumed was Mumford nodded before exiting the door that the DJ had come in through, leaving her and the cellist alone backstage.
"Vinyl I can't believe you made it! Three minutes to curtain and not a sign, I thought something must have happened."
The blue haired girl shook her head with a smile before pointing at herself, making a sleepy face, with her head leaned on her hands and flicking herself in the forehead to finish.
"You mean you slept in?"
The DJ nodded and the cellist laughed, the smile on her face growing in size. When she had regained her faculties she was greeted by a note pad.
"Jeeze Octy, I'm scared to touch you right now. I'm not in the mood for third degree burns."
When she noticed the look of confusion on her face, Vinyl scribbled a clarification.
"You look really hot!"
Octavia's cheeks turned crimson.
"Th-thank you very much Vinyl, mother always said that when I performed she wanted me to look my best and my teacher Miss Fleur was kind enough to get this for me."
The DJ gave a long whistle and a teasing wink.
"Stop it Vinyl you’re making me blush. Go enjoy the buffet table. I'm sure you'll find something you like there, in the meantime I have to prepare for the second half of the show. I'll see you later, ok?"
Vinyl nodded before making her way out the door towards the gathering mass of hungry music lovers, leaving Octavia alone back stage. Much to the cellists confusion however, the absence of Vinyl and her crude but sweet remarks did little to stop her blushing from continuing.
/l\---)O(---/l\
When Vinyl had been asked by Octavia to be her plus one, she had of course known she would be the odd one out when she compared herself to the crowd. What she had not expected was to not be the only person there who didn't fit in. Sandlewood was a proud member of Canterlot High's go green club, and was also the person to go to if you wanted the pleasure of spending a night with a miss Mary Jane. While Vinyl had never reached the point of calling him friend she had on more than one occasion asked him to make an appointment for her with the hazy lady. As such, she was greatly surprised to meet him for the first time since she had been expelled, especially at a classical music performance of all things.
Apparently the saying "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree” didn't really apply to Sandlewood, who looked both uncomfortable and unhappy in his formal attire while being chaperoned by his mother. So when he saw Vinyl, and therefor a chance to escape his parents, he was quick to take it.
"Hey Scratch, haven’t seen you around school in a while. Where you been?"
Pencil met paper, and with a few scribbles, a response was formed.
"I got expelled for beating the crap out of the Dean’s daughter."
"Whoa, that's some heavy stuff Scratch. I didn't know you had it in you. Normally you just kinda blend in with the walls you know?"
A quick look at his red eyes and a whiff of the air around him told Vinyl all she needed to know about what he had been doing before the show.
"On a scale of 1-10 where do you think you are?"
"About a five right now, it was a six but the shows half over so...Oh hey I'm getting some ‘Flowers’ soon from Tree Hugger, like really pretty flowers. I can get you some if you want?"
The DJ gave a thumbs up before writing her number down and handing it to her less than sober companion. Taking it he took a step back before pocketing it.
"I'll get back to you by Thursday and we'll figure it out from there. See ya later Scratch."
She waved goodbye before continuing towards the buffet table. She had yet to eat today, so taking advantage of the free food while it was available sounded like a good idea. Ultimately she took two sandwiches a slice of cake and prigged a glass of champagne while the server was distracted by a posh dude in a suit. Trying to remain incognito with her stolen beverage she decided to occupy a corner in the back as she ate and drank. Soon after finishing the wine a member of staff addressed the crowd informing them the intermission would soon be over. Not quite full yet the DJ made a second run to the hors d’oeuvres table hoping to get another sandwich or two. Unfortunately when she arrived the last one was gone.
Vinyl was about to try and find an alternative when she felt the lightest of taps on her left shoulder. Turning around she was greeted by a beautiful woman she could only assume to be in her early to mid-thirties, and a girl about her age who was the spitting image of her in almost all respects. The Latter stood beside the former eyeing her phone with great fascination.
"I am assuming you were hoping to get one last sandwhich, oui?"
The blue haired girl nodded with a half-smile.
"Then here take this jeune femme. A friend of Octavia's is a friend of mine."
Vinyl took the sandwich carefully with one hand, and with the other produced her phone to reply.
"Yeah, Octavia's my best friend, how did you know?"
"You are the one called Vinyl Scratch no? She mentioned you at our last rehearsal, she spoke très fortement, very highly of you. She asked you to be her plus one no doubt?"
The DJ nodded.
"It makes me very happy to know my protégée has a friend who will watch over her." Under her breath she added something else, most wouldn't have heard it but Vinyl's ears were better than most. "Son ange gardien"
The woman looked Vinyl over for a moment before smiling again and continuing.
"Would you like to sit with me and my niece? Sunny Meadow où sont vos manières she is a friend of Octavia's."
With a sigh, the young girl took a break from her phone and extended a hand in greeting. If she had been watching, Vinyl would have seen a look of disapproval from Fleur to her niece but at the moment she was trying to focus on the person addressing her.
"Hi."
"Vinyl gave a forced smile, already she could tell from the skirt and sense of superiority that Sunny was a Crystal Prep student. Lucky for her she didn't need to make conversation as the lights in the theater were beginning to dim signaling the continuation of the concert.
"Oh mon the show is about to begin again we best find our seats!" Said Fluer.
With that in mind the DJ quickly ate the sandwich before following after a gently smiling Fleur.
/l\---)O(---/l\
The show was coming to an end, and Octavia's last song, a slow peaceful and, of course, classical piece came to a close. Her whole performance had gone wonderfully! She had slipped up only once, and even then managed to save herself with a quick adjustment to her wrist and the position of the bow. She had done this so efficiently that she doubted anyone had even noticed. With the last part of the song over the crowd gave in to great applause. Octavia was about to stand and take a bow when she saw a pair of pale hands holding a notepad in the air from the front row with a single word written on it.
"Encore!"
To this girl’s left stood a familiar face who had also noticed this silent request and soon after chanted out an echo of the plea.
"Oui! Oui! Encore! Encore!"
When the patrons noticed the source of these words, Miss Fleur, anyone with clout in the community (So most of the people in the room) shouted the same. Within seconds the whole room was filled with the voices of an audience wanting more. But now Octavia had a problem. She had nothing else planned, and no other pieces prepared, or spare sheets of music to read from. Then her gaze met a smiling Vinyl giving her a thumbs up, and in that moment she had her answer.
The cellist thought back to the night of their sleep over and the music she and Vinyl had made together on her cello. The broken rules of classical music and free spirit her friend had added to a piece that led to fresh new organic music. She didn't need sheets for this. She had talent, the knowhow, and the support of her best friend and teacher.
She rested her head on the neck of her cello and started. Her fingers plucked the strings filling the air with a bright happy echo of sound. It was warm and new and full of life. Soon she added lively draws of the bow across the strings her fingers still plucking away at the strings to give a base and a beat. Vinyl leaned forward in her chair, nearly on the edge of her seat while Fleur sat astonished, though not disappointed. The crowd sat in silence, either spellbound or appalled at the display. Octavia simply played on. The song was not written or planned, and it ended when she felt it do so. With the final notes she lowered her bow for the last time that night.
Silence...
Then a single person in the front row with blue hair stood, her hands smacked together once than again and again. Soon after Fleur stood as well, a great smile on her face, joining in and soon after the whole crowd joined as well, (though some only to save face). All the while though Octavia only smiled at one person in particular. Her best friend Vinyl.
With the show over and the curtains closed, Vinyl wasted no time in heading backstage to find Octavia. Running towards the door she had used earlier, flinging open the door and taking the steps leading to the stage two at a time, barely avoiding crashing into Mumford. When she was perched atop the last of the steps, she was greeted by the sight of a cellist with a beaming smile aimed at her. The DJ smiled back and began walking towards Octavia as the raven haired girl did the same, meeting in the middle for a best friends’ celebratory hug. The cellist’s hold was warm and tight. Vinyl could feel the gratitude in it, and let her eyes shut as she allowed the world to slip away for a moment. Right now, she just wanted to enjoy the feeling of Octavia holding her, and at least pretend it was the embrace of a lover. The hug ended too soon for her, as hugs with the cellist always seemed to be, but it had been nice while it lasted. Looking back at her though, Vinyl saw that the cellist had something to say.
"I can't believe... Vinyl! You gave me a standing ovation! I don't know what to say..."
With a sly grin, Vinyl pulled out her phone and typed a reply.
"Octy, you earned it. That last piece, I couldn't believe it! You blew my mind babe! I haven't heard something that full of life in like, forever!"
"Oh Vinyl I just-"
Octavia latched back onto her friend in an even tighter grasp with an excited and unladylike squee. Feeling the DJ's smile through their pressed together cheeks, the cellist closed the hold even tighter. That is until Vinyl began patting her back in what she soon realized was a sign that she couldn't breathe. Releasing her friend from the death grip, Octavia held her at arm's length. Vinyl typed a quick few sentences on her phone before showing them to the cellist.
"Octy you kicked ass tonight! We have to celebrate! I've still got a little bit of cash, and I know this Indian restaurant with the best food in all of Canterlot. Let's get dinner, my treat."
"Well my parents won't be home until the day after tomorrow, and I did do a smashing job, so...Yes I'd like that very much, let's go!"
Vinyl gave a huge grin at that before heading over to the far end of the stage and grabbing her friend’s cello case. With the instrument in hand the two exited the building and began to walk down the street. Vinyl had her new means of transport tucked under the arm she was carrying the cello with, leaving her right hand at her side free. However, as she led the way towards the Tasty Treat, she felt something warm and soft as velvet entwined with her fingers. Looking down she could see a grey hand holding her pale one in a soft grasp. At the sight of it she felt butterflies in her stomach and her chest grew warm, She had to fight to keep her sweating hands from shaking too much.
"Vinyl, I-I really can't explain how grateful I am for you coming to my show. Before you arrived, I was a nervous wreck. But when the curtains opened and you were there, it was like...It made me feel like I was back at the night you and I had our sleep over, and everything else just disappeared. You being here for me Vinyl… It means a lot to me."
Vinyl's heart was pounding, and her mind was racing. She felt sick to her stomach in a way that was surprisingly pleasant, and her mouth was dry as the Sahara. She felt like she was going to melt at the praise. Instead, she used her phone to reply, reluctantly removing her hand from Octavia's to do so.
"Octy, I'm always gonna watch your back, no matter what. You’re my best friend! How could I do less?"
"You’re a true friend Vinyl, I don't know what I'd do without you."
Octavia grabbed Vinyl's hand again, and the two continued without further communication until they reached part of Canterlot's downtown area. A few minutes later, Vinyl brought them to a stop outside a rather unique building. It was colored with purple and orange paint, above which hung a sign with an elephant reading: “The Tasty Treat”.
"I take it this is the place?"
Vinyl nodded.
"Well what are we waiting for?"
Vinyl stepped in first, leading the way for Octavia, who was still holding her hand lightly. While it did make Vinyl feel a bit self-conscience, she loved the feeling of holding her love's hand too much to voluntarily remove it. When they reached the entry podium, they were greeted by a pudgy, brown haired man in his mid-forties or so. As he saw them entering, he grabbed two menus before speaking up, his voice thickly accented.
"Welcome to The Tasty Treat, I am Coriander Cumin, would you prefer a booth or a-"
Suddenly, a high pitched familiar voice rang out that Vinyl could recognize anywhere.
"Vinyl Scratch! Over Here! Come sit with us and bring your friend!"
Looking over the shoulder of the host revealed seven very familiar girls sitting at the group table, smiling and waving in her direction. Vinyl smiled back and nodded in greeting before Octavia spoke.
"I guess we will be sitting with them if that's alright."
"That is fine here are your menus."
With that, the pair made their way over to the table before taking the two remaining chairs next to each other. Vinyl smiled in greeting to the girls as she pulled out her notepad, and Octavia smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress before speaking.
"I had no idea you were all friends with Vinyl! It's nice to meet you all properly after going to school together for so long. My name is Octavia."
Sunset was the first to speak.
"Nice to meet you Octavia, I'm Sunset and these are my friends: Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie pie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. V has told us a lot about you."
"All good I hope?"
"Are you kidding? Vinyl can't stop talking about how great she thinks you are! She's always texting us about hanging out with you, and how much she-"
Pinkie pie was cut off by the hand of Rarity slapping over her mouth. Octavia's cheeks turned red as she glanced at a now bashful Vinyl, while Sunset gave pinkie a harsh look at her bluntness. Rainbow Dash, who sat next to Fluttershy, looked to her friend for a minute as if to say: "There she goes again" at pinkie's antics. The Shyest of the group threw a sympathetic look in the DJ’s direction, having known the truth for a while now.
"Well I'm very fond of Vinyl too, so I'm happy to meet some more of her friends."
Vinyl, finally managing to get over her embarrassment, scribbled something down.
"So what brings you girls here tonight?"
"Every Saturday we all pick a place to get together and talk about the week and make plans. Normally, it's Sugarcube Corner, but sometimes we mix it up a bit," answered applejack.
"This week we decided to put our cash together and eat out, ‘cause this place is awe-some." Added Rainbow.
"What brings you two here Vinyl?" asked Rarity, who had finally got Pinkie Pie to be quiet.
"Me and Octavia are celebrating her wicked job at her recital this afternoon. She kicked all the musical ass today!"
"Well I'm um...glad to hear that." Said the fashionista.
"That might have been the recital my mom and dad had gone to today. Was it the one at the Canterlot Pavilion?" asked Twilight.
"Yes it was," replied the cellist.
"You must be very proud, Octavia. That's a big accomplishment." said a nearly silent voice.
"I couldn't have done it without Vinyl. I was near a panic until she arrived. Once I saw her in the crowd though, all my fears just went away."
Vinyl felt a boot kick her foot, and a quick look at Sunset's smug expression told her who had done it. Blushing a bit, Vinyl chose to focus on her menu while the others chatted and laughed. Vinyl had long ago come to peace with the fact that it was hard for a mute to be a part of a conversation, even when she wrote her replies. Something she realized about voices, was that they were better at attracting attention than a notepad. Still, she didn't mind too much. spending time with Octavia and her friends was enough to put a smile on her face.
