Morning came with no warning.
After my little conversation with Adagio, the rest of the day went by pretty quickly. Soon, it was time to get my ass out of bed and get ready for school again. Unlike yesterday morning, today the house was full of noise of people getting ready for the day. After laying down in my bed for an extra five minutes, I got up, got myself dressed and went downstairs to fix myself some breakfast. When I got down there, I saw Adagio sitting alone on the couch. She looked worried about something and it got me concerned.
“Adagio?” I asked.
She turned her head towards me and asked, “Yes?”
“Is everything alright?”
“A little…” she said softly.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m just….worried is all.”
“About what?”
“Going back. Don’t get me wrong, I am a little excited to go back and try to make amends with everyone there. However, I’m just not sure how the students will react to me returning. I know it sounds stupid to say, but I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night because of it.”
I sat next to her on the couch and gave her a look of understanding. She was staring at her feet, still holding a worried look on her face.
I took a deep breath and spoke.
“Adagio, I understand your concerns, I do. I don’t know how the students will react, but just remember, you have me, my sister and the girls to go to if you need to talk about something. We’re here for you Adagio, no matter what.”
She looked up from her feet and looked back at me. “What if it’s about something really stupid?” she asked.
“We don’t give a shit if it’s small, if it’s an issue that’s bothering you, we’re here to listen and help you out,” I replied.
She turned her head away from me, took a deep breath and gave a little smile. It looked like her spirits were lifted a little bit. It might not last long, but hey, it’s good for now. She knew that something will be said about her at some point, but she knew she had to prepare for that moment when something is said. She turned her head back to me and gave a small “thank you.”
I knew it would take some time for her to prove to everyone that she has changed for the better, but no one ever said this kind of thing would be easy. Thankfully, we have an entire school year to do so.
I pulled her into a soft hug, to which she returned, while it didn’t last long, it was still nice.
“Aw, a little bonding moment with Bolty and Adagio?”
God damn it Midnight.
“You ruined the moment,” I said grumpily.
“I know,” she replied with a smug grin on her face.
Adagio just giggled at our sibling quarrel, and soon, Midnight and I joined in on the giggle-fest.
“Alright you three. I know you’re having fun over there, but we need to get ready for school,” Mom said, chiming into the conversation from the second floor.
We all giggled one more time before going into the kitchen and fixing ourselves some breakfast. Once we finished, we freshened ourselves up. I let the girls go first, so they could get it done and over with. Thankfully, it didn’t take too long and they were soon done. Then they went downstairs and waited for me to finish freshening myself up. I was almost done when my phone rang, I picked it up to see who was calling and then answered the phone.
“Hey dad.”
My dad travels a lot, mainly because of business, but it helps put food on the table so it’s all worth it by the end of the day.
“How’s it going?” I asked.
“Pretty good. Hey, I wanted to talk to you about something real quick, ok?”
What is it?”
“It’s about your friend that you brought in. Her name is…Angela right?”
“Adagio,” I corrected.
“Adagio, thank you,” he replied with a chuckle. “I just wanted to say best of lick to you, Midnight and your friends in your efforts to help her out. I can’t wait to meet her when I get home. She sounds like a very nice girl.”
“She is, I think you’ll really like her,” I replied with a smile.
“Oh and one more thing before I go,” he said.
“Ok, what is it?” I asked.
“When do you plan to ask her out?” he asked jokingly.
“WH-what?” I asked shocked.
Dad just started laughing on the other line. It was about thirty seconds before he finally stopped laughing. “I’m only kidding Bolt.”
Should’ve known the cheeky bastard would’ve done that.
“Seriously though, best of luck and hope you have a good day today. I love ya bud.”
“Love you too Dad.”
With that, the call ended and I left the bathroom to gather my things.
As I made my way down the stairs, Midnight was looking at me. “Who were you talking to?” she asked.
“Dad,” I replied.
“About what?”
“Not much, just checking in and wishing us a good day.”
“Oh, cool,” she replied.
Soon, it was time to go. We said our good-byes to mom and started our walk to school. For whatever reason, the walk felt longer than usual today. I don’t know why, but it just felt like it for some reason. Eventually, the school came into view and we could see some students who were already there. As we walked onto campus, some of them greeted us with smiles and waves.
Until they saw Adagio.
Those friendly faces then turned to ones of malice and then whispers were being said.
“What is SHE doing here?”
“I can’t believe she has the guts to show her face around here after the shit she pulled.”
“I bet she won’t last a day.”
Jesus Christ. I knew this kind of thing was expected but even so, I was baffled at the student’s comments about Adagio. I looked at Adagio and saw that her little smile had disappeared. Guess she also heard what the student’s had said about her. I signed and thought to myself, “This is going to be a LONG year.”
Then a voice called our names and said, “Over here!”
We all turned to see who called us and when we saw who it was, a smile came across my face. The girls were waiting for us on the bleachers next to the soccer field.
“Are you three just going to stand there all day or come over here and say hi?” Rainbow shouted.
