Everyone in the table except for Soarin and me was quiet for two minutes.
It was the next school day, and I was having lunch with my friends. I told Soarin everything about Adagio and being forced to work for Octavia when we were in class during third period, and now the two of us watched as the rest of our group took in the news.
"Wwwoooooooooowwwwww," Pinkie Pie said in shock before giving me a teasing look. "You know, Rough Draft, if it weren't for the fact that Adagio is a manipulative meany and Octavia is Blueblood's girlfriend, I'd be teasing you really bad right about now."
Everyone turned to her, confused, and I asked, "You'd tease me? Why?"
"Think about it. Two days into school and a school hottie is chasing you while a rich guy is making you spend time with his girlfriend," Pinkie Pie explained. "If they were anyone else, I'd be like, 'Dang, Rough Draft. You sure you didn't break a few hearts back in Appleloosa? Cause you know to attract them.'"
Soarin thought about it and chuckled, saying, "That is kind of true. You would be looking like a total ladies man right about now if the circumstances were different."
It took a second before I finally understood what the two of them were saying and chuckled too.
"I guess it would look like my love life just sprung to life out of nowhere when you put that way," I said.
"Indeed. Next thing you know, all of us girls in our group should be watching out for you," Rarity teased with a giggle before her face fell and she said, "But all joking aside, Rough Draft, you are in quite a pickle or two, to say the least."
My amused smile fell, and I nodded as I said, "I know. I imagine you guys want to ridicule me for getting mixed up with Blueblood, Octavia, and the Dazzlings even when you warned me not to."
"No, we don't, Rough Draft," Rainbow Dash assured. "You did what you felt you had to at the Tasty Treat, and it's hardly a surprise that Blueblood decided to threaten you to do his bidding."
"And as much as I disapprove of lying, you're not wrong about Adagio not taking no for an answer," Applejack assured. "The only thing she understands is adoration, and she will try to claim it no matter what it takes."
"Eeyup," Big Mac said.
I smiled, glad that they aren't upset with me before I asked, "But what should I do if Adagio comes back and asks if I've been considering her suggestion or something?"
My friends looked at each other, unsure of how to answer until Caramel said, "Well, it's obvious, isn't it? Say that you've been busy assisting Octavia Melody too much to have time to consider her offer much less go see her perform at the Siren's Cafe."
"Caramel, what did I just say about lying?" Applejack rebuked.
"Hear me out, Applejack," Caramel said, holding his hand up for defense. "Since Rough Draft did convince Octavia Melody to take advantage of him being her assistant, he wouldn't be lying. He'd be working hard to obey her every command and be her friend when he's not at school. It's a lot of time dedicated to a girl that he wants to be around with. How is he going to be thinking about Adagio Dazzle worth anything when his focus is as far away from her as it should be?"
Fluttershy looked uneasy and said, "Um, Caramel, not that I want to step on your plan or anything, but, well, um…"
"You make it sound like we should be encouraging Rough Draft to chase a girl he has a crush on even though she has a boyfriend," Rarity finished for her best friend.
I looked at Caramel bewildered and said, "That's true. You made that sound like chasing Octavia for real should be my objective just to stay away from Adagio."
Caramel paused for a moment before he shrugged and said, "Okay, I'm not saying to do that, but you want to be Octavia Melody's friend, right?"
"Yeah," I answered.
"Then that's what you should do," Caramel said before turning back to Applejack. "AJ, I of all people who aren't Big Mac or the rest of your family know how much you value honesty. I'm simply suggesting that as long as Rough Draft is with Octavia Melody just to be a good friend to her, then he can say for an honest fact that he's too occupied on something nobler to think anything about Adagio. He'd be telling the truth plain and simple."
Everyone turned to Applejack, who scratched her head in thought. Caramel stared deeply into her green eyes as an offer of trust while the rest of us waited. Finally, Applejack gave Caramel a warm smile and said, "You make a well, thought-out point there, sugarcube. I should have known you were thinking of a plan that involves honesty."
Caramel smiled brightly and said, "Well, I would never want to upset you by suggesting something dishonest, Applejack."
"I know," Applejack said.
The two of them stared at each other fondly, forgetting that the rest of us were there. Big Mac cleared his throat, and Applejack and Caramel broke out of their trance and looked away in embarrassment. Pinkie Pie and Rarity giggled while Fluttershy covered her mouth to hide a small laugh. I turned to Soarin with a raised eyebrow, and he smirked at me, implying everything that I suspected between the apple farmer and one of her helpers at that moment was true. Starlight Glimmer looked at Applejack and Caramel curiously and opened her mouth to ask what was going on before Rainbow Dash stepped in.