Soon after, the host returned and took their orders, and before long their food had arrived. The chatting continued between bites (or in Rainbow Dash and Pinkies case during), but it slowed down. Most of it was talk about upcoming school events, and what tomorrow's plans were. Rarity and Twilight talked a good deal with Octavia about music. Even Fluttershy opened up a bit about writing songs of her own. The DJ was content to sit and listen to it all, occasionally adding a bit to the conversation with her notepad. In all honesty, she just wanted to catch up with friends she hadn't seen since getting expelled.
When their plates were clean (all except for Rarity’s, although Rainbow dash had eaten the rest of Fluttershy's) the waiter returned and took their plates.
"Would any of you like dessert this evening?"
"Not us, but they will." Sunset replied pointing at Octavia and Vinyl.
"Actually I was gonna-"
"No you weren't, Rainbow. We need to get going, remember?" said the girl in the leather jacket wielding a menacing look the prismatic girl’s way.
Rainbow, though clearly confused, shut up as the rainbooms stood to leave. Sunset reached into her pocket and pulled a few fives out of a bill fold before handing them to Vinyl.
"By the way, here's the money you lent me. Why don't you use it to get you and Octavia some dessert?" She followed this up with a subtle wink and a sly smirk to the DJ before departing.
The rest of the group followed, stopping by the server’s station where their waiter was standing. He waited for them patiently as the girls came and paid the tab. Vinyl held the menu as she and Octavia looked through it.
"This chocolate lava cake looks good, but I think it might be a bit too big for me," said the cellist.
"I'm fairly full too how about we split it?"
"Ok, let's do that. One chocolate lava cake and two spoons please."
The waiter nodded before leaving the pair alone at the table sitting side by side.
"This has been a wonderful day Vinyl, thank you."
The DJ smiled back before tentatively reaching to hold Octavia's hand under the table. As she began to entwine their fingers, she felt the cellist squeeze her hand in acceptance, bringing a blush to the pale girl's face.
’I can't take it anymore. I have to tell her and I have to do it tonight. I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna tell Octavia how I feel. I just have to, but… What if she says no, or freaks out? What if she doesn't want to be friends anymore? I just…’
As she at thinking over her options, Sunset's words came back to her mind.
’What I would suggest is you try to work up the nerve to tell her. If you don't it, it will just fester inside you ‘till you're being eaten from the inside out. It's not healthy for you, and even if Octavia says no, at least you'll be able to start healing. I know you're worried about hurting her, but if she's a real friend, then she'll at least be nice about it, and if she doesn't feel the same, she'll let you down easy. Don't worry about wrecking your friendship, because if she's a good friend she'll understand and stick around.’
She had to do it, and Sunset was right. Octavia was a true friend, no, her best friend. No matter what happened she would always have her friendship. Tonight was the night. She would tell the cellist how she felt, and whatever happened was what happened.
She was finally broken from her deep thinking when Coriander returned and placed the cake in front of them with a spoon on either side of the dessert.
"My, this does look delectable, doesn't it Vinyl?"
The DJ nodded in affirmation as she picked up a spoon. The two both began to eat the cake, not really talking as they did so, but as they grew close to finishing it, they realized that there was only about one bite left. Octavia was about to tell vinyl to take it when the DJ scooped it up and held the spoon out to her in invitation. The cellists cheeks flushed a bit before she smiled at her friend and took the offered remaining bite off her spoon. Vinyl smiled, and the raven haired girl gave a small giggle as she chewed. Swallowing the last bite she spoke.
"Thank you Vinyl."
The DJ nodded before seeing the host approaching them with a small plastic tablet with a paper on it, followed by two mints. Vinyl took the paper, looked it over. Placing the few remaining bills in her wallet onto the tray, she handed it back to Coriander. That was barely enough to cover the tip, and it was time to walk Octavia home. Now that they had dinner, the walk back was gonna be the best chance to tell Octy how she really felt. It was now or never.
/l\---)O(---/l\
Octavia glanced down at her phone in expected disappointment. The pair were nearly back to her house now, and she had checked her phone to see if her parents had sent any texts or called. As expected, they hadn't. To her left was Vinyl, who at the moment was looking at her with a concerned expression. To try and put her friend at ease she spoke up.
"It's nothing Vinyl, don't worry."
Soon after a notepad was held up to her eye level.
"It doesn't look like nothing Octy, what’swrong?"
Octavia read the note quietly before putting her phone back in her pocket with a sigh.
"Mom and dad have been gone since Wednesday and they haven't sent a text or called since. I'm not surprised, it's just...it's like they don't even care about me."
The Cellist clenched her fists in anger as the two continued to walk, the apartments now in sight. The DJ remained silent listening, she could tell that Octavia had a lot on her chest and was about to let it out. To show her support, she held onto her arm lightly.
"I spent more time with my nanny than my mom as a child, you know that? My first words weren't mom or dad, they were my nannies name: Tender Care. When I was ten and doing my first cello recital in school, I looked out at the crowd and you know what I saw? My friend’s moms and dads. Their grandparents and siblings came, but no one was out there for me. I hit every note perfectly, and did everything right, but the only people who clapped for me were strangers, and not my parents! When I was sixteen, I entered a talent show and won second place. I was so proud of myself, and you know who was happy for me? Fleur! She gave me applause, but my mom and dad who, yet again, didn't show up. You know what they said?"
They had stopped outside the front doors to the Crystal Apartments now. Tears were welling up in Octavia's eyes as she ranted, her voice was raised and broken at the same time. Her face was red and her fists clenched. Vinyl stood silent, letting her vent her years of pent up rage.
"They said they thought I could do better, and that they were disappointed I didn't get first! That competition had over a hundred and fifty contestants, and I got second place, but no it wasn't enough! If I didn't do perfect, it wasn't enough! Nothing I do is ever enough for them! No matter how hard I try I'll always be one step too low from the pedestal they want me on! It’s been four days! Why couldn't they even be bothered to ask how my day was, or how the recital went? They...they don't care about me Vinyl! They don't love me."
Octavia had finally broken completely and was now simply sobbing. She had gone from bothered to full on outraged in minutes, because, for the first time in her life, she had someone who would listen if she spoke. At the moment though, that wasn't registering leading to the next words to leave her mouth.
"Nobody I know actually loves me..."
Suddenly, Octavia felt a pair of hands cup her cheeks and her face was turned from the ground to where she saw the nervous, and scared face of the DJ. She had just enough time to have a look of confusion cross her face before the blue haired girl lunged forward and pressed her lips against hers. A jolt ran down her spine as she felt the soft touch of Vinyl's kiss. The girl’s hands passed from her cheeks to the small of her back, pulling her into a gentle but firm embrace. At this moment Octavia was too shocked to resist.
Vinyl's kiss was sweet in a strange way. It was gentle, but passionate refusing to end. This wasn't a quick peck. Vinyl’s lips were warm as they pressed against hers, passing over them again and again. She could hear her sharp inhaling breaths, and the silent scrappy moans of the DJ. It was a needy, hungry movement and she could feel the emotion behind it. She was communicating a strong message with her actions rather than words.
"Octavia, I love you."
For a moment after finally realizing what was happening, Octavia nearly resisted, but Vinyl's hold was so firm and caring she couldn’t quite do it. Suddenly so much made sense. The awkward moments, and worry of upsetting her. The constant desire to make her happy, the undying loyalty of a guard dog, and the no request too great attitude. Vinyl loved her. No. Was in love with her! It was this realization that finally gave her the strength to pull away. Not in a harsh or cold manner, but still abrupt. The kiss ended with a quick smack as their lips parted. Octavia gave a startled expression to the girl across from her, bringing two fingers to her lips.
Vinyl took a step back with a horrified expression, suddenly aware of what she'd done. She had wanted to tell Octavia how she felt, but not like this! The thought that Octavia felt unloved though… She couldn't stand that, but this wasn't how this was supposed to happen! In a panic, Vinyl took a few quick steps backward before turning and running towards home down the sidewalk before Octavia had time to react. When she did it was too late.
"Vinyl-wait I-"
It was too late though now. The DJ was gone. Slowly, and still slightly shocked, Octavia made her way to the doors to her home. She was glad she didn't have school tomorrow. She had a lot to think about. She would be lying if she said she felt nothing when she was kissed by Vinyl, but… Was it love? She wasn't sure about that. She needed to think this through, so she made her way up the stairs and into her home. Unknown to her though, a young girl about her age with two toned purple hair was watching from a cracked door with many watery tears in her eyes.
It had been a while since Amethyst had seen Octavia go back in her home after first having witnessed Vinyl kiss her. She didn't know how much time had passed for sure, an hour, two hours why should she care? For now all she wanted to do was sit on her bed and wallow in some self pitty. After seeing Octavia go passed her door earlier she had spent a good while with her head in her pillow letting the tears flow freely. Amethyst hated a lot of things. Her mother, her father, her school, Vinyl, but the thing she hated most in the world was herself.
She could blame Vinyl all she wanted for stealing Ocatvia's attention, she could blame her for a number of the the bruises she had (though not all) but it was at best a weak attempt at removing blame from herelf. She had bottled up and denied the feelings she had for the raven haired girl. She had tried to push her away in hopes these confusing emotions would dissapear. She had tried to get interested in someone else but no matter how hard she tried to push the cellist from her mind. no matter how hard she tried to hate her. no matter how hard she tried to like one of the boys from the football or soccer team, when she looked at Octavia she felt warm and light headed and when she looked at the jocks all she felt was contempt.
It had reached the point where her bullying of Octavia was about keeping up appearences and hiding her true feelings than it was about puhing her away. At some point something about that girl had gotten to her and simply stuck and now she was caught between trying to hide her true feelings and wanting Vinyl to dissapear so she could go after the cellist. It was driving her insane!
"Why did it have to be her! Of all the people that mute had to kiss, of all the guys in school that I could go out with the person I get attached to is Octavia!"
Reaching to her bedside table Amethyst gabbed her alarm clock before chucking it at the wall with such force it damaged the plaster and broke the clock. She flopped back on her bed in frustration but it soon turned to fear. The sound of footsteps comming up the stairs told her that father was home, had heard her outburst and given the stomping he was pissed.
Amethyst did her best to hurry out of bed and kick the broken clock under a chair but it was too late. Before she could conceal the dent in her wall from the impact she saw her door fling open and an angry looking figure step in. He was at least twice her size in build with a chissled face with a tan complection. His hair was jet black and his eyes a dark green.
Amethyst swallowed hard as she saw him glance at broken plaster before stairing her down and waving his hand in a come here motion a stern look on his face. Knowing better than to argue she walked foreword. With that he pointed at the wall before speaking in a low voice strict and snake like.
"What did you do to the wall?"
"I'm sorry sir."
"I didn't ask you to apologise I asked what did you do to the wall?"
"I threw my clock at it."
His fist clenched quickly and before she had time to do anything she felt a strong pain in her gut as he struck her causing her to stumble backwards and fall on the floor. She gasped hard which only made her realize how hard she'd been hit as the breath brought on more pain bringing tears to her eyes that she tried to hide.
"Do you know what this is going to cost to get repaired? I work all day and and half the night to pay for your school, your food and your expensses and as a thanks I get a hole in my wall!"
Amethyst was still trying to get her breath back when he lundged foreward to grab her.
"Get up and look at me!"
He pulled her to her feet but she didn't make eye contact. His response to being disobeyed was a slap accross the face hard enough she felt it in her jaw bone.
I just got home from ten hours of paperwork and what do I get? A hole in my wall you ungrateful little bitch!"
He struck her agian this time in the lower chest with a fist knocking her over again. Then he just pulled her up by her shirt and shoved her into the floor before leaving her there and heading towards the door.
"I don't care how you do it but your going to get the money to fix that hole and your going to do it within the week or I swear now that your eighteen I will kick you out of this house! I don't care if you end up living in an ally your going to fix that wall!"
With that he slammed the door behind him before thudding his way downstairs. Amethyst tried to stand but all that did was cause her to take a deep and painfull breath so instead she chose to crawl her way to her bed and lean against it. Possitioning herself so that she could rest she lifted her shirt and looked down. Two big new welts were showing up soon to turn into bruises. Anyone who could see her would also have noticed that there were many others as well in verying degrees of darkness. Being the schools dean meant he had to keep a good reputation so Amethysts father tended to place his blows where her cloths would cover it. He wasn't a drunk that would be unseemly, no he was simply bitter as she had leaned in the last seven years since her mom eloped with her aunt on her fathers side.
Her father had always had anger issues but they got worse when her mom ran away. Not that her mother was a saint either, if she was she would have taken Amethyst with her. Now she had two choices in life, Live with her father with room, board and an education or drop out of school and move away with a low paying job to cover rent. There were times she gave the latter serious thought but she always sided against it. Frankly she was so scared of being alone she would rather stay with her father than go it alone.
Using the back of her bed as a support to help her, the purple skinned girl brought herself to stand and slowly made her way to her dresser. Pulling out the top mahogony drawer and moving some socks aside she pulled out a small bottle Ibuprofen and popped six pills. She had origionally started with the recomended dossage but that was years ago before her body had started getting used to the drug and she needed more for the same effect. Even now six was what she took on a light beating, she needed eight if she had it bad.
Tilting her head back she dropped the pills down her throat to stop the gag reflex. Since getting water would mean going downstairs and passed her father she preffered to take the extra effort in swallowing. The pills now down the hatch she slowly started towards her window still feeling pain in her gut and chest with each step and breath. When she reached the window, hers just below Octavia's she glanced down again where she had seen them earlier tonight. Vinyl had kissed Octavia right there on the last step before the door in full veiw of her and the world. Amethyst clentched her fists in frustration.
"It's not fair! It's not fair! It's not fair!" She had to put effort into not actually screaming that and giving her father reason to return. "It's just not fair..." She said quietly. "Why do I have to be alone? Why can't I be the one that Octavia liked? Even if she doesn't know it I can tell she liked that damn kiss! Fuck! Of all the people in this city I get attatched to a girl who I can't decide If I hate or-...No I won't say not even in my head to myself!"
Balling her fists in rage she raised them above her head and shook them furriously. She wanted to puch someone and just vent her anger into someone else. Make them feel what she felt, doubly so if it was that bitch, dike Vinyl! If she hadn't suprised her that time she had tackled her she knew the fight would have gone differently! Then she winced as she emembeed how she had slapped Octavia.