“We’re coming!” I shouted back.
We made our way over to the bleachers to a warm welcoming from the girls. Once they had finished greeting us, they turned their attention towards Adagio, who was looking incredibly nervous.
“H-hello,” she said softly.
“Wow and I thought I was shy,” whispered Fluttershy to Rainbow Dash.
I rolled my eyes.
The looks on the girls faces were kind and sympathetic, better than what the other students had given us, that’s for sure. Sunset got up from where she was sitting and walked towards Adagio.
“Long time no see Adagio,” Sunset said with a smile.
“Heh, you can say that again,” Adagio replied.
“Long time no-“
“I didn’t mean literally.”
“I’m just messing with ya,” Sunset said, chuckling.
Adagio just rolled her eyes, but still kept her smile on her face. Sunset pulled her into a friendly hug, to which she returned. When they finished their friendly embrace, Adagio said, “Thank you all for wanting to help me out.”
“It’s no problem at all Adagio. Anything for a friend,” Sunset replied.
The look on Adagio’s face looked as if a giant weight had been taken off of her shoulders and it just made me smile like a dolt. Eventually, the bell rang signaling that school was going to begin soon. We all gathered our things and made our ways to our classes. Unfortunately, none of us were in Adagio’s classes. The only class that any of us had that was close to her was math next to my last class.
I decided to walk Adagio to her first class, just in case she got lost (I mean come on, this school is fucking huge.) She did get some nasty glances as we walked through the halls and while she did look a bit upset by it all, she tried to look confident and make sure that they didn’t affect her in some way. We arrived at her first class relatively early, so neither one of us would be late. Gotta leave a good impression.
“You ready?” I asked.
“A little bit, just a little nervous,” she replied.
“Try to soldier through this for now, and I’ll see you at lunch, ok?”
Adagio took a deep breath and replied with, “I’ll do my best.”
“Alright, see you at lunch,” I said with a smile. She pulled me into a soft hug and said “good-bye.”
As she entered her classroom, I made my way towards my first class of the day. As I was walking I thought to myself, “Best of luck Adagio.”
I hope things will go well for her.
At Lunch
The first three periods came and went and soon, it was lunch time. The girls and I had already found a table to sit at and soon, conversations about what went down while we were away from each other were underway. However, Adagio hadn’t shown up yet. It was only ten minutes into lunch, but even so, it made me very concerned. Eventually, Adagio walked into the cafeteria, with a rather upset look on her face. The second she stepped into the cafeteria, some conversations by people at other tables stopped and they began to talk badly about Adagio. Adagio gave a heavy sigh and made her way towards our table. She took a seat next to me and just laid her arms on the table, with her head on top of them. The conversations at our table stopped almost immediately when every saw how upset Adagio was.
“You alright sugarcube?” Applejack asked.
Adagio didn’t speak, she just shook her head and buried her face in her arms.
I put my hand on her back and rubbed it to try and soothe her. It might not do much, but at the moment, it’s something. The girls wore faces of concern and sorrow, then the next thing I saw was Sunset on her phone typing away. When she had finished typing her message, she put her phone down. Two seconds later, my phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out. Sunset sent me a text that read, “Will you try to talk to her later?” I looked back at Sunset and nodded my head to which she nodded back. For the remainder of lunch, I just did my best to comfort Adagio while the girls just sat in silence. They did not return to their conversations because I’m sure they didn’t want to see rude and act like nothing was wrong.
Seemed appropriate.
Eventually, lunch came to an end and it was time to go to our last classes of the day. Good-byes were said and hugs were exchanged and then Applejack, Fluttershy, Adagio and I made our way to our class. Adagio still adorned a sad look on her face, which made me worry about her even more. When we got near our classes, I just stopped walking and the girls just looked at me confused.
“You alright Bolt?” Applejack asked.
“Yeah, I’m alright,” I replied.
“Why did you stop then?” Fluttershy asked.
“You two go on into class, I’ll join you in a minute. I want to talk to Adagio,” I replied.
Adagio looked at me confused and Applejack and Fluttershy nodded.
“Alright, just don’t be too long sugarcube,” Applejack said as she and Fluttershy walked into class.
“What did you want to ask me?” Adagio asked.
It’s more of a request if anything, but could you meet me on the roof after school?” I asked.
She seemed hesitant to answer but she eventually nodded her head.
“Alright, I’ll see you then,” I said. I gave her a quick hug and then we both went into our respective classrooms. I didn’t pay much attention to the lesson, my mind was focused on Adagio.
Poor thing.
After School
Class went by quickly and the bell rang to end school for the day. As soon as the bell rang, I made my way to the stairwell to get to the roof top. It was an easy journey though, there were students pouring from classes to go home, and the stairs were the worst. Eventually, I made it to the roof in one piece. Thank God. I found a place to sit in the middle of the roof and waited for Adagio to arrive. I sent a quick text to my mom that Adagio and I would be home a little late. She replied about a minute later saying that it was alright but asked why. I replied with “just for a talk.” Her response was, “Alright, let me know how it goes, k?” Good ol’ mom. About five minutes later, the door to the roof opened and shut. I turned my head to see who had come through. It was Adagio and she was walking towards me, still looking upset.