"Alright, enough of that," she said. "We're all in agreement that avoiding Adagio is the priority, and focusing on Rough Draft just being Octavia Melody's friend is the most honest method to do it. But since a lot of this did start with Rough Draft crushing on Octavia Melody, we need to be sure that that's the way things are going to be for the next seven weeks or so."
I frowned and asked, "Are you suggesting that I be supervised or something?"
Rainbow Dash flinched and scratched the back of her head as she said, "Well, maybe not supervised so much as, I don't know, having a guide?"
"A guide?" Starlight Glimmer asked.
"Yeah, to help him out with just being a friend to Octavia Melody," Rainbow Dash explained. "I mean, this whole mess did happen without any of Rough Draft's friends to help him."
"Hey, Sonata's my friend, and she tried to stop Blueblood from beating me and warned me about Adagio," I rebuked.
"Er, okay, so only most of this mess was made with no friends around," Rainbow Dash said. "The point is we should be helping him out as best as we can by sticking to being only friends with Octavia Melody. I mean, no offense, Rough Draft, but this did all start with you taking a liking to her, so someone's gotta have your back and make sure that you don't get into any more trouble. Besides, what's the point of us being your friends if we just hang out and not be there when you need help?"
I thought about her argument and said, "I guess you have a point. I can't deny this all started because of my feelings for Octavia, and only Lord knows what will happen next if I'm not careful. Besides, I'd rather not be by myself the next time Adagio approaches me. After all, Sonata was there yesterday, and she wanted to help, but I think Adagio has too much of a hold on her to do anything."
Applejack frowned and said, "Poor girl. In any case, if Adagio is around, we'll help you get rid of her."
"Thanks," I said.
"Oh, think nothing of it, darling. It will be our pleasure," Rarity said, smirking. "Personally, I love the idea of stopping her from getting what she wants for once. It's about time someone in our school does."
"You said it," Pinkie Pie said. "So how are we going to have someone around when Rough Draft is with Octavia."
"Well, maybe we could try a get-together and see if you guys could become her friends too," I suggest. "She did like the idea of having me as a friend, so who says it has to be only me just because I technically work for her?"
"Now, that's forward-thinking," Applejack said. "So, how shall we start?"
We all thought about it for a moment before Starlight Glimmer cleared her throat and said, "Well, Octavia is in some of my classes, and it doesn't look like she's up to speed with what she missed from not going to school yesterday. Maybe Rough Draft and I could meet up with her so that I could befriend her while exchanging notes, and information for future assignments, and things like that."
"That would be perfect," I said. "I'm planning to do that for what she missed in English anyway, so how about when I see her in class I could make the suggestion, and we take it from there?"
Starlight Glimmer smiled and said, "I like it. Why don't we exchange numbers?"
But Pinkie Pie giggled and said, "You don't need to worry about that, silly. I already had you two added in each other's contacts on Monday."
Starlight Glimmer and I turned to Pinkie Pie baffled before we checked our phones and found that she was right. Rainbow Dash facepalmed and said, "Pinkie, you need to stop secretly adding contacts in people's phones."
"What? They were going to do it anyway. Might as well save them the trouble, right?" Pinkie Pie said.
"Yeah, but it's still rude to do that," I said. "It's our phones, so we should be deciding what goes in it ourselves. Right, Starlight?"
I turned to Starlight, who was looking at her phone with a soft smile before she realized that I was talking to her and said, "Oh! Uh, yes. Yes, that's right. Please don't do that again, Pinkie."
"Eh, suit yourself," Pinkie Pie said with a shrug before going back to her food.
Soarin rolled his eyes before he said, "Well, in any case, it looks we're all in agreement with how to help Rough Draft."
"Sure are," Applejack said.
"Eeyup," Big Mac said.
Everyone else nodded, and the table was silent for a moment before Fluttershy looked at the time on her phone and cleared her throat.
"Um, guys, lunch ends in three minutes," she said.
We all looked at her in shock and checked our phones to find that she's right. The group paused for a moment before we all started wolfing down our food as fast as possible.
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Sixth period came and went with Mr. Iron Will having the gym class run laps around the school soccer field. As soon as the bell rang, I quickly changed out of my gym clothes and said goodbye to Soarin before I raced to Ms. Cheerilee's class, where I found Sonata standing outside the door waiting for me. I gave her a friendly smile, and she smiled back for a moment before she gave me an uneasy look.
"Hey, Rough Draft," she said.
"Hey. What's up?" I asked.