"I didn't mean to do that...I didn't want to do that it just... happened." When she heard Octavia say those words about her father hitting her something had snapped and she just acted. "I wanted to take it back as soon as I did it but I just yelled at her more instead. Now that fucking blue haired slut has her heart all a flutter!"
Hot angry tears started to slip from her eyes down her face. She hated her father, she hated she liked Octavia, she hated Vinyl and she hated herself. She hated every part of her life and had no way to escape it. Well there was one way but he never had the stomach to actualy go through with it. Slowly and too tired to keep going Amethyst made her way to her bed and painfully climbed in. When her head hit the pillow she closed her teary eye's and waited for sleep to come. Maybe in her dreams life would be better and she could escape for just a little while.
Octavia had been sitting in her chair trying to play her cello for the past four hours. It was just after midnight and she could neither sleep nor focus. Usually playing her cello while she thought about things helped but this was a problem even her music couldn't solve or help with. Setting the bow and her instrument down she pulled out her phone for the thirteenth time to try and text Vinyl. Again she couldn't bring herself to type anything. For that matter she couldn't think of what to type in the first place.
Octavia was never very big on socializing before she met vinyl. Back then she preferred her privacy and the companionship of her cello for the most part, aside from Water Melody and a few other people. She never had friends over before Vinyl let alone stay the night but then the DJ walked into her life and a lot changed in little time. She didn't know what it was but she had trusted Vinyl from the moment they had met, something about her simply said "You're safe with me" It was like her aura just said so.
When Octavia was with Vinyl she didn't worry, she wasn't afraid to be herself or speak her mind. She wasn't afraid to try new things and most importantly she didn't feel lonely. Before Vinyl had come into her life she felt alone every time she stepped into her home. Even when her parents were in the house, no especially when her parents were in the house she felt lonely. Then she met Vinyl and companionship and comfort were never more than a text away. They were best friends and less then a month had gone by since they met. Now not even three weeks into knowing her she was having to ask herself.
"Am I in love with my best friend?"
Vinyl was special to her of that she had no doubt, but she couldn't be sure the feelings she had went beyond friendship. It wasn't that they weren't strong. It was are they that kind of strong? She had been wondering this for a long time, all night in fact. She took a deep breath before reclining in her chair laying her head against the rest and looking towards the celling. Was she even capable of knowing what love was in the first place? From what she had seen the closest her parents had ever got to showing love was throwing money at her. They never kissed her goodnight or gave her a hug. They never read her bed time stories as a child nor did they ever say anything as small as "Love you sweetie." Frankly the only things they had ever done for her in reality was pay for her continued existence.
"It's like to them I'm nothing but an upkeep expense!"
The cellist began looking at the designs of the paint on the celling looking for patterns and pictures while she thought. Watermelody loved her she knew that much but that was because they were good friends and had been for a while. It was kind of odd that she had known Vinyl for about a couple weeks before calling her best friend where as her and Water Melody had been friends since junior year. But this just kept jerking her in circles! Yes, Vinyl was probably the most special person in her life but was she that kind of special?
"Damnit all I don't know!" She finally exclaimed striking her fist onto her chair's arm in frustration.
This was more than she could handle herself she needed advice and she knew one person who might be able to help she just hoped she wouldn't be interrupting anything...
/l\---)O(---/l\
Watermelody fell backwards onto her bed breathing heavily as her head hit the pillow. She gripped the sheets hard in her hand as she tried to get her breath back while Neon pulled her onto his chest pressing their unclothed bodies together.
"I-That was-I love you Neon." She finally got out.
The collage student reached into his pants by the bedside and pulled out a pack of cigarettes quickly lighting one and taking a long draw before exhaling deeply. The both of them were soaked in sweat and flushed from their recently finished activities.
"Give me a turn of that." She said not asking permission as she yanked it from him and drawing.
"So...Wanna go again?"
"Neon we've been fucking for two hours." She said as she passed the death stick back.
"I'm not hearing a no." He said teasingly earning him a light slap and a giggle from her.
"How can you even go again? How can not be...I don't know empty might be the word?"
"Babe when I'm with you I don't have a limit."
"Ya...me too I guess."
That was when Melody heard her phone buzzing from her skirt's pocket which was hanging haphazardly from the bed post.
"Don't answer it please!"
"It might be important."
"More than me?"
"That's not really a tall order."
Neon clasped a hand to his chest in mock hurt at her teasing.
"Babe I'm wounded, how could you say such a thing?"
"Hush you." She said picking up the phone and seeing it was Octavia.
Sliding the answer button she put the phone to her ear.
"Hey Octavia what's up?"
"Hi Watermelody I need some advice got a minute to talk?"
"Ya... sure."
The pink girl said as she tried to straighten her green hair a bit and pull her skirt back on. While doing so she bent foreword a bit leading to Neon lightly smacking her backside with a devious grin. The young woman was quick to respond throwing a shoe at him though unable to hide a smile.
"Is now a bad time? I can call back later if that would be more convenient, I know it's passed midnight."
"Exactly why this can't wait Octavia, you would have been asleep hours ago unless something important was keeping you up at night."
"I suppose so..."
Watermelody now half dressed in a skirt and clip on bra made her way towards the door that led to Neon's living room though not before winking in her boyfriends direction and flashing him with an underwear free up skirt as if to say "We're not done". He smiled at that and waved to her as she closed the door. Now alone and away from her horny boyfriend Watermelody had a seat on the couch before speaking.
"So what's wrong Octavia?"
"Vinyl... Vinyl kissed me tonight."
"Oh, oh dear."
"I'm not sure what to do or how to handle it."
"Well if you don't like her like that then you should let her down easy, I don't know Vinyl very well but I do know she's emotionally delicate."
"That's the problem! I don't know if I love her or not."
"Oh. So what do you want my help with then?"
"How, How do you know if you love someone? I've never dated before or anything so... How do you feel when you love someone?"
"Oh geeze Octavia that's a hard question to answer, I'm not even sure it has one. I don't know how to put it, maybe like...shit this is hard."
Watermelody gave a deep sigh before continuing.
"I think it's different for everybody because everyone has their own Idea of what the ideal lover is and what love really is. It doesn't have any one answer. It's one of those things you have to feel and experience you can't just read about it in a book or hear it from a friend."
"Oh..." Said the cellist disappointedly.
"Hey don't be down let me think for a sec." She paused. "Ah ok here let me put it like this. After me and Neon had been dating for a while we kind of reached this point where we had to start deciding if we were gonna get serious or it was time to look elsewhere for romance. My parent's hated him and his parents didn't like me and I was having second thoughts so we sat down and talked but it turned into a fight."
"Why what happened?"
"I was worried that the best thing to do might be to break up since both our families were so against it. Neon said that we needed to make this choice for ourselves and not just listen to our bickering families. It started out calm but before long we were yelling at each other and I asked why this was such a big deal to him. That's when he said he loved me for the first time. Though it was more like he yelled it at me so ya."
"What did you do when he said that?"
"Oh I fucking broke down in tears and kicked him out, I was totally scared that he felt that way, I was worried I'd have a heart attack. Anyways the next day calmer heads prevailed and we decided we would give each other some space for a couple weeks and then talk about where we were and how we felt, then once we had made up our minds we would decide. Octavia, it was the longest two weeks of my life, I slept like shit, had no appetite and screwed three tests and two pop quizzes, both of which I studied for."
"That's terrible!"
"I wouldn't take back a single second of it. Know why?"
"Why?"
"You ever hear the phrase you never miss something till it's gone? Well when we were separated life was a lot harder. Ya I kept on living and I kept on going to school but a big part of my life was missing. When I was with Neon everything was just better. It's like when your having a normal day it can be a good one or a bad one right? Well when me and Neon were together it was like bad days were better and good days were great! Life is good and all but when you share it with someone special it's even better like adding honey to Cheerios. Love makes every bit of life a little sweeter. Everything is better with love."
There was a long drawn out pause and for a moment Melody thought the call might have dropped but then Octavia spoke.
"I know I care about Vinyl, I care about her a lot but I'm not sure I can say I love her, but then I think about how I felt when she kissed me."
"What did it feel like?"
"I felt warm in my chest and I could feel my heart beating, my spine felt like ice but in a really nice way and I... I felt like time stopped for a moment."
"I'll tell you what I think Octavia. I think even if you don't love her you definitely have a hard crush on her and like her."
"Really?"
"Ya you basically described every time I kiss Neon right there."
"So, what should I do? I admit when she kissed me it was nice but I'm not sure it was love."
"It doesn't have to be love Octavia. Anyone who believes in that love at first sight thing is an idiot. If Vinyl fell in love with you it's because she likes you for who you are and if you like her it's because you like her for who she is. Love can grow from that all it needs is a chance. Sure sometimes it doesn't work out but you'll never know if you never give it a try. I would suggest you give it a chance, talk to Vinyl get your feelings out in the open and let her do the same. Then if you're up to it, go out to dinner with her or something, I for one think you two would be cute together."
Watermelody could hear the smile in the cellists voice.
"Thanks Melody, I'm going to text Vinyl and see what happens."
"Go get her Octavia!"
With that the phone call ended and the green haired girl went back into the bedroom. When she entered she was greeted by the sight of a dozing Neon. Snickering a little bit she crept over to the bed before climbing on top of him making his eye's open.
"You still wanna keep going?"
She didn't wait for a reply instead she leaned down and the two started the beginning of a long kiss.
/l\---)O(---/l\
Vinyl lay on her bed refusing to move or be moved from her closet. Her mother had been home for a while and seeing her daughter in tears had prompted her to try and see what was wrong but with no luck. Ultimately after half an hour of trying to console her daughter she had finally gotten her to write out four words.
"Please leave me alone!"
Her mother had obliged but not before saying she would be there if she needed her, right now Vinyl only needed one person and it was someone she had totally screwed up with. The clock had reached 12:30 and Vinyl was buried under her blankets with her pillow wrapped about her head. Her eye's were red and puffy from crying and she was still sobbing though she had long ago run out of tears. Everything had gone to shit, and likely so had her friendship with Octavia now all Vinyl wanted was the ability to blink out of existence.
That was when to her great surprise she saw her phone buzz with a message alert that read "Octy". Half terrified and half hopeful she reached out and looked at her phone revealing the words.
"Hi Vinyl. Can we talk?"
The DJ swallowed at that not sure how much trouble she was in or if she wasn't in trouble at all. Nervously she replied.
"Ya I can talk."
After a few moments the phone buzzed again.
"Can you meet me at the bus station I know it's late but I'd like to do this in person."
"Ya sure Octavia I'll be right there."
Another moment, another buzz.
"See you soon."
Vinyl slowly opened the door of her closet and made her way to the front door slipping her shoes on silently. Once she was out of the house she kept a brisk pace to the buss stop half from nervousness and half from hope.
"Maybe she'll still want to be friends and we can pretend this didn't happen. Everything can go back to normal and everything will be ok again."
With the pace she kept it didn't take the DJ long to reach the bus stop, there waiting for her in a pair of jeans and a white shirt with a grey sleeveless vest was Octavia sitting quietly as she watched Vinyl approach. Hesitantly the blue haired girl sat down next to her friend and pulled out her notepad just as the first few drops of rain started to fall on the stop's roof.
"Hello Vinyl." Said the cellist.
She smiled sadly in response.
"I, um assume you know what I want to talk about?"
She nodded.
"I'm not mad at you or anything so don't worry but I have some things I want to say and I've planned a bit of this talk out if that's ok?"
"Typical Octy" She nodded again, with a slightly amused smile.
"Vinyl you are the best friend I've ever had and these passed few weeks have been wonderful. I love spending time with you and making music with you." The cellist took a deep breath then continued. "But I had no idea you felt that way about me and I didn't expect any of what happened at all. I'm sorry I pushed you away so suddenly but I was completely surprised and didn't know what to do or how I felt about it. I got scared and just acted and I'm sorry if I hurt you."
With the cellist leaving a chance for Vinyl to respond the DJ quickly scribbled out a reply. The rain was getting heavier and every so often a droplet of water would get on her pad.
"I should be the one apologizing Octy, I had no right just jumping on you like that. It was wrong of me to do that and I'm sorry."
"It's fine Vinyl, I forgive you."
With a smile to Vinyl she cleared her throat and continued.
"After everything happened and I got over how surprised I was I called up Watermelody. We talked for a little while and she gave me some advice I've decided to take."
The cellist reached out and took Vinyl's right hand in her left lightly as she entwined their fingers.
"I don't know if what I feel for you could be called love Vinyl but I know I feel something and I think I have for a little while. So if you wanted to I thought maybe we could go for a date this next Saturday. With our schedules the way they are I thought this weekend would be the best time to meet. I'll have to rearrange some of my homework schedule but I can make most of my weekends free so we can spend time together and give this a try."
Vinyl's jaw dropped and hung there. When she had gotten a text from Octavia she assumed that the best case scenario was that they would go back to being friends with a great deal of awkwardness. Instead the girl she loved and practically worshiped wanted to go on a date and see where things went! She was willing to give her a chance! Scribbling faster than she ever had before Vinyl gave her answer.
"Octy I would love to take you out this next Saturday! You have no idea how happy you made me! I promise I'm gonna make this work and I'm gonna give you the best first date ever I'm not gonna mess this up!"
The cellist giggled when she read the reply.
"I'm sure I won't Vinyl but could you do something for me?"
"Name it!"
"Could you... Kiss me again? I want to kiss you back this time."
She didn't need to be asked twice, Vinyl placed her hands on the cellists cheeks and leaned them both foreword until their lips met. Neither one had much experience at kissing but it was the emotion that made it passionate. Vinyl's hands slid their way from Octavia's cheeks over her shoulders and down to her waist. The cellist caught up in the moment wrapped both her hands around Vinyl's neck as she leaned into the kiss. This one was better than the first and Octavia was enjoying their closeness at the moment. Vinyl kept moving her neck back and forth as she kissed her changing position slightly each time. this gave her lips extra force as the pressed against those of the woman she loved. Their lips parted with a soft smack and only do to the fact that they both needed air. Both girls were giving small gasps to catch their breaths and both were smiling. As Octavia looked around and saw the rain picking up she turned back to Vinyl.
