There she was... exactly where he asked her to be at this time: the boardwalk overlooking the beach at sunset. A miracle! She actually came!
Coppermane approached slowly, holding something behind him and trying to quell his nerves with some deep breaths. However, it was proving difficult. The more he looked at her, the faster and more irregular his heartbeat became. He could feel his hands becoming clammier as he struggled to hold the gift he brought behind his back. She leaned on the railway, her gaze fixated on the horizon as the sun descended below it, setting the sky on fire. The light sea breeze made her long hair flutter, and the sunset made her glow. Her outfit consisted of a small, teal summer dress that was form-fitting on the top and flowing at the bottom, showing off her petite, hourglass figure. With her dress and hair dancing in the breeze, she looked like a goddess. Coppermane could feel butterflies developing in his stomach, and intensifying. How could any guy be calm in the presence of such beauty?
“Keep it together,” Coppermane whispered to himself, taking one last deep breath before committing. He took big steps towards her, fighting to ignore the fact that his stomach was tying itself into knots just from looking at her. “Um... Fl-Fluttershy?”
She seemed to perk up, glancing behind her to see Coppermane.
“Coppermane! Hi!” Fluttershy said, giving a heart-melting smile.
“H-Hi,” Coppermane said, trying to disregard the fire in his heart. “Th-Thanks for coming. I wasn’t sure if you would.”
“Why wouldn’t I?” Fluttershy asked.
Coppermane shrugged. “Um... well... I-I don’t know. Sorry, forget I said that. A-Anyways... I-I got something for you.”
Fluttershy’s eyes widened as Coppermane presented his gift to her, and her smile grew even bigger when she saw what it was. A simple bouquet of pink and teal flowers, perfect to match her beautiful eyes and hair.
“Oh my! Flowers? For me?” Fluttershy asked, to which Coppermane nodded. “Aww, how sweet! Thank you so much!”
Coppermane’s nerves settled a little as she accepted the bouquet.
“I-I’m glad you like them,” Coppermane said. “So... um... I wanted to ask you something.”
“And what’s that?” Fluttershy asked, her smile gleaming against the sunset.
Coppermane gasped. This was it. He took a deep breath, trying to stop his legs from trembling.
“Um... I-I wanted to ask... if... you wanted to... maybe... um...”
“Yeees?” Fluttershy asked with an encouraging smile.
Coppermane pursed his lips, taking a deep breath. “Fluttershy... will you go out with me?”
Fluttershy gasped. “Oh, Coppermane! That’s so sweet! Of course, I will!”
BEEP BEEP BEEP
“Gah!” Coppermane yelped, reaching his arm over and haphazardly slamming his nightstand until the beeping stopped. When it did, a feeling of darkness crept over his heart, stinging him.
A dream. Figures. Why would a girl as pretty as Fluttershy want anything to do with him? A tear ran down his cheek, knowing it was the closest he’d ever get to actually asking her out, or so much as even talking to her. Oh well. This wasn’t news. It was becoming more apparent each day that he was never meant to have friends... or even be liked by anyone other than his parents, who were basically obligated to like him anyways.
Coppermane sniffled, staring at the ceiling. He knew he needed to start getting ready for school, but what was the point? Nobody gave a damn about him. Tears welled up in his eyes as he helplessly thought about Fluttershy. She looked so beautiful in his dream. Too beautiful. What chance did he have? A loser who’s practically scared of his own shadow? Nobody could fall for someone like that, especially not a girl like Fluttershy.
Maybe if he couldn’t have her in real life... he could be with her in his dreams? He let his mind wander, and as he did, there was a small glimmer of warmth in his heart. Even if it was just fantasy, it would be something. He had a tiny smile on his face thinking about making Fluttershy happy. Pampering her with gifts, exploring the city with her, holding her hand and showing everyone around them that she was his, and making her happy. Making her smile. That adorable, beautiful smile...
The tears welling up in his eyes suddenly spilled over, chilling his cheek and snapping him back to reality. He paused for a moment and shook his head as his heart began to sting again. The room felt colder. Goosebumps crawled up his skin as he pulled his blanket over him to protect himself... like a coward. More tears drenched his face. What was he thinking? He sniffled, wiping his ears dry. A dream relationship? With Fluttershy? A girl he just met? And now crying? Was he really this pathetic? Even just thinking about being with her? How could he possibly forget his purpose in life?
To be lonely.
Coppermane sighed, entering the school on a dreary Monday morning. At least, it was dreary to him, despite being bright and sunny outside. He walked to his locker with his hood drawn over his head. Not unusual, but now it was also to mask the black eye that developed from being beaten up on Friday. As if that weren’t enough, being thrashed all week made him sore throughout, making it a bit painful to move. A reminder of his social status: a punching bag for jocks.
He walked with caution through the halls, knowing that bullies could be lurking around any corner. As he looked around for any sign of trouble, he also had something else to search for. Or rather, someone. If there was anything that could cheer him up on a Monday morning, it was Fluttershy and her impeccable beauty. Even if they would never end up together, just seeing her would make him happy, if only for a few seconds.
He arrived at his locker. Opening it up, and now having some cover, he took his hood off and fixed his hair. Thankfully, no sign of bullies. Unfortunately, no sign of Fluttershy. He sighed again. Meeting Fluttershy last Friday was probably just a fluke. The world teasing him with a glimmer of light and then immediately taking it away, which means he’d probably never see her again. His heart ached as he gathered things from his locker. Just his luck.
Coppermane pursed his lips, looking down. “Get real, man,” he said to himself. “She’ll never like you back. She’s way out of your league. So stop thinking about her.” His heart stung. The truth hurt. He knew it would only hurt him in the long run. And yet, he couldn’t help it. How could he stop thinking about such a beautiful face?