“Hey,” I said as she got closer to me.
“Hey, she replied sadly.
We exchanged a quick hug and sat down. Adagio was looking down at her hands, which were placed in her lap. I looked at her with worry and wanted to know just what was going on.
So I asked, “Adagio, what happened today?”
She just sighed and turned to look at me, tears beginning to form in her eyes.
“I know that you said to try and soldier through today the best I could, but it’s not easy with constant stares, insults and death threats coming your way. One person looked at me like they wanted to beat the shit out of me. I’m just…..scared,” she said he voice breaking every few words.
She grabbed my shoulder and wept into it. I put my arm around her and just rubbed her back to try and calm her down. We sat there in silence (except for the sound of soft weeping) for what seemed like forever, then the door to the roof opened again and I turned my head to see Midnight stepping out from behind the door.
“I had a feeling I’d find you two here,” she said. She looked at Adagio with a sorrowful look on her face, she then turned to me and asked, “How’s she doing?”
“She’s been better,” I replied sadly.
Midnight just nodded her head and sat down next to her and comforted her with me. After a few minutes, Adagio’s weeping ceased and placed her hands back in her lap. Midnight and I just looked at each other and then back at Adagio. I then felt my phone buzzing in my pocket and I pulled it out to see that mom was calling me. I answered and the first thing she asked was, “could you three come home soon? It’s almost 3:00.”
“Yeah, we’ll be home in a few minutes,” I replied.
“Thank you, I’ll see you when you guys get here.”
“Alright, love you mom.”
“Love you too sweetie.”
When I ended the call, I went to go pick up my things. Adagio and Midnight picked up on what I did and they picked up their things as well. We were able to get out of the school in about five minutes, which felt like two considering how long it took just to get on the roof. On our way out, we said good-bye to some friends and teachers we knew and made our way through the courtyard and towards home. At some point during the walk, I felt something grab hold of my hand. I looked and found Adagio’s hand interlaced with mine. She still looked very upset, but not as bad as it was beforehand. I didn’t make an effort to let go of her hand and held it until we made it home.
God, I hope Midnight didn’t notice.
As soon as we stepped into the living room, Adagio made her way to the couch to take a nap. After today and what she had to endure today, it’s completely understandable. Midnight and I went upstairs, greeted mom and went into our rooms to relax and do our homework.
I managed to finish my homework around 6:00, so I decided to go downstairs and check on Adagio. She was still on the couch, but had woken up from her nap, but had a blanket wrapped around her. Mom must’ve given it to her.
“Hey,” I said as I made my way over to her.
She turned her head towards me, flashed a very faint smile and gave a soft “hello.”
“Feeling any better?” I asked.
“A little,” she replied, “Not a ton, but a little bit.”
“It’s a bit of progress I guess,” I said with a slight chuckle.
She gave a little chuckle as well. I walked over to her and took a seat next to her. She just gave a little sigh, still holding her faint smile and said, “I hope things get better soon. I nodded in agreement.
Everything else that happened the rest of the evening went by quickly. I didn’t leave the couch. Instead, I just stayed with Adagio and comforted her. We just watched TV and talked about whatever random thought came to mind. It was nice to talk about other things with her. Kept our minds off of what might happen later. Eventually, I found myself beginning to get drowsy. I was trying my best to stay awake, but it was no use. At around 9:30 (give or take), things began to get dark and soon enough, I was on a first class ticket on the sleep train.
Choo choo.
A few hours later…
I was woken up by the sound of stifled laughter. It was a sudden awakening, but initially, I dismissed as something that was on TV. However, it began to get a little louder. So I opened my eyes to see who was making the noise and I saw Midnight, who was trying her hardest not to laugh her ass off. I looked at her in confusion for a few seconds before my eyes saw why she was laughing.
Adagio and I had fallen asleep on each other.
My face went as red as an apple when I saw it was her. Thankfully, Adagio was still fast asleep.
“Enjoy your slumber love birds?” Midnight whispered mockingly.
I rolled my eyes and mouthed “fuck off” to her.
She rolled her eyes in response.
“What time is it?” I asked quietly.
It’s midnight,” she replied.
Oh the irony.
“Sorry for disturbing you guys, I came down to get some water. I’ll leave you be so you can go back to sleep,” she said.
“Thanks,” I replied.
She got her water, said good night and went upstairs to her room.
I diverted my gaze towards Adagio, who was still fast asleep and I smiled at her. She looked very much at peace. It was a very refreshing sight after seeing her so depressed earlier today. Also, I never realized how soft Adagio’s hair was. It was like I was sleeping on a giant pillow. Eventually, I began to get sleepy again but this time, I didn’t fight it. A few minutes later dreamland greeted me warmly.