"Come on you can sleep here tonight so you don't have to walk home in the rain. You think that's a good idea?"
The DJ's reply was the delivery of a quick peck to the cellists cheek earning yet another giggle from her.
"Come on lets get some sleep."
With that the two of them made their way back inside and up the stairs to Octavia's flat hand in hand. Vinyl sent her mother a text this time so she'd stay out of trouble. Once they made it to her bedroom the two climbed into bed and Octavia felt a pair of warm loving arms wrap around her waist and pull her close. Soon after she felt warm breath on her right ear.
Paisley woke to the same scenes and sounds as usual, It was still a bit dim outside but the birds had woke as well and were singing in the dawn light. With a yawn and a stretch she slung her legs over the edge of the cot built into the Rv's wall and promptly edged off until she fell a foot down and landed on her bare feet. With that she pushed the cot back into the wall of the Rv. then reached into her luggage box and pulled out her favorite pink tank top and her bell bottoms with the flower patches stitched in. She was halfway to the family bath area when she rememberd something.
"Oh crap I forgot bring my underware"
Thirty minuetes and a trip over a root later saw her at her destination. Paisley or in full Paisley Flora and her family lived out on their private stake of land in Everfree Forest that was about an hour out of town. She and her family composed of her dad Dougless and her mom Marry lived in a family sized Rv that they had modified to have one common room and two bedrooms. All cooking and dinning was done in the mud hut her family had built togeather where they had a low table and a wood stove. It did snow but never more than a foot at worst in the Canterlot area.
They had different huts for different things but as far as sleeping and personal space went she only had her room. CHS student's constantly asked her the same questions. "how do you live without wi-fi? you don't own a tv or play video games? You dont have a shower?" All of these were things that she had heard a thousand times and she always answered the same way. "Yes.". That is if she replyed at all. The thing most people where apauled at her lacking was a shower and a bath tub but that was only until they found out what she had instead.
"I love the fact my family has our own hotspring." She thought as she eased her naked body into the warm and welcoming water.
A good soaking and scrubbing later saw her dressed and returning to the homestead for breakfast. When she arrived at the dinning hut she was greated by her mom and dad who were already up and about preparing for the day. The first glimpses of sunlight were peaking through the window pains as she sat down to a breakfast of home grown five grain pourage, a sunny side egg from the chicken coop and two venison sausage patties.
"Theirs the late riser! How'd you sleep hun?"
"Good mom."
"Glad to hear it, your back pack ready?"
"Yes."
"You have your medicines?"
"yes."
"Good girl."
With that she went to work eating her breakfast as her father stood and made his way to the door.
"Hey Daisy I'm gonna go start the car and make sure it's running ok, you just finish your breakfast."
Paisley nodded.
After a few quick scoops and a sausage patty later she was done even though her plate was still half full. From there she was out the door and soon after her breakfast was stored in the fridge. With her backpack slung around her shoulder she hopped into the family car, a jeep with doors and windows that was five years older than her dad. Climbing into the car she placed her pack on her lap untill her dad would drop her off at the usaul place.
Every mornig after breakfast Paisley went to a small caffe in downtown Canterlot called Sugarcube Corner. The Go Green club met there every morning to talk and discuss plans with the rest of the clubs and scedual future clean ups and events like fundraisers. Today though spelled the first break in this routeen for the first time in three months. Around half of the club had been forced to cancle meeting today since it was the start of fall exams and had to study. After that most of those who could still come had cancled as well because of the lack of their other club members. Even Sandlewood who always came had sent her a text that he was stuck in traffic and had to go straight to school instead in order to make it school on time.
As a result Paisley found herself at the coffee shop with no company but a thirsty throat and tired state so a cup of coffee was called for. Upon entering she was greated by the sight of Mr.Cake pecking the keys on the till in order to give the proper change to his current patron, an elderly grumpy looking man who she knew as the math teacher Mr. Cranky Doodle. Just as she got in line the shop keeper opened the till and presented her teacher his change before with a grunt they left and stepped out the door with the ringing of a bell.
"What can I do for you Daisy?"
"Can I get a butterscotch cappachino please?" She said quietly from behind her hair.
"Sure thing, two ten please."
The young girl reched into her purse and produced her wallet. Withdrawing the proper amount she placed the money on the counter before throwing a five into the tip jar. Paisley didn't have a job but her parents did provide her with a small alowence every week. despite it being only twenty dollars she normaly spent most of it on tips or animal shelter donations.
Soon after Mr. Cake returned with her beverage and collected the two dollars and the dime. Grabbing the cup by the protective heating pad she walked over to the nearest booth before sitting down and glancing out the window. She watched the streets as she waited for her drink to cool seeing the cars go by and the busy people crossing the streets on there way to where ever they had to go. She could hear the sounds of the city even inside the walls of her favorite coffee shop, and she hated it.
For Paisley the city was a place she found uncomfortable and a bit scary. There was too much noise and too many things happening for her to stay calm and focused. She had even tried to get her mom or dad to homeschool her but their herbal medicen stall didn't get enough buisness for them to take that much time off. On top of that they told her that they wanted her to go to public school to make friends and overcome her fear of people. That said neither of these had gotten much better. She had made a few friends but she wasn't very close to any of them, except Sandlewood who often refered to her as "Little Daisy or Little sis." He was also a family friend for... other reasons her parents had.
Her coffee now cool enough to drink the bright haired girl placed her lips around the straw and took a small drink feeling the creamy butterscotch flavor hit her tongue. As the refreshing drink passed down her throat she heard the beep of her wrist watch go off. Setting down her drink she pushed the off button before pulling out a pill box and started the prossess of taking her morning medecine of eight different pills. Each one of them was about the size of a Skittle at the smallest and some were two or three times the size. Still she took all of them and proceeded to set her watch for her lunch time doesage.
The current time was six thirty so she figured it was about time to head to school and start her day. With a wave to Mr. Cake she began her walk down the street to her school. When she was about three blocks from school she was about to round a corner when the loud sound of skidding tires and a hard crash filled her ears. Quickly she looked around the corner and saw a terrifying sight.
Everyone else who had been in the area was either calling 911 or stairing at the three way car wreck. Paisleys heart started beating quickly and her eye's opened wide. One of the cars had flipped over compleatly and one of the others had T-boned the drivers side of another one. As she stared in shock she saw that someone was crawling out of the flipped car. Pulling himself with one hand he had his other on his eye from which blood was leaking profusely. After getting his torso most of the way out of the car window he lost the will to move and colapsed the rest of the way as blood continued to pool around him.
With an uneasy stomach and a mindset of fear and horror she turned and ran down the nearest ally. After running through the next two she found herself half way threw her third. Just before she made a right turn a hand reached out and grabbed her by the shirt collar and threw her into the allys corner where she had nowhere to run. Gazing upward with terror overtaking her she saw a big brute of a man standing over her with a butterfly knife in hand. She crawled backwards to move away as he advanced but her heart nearly stopped when her back hit a wall. She was trapped and only one thought crossed her mind.
"Someone please help me!"
But at this moment she was two scared to scream the words.
/I\---)O(---/I\
Amethyst Star was more pissed than she had been in a long while. Friday had come at last and the weekend was almost here but she felt no sense of relief or joy at this. Last night her father had another episode. On top of all his rage and hatered of both Amethyst and her mother her father was bipolar and an alcholic which turns out was a bad mix. Half a bottle of whiskey and two shots of scotch later, he had kicked open her door and given her another good beating. As she was now it hurt to breath or touch her stomach and she hadn't been able to eat since yesterday because her throat hurt from when she tried to push her dad and he had choked her in punishment. There was still a faint mark around her neck that she had told everyone yesterday was from getting choked by her shirt collar when it got caught.
At the moment she was making her way to school and was on the edge of down town Canterlot. As always the streets were bussling with cars and the sidewalk was crowded with people making their way to work or wherever they needed to be in the next few minutes. Most weekends Amethyst was supposed to work at the local Seven Eleven as a cashier but this weekend they were closed for a major (and long overdue) remodling that was going to take this and the following weekend. As for her plans on these four days off she didn'y have any but she had saved up some money from work and had no intention of spending the weekend at home. Maybe she would go to the arcade or a coffee shop and spend her time playing games till close. That or she could go to look for a different job finnaly like she had been planning to do for some time.
Canterlot high was only a few more blocks away and time was running out untill classes started but she could still make it in time if she kept her quick pace. As per usual in her life though she ran into a complication. As she neared the third to last block of the most direct rout there she was stopped at a four way intersection by a tall crossing gaurd with brown greying hair and an orange signal vest. From the looks of him he was getting into or close to his fifties.
"Sorry young lady but you'll have to go around another way, there's been an accident here and we need to block off the street for now."
"How bad is it?"
"I'm not at liberty to say but please go a different way ma'am."
Amethyst turned and and stamped her foot on the ground in frustration. With the disterbence in her rout to school she would have to go around and probably make it to school late. Clenching her fists in frustration she started stomping her way into the allyway adjacent to her right. If she took them the rest of the way to school she might only be five minutes late instead of ten or fifteen. As a result of the accident though traffic had backed up so she couldn't cross where any of the allys went back to the main road. After cutting throughtwo allys she was forced again to keep going to a third.
"Damnit, damnit damnit! Now I'm gonna be late for sure!" She thought to herself digging her fingers into her skin slightly as she clentched her fists tighter.
Amethyst countinued on her way getting more angry with each step as she walked, her week was getting worse by the minute and she was about ready to just blow off school entirely and spend her day brooding, but as she made it to the third ally she herd the voice of someone she knew, a voice she hadn't heard since her freshman year, one that the whole school saw as a signal to run two years ago. Granite Brick.
The contrast between the personality of Bulk Biceps and his older brother Granite Brick couldn't have been more different if they tried. Bulk was a sweetheart if she was being honest. He commonly stayed after classes to help with clean up and whenever someone asked for his help he would give it. He wasn't very smart but he was nice to everybody and had never hurt a fly. His bother was a different story though.
Granite brick had a notorious reputation for being a bully and a bruser when he was in school. Some people even wispered that as a freshmen he had missed most of the school year and had to repeat due to being sent to jail. Some people dismissed it as a rumor since he should have been there longer for what he'd done (assalt with a weapon) but the truth was as amethyst knew that he had got a good lawyer and a judge that felt bad about sentencing a teenager. Instead he got six moths and a two thousand dollar fine. Bulk was still living with his parents but Granite had been kicked out at sixteen their parents still paid for his room and board until he turned eighteen though. The most recent rumors were that after dropping out of junior year he had joined a small street gang.
"Give me your fucking bag now bitch!"
Amethyst froze when she heard those words, the rumores were true then. For a moment she considered running and just calling the cops or going back down the road for help but instead she kept her feet planted. Looking about by the side of a building she saw a tool box by a pipeline with a plumbers wrench poking out. From there instinct took over and she picked up the emprovised weapon and got ready to weild it.
/I\--)O(---/I\
"Ok! Ok! I'll give you my bag! Please don't hurt me!" Sobbed Paisley dropping her purse and and backpack on the ground and starting to push them towards her attacker with her foot.
"Give me the fucking shoes too or I swear I will stab you so that you choke to death on your own blood!"
The girl quickly started trying to pull her shoes off but they were too tight and were even laced and notted with a bow. Tears of fear were pouring from her eyes as she pulled and tugged at her shoe furiosly to no avail. Out of her periferal vision she could see her attackers hands shaking, not out of fear but from withdrawl, probably some kind of hard drug like Buck, Psyco or meth. His face was covered but his eye's were hollow like his humanity had left and all that remaind was desire for the next fix. No matter how hard she tried though the shoe wouldn't come off.
"Times up!"
The world around her slowed then as she saw the man pull back so he could put more momentum into the butterfly knife, she closed her eyes and prayed but then their was an enraged scream a sickening crack, and a howl of pain. Opening her eyes, they imeadatly widend at what was happening before her.
/I\---)O(---/I\
Amethyst wasn't thinking anymore, she was running on adrenaline, rage and hatred as she swung the pipewrench with as much force as she could at his head. The pipe missed it's intended target but connected with his left shoulder making him cry out in pain as the sound of his bones cracking filled his ears. After the hit Granite recoiled and spun on her just in time to block the next blow by catching the pipewrench in his hand and grabbing it. For a moment Amethyst was shocked that after probabaly breaking his arm he could still use it so effectively.
Her fighting instincts were kicking in so with all her leg strentgh she drove her foot into his gut and tugged on the wrench to free it from his grasp, It worked but Granite pulled back as she did so and spun her across the pavement into the ally corner. Falling fast and landing hard her form hit the ground and rolled into the wall smacking the back of her head against the cement bricks with force. Getting up as fast as she could despite the great amount of pain she was feeling from numerious attacks she saw her opponent had done the same and was charging her with the knife in hand held backwards for a better attack.
Having just stood back up and no wrench in hand anymore she lifted her arms to gaurd herself and protect her vitals.
"Run Damnit!" She screamed out as what she asumed to be her last words ecohed off the walls.
Then she felt a pain like she never had before as the knife sank into her arms flesh, between her bones and out her under arm splatering her own blood on her face. Screaming in pain she fell to the ground clucthing her arm as Granite closed in for the kill.
"It's finnaly over!" Her mind flashed as he kicked her. Then the three all herd it
Three loud but muffled cracks went off with small but noticeable pause in them. Granite reacted in coheasion with each, with the first he fell to his knees, with the second he realed back in pain and with the third blood splatered across her face as his jaw detached on his left side and a bullet buried itself in the wall behind her. The form of the hulking figure fell over her lap and didn't move, a gaping hole oozing black crimson liquid from the corpses neck and mouth led to blood spilling over her Amethysts clothes and legs. She fought to move away, to stand up or just stay awake but her eye's were getting heavier and she felt so very dizzy, it couldn't hurt to close her eyes for a moment...
/I\-)O(---/I\
Paisley was screaming, crying and praying for help as she ran over to the injured girls side. As fast as she could she tore off her left sleave and started to tie it tightly around her saviors arm.