Sonata looked away for a moment before she whined with an apologetic look, "I'm so, so sorry that I just stood there and let Adagio hit on you like that. I really wanted to help, but I just...just…"
I placed my hand on her shoulder and gave her a comforting look as I said, "Don't worry about it, Sonata. I understand, and I know you wanted to step up."
Sonata gave me a cheerful look, relieved that she was forgiven. I smiled at her again before I decided to ask, "Have you always been that way with your sisters?"
Sonata's cheerful face disappeared, and she answered, "Yeah. Adagio has always intimidated me. After a while, I learned only to speak when spoken to or face her wrath. Aria isn't as scary, but it still hurts when she verbally harasses me."
I looked at my blue friend sadly, wishing there was something that I could do. But before I could say anything else, Sonata shook her head and said, "Anyway, I don't want to talk about that. I'm more worried about you. What are you going to do since you promised Adagio that you would consider her offer?"
"Ah, don't worry about that," I said. "I conveniently found a way to avoid her."
"Really? What is it?" Sonata asked.
"Well, it just so happens that shortly after Adagio approached me, Blueblood had some security guys take me to the hospital and threatened me to make me work for Octavia or else he's going to sue my family," I explained.
Sonata tilted her head, confused, and asked, "But how is that a bad thing?"
"It isn't," I answered. "Octavia and I have started to become friends, so I'm basically helping out a friend for several weeks to avoid getting sued."
"Uh, okay, but I don't see what this has to do with you and Adagio," Sonata said, scratching her head.
"Well, with so much of my time dedicated to being Octavia's 'assistant,' I'll hardly have the time to take on Adagio's deal even if I wanted to," I explained. "Do you think Adagio will keep pursuing me till then?"
Sonata thought about it for a moment and said, "I don't know. On the one hand, Adagio never focuses on a boy for her needs for longer than a couple of weeks or so, but since she doesn't want to manipulate you for something specific unlike all the other guys, she might keep pursuing you.
My confidence faltered, and I asked, "Do you think she's going to be that persistent?"
"It is possible," Sonata said. "She's used to getting what she wants, and I did say that she sort of likes you, likes you. Hopefully, I'm wrong, but honestly, I can't tell you for a fact. It's like I said yesterday; the way her mind is suddenly focused on you is different from other boys, so I don't know what to expect. Even Aria isn't sure about what's going on in Adagio's mind, and she can figure it out pretty fast."
I frowned and scratched the back of my head, discouraged as I said, "Sounds like something very odd is going on with her, and whatever it is might complicate using my time working for Octavia to avoid her."
"I know," Sonata said, sharing my disappointment, "But hey, if I find out anything else, I'll let you know."
"Thanks, Sonata. I appreciate that," I said with a smile.
Sonata smiled cutely, happy that I was showing her gratitude as her friend before I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to find Octavia standing behind me and giving me a small smile. My heart jumped, unprepared to see her so close to me.
"Octavia, hey," I said, trying to contain my surprise.
"Good afternoon, Rough Draft," Octavia greeted. "I trust that you are well?"
"Oh, you know. Another school day," I answered, earning a light chuckle from her before turning to Sonata. "This is my friend, Sonata Dusk."
Octavia raised an eyebrow at me curiously while Sonata smiled cheerfully at the sound of being introduced as someone's friend.
"Oh, um, pleased to meet you, Sonata," Octavia said politely.
Sonata smiled brightly and gave Octavia a friendly wave. The gray girl gave her a nod before she turned back to me and asked, "May I speak with you privately for a moment before class starts?"
"Sure," I answered before turning to Sonata. "I'll see you inside, Sonata."
"Totally," Sonata said before she went inside the classroom.
Octavia waited a moment to make sure Sonata was out of earreach and said, "Rough Draft, I don't mean to pry, but you are aware that she's a Dazzling, right?"
"I am," I answered.
"And you're comfortable with being her friend?" She asked. "Don't get me wrong, she seems a nice girl seeing as she was defending you when you gave me my ring back, but I've heard some things about her and her sisters."
"I have too, and I can testify that her sisters are trouble, but I still want to be Sonata's friend," I replied. "As far as I'm concerned, she is a nice girl who just needs a friend in her life like you."
Octavia was taken aback by my statement before she smiled and said, "I see. You really are a sweet guy."
I smiled at her, not minding that my cheeks were heating up again. Octavia let out a quiet giggle with her mouth closed, amused with my blush before she cleared her throat.
"Right, speaking of which, I wanted to talk to you about getting together after school," she said. "I was thinking we exchange notes in the music room after class."
"The music room? Why there?" I asked.
Octavia smiled and said, "Well, seeing as you are required to watch me perform by Blueblood, I would like to play my cello for you. I was planning to practice there anyway, and I would like to show my appreciation for you saving my cello last week."
