//------------------------------// // Fries before Guys (Chapter I) // Story: Gilded Sunburst // by MJP //------------------------------// “....another interesting contribution Galileo made was his hypotheses he made about air resistance, explaining why a feather takes longer to hit the ground than a gavel, stating that if you were in an environment with no air, resistance would be irrelevant and they would fall at the same time…” My tutor pushed up his round glasses up his nose as I jotted down the information, while chiming in with my own insights. “But because everyone else thought everything revolved around the earth, they thought he was crazy and locked him in his house and threatened to kill him unless he discredited his discoveries, which he unfortunately ended up doing” “Actually” he flipped back a few pages in the book I was studying. “...a good amount of people already believed in heliocentricity already at the time, the blasphemy was more for discrediting Aristotle than anything else” “I see…” I added that thought to my notes before putting my pencil down and looking at the guy, he was fairly skinny, with somewhat messy orange hair, yellow-orange skin, teal eyes and something of a goatee growing from his chin. I close my notebook with a sigh “I think that’s enough homework for one day, Sonny.” He sighed as he closed my book and readjusted his glasses. “If you say so.” I took both my textbook and my notes and put them back in my bag. “You know, you really don’t have to do this, I may be a dropout but I’m not ‘stupid’.” Sonny (or Sunburst, as everyone else calls him) smiled as he put on his blue flannel jacket “hey you need the help getting caught up on your schoolwork.” his smile faded as he put away his laptop. “Besides, it’s nice to get out of that researcher's lab and meet other people for a change.” He pushed his glasses up for what was probably the seven hundredth time and picked up his bookbag, and slung in on his shoulder, all the while making it out to be heavier than it actually was. He was kind of a dweeb like that, but more in a cute way. Which is a sentence I’d never thought I’d say. “Hey G, you and your egghead friend done yet” I turned around to see my close friend since Junior High, Rainbow Dash, standing by the checkout counters, holding a stack of what I assume were manga novels and video games. “Just finished.” I looked at my phone, to see that it was 3:15 meaning that Dash’s soccer practice had let out literally seconds ago. I was admittingly freaking out a little “Ok, Dash how the hell did you get here and get all those books so fast, Isn’t Canterlot, like halfway across town.” “Ummmm…” there was an awkward pause almost as if Dash was hiding something. “...we let out early?” “Oooookay then.” In my experience, Coach Spitfire would never let us go early if her life depended it, but she did have a tendency to give certain players special treatment from time to time, so who knows? “Alright, one I’ll get my books checked out we can get out of here!” Dash looked almost as if she had been waiting on me and Sunburst for half an hour, although it had only been a couple minutes. Dash had actually been acting a little weird since her school went on that field trip to Camp Everfree a few weeks ago, constantly acting almost as if everything around her was moving at a snail’s pace, rarely taking a car anywhere, as well as eating a lot more frequently, and one time I even found a few thin, crystalline shards sticking out of her wall. I’d thought about bringing it up at some point, but i’ve never really found an appropriate time. “U-um, Gilda” Shaken out of my thoughts I turned back to Sunburst, as he rubbed the back of his head, looking a bit embarrassed, “A-are you busy Saturday?” “I have work at Melissa’s but that’s not until 2:30, why?” “Well, you see, I don’t have work tomorrow, and I don’t get to know a lot of people outside of work…” he looked down at me as he pushed his glasses back up. “...so I was wondering if we could grab some coffee at Sugarcube Corner before you have to work, and maybe…” he gulped almost as if he was expecting me to yell at him for even suggesting the idea “...get...to know you better?” Sonny looked at me as if he had just told me he was secretly wearing ladies’ underwear. “I-if you don’t want to, t-that’s fine I just…” I put my hand on his shoulder, which calmed him down a little “Listen, I’ve never really liked a lot of guys…” “O-ok, I-I understand…” “But I like you, I mean you’re kind of a dweeb, and a dork and a…” “Gilda!”  Dash yelled at me from checkout, probably to remind me that “people don’t like to be called that” for the billionth time. “I know!” I sighed and rolled my eyes as I turned back towards Sonny. “Look, the point is, I’d like to meet someone who isn’t Dash and her friends.” “Soooo….is that a yes...I….I” I touched my finger to his lips, Giving him the message to stop worrying. “Yes...yes it is.” I turned around to Dash, noticing she was somehow already halfway through one of her books, as we turned around and headed towards the door “alright let’s go home, Dash.” “Jeez, took you long enough, G.” “I was talking to Sonny for like, 2 minutes.” Dash rolled her eyes as she her books in her backpack. “Suuuuure.” she chuckled before abruptly changing the subject “Aaanyway, Dad’s not gonna be home until after dinner tonight, so do you want to swing by Clunky Burger?” “Sure, I could eat.” “Good!” she suddenly turned around towards me with the kind of eager anticipation she has when she is offered a challenge. “...I’ll race ya!” I put my hand on her shoulder, trying to quell her excitement. “You do realize Clunky Burger is halfway across town, right.” I pointed towards my dead grandfather’s old rusty station wagon in the parking lot. “Besides, It’s not like I can leave that in the parking lot.” “Oh...right.” she looked at me almost as if she had somehow forgotten I had a car. “besides , you already ran all the way to the library from Canterlot High, it’s probably best if you rest your legs for once.” Dash looked at me nervously, rubbing the necklace that she only ever