"Help please somebody help us please!"
the sound of combat boots hitting the ground echoed in the ally as a tall figure with a silence hand gun and purple tinge in the bit of her hair, ran over and shoved Paisley out of the way. The girl watched from her position as the figure in a black leather trenchcoat and hoody pulled out a small tin and with great speed wrapped bandages around the girls wounded arm. once the first layer was done she pulled out a bottle of whiskey before pouring half on the wound and then after capping it tossing the bottle from her gloved hand into Paisleys lap and bandaging Amethysts arm the rest of the way.
Just as the unknown figure tied off the bandages police sirens rang out and she stood. looking at the terrified girl still there through her sunglasses, she reached down and swiped the bottle from the stunned and hiperventlating teenager. then pulled out her phone as she started running into the dark allys and dissapeared around the bend. Seconds later an ambulence and police officers arrived. A few officers gave chase to the one fleeing the scene. The purple haired girl who helped save her was placed on a gurny and as for herself they covered her in a blanket and ussured her inside. With the condition the girl was in they had to do some first aid in just Ambulence. Paisley had to be calmed down by one of the paramedics on the way but even so she was having trouble breathing and her hands were shaking so bad she couldn't hold anything. She was so pale she almost looked dead. Physicaly, emotionaly and phycologicly spent she grabbed the paramedics arm and started crying into it. The rest of the way there she didn't say a word as the ambulence made it's way to the hospital.
/I\---)O(---/I\
"I can't believe what happend... I almost died and this girl not only saved me but almost got killed as well, and the other person and the gunshots and...and... there was so much blood everyware!"
Again Paisley began to cry as she pulled her blanket tighter around her, tears falling onto her lap staining the fabric with salt and sorrow. She didn't know how long she sat there before her mother and father had burst through the door, and from the moment her parents hugged her she did nothing but cry into their arms as they kissed her head and stroked he back all the while crying as a family at their relief that their daughter was alive.
When they were better fit to talk Paisley did her best to recount the event's to her parents. She broke down a few times but managed to get the story out. How the road to school had a car wreck and how she had just planned to go through one ally and back to a main road since she was worried about being late. She told them about how the girl on the hospital bed saved her life and how at the last minute a person in an all black outfit trenchcoat and hoodie with a mask and all saved both of them.
"It sounds like something out of a bad comic book."
"Dougless!"
"I'm sorry Marry but tell me I'm wrong."
"Well...if told properly it could go over well with the readers they might even like all the drama and action."
"Well, maybe but the writer would have to do a good job otherwise people will roll their eye's at how dramatic it is."
"I hope it's well done then."
"Huh?"
"I'm gonna contact the news and sell them the story you know we need the money and this would sell."
"Ya you're right though I wish we could have done better at the stall this month instead.
The trio sat togeather quietly for a moment before Dougless spoke up again.
"Daisy, are you ok?"
Paisley shook her head no, not taking her eye's off the sleeping form of her savior.
"I'd be more worried if you were sweetheart. If you want we can stay here until visiting hours are over with you and when you come home you can visit her here whenever you want."
" Her response was a sad smile with a nod.
/I\---)O(---/I\
Beep...beep...beep...beep...
Amethysts eye's were slow to open. They felt heavier than they ever had before but she had a feeling there was something important she needed to see.
"What was it? Where am I? Why does my arm have a numb throbbing pain in it?"
Her eye's opened, then they shut but with effort she opened them again.
"There was... a girl... a... a... and Granite? Granite brick! He had a knife and stabbed my..."
Tillting her head to her left she saw through her weary vision that it had been wrapped thurorly with bandages and a cast. A glace to her right showed a bag of morphine and an IV machine. Seeing that, the first thought that came to mind was "where is the button for more and how am I gonna push it twenty times without hurting myself."
"Oh my goodness! Honey she's waking up go get the nurse hurry!"
Turnig her head to the left again she could make out three people, two sitting and one leaving in a bit of a rush.
"Where is she?" Asked Amethyst trying to turn onto her side.
"No! please don't move dear! You're very hurt."
"Is she ok?" She muttered again letting her back fall to the bed again.
"Yes she is... you, saved my daugh-ter."
The mother broke down in tears again as she rested her head in her hands.
"Thank-you so-much you wonderfull child!"
"She's ok. Good."
Despite protest from both the girl with a blanket on her and the machine she was attached to, she managed to prop herself up with her good arm and push the button to raise the seat. She was starting to wake up and was seeing clearly again though she was still wearing a pair of morphine goggles. The pale girl with bright blue hair that held a white tindge to it before her was peeking through her locks, her eyes holding a golden gaze that showed concern, sadness and overwelming gratitude. The girls mother reached out and placed a hand on her forehead before speaking with a smile again.
"Thank you so much."
"Your, welcome." She replyd tursly.
The three of them looked towards the door at the sound of the handle turning and were greated with the sight of a nurse with cream skin and bunned up blue hair. Behind her a skiny man with a bushy beard, tie die shirt and a pair of blue jeans stepped in and leaned his back against the wall showing her a greatfull and friendly smile. The nurse approched her with a strange smile before grabbing some equiptment to check her vitals and eyes.
"How you feeling hero?"
"Like I got stabbed in the arm and hit my head on a brick wall."
"Glad to see you didn't get your sense of humor knocked out of you. Ok breath in and hold it until I say go for me when I say so."
Amethyst obayed but turned her head to get a look at the two women on her left.
"So whats your name? I need to know so I can tell my friends how awsome I am and have them believe me." Said Amethyst in a dry sarcastic voice.
At that moment Paisley decided to become a Blanket Shell Turtle and Amethysts attention was instead grabbed by the older woman in the brown shawl and beaded blond hair.
"My daughter Paisley is a very shy girl who misses school a bit too much, she also is freaked out by being with her parents in public or when company comes over."
"Mom!" Paisley said in a voice just above a whisper.
"What?"
"I do that because you say stuff like this to everyone!" She squeked out in a mouse like voice.
"Why not say it? Once your cards are on the table you can just talk openly because there's no secrets."
"Mom!"
"Ok fine I'll stop, sheesh."
Turning back to Amethyst she continued.
"What's your name?"
"Amethyst Star."
"Oh like Fallen Star the Dean of Canterlot High?" She said with distaste in her voice.
"Yep, you've got the right prick."
"So you don't like him either?" Asked the woman.
"No."
Marry took a moment to get more comfortable in her chair before continuing.
"Well my names Marry, that string bean in the corner is my husband Dougless and this is our daughter Paisley but we call her Daisy for fun." Smiling she countinued. "You're a good person Amethyst, as long as we live we will never forget your name or how gratefull we are to you. Anything, anytime, anywhere, if you need help we'll do everything we can for you."
The nurse had finnished examining her and was in the process of packing up and taking her last notes. As she signed the the bottom of the paper she glanced at her patient with a gentle look in her eyes.
"They're right you know, very few people have the courage to do what you did today. You made a real difference in their lives child."
With that the nurse departed and was followed by Marry and Dougless but Paisley stayed a bit behind and when her parents were out of the room she stopped in the doorway before walking over to the right side of Amethysts bed. She opened and closed her mouth a few times but nothing came out. Still she countinued to try.
"... ..."
With a quick movement Paisley grabbed Amethysts good hand gave it a quick squeeze then ran out the door leaving Amethyst alone in her room.
"That was a really freekin weird family." She said to no one inparticular.
When the door closed Amethyst let her head fall back to the pillow behind her. As she staired at the cealing she let her thoughts overtake her.
"I almost died today, I was inches from death and survived purly out of luck. I should be happy but what I felt when I was sure I was gonna die wasn't fear or anger, I felt... Releaved." Closing her eyes she spent the rest of her time alone crying as she broke down. "I was so close to dying..."
/I\---)O(---/I\
As the Flora family left the girl in the recovery room and started home A tall woman with white hair and a purple tindge at the edge took a moment to glance in through the window in the door of the room they had just left. Seeing the girl inside crying she maintained a stoic face. She was about to leave when her phone beeped a text alert. Grabbing it out of her hoodie pocket she glanced down at the screen.
"You get there in time?"
"Yep, she got stabbed but she'll live." She texted back.
"Glad to hear they both lived at least."
With that she put the phone back in her pocket and left only leaving behind the echo of combat boots in an empty hallway.
/I\---)O(---/I\
As the Flora family made their way out of the hospital they went down a hallway where a gurny with a cloth covering the riders body was being pushed towards the morgue. As they drew near the doctor and his nurse the ever curious Marry Flora opened an ear.
"That one that just kicked, who was it Doc? That guy from the three way colision this morning?"
Octavia's room was much like what one would expect an eight-year-old's to be like. There were toys and dolls about the room and a dollhouse in the corner. She had a small play kitchen and even a nice ceramic tea set for pretend parties. She had all the toys she could have asked for and a room all her own. No siblings to share or bicker with but, also no one to play with...
Once upon a time she had her nanny Tender Care to play dolls or tea with. She would sit with her and play from seven to seven but three days ago Octavia had turned eight and her parents had "let her go" since they believed their child old enough to handle her own behavior properly. So Octavia sat on her bed kicking her legs back and fourth unable to think of what to do now that she was alone and she had no doubt she would be alone a long time.
/I\---)O(---/I\
This was the most nervous the cellist had been in her whole life, at least that's what it felt like. It was the saturday evening that Vinyl was comming and she was already on her way to pick her up. The only thing she had going for her was the fact her parents had to extend their stay untill the comming Monday due to more bad weather. She had ten minutes but was faced with an incredibly hard decision that her whole young life could depend on! She had to pick the perfect outfit. Vinyl hadn't told her where they were going so she had no idea what would be appropriate. Should she dress up? Dress casual? Did she want to wear makeup and how much if she did? Octavia glanced at the clock and noted she only had seven minutes left untill she was supposed to meet Vinyl at the bus stop!
"Ohhh!" She let out in a worried, annoyed and quiet voice.
Snapping herself back to the here and now she ran over to her closet and decided to grab an outfit between dressing up and going casual. Hurriedly she picked out a black evening dress with multi colored beadwork on the decrotive lace at the hem of her skirt. After that she threw a red silk dress shawl over her shoulders. Finnaly she gabbed her favorite pair of earings, two treble clefs made of gold hanging from two small white pearls.
No sooner had she finnished getting dressed then the alarm for her to go meet Vinyl rang from her pocket. Quickly she pulled her phone out shut off the alarm then started heading towards her door. Ultimately Octavia would have to come up with an excuse to dissapear from her home when she went out with Vinyl in the future but for now she didn't have to worry about it.
As soon as she got to the hallway she ran straight to the elevator and pounded the first floor button. She was so full of nervious energy she felt like she was going to burst. She was going on her first date, with her best friend and she was both joyous and terrified as the elevator dinged and showed she was on the second floor. Taking a deep breath to calm herself she tried thinking positively to clear her mind.
"It's gonna be fine Octavia just calm yourself down, Vinyl really likes me and I'm happy that I'm getting a chance to get to know her even better."
Then the image of the kiss at the rainy bus stop flashed in her mind and she blushed as she touched two finger tips to her lips. The night that Vinyl first made her feelings clear had been her first kiss and the time at the bus stop had been the first time she kissed someone back. At the memories she felt butterflies rising in her stomach and a blush growing on her cheeks.
At last the elevator came to a stop at the first floor and as fast as she could without running, she left the building and hurried to the bus stop. when she arrived she saw Vinyl sitting in the same car Neon had driven when they went to the junkyard performance. Rushing over Octavia quickly opened the door and immediately started babbling.
"I'm so sorry Vinyl! I didn't mean to keep you waiting but I couldn't decide what to-"
She was cut of by a pale hand being raised and looking towards the driver she saw a Vinyl that was looking at her with wide eye's, a stupid smile and pink cheeks.
"Did I dress alright? Do I look ok for our date?"
A few seconds of phone pecking and the cellist had her answer in the form of a message.
"Octy Babe, you look hot as fuck!"
At that the cellist face lit up so red she looked like she was going to burst. In embarrassment she tried to hide in her shawl but she couldn't stop a greatful smile from crossing her face. Seeing how red her date had gotten Vinyl reddened as well before typing another message.
"Sorry was that too much?"
"No no! it's ok it's just... It makes me really happy you think so."
Vinyl smiled before inching her right hand towards the cellists left. Octavia picked up quickly and wove her fingers togeather with her dates. In return she got a tender squeeze. With that the Dj turned the key in the ignition and started driving to their destination one handed. With them on their way now the raven haired girl took the time to look at how Vinyl had prepared.
The DJ was dressed in clothes not so different from her usual but Octavia could tell she had done her best to look good. Her blue hair was in no way untidy or anything like how it usualy was. Instead it was tied back in a ponytail and well combed and washed giving off the smell of blueberries from her shampoo. She was wearing a clean white button up shirt and had a blue pleeted skirt on that went to her knees. Around her kneck was a thin silver colored chain that had a small note symbol hanging from it. She was wearing a bit of makeup leading to the cellist feel a little self conscious about how she didn't have any on.
The car came to a stop at a red traffic light and the raven haired girl felt small tingles go up her arm and down her spine as Vinyl's thumb slowly and lovingly stroked the back of her hand with care. Looking to her left she could see that her date had a sweet, happy smile on her face. Suddenly Vinyl turned to look at her making sure to have eye contact as she did so. Octavia blushed and tried to make herself smaller again but didn't break the gaze until the driver did. With that the light turned green and they continued to wherever Vinyl was taking her.
/I\---)O(---/I\
Vinyl couldn't get her heart to stop pounding or herself to stop smilling. This was like a dream she never wanted to wake up from. It seemed like each passing day that went by she found herself falling more and more in love with Octavia. The more time she spent with her the more she saw her natural grace, her passion for music, her sweet and gentle nature and her beautiful smile that she tried to make her wear as often as she could. She wanted to see that smile every day, every time she looked at her. She wanted Octavia to be happy and she wanted her most of all to feel loved.
No matter what happened she wanted tonight to be a night that her cellist would remeber the rest of her life, she wanted her to be happy more than anything else in the world right now. At last they reached their first destination of the night, a small building named The Green Leaf Cafe. It was about the size one would expect a small shop to be but in the back Vinyl knew there was a custom made suprise she had set up with a friends help.
Getting out of the car she walked over to the passenger side and opened Octavia's door for her before offering her hand which the cellist accepted with a giggle.
"Vinyl your being very sweet tonight. Not that you aren't always but you don't have to try so hard to impress me."