He closed his locker...
“Hey!” a voice suddenly said.
Coppermane yelped as his locker door shut, revealing a rainbow-haired girl waving and smiling at him.
“Oh, sorry,” she said. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
Coppermane took some breaths to calm himself down. “I-It’s okay. H-How long have you been standing there?”
The girl shrugged. “Couple minutes?” she said. “Whoa, dude. That’s one heck of a shiner you got.”
Coppermane grit his teeth, turning his bad eye away. “S-Sorry. I know it’s ugly.”
The girl giggled. “So... are you Coppermane?”
Coppermane raised an eyebrow. “Um... y-yes?”
“Cool. I’m Rainbow Dash,” she said. “i’m the best athlete in school, and captain of all the sports teams.”
“Wait... y-you're the captain?” Coppermane asked, slowly backing away. “Y-You’re setting me up, aren’t you?”
“Huh?” Rainbow asked. “What’re you talking about?”
“Look, if I’m about to get jumped, just get it over with, okay?!” Coppermane said, bracing himself.
Rainbow just rose an eyebrow. “What? No no, this isn’t a setup.”
Coppermane backed away when Rainbow got closer. “Th-Then why are you talking to me? N-Nobody talks to me unless I’m about to get thrashed.”
“Seriously?” Rainbow asked. “Look, dude, I’m not gonna hurt you, and nobody else is either. You can trust me alright? I actually wanted to talk to you about the incident on Friday?”
“You know about that?” Coppermane asked.
Rainbow nodded. “That’s how you got that black eye, isn’t it? A pretty big one, too.”
Coppermane groaned, turning his eye away again. “Y-Yeah. How did you find out?”
“Let’s just say I heard from a friend,” Rainbow said, with a smirk. “I’m kind of a big deal around here, so I’m know about a lot of the school drama. Anyways, do you remember who beat you up?”
“Um... n-not really,” Coppermane said. “I-It's kind of a blur. Sorry.”
“No problem. I’m sure you don’t really like to think about it, huh?” Rainbow asked, to which Coppermane solemnly nodded. “I getcha. But anyways, I wanna let you know that I won’t tolerate any kind of bullying from any of my players. Got your phone?”
“Uh... sure?” Coppermane said. Rainbow gestured for him to hand it over. He hesitated for a second, but she insisted.
“Hey, if I was really up to something, I would’ve done it by now,” Rainbow said. “I’m not gonna steal it or anything.”
Coppermane pursed his lips, but slowly handed it over. Rainbow smiled and began navigating through. Coppermane didn’t let his guard down as he watched Rainbow do whatever she was doing. He didn’t have anything to hide on his phone, but he was ready in case Rainbow was trying to pull something. But thankfully, she didn’t. She struck a pose, taking a selfie, further adding to the mystery of what she was doing. She looked at his phone for a moment with a smirk, supposedly admiring the selfie she just took, and then handed it back.
“There you go,” Rainbow said. “If you ever get jumped again, just shoot me a text. Maybe even get a pic of the douchebag if you can. I’ll tell all the sports teams that I’m gonna come down on them hard if I hear about them bullying you or anyone again.”
“Oh... um... wow, thanks,” Coppermane said. Studying his phone, he indeed had Rainbow Dash’s contact info, topped off with the selfie she just took.
“No problem,” Rainbow said. “Anyways, what were you muttering about earlier?”
Coppermane’s heart dropped. “Oh... y-you heard that?”
“Yeah,” Rainbow said. “Something about... she’ll never like you back? Who’s ‘she’?”
Coppermane felt his face heat up. “Um... wh-why do you want to know?”
Rainbow shrugged. “Just curious, that’s all. I like a little gossip.”
Coppermane bit his lip. As embarrassing as it was to be overheard, it might help to get some of his thoughts out.
“Well... I don’t wanna mention names but... after I got jumped on Friday... I met a girl...” Coppermane said as his face turned a bright shade of red. He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. “She helped patch me up. She was so nice to me. Gentle, sweet, and... gorgeous. Like... the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen. Long pink hair, a cute smile, and the biggest teal eyes...” Coppermane stopped when he noticed how wide Rainbow’s eyes were. “Um... sorry. I must sound like a creep."
Rainbow giggled. “No, it’s cute! You should ask her out!”
“Wh-What?” Coppermane beckoned. “I-I can’t just ask her out!”
“Why not?” Rainbow asked. “If you like her so much, why not just go for it?”
“Because... I-I just can’t,” Coppermane said. “The first time I saw her, I was crying. She deserves someone better than a pathetic loser like me. Someone who can actually defend themselves. Besides, she’s way out of my league. A girl that pretty probably has a boyfriend anyways.”
“Well, have you tried asking?” Rainbow said.
“Um... no,” Coppermane said. “I guess I’m too nervous.”
“What’s to be nervous about? Don’t let your nerves stop you,” Rainbow said. “If you don’t, you’ll just regret it. You miss all the shots you don’t take.”
“Well... I guess you’re right...” Coppermane said.
“Of course, I am!” Rainbow said, chuckling. “Go for it, dude!”
“I-I still don’t know...” Coppermane said.
Just then, before anything else could be said, the bell rang.
“Oh, shoot!” Rainbow said. “Gotta get to class. But listen, even if she says no, you would’ve tried, right? Who knows? Maybe she’ll even say yes.”
Rainbow gave him a wink, and his heart skipped a beat. She walked away, leaving him alone at his locker to ponder. At least the captain of the jocks was cool, albeit a little self-absorbed. But why was she so interested in hearing about his crush? And what was with that wink? Did she know something he didn’t?
No time to think about it now, though. He needed to get to class. As he walked to the classroom, Rainbow’s words echoed in his mind, along with images of Fluttershy.