took off during her soccer games, almost as if there was something about it she needed to tell me. Before sighing as if she had just admitted defeat. “Fine, if you insist.” “Dash, is there something you need to tell me about….” She abruptly cut me off. “Nope, I’m fine, just a little bit of a...nervous tick.” I raised my eyebrow as we headed towards the car. “If you say so, Dash.” “Welcome to the Clunky Burger, may I take your order” I turned myself towards Dash, who was nervously tapping her fingers on the armrest of the passenger’s seat. “Okay, Dash, what do you want?” She shot up from her seat leaning over at the large menu to the side of me. “Let’s see….I’ll have three double Clunky Burgers with bacon and cheese, Large fries, and an Extra Large Dr. Hoover.” I turned around to my friend, confused and qute shocked “Three double Clunky Burgers?” “Hey, I’m hungry, and don’t worry, I’m paying” “Dash, since you came back from Camp Everfree, you’ve always been hungry, heck I...never mind,” I turned back to the menu, continuing our order. “Anyway, sorry for the wait...I guess I’ll have the Clunky Roundup Burger with extra bar-be-que sauce and fried onion shavings, a medium onion rings and a medium Lime-flavored Alpine Mist..” “Ok, soo… it was three Double Clunky burgers with bacon and cheese with large fries and an extra large Dr. Hoover, a Clunky’s Roundup with extra BBQ sauce and onion shavings, Medium Onion rings and a Large Lime Alpine Mist, Is that correct.” “Isn’t that what I….I mean, yes” It takes a bit out of me to not sound annoyed when the drive-thru guy repeats our entire order, that has always annoyed me every time. “Me and my short fuse.” I mumbled to myself as I finished our order “Ok, that’ll be 26.77 your food will be at the window. “ “Ok.” I drove towards the window, waiting for a few seconds for our food. “So that guy you were with.” “Sonny? What about him?” I eyed the window, watching our order being put together. “Do you like him?” I sighed "A little, I mean he’s a dweeb and stuff, but he’s a really nice guy, I mean, he’s friendly, he’s smart and he did go out of his way to help me to catch up with school, so I gotta give him credit for that.” The window behind us slid open as our server held out a brown bag with that dumb pink triangle man they had on them since I was four, as well as our drinks in that flimsy drink carton that falls apart if you breathe on it.  “Here’s your order.” “Oh thanks.” I took the brown bag and set it between me and Dash and put our drinks in the cup holders in front of us as I turned back to the window. “Cash or credit?” “Cash.” Dash took out her wallet from her backpack  and handed me a couple of $10 bills, which I then gave to the cashier, as we waited a few more seconds to get our change, allowing Dash to resume the conversation. “Heheh, sounds like Sonny really cares about you.” “Well, I don’t know, I think he’s just glad to get out of that research facility he works for for a couple hours.” “Dude, he asked you to get coffee with him, not a lot of guys make that kinda move. Most of them are either too busy fawning over you to make any sort of move or are too scared you’ll beat them up behind the gym.” “Hey, don’t be an annoying perv and I won't beat you up.” The window behind me slid open as the man behind it handed me the change, which I promptly handed over to Dash. Followed by a greeting of “have a nice day” before the window shut, waiting for the next car in line as I pulled over to grab my burger and onion rings before heading back to Dash’s house, which I have been living in since my grandpa died and my Grandma started going crazy, not that I‘m a freeloader of anything, I just can’t afford my own place right now. “Look, G, I know that you tend not to like many guys, but have you ever thought about...you know...getting out there?” “No...I’ve mostly thought about how to not end up homeless and picking pockets while I hold up cardboard signs.” “Gilda! Be serious” I sighed and sipped my drink “Look, Dash, you know I’m not a romantic I’m angsty, arrogant, stubborn...” “So what? You obviously like him, he likes you, and you don’t want to spend the rest of your life working a dead-end job, angry at your past self for screwing up your life…” “JUST SHUT UP!” I snapped, not wanting to think about messed up my life has become. “What was I thinking?” I said to myself. “What guy’s going to want me? I dropped out of high school, I...I’m basically homeless, I’m a brutish arrogant punk who’s shoved away her friends and family.” “So you’re a screw up..” Rainbow said, obviously trying to calm me down. “EXACTLY!! I screwed up my life so much that romance is completely out of the question at this point.” “Oh, come on, G don’t think that. You’re a much better than you think, and you deserve someone to spend your life with.” Rainbow reached over and put a reassuring arm over me, quelling my inner frustration. “If this Sonny guy is as nice of a kid as you say he is, than I don’t think he’s going to care how messed up your life is.” I sighed as I pulled the car into Rainbow’s driveway “If you really think so…” I grumbled “...and since when have you cared about whether or not I have a love life.” Dash sighed, pausing for a moment before speaking “Look, Gilda, I’ve never usually cared too much about all of this mushy lovey-dovey romance nonsense…” she rolled her eyes like she usually does when that subject is brought up. “...but, when you were talking with that guy, for the first time in however long, you almost seemed...happy, I guess, and...I don’t want you to miss out on that.” She put her arm back at her side as she reached over to open the car door. “You’re one of my best friends, G and I want you to be happy and enjoy yourself for once. Promise me that you’ll take Sonny on his offer?” I pulled the keys out of the ignition, opening the door as we got out of the car and headed towards the house. “If you think it’ll make me happy…” I turned around at Dash, quickly glaring at her with suspicion “...but if this thing goes south, don’t expect me to be all sunshine and rainbows.” “Attagirl, G.”