Vinyl shook her head as she led Octavia towards the door leading her lightly by the hand with entwined fingers. With her free hand she typed a message into her phone before showing it to the cellist.
"I want to try this hard Octy, I want to make every moment I spend with you special and memorable, I want to prove something to you."
"What do you want to prove to me Vinyl?" she said with a ladylike laugh.
The DJ shook her head with a smile which Octavia took as her saying "I'm not telling."
As they walked through the doorway and the sound of a bell jingling anounced their arrival. Vinyl led her past a sign that said "seat yourself" before waving at a waiter with red and yellow hair who nodded back. After walking through another door and back outside Octavia was begining to get confused but then she was greated by a beautifull sight.
Before her was a garden with the last flowers of the fall on display, roses and other flora all surrounding a cobblestone padio. As soon as her mind caught up to the present she was led by the hand to the far back, When Vinyl stopped Octavia saw a table marked reserved. It was in a far away corner of the garden down the path under a small gazibo and even the table itself was decorated. Littered across the table there were pink rose pettles and the table and gazibo were lit only with candles and a single oil lamp. Last in front of one of the chairs was a black box wrapped in a red bow.
"Vinyl I... I'm speachless. It's so romantic!"
The DJ turned around so that she was facing Octavia and clasping her other hand with the cellists she started backing up and leading her towards her seat looking her in the eyes with earnest emotion in them.
/I\---)O(---/I\
Octavia's heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest, as it was she could swear it was slamming against her ribs. Somehow Vinyl knew how to push all the right buttons to make her smile, blush and her legs go numb. She didn't want to say anything but the only reason she made it to her seat instead of standing there dumbfounded was the fact that Vinyl was leading her. Sitting down and reluctantly letting go of Vinyl's hand she looked around and took in the sights about her.
Roses of every color were planted surrounding the gazibo and the golden and orange leaves were littered across the ground as though the wind had carried them there just for tonight. The Sun was just inches above the horizon leaving only the faintest traces of light behind. Last in front of her was what she assumed was a present from Vinyl. The cellest let out a small eep as she felt two hands slide down her arms and wrap around her waste accompanied by the DJ laying her head on her shoulder and giving her a small comforting squeeze. As she breathed she was able to take in the smell of Vinyl's shampoo and the warmth of her embrace around her.
"Vinyl... I... this is... You're treating me too well."
Keeping her head rested on her love's shoulder the DJ reached out in front of them and grabbed the box from the table placing it in the cellist's hands. Slowly Octavia untied the ribbon, making sure not to tear it. When she flipped open the top she flushed bright red as she gazed down at the contents. Inside was a hairpin made of some kind of dark colored wood with glass jewels on it in the shape of a treble clef within a blue flower pattern.
"Oh my goodness... I don't know what to say."
The reply she got was a soft kiss on her cheek before Vinyl took the pin from her and started doing something with her hair.
"Vinyl what are you doing?"
There was no reply, instead she felt her hair being pulled back away from her face and then heard the click of the pin. With that the DJ walked over and sat down in the chair accross from her and produced her notepad placing it on the table. With a few quick scribbles she slid it accross the table to Octavia.
"I want to see your face when I look at you Octy, I want to see your smile every time you make one."
"Vinyl..."
Having given Octy her gift the DJ Sat down across from her. Reaching out across the table Octavia placed her hand on top of Vinyl's making her look her in the eyes. Once they had contact she smiled and saw the happy reaction that it got out of the girl in front of her. Sadly their moment was interupted by a waitress making her way over, and to Octavia's suprise it someone she knew from school.
"Hey there you two!" Said Sunset as she pulled out a notpad and pen. "Glad to see you're finnaly out on a date."
The cellist was begining to think that if this night kept on the way it was she was going to blush herself to death. But Sunset just gave the two of them a look that said "You two are adorable" before clicking the pen and speaking up again.
"So what are the two love birds ordering for drinks?"
"I'll umm, have an Ice tea please."
"I'll have a lemonade Sunset."
"Allright I'll be back with those quick but don't worry I'll give you two plenty of alone time."
With that and a wink, Sunset took off leaving the two of them alone again. For a moment there was a pause but soon Octavia broke the silence with a question she'd had since the night Vinyl first kissed her.
"Umm Vinyl, when did you realize you liked me this way?"
With an akward smile she scribbled a reply on her pad.
"A long time ago early in freshman year but that day after the fight in the junkyard I couldn't get you off my mind. That was when I realized how much I really cared about you and how much I wanted to be with you. I knew I liked you for a long time but that day was when I realized I loved you."
"Why didn't you say something sooner? If thats how you felt for all that time why wouldn't you talk to me or ask me out?"
"I was scared you wouldn't feel the same. As long as I didn't know for sure I could at least have the dream and hope. I felt like it was better to dream than risk scarring you away."
"Oh Vinyl."
There was a pause while Octavia mulled it over in her mind before asking another question.
"But, if you were afriad to know the answer, why did you kiss me that night?"
"When you were crying that night it broke my heart to watch, and when you said no one loved you I couldn't stop myself from proving you were wrong, I meant to just tell you but I couldn't find the words and then I just acted on impulse."
A sweet smile graced the cellists lips and her eyes became more endearing towards the girl across from her.
"I'm glad you did, Vinyl, otherwise tonight wouldn't be happening."
"I know you don't know if you love me or not but, I don't ever want to hear you say no one loves you ever again. I love you Octy, and I'm overjoyed you're giving me a chance to make you fall in love with me. This is something I only ever dreamed about untill now."
"Vinyl if you don't... If you don't stop saying such sweet things to me I'm gonna start crying."
Tears were starting to well up in her eye's and she lowered her gaze to her lap to hide them. In an instant the DJ was up from her chair and at the cellests side. Vinyl curled her finger and lifted Octavia's chin so her gaze met her own, As her eyes shined with happy tears, Vinyl brushed them away with her free hand and then slowly leaned in and softly brushed the cellists lips against her own. Octavia returned the kiss before Vinyl pulled back and leaned her forhead against hers with closed eyes.
"Vinyl... your very affectionate and touchy tonight."
The DJ pulled back a bit and put a hand to the back of her neck in a bashfull maner, Octavia could tell she was trying to hide it but her comment had made Vinyl a little worried. Seeing this she immediately clarrified.
"No, no, no, it's not a bad thing! You're trying to show me how you feel without words right?"
Vinyl nodded with red cheeks. Before she could say what was on her mind Octavia had to look away.
"Actually I kind of like that you hug and kiss me so much, I'm embarressed to say this but... I really like all the attention you give me."
Both girls' faces were burning up and red as roses, but then Octavia noticed that there was a cheeky grin crossing Vinyls face.
"What are you thinking about Vinyl?"
The reply was another soft kiss on the raven haired girl's lips getting her to giggle and smile into it. Then the DJ pulled back but kissed her forehead, then her cheek followed by a peck on the tip of her nose. With each peck Octavia giggled more untill she was laughing instead. Another kiss was incomming when they heard someone else laughing from the direction of the path. Both of them turned to see a very amused Sunset who seemed to be having trouble containing her excitment and laughter.
"I see things are going really well for the two of you, I mean really, you guys are getting more action on your first date then I have all year."
The cellist squeeked and hid her face with her hands. Vinyl gave the waitress a cheeky smile making her laugh heartily.
"Don't mind me you two I'm just bringing the drinks and taking your order then I'm out of here and you can go back to making goo goo eyes at each other."
Sunset placed each drink in front of them before taking out her pad again.
"So what do you guys want?"
"Oh well, see we were so busy talking that we forgot to look at the menu."
"Oh so thats what happened huh? Well I could give you more time to order or I could recommend something to you if you want."
"What would you recommend?"
"Get the white sauce and chicken pasta it's my favorite."
"I'll have that then."
"K cool, what about you V?"
"Same."
"Alright then, two chicken pastas comming right up. don't have too much fun you guys this spot may be secluded but it's not sound proof."
Sunset dipped out a huge smile on her face leaving the pair alone. They sat quietly for a moment and sipped their drinks akwardly before beginging conversation again.
"Vinyl, what is it you love so much about me? I'm curious."
With a tender smile the DJ spent a good couple seconds choosing her words and wrote them down as quick as she could.
"A lot of things Octavia. The way you play the cello with your heart and soul put into it. The way you look when you smile, even the way you talk and how when you see or hear something new you dive into it rather than shy away. I love how gentle and caring you are and I love the way your eyes can say as much as you can with words. I love that everytime I see you my heart speeds up and and my stomach knots but most of all, I love you because you're you and that's all I want you to be."
As she read the last of the words Octavia felt a lump rise in her throat. The more Vinyl spoke to her the more she realized that she made the right decision to give Vinyl a chance.
"I like a lot of things about you too Vinyl. You're passionate about life and you do everything with all the effort you can throw into it. You're brave and always put others before yourself and you make me feel safe when I'm having a new experience. No matter how bad things look you run to them not from them and you make me want to be more adventurous, but most of all I feel safer with you than anyone or anywhere else. I know your here for me Vinyl and it means more to me than I can say to you."
The DJ put pen to paper multiple times but she couldn't think of what to write in reply. Both of them had just put their cards on the table so to speak and this was a moment of full honesty and sincerity. Ultimately the only thing she could think to write was.
"Thank you Tavi."
"So now I'm Octavia, Octy and Tavi? How many names do you think I need Vinyl?"
"Just one, but I like calling you by those too."
"I like it too, It makes me feel cute when you do that."
"Octy you're freakin' adorable, you don't need pet names to be cute."
"Still it feels nice."
"If it makes you happy than I'll keep calling you Tavi and Octy than."
Octy giggled for a moment then decided to change the topic.
"Vinyl this is wonderful, I'm having a great time here with you."
"This is just the first half of the evening, Babe! We've got another place we're heading after dinner."
"Really? I'm glad, I'm not going to be ready for tonight to end for a while yet!"
The DJ smiled back at her.
"So where are we going after dinner?"
"Not gonna tell ya, it's a suprise."
"But I don't know if I dressed right, please, please tell me!"
"You know when you pout it makes you look really hot."
"Be-be quiet you! I'm not pouting I'm just... just..."
The cellist trailed off giving Vinyl time to write.
"Don't worry Octavia you dressed perfect for where we're going."
There was another momentary pause before Octavia spoke again, her tone was nervious but searious and the DJ was making sure to listen intently. The cellist wasn't sure where this was comming from but she felt the need to say it.
"When I turned eight my mom and dad fired our nanny. When I was little she was the only friend I had but when she left I felt... I felt so, lonely. After a while I thought I got used to it and in middle school I met Watermelody but she had her own life with other friends and her family. We were close but never really as close as I got to you. I never reallized I was so lonely until I met you Vinyl when we became friends I stopped feeling it. It made me realize what I'd been missing for so long and it was all thanks to you."
"I'm always gonna be here Tavi, you're not gonna be alone again as long as I'm here."
"Thank you Vinyl."
Vinyl scribbled for a few moments before holding up the pad in front of Octavia so she could read it.
"So Tavi what made you love music so much and made you want to play the cello?"
"When mom and dad got rid of Tender Care a lot of things in my life changed. I couldn't play the games I used to anymore because there was no one to play with. I spent a lot of time at home alone and one day while I was bored I went into my dad's office and used his computer to browse the web. My classmates were always on Youtube and I wanted to see it for myself. When I searched I found a music video that looked interesting and listened to it."
Octavia leaned foreward in her chair a bit before continuing.
"It was a video of a live performance by a jazz band and one of the band members was a cellist. When I listened to the music I felt like I wasn't alone anymore. I couldn't talk to people or play games with friends but when I listened to them play those notes on the cello and saxophone as they sang their hearts out I just sat and listened. On that day I realized what I wanted to be more than anything else. I wanted to play the cello and make others feel what I felt when I heard Jazz for the first time."
"So if you like jazz so much why did you focus on learning classical music?"
The cellist frowned a bit as she looked at her tea and stired it with the straw.
"I wanted to play jazz but when I told my parents I wanted a cello they added a condition. They said if I wanted a cello I had to take classical music lessons instead. They thought jazz had no place in the lives of people from our standing and only deliquents listened to it. I was sad at first but I decide a life with music was better than a life without it so I told them I would do as they said."
"So you play classical but want to play jazz instead?"
"Yes I do. That night in my room when we played on my cello togeather reminded me how much I loved jazz and music other than classical. What we made was new and different from what I'd ever heard or done before and it reminded me of the first time I heard music that truely spoke to me."
/I\---)O(---/I\
Vinyl was feeling very conflicted. On the one hand she had lucked out beyond her expectations. The second destination she had in mind was an amateur Jazz club where some people she had co-labed with before played every other Saturday when they let in underaged kids so they could come and listen. On the other hand what Octavia had told her made her outraged. Music was making others feel what you felt, You were supposed to do it to make others happy or see the world a different way, most of all though it was about being free to express yourself. They had taken her childhood dream and held it hostage. Their own daughter's happieness was less important to them than their opinion and public image. It made her want to call them out in person and tell them off.
"Is something wrong Vinyl? You look upset."
Vinyl gave a quiet sigh before writing her reply.
"Your parents don't have the right to hold you back from your dreams Octavia! If you want to play jazz, It's your choice not theirs! It's your life, do what makes you happy not what your parents tell you because of their own shallow reasons."
"I want to, I have for a long time. I don't hate classical music but it's not what I want to be known for. But I'm scared Vinyl. My mom and dad own everything I have even my cello isn't really mine. When my brother got caught for being friends with people they didn't approve of and doing things my parents didn't like they sent him away and took everything he had. They gave him just enough money to get a bus ticket to the bording school they picked out for him. Their own son. They took everything he had away from him even his friends. I don't want to lose you like he lost them Vinyl. I'd rather do as my parents say than be alone again."
"Octy, if you had a safe place that your parents didn't know about. A place where you could do whatever you wanted with your cello. Would you start playing what you wanted instead of what they told you to?"
"It takes practice to play jazz right, it's not the same as clasical music. The tempoes are different, how you use the bow and strings are different too. I've only ever had lessons for clasical, never jazz."
"But what if you had a place where you could practice any day of the week you wanted? Would you want to try and learn?"
"Of couse I would, I've always wanted to do that."
