//------------------------------// // The Good Life // Story: Before the Friendship Games: Sunny Flare // by CapNTilfy //------------------------------// Sunny Flare woke up, ready to get to school. She put on her uniform and looked at herself in the mirror. God, I'm hot. she thought as she struck a pose. She giggled and headed downstairs. "Good morning!" Sunny said to her parents. Her father, Stellar Tycoon, shared her eye color and the darker shade of her hair lifted his head from the local newspaper, revealing his light purple skin."Good morning!" he said. "Did you have the dream again?" He asked, softly. Sunny looked away. "No." she said quietly. The incident may have been over a year ago, but the wounds were still fresh to her. Both of her parents supported her throughout its entirety, which she was grateful for, but she didn't like them bringing it up. "Now honey..." said her mother to her father. "You know she doesn't like it we bring it up." Her mother, Shimmering Glaze, had the same skin color and lighter shade of hair as her daughter. She was slightly overweight, but she once overheard her father say that makes her hot. Sunny shuddered internally at the memory. "I know that." said Stellar. "I just wanted to see if she's made any progress in the healing process." Sunny sighed. "I appreciate the concern, father, I really do...but I don't know if I'll ever be comfortable talking about it or the dream that followed." she said as she walked toward the kitchen's pantry to grab a protein bar for her trip to the bus stop. "Maybe you will, maybe you won't." said Stellar. "'Time heals all wounds'." Sunny rolled her eyes. Oh how I desperately wish that were true, father... she thought. "Well, I should be heading off. See you both later!" she said as she closed the door to the house. ---------------------------------------------- Sunny got on the bus and stared out the window as the vehicle passed her house. She sighed and closed her eyes, getting lost in the other students talking over each other. Her phone suddenly buzzed, nearly causing her to jump. Hey, hon. Wanna hang out after school? - Sent by Rutherford Sunny smiled. The man of my dreams. He's as strong as a yak, but thankfully he's not as dumb. she giggled. Sounds good to me! - Sent by Sunny Flare Sunny sighed again. She and Rutherford had been dating since her Freshman year at Crystal Prep, though he was a student at a different school...Everton or something. He's always been a caring, loving boyfriend...so supportive of me...especially during... Sunny shook her head. Dammit, I was trying to avoid thinking about it! she thought, feeling a lump in her throat. Just stay calm, Sunny Flare. Just stay calm... she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, effectively calming herself. "That's more like it." she said under her breath. ---------------------------------------------- The bus stopped, snapping Sunny out of her thoughts. She slowly got off the bus and took a breath of fresh air. Maybe I should get out more often... she thought as she neared the entrance to Crystal Prep. She was approached by a male student with scruffy hair and a goatee sporting two different shades of vermilion. The sunlight shone off of his glasses as his light blue eyes looked at her nervously. Sunny blinked. "What do you want?" she asked. The student took a deep breath and said. "Willyoupleasegooutwithme?!" Sunny blinked again as she parsed his sentence. "Sorry, dearie...I'm taken." she said, then ruffled the poor student's hair. "But it's so cute that you thought you had a chance with me!" she walked away, smiling. That never gets old. She entered the school and looked around. Hopefully today's going to keep me occupied. More often than not, I seem to get bored rather quickly around here as of late... She walked the halls to get to her first period class as the morning announcements began playing over the PA system. She sighed. Boring crap that neither interests nor concerns me. she thought as she tuned out the announcements...until she thought she heard the words "Friendship Games". Oho. she thought. Now we're talking. She began listening intently. "Tryouts will be on Monday and will take place throughout the second half of the school day." said the announcer. "But does it really matter who makes the cut? Crystal Prep always wins." Sunny rolled her eyes. And you lost me. Still...tryouts on Monday... she thought as she neared her first period classroom. "This better be worth my time." she muttered under her breath as the teacher walked in. ---------------------------------------------- Sunny left the classroom. "Well, that was an "I want x amount of time of my life back" period..." she grumbled. She made her way to her second period class. This place may bore me to hell and back, but I'd rather not flunk any of my classes here... she thought as she entered second period class. ---------------------------------------------- The next few periods made Sunny Flare slightly restless. She was grateful for lunch to roll around, she felt like she was on the verge of losing her mind! She made a sputtering noise and collected her lunch, then sat down by herself. She looked around at the other students talking and mingling. Sunny made a scoffing noise. They don't know that friendship isn't really all it's cracked up to be. She thought back to the first time she met Rutherford. We were never friends, but we were never enemies, either....it was just one of those weird 'Hey, we connect. Let's give this a shot.' sort of things. And we haven't looked back from that moment. Sunny smiled dreamily as she ate her food. After lunch had ended, Sunny Flare noticed Indigo Zap bump into Lemon Zest on purpose, causing the latter to spill all of her school belongings onto the hallway floor. Grinning, Sunny walked to where the bulk of the items were and kicked them as hard as she could, sending them about halfway down the hallway. Sunny was nearing her next class when an all too familiar sensation struck her. No. Not here. Anywhere but here! She tried to calm herself by breathing, but it was too late. Her stomach had been struck with pain so intense she blacked out before she could scream.