Vinyl set down her note pad and grabbed her cellists hand tightly.
"Octy, why don't you start comming over to my house on Sundays? My mom works seven days a week from 8-10 on Sundays. I could meet you around the corner out of sight of the house and we could walk there togeather. You could practice jazz as long as you wanted!"
"Vinyl I..." She began to protest but then she saw Vinyl's eyes and felt, safe. She felt reasured. The DJ gave her courage. "Thank you Vinyl, I will."
The DJ smiled when she heard that.
"I can't wait to hear you play Tavi."
"I'm gonna be terrible at first, I'm sure of it."
"That's ok, I only offered to have an excuse to see more of you!"
Octavia was trying to look mad at her but Vinyl could tell she though it was funny, Then the DJ got a wicked Idea. Standing she walked up behind the sitting cellist and before she had time to react grabbed her tummy from behind and started tickling her mercilessly.
"Ahahahahahaha! Vinyl-stop! Hahaha mercy! Mercy!"
Vinyl made the decision to be nice and stopped. Leaning to the left and turning her head she saw a grinning Octavia. Moving to face her better she cupped the cellists cheeks in her hands and traced her thumbs along her smile. When she looked Octavia in her eyes she could see a hint of mirth in them.
"You really like my smile this much?"
Vinyl nodded in reply to the girl she loved and saw her expression change from happy to cheeky she was confused for a moment until...
/I\---)O(---/I\
Octavia stood from her chair and turned in the direction of the girl in front of her. Once she was facing her she reached out and hung her arms around Vinyls neck before tilting her head back a bit since the DJ was taller. The girl in front of her who loved her so much was making her happier this night than she had been in a long time. Looking closer she realized for the first time how much of Vinyl's face her hair was covering when she wore it normally.
"You shouldn't hide your face so much."
The DJ gave her a puzzled look.
"You're beautiful, Vinyl."
The cellist lightly pulled Vinyl downward until their lips met and they started a long kiss. Though it wasn't the first time they kissed it was the first time she had kissed Vinyl. Even the time under the bus stop she had asked Vinyl to kiss her. The DJ was quick to kiss back and Octavia felt a hand go to the the back of her neck and another cradling her head. The cellist had planned for it to be a short kiss to say thank you but between how it felt to be holding Vinyl and how much better at kissing Vinyl seemed to be getting she couldn't bring herself to pull away.
Insted she decided to let it continue till they were both ready for it to end. Vinyl moved one of her hands from the back of Octavia's neck and slowly slid it down to the small of her back. The movent caused the cellist tense up and sqeek into Vinyls mouth as she felt a shock go up her back. Embarrassed as well as a little hot Octavia tried to step back a bit. Vinyl was having none of it though. Instead she started turning the cellist and backing her up towards one of the gazibo's pillars.
Octavia realized she was cornered when her back bumped into the wooden support. The kiss was getting so intence that the cellist was feeling a little light headed, then she felt a hand on her stomach caressing her through her dress and gave a small moan embarrassing her further. Suddenly bashfull she pulled away and looked at her feet intently.
"Vinyl your so mean! Don't tease me like that!"
She tried to sound angry and failed miserably but then she noticed that Vinyl was looking at the table with wide eyes. The cellist turned to see what she was looking at. immediately turning bright red. On the table were two plates of Chicken Pasta. The pair looked at each other, shared a mutual blush before they sat down to their dinner now very focused on their food.
/I\---)O(---/I\
The pair were back in the car Vinyl had borrowed from Neon. Sunset had made a good recommendation and the pair had thoroughly enjoyed their dinners. That said, the look Sunset gave them when the went to pay said volumes. The cellist was still pink but if she was being honest with herself...
That kiss was... Really, really hot! Not bad Tavi! Wait did I just call myself Tavi in my own head? Vinyl must be rubbing off on me... Wait-no! Bad brain! Bad brain! Bad brain!"
Octavia was saved from herself when she felt a poke in her shoulder. Turning to face her date she saw Vinyl looking at her with a concerned expression.
"Oh don't worry I'm fine, I just couldn't stop thinking about where we were going! She lied as convincingly as possible.
Fortunately for her Vinyl seemed to buy it and pecked her on the cheek before opening the door and walking around to get Octavia's.
"Thank you Vinyl."
The DJ was quick to take Octavia's hand in hers before pointing up. The cellsits eyes followed and she was shocked when she saw where they were. Over the door of the building they were in front of was a neon sign spelling "Blue Moon Jazz Club."
"Vinyl... How did you plan this so well?"
Vinyl hurriedly pecked out a message on her phones screen.
"I honestly had no Idea you loved jazz, it's a bit of serendipity I suppose. I've co-labed with some of the people who perform here when I was making music and jazz just kind of grew on me from there. Guess this is something we have in common."
Octavia laughed.
"Vinyl your sweet without even trying."
"Anything for you Babe."
Vinyl led the cellist inside and when she stepped through the threshold she was amazed at what she saw. The room was dimly lit with shielded lights and tables with cushioned chairs forming a crescent around a wooden dance floor. To the far right was a rustic looking bar seeming to be made from maple and last but not least there was a live Jazz band performing on stage. At the moment one was wailing on his saxophone making some of the most upbeat but smooth sounds she had ever heard. On stage there was a cellist as well plucking the strings and sliding his bow seamlessly with his fellow performers. A base guitarist ran his fingers across the cords like a weaver and the last on stage was a blond woman with a voice soft and and full of love for her craft.
Octavia had dreamed about going to a live jazz performance for years but her parents had made it impossible, right now though... Right now she was in the company of a person she cared for who was making one of her dreams come true right before her eyes.
"Oh Vinyl..."
Once she had taken in the sight before her, the cellist turned back to Vinyl who then began leading her towards the dance floor. When they reached the edge of the tables where the wood paneled floor began Octavia stopped, making the DJ turn to see her.
"Vinyl I dont know how to dance to music this fast paced! I can slow dance but- whoa!
Before the cellist had time to react Vinyl had grabbed her hands, stepped out, and pulled her onto the dance floor with her. Then she felt the DJ lock their hands togaether and had just enough time to see her grin before she was flung back till their arms were strainght and pulled back again colapsing against the girls chest. Vinyl quickly spun her outward one handed this time till they were at arms length before pulling her inward once more but twisting her arm so that her dance partner dipped under it and back against her chest.
By now Octavia had figured out that Vinyl knew enough about this to fill in the gaps for her and kept laughing more and more with each new dip, spin or tender embrace. By the time the song came to an end the pair both had a bit of sweat dripping from their brows but neither cared. Right now they were just having fun. Vinyl was looking at her eyes again like she could see something in them. Then the lights dimmed further and the old man with a grey beard started playing his saxophone in long, low, sweet, notes. The cellist and basist on stage joined in and soon after the singers voice rang out. Octavia looked up at Vinyl and with one glance knew that slow dancing wasn't something she'd done before. With a small smile she leaned towards Vinyl's ear and whispered to her.
"Let me take the lead this time."
The Cellist leaned forward and pressed her arms and body against Vinyls chest and began to subtly sway from side to side.
"Now hold onto me and sway in time with me, slow dancing is about being close and intimate."
Octavia's eyes popped open after she realized what she said.
"I mean, not intimate like that but-"
She was cut off by the sound of Vinyl shushing her softly as she pressed her chin to Octavia's brow, placing a kiss on her head to calm her. The Cellist's blush remained but she stopped panicking and went back to swaying and slowly moving with her partner. As the pair moved together the sound of the song and instruments alike enveloped them and put them into a world just for them and this moment.
"I was walkin, out in the rain, on another one of those cold September nights, the sky was black, on this new Moon's night, But Baby with you, I'm always in the light."
"Come a little closer, please hold me tight, Stay by side and in my sights, when our hands touch I feel complete, but when we part, my heart no longer beats."
"Each time I see you, I remeber why, I fell in love when I first saw your eyes, those shining stars that I beheld, Made me yearn for wedding bells."
"So never leave, my side again, cause Baby you're my only heaven. If I've got you, I've got it all, so stay a little longer so I wont fall."
Octavia was only half aware of her surroundings, right now she was listening to the song and Vinyl's heart beat as she swung slowly from side to side. Vinyl's arms were wrapped about her waist and she was holding her with a firm but gentle embrace. Right now Octavia felt safe, she felt happy, she felt calm and loved, she felt like she was safe from ever being alone again. Vinyl was what she had needed in her life since she was a child, and she, she...
Octavia pulled back and looked up at Vinyl, the DJ looked back down at her but didn't seem to understand the reason for her movement. Octavia knew what she wanted to say and it was now or never.
"Vinyl I know the answer to the question thats been bothering me all night."
Leaning towards her ear again with her hand on her date's shoulder she whispered four of the most powerful words she could to Vinyl.
"I love you too."
Octavia felt the hold on her tighten and as she pulled back she saw Vinyl wearing a genuine smile. She had said the best thing she could at that moment and she was glad she had chosen to.
"Vinyl, one more thing, can I ask you to do something for me?"
The DJ gave her a squeeze as a reply.
"Will you stay with me tonight? I want... I want you to hold me and sleep beside me so I'm not alone."
Vinyl answered by tilting Octavia's head up with her fingertips and kissing her.
Octavia was walking around the kitchen in her pajams as she went about mixing the chocolate and cinnamon into the warm milk. Vinyl was getting a shower and changing into some bed clothes the cellist had lent her and would be a few minuetes, so she had decided to supprise her with some cookies and a mug of hot chocolate. As she worked she found herself humming the song from the jazz club and doing a sort of dancing sway while she worked. Tonight had been wonderful and soon she would be sleeping beside someone she loved and loved her in return.
"I really like that word, love." She thought to herself. "I love Vinyl and she loves me. We love each other!"
Octavia wrapped her arms across her chest hugging her own shoulder's. She couldn't stop smiling and giggling to herself.
"She loves me, Vinyl loves me and I love her back!" She thought to herself feeling increasingly giddy.
It was a wonderfull feeling being loved and cared for and it was equally wonderful to be in love too. Finnishing the last steps of making coco she placed the mugs and cookies on the tray and carried them to the table. Just as she set them down she heard the bathroom door open and footsteps comming down the hallway.
"I made some coco for us so we relax before going to bed." She said as the DJ dried her hair off.
Draping the towl on a chair Vinyl looked at the cellist for a moment before taking a drink of the warm liquid. After a large sip the DJ set the cup back down and placing a hand on her love's cheek, kissed her on the lips. She tasted sweet and chocolatey and Octavia started to feel heat rising in her cheeks and her heart beating faster. As Vinyl pulled away ending the kiss Octavia gave a small whine of dissaproval. She was about to chase after Vinyls receding lips but instead cried out in supprise as the DJ lifted her up off the ground and onto the table before leaning back in and continuing.
"I really like kissing her, even more than I thought I did."
Octavia reached out and gently placed a hand on Vinyls neck and began using her thumb to stroke her jaw and cheek. She heard her love take a sharp breath at that moment before, this time she was caught off guard. She could feel the tip of the DJs toungue poking her lips and willingly opened her mouth a bit to let it in. Her heart began racing faster as Vinyl kissed her harder and ran her toungue along her own and around her mouth. She was already getting light headed when she took a sudden breath and moaned from the cheeky DJs new actions.
/I\---)O(---/I\
Vinyl could feel the softness of Octavia's skin as her left hand stroked her sides and stomach gently and her right hands fingertips traced up and down the cellists spine slowly teasing her. Just as Octavia tensed up from taking a sharp breath the DJ went in for the kill by grabbing her toungue and suckling it, the whole time kissing her over and over. Vinyl knew it worked when Octavia tightened her grip and started whining more and more.
"Vinyl-your... really-good-at this!" She gasped out between labored breaths and kisses
Hearing that the DJ leaned forward and started placing more kisses on the one she loved. First on her cheek, then down her jaw and finnaly down her neck to her collar bone. The more she kissed her the harder the cellist breathed and panted. Placing one last kiss on where Octavia's neck met her shoulder she let her lips linger and suck on her kneck increasingly hard.
"Vinyl, what are you? eep!"
The DJ gave her a teasing bite at the spot she was working on, just hard enough to tell the cellist who the boss was right now. The cellist squeeked and blushed before tilting her head to give Vinyl more room.
"That's a good Tavi." She thought to herself.
Out of the corner of her eye Vinyl could see Octavia tensing up more and more as she sucked harder and harder on her love's neck even going so far as to bite her lightly as she did so. Moving her hands the DJ placed one on each each leg and began slowly stroking them and massaging them through the fabric. Just as she thought she had control though she felt herself being pushed off the cellist she was making out with. For a moment she thought she might have gone to far and upset Octavia but then the cellist stood and started pushing her towards the wall and pinning the suprised Vinyl against it. The DJ had just enough time to see Octy looking at her with soft longing eye's before she was pushed back against the wall as a pair of lips crashed into her's.
"I didn't think she had this in her. Tavi you're full of surprises!"
The cellist wrapped her hands around Vinyl's neck and pulled her foreward as far as she could and the DJ returned with equal passion. Even though she liked the way Octavia was acting she wanted to remain the one in charge. So with quick movement she reached down and lifted Octavia into a sitting possition leading to the cellist Squeeling and wrapping her legs around Vinyl's waist.
The DJ began walking them both over towards the stairs to Octavia's bedroom and the pair's lips finnaly parted with a smack. A string of saliva kept them connected a bit longer before the cellist rested her head on the DJ's shoulder her mouth near her ear.
"I love you Vinyl, I don't... I don't want anybody but you."
Vinyl tightened her hold as she took the last few steps up the stairs. Rounding the corner into Octy's bedroom she stepped up to it's edge before laying her angel down on the bed kissing her as she reclined on the matress. Making her way to the other side of the matress she sat down on her side pulling the covers over and climbing in. The Cellist did the same before turning towards her Vinyl.
/I\---)O(---/I\
Once her girlfriend was under the covers with her Octavia slid towards Vinyl before wrapping her arms around her as she felt another pair do the same to her. It was like something out of a fairy tail, she had fallen in love over a matter of days from the tender moments they had spent togeather. They had been each others first kiss and each others first love. She didn't want to let go, now or ever. She wanted to be like this every night. Sleeping in the same bed holding onto her and being held back. This thing called love was a wonderful feeling.
/I\---)O(---/I\
"Am I free now or am I just alone?"
Sunday morning had come and Amethyst was gazing up at the celling of her hospital room. The nurse had just told her that her father had died in surgury after a car accident that was funnily enough the one she had to go around for the other day.
"he's dead, I'm alone but I don't feel any different. Not releived or safe and definately not upset. I should at least feel something, but...I don't. I'm alone, I was so close to dying yesterday, and... I wanted to." Amethyst looked out the window, the clouds were grey making it look like it would rain soon. "I still want to."
Pulling off the thumb device she heard the machine flatline as she turned to face the door sitting on the bed. Soon after a nurse burst in but frowned when she saw there was nothing wrong.
"You shouldn't have just pulled that off! You made it look like you died!"
"I'd like to be discharged please."
"The doctor said he wants you to stay one more day before he clears you."
"I'd like to be discharged please."
"Young lady I don't-"
"I'm eighteen and I make my own decisions. I'd like to be discharged please."
The nurse frowned but realized her efforts were fruitless. The girls mind had been made up and she couldn't legaly stop her from leaving.
"I'll tell the front desk to prepare your realese papers."
Amethyst stood from her bed and followed in the nurses wake.
"I think I can finnaly do it this time. I think I'm finnaly ready to end it once and for all."
/I\---)O(---/I\
Vinyl woke to the warm feeling of sunlight on her skin. As she opened her eye's she felt Octavia's arms still wrapped around her and her own doing the same back. Looking at the time she saw it was about nine in the morning and the DJ was keen on the thought of making breakfast for two. Slowly and quietly she tried to lift the covers but when she did the hold on her tightened. Still on a mission she tried to slip out of the cellists grasp but to no avail. The more she tried to move the harder the cellist clung to her. Giving up for the moment Vinyl layed her back down on the bed tilting her head to look at her sleeping girlfriend.
Octavia was breathing very softly, just enough to see her chest rise and fall. Her long black hair was draped across her face and the bed. The edges of her lips were tilted upward in a soft smile. Vinyl sat there a moment watching as her cellist slept. She looked peacefull and serine. Reaching out with her hand the DJ carefully moved the hair out of Octavia's face so she could see her better. Sadly the movement was enough to stir the cellist.
"Vinyl what are you doing?" She said sleepily.
She replyed by moving her hair behind her ears and and stroking her cheeks with her fingers and palm.
"Just wanted a better look?"
Vinyl nodded.
"Then why don't you come a little closer and get a proper one?"
Smiling the DJ crawled back under the covers and reached out with her arms to hold the raven haired girl before her. Her arms now tightly wrapped around Octavia's waist she leaned foreward as the cellist did and the two shared a quick but sweet kiss. Vinyl smiled as she felt the hold around her tighten and she returned in kind. The girl in her arms began to burry her head in the crook of her neck and she felt her chest press agaist hers harder as her love inhailed. In responce she began stroking the back of Octavia's head and down along her hair.
"Vinyl, you smell very... nice. Like..." She could feel the girls face heating up against her skin. "You smell like warm honey and cream. Sweet and, and soothing. Oh I'm so weird! I'm sorry!"
The DJ leaned in and lowered her head down towards Octavia's neck before taking a strong inhale making sure it was audible to the cellist. Following the action she rested her cheek against her loves and lightly started nuzzling her as she continued to sroke her hair and neck softly.
"So... you like how I smell too?" The cellist relaxed. "I love you Vinyl, you already know that I guess but, it just feels nice to say it.'
Vinyl stopped her nuzzling just long enough to softly kiss Octavia's neck which she knew from last night was a sensitive spot. The cellist let out a happy hum before speaking again.
"I also like it when you say it in your own way." She paused. "I... like the way you show it more than if you spoke the words. It's like when you kiss me, rather than hearing the words I love you I feel you loving me and how deep what you feel goes. Every time you kiss me Vinyl I... I feel your heart."
The DJ stopped, holding still for a moment when she heard those words. Vinyl could only speek through body language and gestures. Most people wouldn't understand her based on this but Octavia, she spoke the only language Vinyl could. She knew a kiss was I love you, she knew a hug was I'm happy she understood her like they were talking to each other even if Vinyl had never spoke a thing.
"You say volumes without a single word Vinyl, It's another thing I love about you."
Vinyl fought, she really did, but in the end no matter how hard she tried to stop it, the damns broke and she started crying in muted sobs. She had found the one person she could talk to even if she couldn't speak. The silence she had know her whole life, was finnaly broken.
"Vinyl did I say something to upset you? I'm sorry! Please I didn't mean to say anything to upset you!"
She shook her head no before latching onto Octavia and rolling ontop of her. The cellist didn't even have time to look surprised before the DJ dove into a fierce, forcefull and passionate kiss. Her toungue was quick to be involved and she was being so agressive with it that Octavia was breathing hard just to keep up. Vinyl was trying to say something that she was sure only the cellist could understand.
/I\---)O(---/I\
"I love you Octavia, I love you more than I can even say to you I don't want to ever let you go and I want you to stay with me and be mine and me yours."
The emotion that Vinyl was putting into the kiss was so intense that Octavia had to pull away just to breath. Looking at the DJ she gave her a look of understanding before lightly tugging her collar to bring their lips back togeather.
"Of course I'll be yours Vinyl, your the only person who could love me this way and I don't ever want to stop feeling how much you love me, and if you'll be mine I'll try to do the same for you."
/I\---)O(---/I\
Buy the time the two had finnished "talking" it was noon and both had worked up a sizable appitite. Octavia was leading Vinyl by the hand down the stairs to the kitchen. She had suggested that they should cook breakfast for lunch togeather and spend the rest of the day after at Vinyl's practicing her cello, but Octavia had something else she wanted to mention and had been curious about for a long time.
"Vinyl, can I ask you something?"
The DJ nodded.
"Why didn't you learn sign language? Wouldn't it be more usefull than typing and writing everything?"
The DJ took a moment to peck out a reply before holding her phone up to show the cellist.
"Most normal people wouldn't understand me even if I did use it. Besides, schools where you learn that cost money my mom didn't have."
"But there are guides and things online to help you learn right?"
The DJ shrugged.
"What if... What if we learned it togeather? That way we could talk with each other easily and have another excuse to spend time togeather."
Vinyl stopped for a moment and looked at the counter where she was chopping fruit. After a pause she turned towards her and nodded.
"We can use half of each sunday for me to practice Jazz and half for us to learn sign language."
Vinyl nodded with a smile and resumed chopping the tops off of the strawberies while Octavia poured some of the pancake batter onto the skillet.
"Oh I forgot to get yesterdays paper, Vinyl could you watch the pancakes for a moment?"
The DJ nodded as Octavia made her way towards the door. As she suspected there were two papers on the doorstep. todays and yesterdays. Tucking todays under her arm she was halfway back when she stopped in her tracks after reading the front page.
"Vinyl, have a look at this."
The DJ turned then took the paper and what she saw made her eye's widen
"Canterlot Highschool Student Injured Saving Fellow Classmate From Attempted Murder!" Amethyst Star was injured yesterday morning in the defence of a fellow student Paisley Flora from an attacker who was attempting to rob her. As of now we know that Amethyst is alive and well and expected to make a full recovery..."
The pair stood side by side reading the paper togeather with wide eyes.
/I\---)O(---/I\
Amethyst took a swig from the scotch bottle with her good hand drinking the last of the drops inside. Once the bottle was empty she threw it as hard as she could at her fathers picture hanging on the wall. The bottle broke sending glass everywhere and the now ruined oil painting fell on the ground making it's frame break.
"Fuck you, you-"
Keeling over Amethyst vomited on the floor spraying liquor Ice cream and cake across the white carpet. The more she threw up the more her constitution swept away untill she fell forward. Trying to catch herself instinctively she raised her arms but when they touched down Amethyst screamed in pain from her injured arm having presure on it. Her strength giving out she fell into the pile of barf in front of her and started crying again. This time using her good arm she got back to her feet fighting her dizzy drunken mind to do so.
"Where, where did I put the rope?"
/I\---)O(---/I\
Paisley was beging to feel discoraged. She had asked everyone in her go green group about if they knew where Amethyst lived. Unfortunately she had checked herself out of the hospital and now she had no way of checking in on her. Maybe she didn't have the right to worry about someone she hardly knew but, she also felt responsible at the same time. She was only alive right now because Amethyst and whoever that other person was had stepped in. That said she had no doubt that whoever the mysterious defender was, she wouldn't have got there in time. If Amethyst hadn't stepped in she wouldn't be here right now..
"And now she's hurt and her father's gone... I need to do something to say thank you. But if I can't find her I can't do anything to help her!"
As she sat in her booth at sugar cube corner she continued to feel more worried and guilty the longer she sat there. She had been stiring the same cup of tea for ten minutes now. Suddenly a big crazily poofy head of pink hair entered her vision and soon after she had a pink skinned girl with blue eyes looking at her.
"Hiya you've been here a long time, are you waiting for someone? Oh I'm Pinkie Pie by the way and you're Paisley right? Favorite drink earl grey tea with honey, favorite snack pink iced cupcakes with sprinkls and a strawberry on top!"
The more Pinkie Pie said the more Paisley became scared and hid behind her hair. All the while as she got smaller and smaller Pinkie leaned in and yammered more making her increasingly nervious. Just as she was about to burry her head in her hands and pretend she was invisible the pink girl stopped talking after the sound of a light *fwap* Looking up she saw a striking young woman about her age with snow white skin and beautifull long purple hair holding a newspaper.
"Pinkie Pie stop it, your scaring the poor dear!"
"but I'm just wondering what's bothering her!"
"Well your scaring her instead. Don't you remeber how much you upset Fluttershy the first time she sang for our band?"
"Oops, sorry..."
Paisley could swear she saw the girls hair deflate a bit after that. Before she had time to be sure though the girl who had saved her from this hyper individual leaned in just a bit before speaking.
"I'm sorry darling but my friend Pinkie pie gets a little too excited sometimes. Is there anything we can help you with though? You do look a little down."
While it was always hard for Paisley to talk to new people this was a chance to ask someone else if they knew Amethyst's adress. She had seen this girl at school before so maybe she knew her from class!
"I'm umm, trying to find out if someone knows where Amethyst Star lives."
"Oh, why so?"
"I, I want to say thank you and return her kindness to me as best as I can..."
Rarity looked confused for a moment before a look of realization crossed her face.
"Wait are you the girl from the paper?"
Paisley nodded and Rarity gave a subtle and suprised nod of understanding.
"Of course I can help you then, she lives in the crystal apartments on the third floor, flat 32. It's one to the right of the first door in the corner."
"Do you... know the steet?"
"Yes it's on Ruby Avenue the tall granite complex building."
Paisley stood quickly and began to make her way towards the door at a fast walk Just as she opened the door she stopped in it's threshold and looked back at Rarity.
"Thank you very much." She said quietly before stepping the rest of the way out.
Rarity and Pinkie stayed as they were for a moment before the pale one spoke.
"She reminds me of fluttershy when we were freshman."
She frowned.
"I wonder why Amethyst did something so out of the ordinary for her, I never figured her for the heroic type but I guess I was wrong... Maybe I was too hard on her that day at the fashion show..."
/I\---)O(---/I\
The last knot on her noose tied off Amethyst walked as best she could over to the main rooms celling fan. With some difficulty and the help of a stool she tied it around the top of the fan before tugging it to see if it would hold. It seemed to be fine. Putting both feet on the stool she put the noose around her neck and tightend it accordingly. She took took a deep finnalo breath to brace herself for the last moments she was going to spend here
"Fuck this world and everything in it." She uttered quietly.
Then she stepped off the stool. With a jerk at her sudden fall she felt the rope start crushing her windpipe and breathing became impossible. Chocking coughs were echoing in the empty room as she swung back and forth from the ceiling and her vision turned darker and darker.
"Finnaly... I'ts almost over... I'm going to be... Destroyed."
/I\---)O(---/I\
The elevator dinged as Paisley found herself at her destination. Looking down the hall she started walking down it following the numbers towards room 32. At the next to last door of the floor she saw the corasponding number. Reaching out she prepared to knock on the door but hesitated.
"What if she doesn't want to see me? What if I'm just bothering her?"
Just as she was about to give up and walk away there was a loud crash followed by a shatter of glass and violent pained squacks comming from the other side of the door. Fear for her savior overwelming her she grabbed the door nob and turned it finding it hadn't been locked, bursting in she called out as she looked around.
"Amethyst are you-" She stoped as she screamed at what she saw before rushing over to the fallen figure.
/I\---)O(---/I\
It was getting harder to blink at all by the seconed as Ametyst's noose felt tighter and tighter. giving up on trying she closed her eye's for what she asumed to be the last time.
"Finnaly..."
Then there was a cracking sound, a crash and a sudden painfull drop as she fell to the floor gasping for air on reflex each breath hurting her more and more as her soar throat gulped in the air her body needed. Suddenly she heard a mumbled voice and a loud high piched sound she couldn't identify. A few seconds later she felt herself being rolled onto her back and the rope being removed from her neck. She opened her eyes and saw a figure knealing over her. Amethyst's vision was blury but she could make out the colors white and blue. Whoever or what ever was standing over her was acting frantic but Amethyst didn't care about that right now.
"I couldn't do it! Even though I tried I still couldn't do it!"
The last thing she felt before she passed out was something grabbing her and holding her in a warm and tight hold.
/I\---)O(---/I\
Paisley ran over as fast as she could to the fallen Amethyst removing the noose and trying to clear her airways by flipping her on her back. She saw her blink a few times before her eyes closed then started to panic. Placing her hands on the girls chest she started pushing on it repeatedly following up every thirty time with two breaths of air. Halfway through the second set she heard the girl gasp and throw up again. Now knowing she was alive she tillted her on her side so that the vomit didn't choke her before dialing 911 as fast as she could. Gasping out a paniced explanation of the situation to the operator they said an ambulence was on rout and with that she returned to Amethyst's side.
"Amethyst wake up! Stay with me!" She wailed slapping her cheeks a bit.
The girl breathed but didn't wake so instead Paisley reached down and grabbed her holding her as tight as she dared while she rocked back and forth.