I smiled brightly and instantly said, "I'd love to. Though if you don't mind, I'd like to bring someone with us."
Octavia hesitated and asked, "Do you mean Sonata?"
"No, it's another friend of mine named Starlight Glimmer," I answered. "She's in some of your other classes and was hoping she could bring you up to speed on what you missed yesterday."
"Oh, how nice," Octavia said, touched. "Tell her I would be delighted. I did miss a surprising amount of things yesterday."
"Great. I'll send her a text," I said.
No sooner did I say that then the bell rang and Ms. Cheerilee was telling us that class had started. Thus, Octavia and I quietly went to our seats and began taking notes. As Ms. Cheerilee was teaching, however, I secretly sent a text to Starlight Glimmer about meeting Octavia and me in the music room.
******************************************************************************************
An hour later, the bell rang, ending school for the day, and I put away my stuff and said goodbye to Sonata before following Octavia out of the classroom. Along the way, I received a text from Starlight Glimmer that she was on her way and was looking forward to meeting Octavia. When we made it to the music room, Starlight Glimmer was already inside, using the grand piano in the room as a desk for her to start working on her homework. I cleared my throat, and Starlight Glimmer jumped in alarm before she noticed that we were standing in front of her.
"Did you forget that we were coming?" I asked with a chuckle.
"No, I just thought I'd get a head start on an assignment while waiting for you and kind got lost into it," Starlight said, blushing in embarrassment. "It's a habit for me."
I nodded in understanding before I turned to Octavia and said, "Octavia, this is Starlight Glimmer. She's a new student like me who came from Sire's Hollow."
"Pleased to meet you," Octavia said.
Starlight Glimmer collected herself before giving Octavia a friendly smile and said, "Good to finally meet you too. I've heard a lot about you from Rough Draft."
My pupils shrank, and I turned to Octavia, who looked at me with a curious look. It took a moment before Starlight Glimmer realized what she said and quickly spat out, "I mean, he's been talking about everything that's happened between you two to our friends and me. You know, like returning your ring and what happened at the Tasty Treat and stuff."
"Oh. I see," Octavia said, satisfied with the answer.
Starlight and I sighed in relief before Octavia asked, "So, which classes do we share, Starlight Glimmer?"
"Math, science, and history," Starlight said with a smile.
"Oh, excellent. It sounds like I'll have all general studies taken care of with you two," Octavia said. "What a lovely coincidence."
"Yup. And a good thing too. I couldn't help but notice how lost you were in history class in particular," Starlight Glimmer said. "You kept looking at Ms. Harshwinny like she skipped a couple of chapters in a book."
"Ugh, it sure felt like it," Octavia moaned. "How could she go through so much material in one day?"
"Hey, from where I'm standing, I'm lucky to have a history teacher that gives you nothing but important information," Starlight said. "My dad used to be the history teacher at my old school, and he would stop in the middle of his lecture to talk about something completely useless like how he saw some of the items people used in that time period at a museum he went to in Baltimare or when he was traveling overseas and came across smaller museums or antique shops in Prance or something."
Octavia and I looked at each other bewildered with this information, and I asked, "Would that stuff be in your tests or assignments?"
"Every. Single. One," Starlight grumbled. "I couldn't believe how long it took for the school board to realize what he was doing and force him into an early retirement. That's one of the reasons why we moved here to Canterlot. He was pretty bitter that he wasn't wanted at my old school anymore or couldn't express his passion anywhere else in the town for that matter, so he decided my old school wasn't worthy of having me as their student."
"Forgive me for saying so, Starlight Glimmer, but that is a ridiculous reason to move from your hometown over that," Octavia commented.
"Yeah, well, my dad is a very pigheaded human being," Starlight replied. "Personally, I hope he always stays in the house and write on his blog about antiques and stuff. At least that way, he can't embarrass me in public anymore."
Octavia and I couldn't help but chuckle while Starlight Glimmer looked away from us with an annoyed look, lost in thought about her dad. After a moment, she realized what she was doing and shook her head before she said, "Anyway, enough about me. Let's start sharing some notes."
"Capital idea, my friend," Octavia said with a smile.
With that, we sat down in the choir bleachers and Starlight Glimmer, and I started sharing our notes to Octavia. I showed my notes first since I only shared one class with Octavia before Starlight Glimmer began helping her with her other classes. Eventually, I started comparing notes with Starlight Glimmer since we all have the same junior year classes, ultimately turning our get together into a study group. By the time we got to math, however, Octavia and I were struggling to figure out the math problems we were assigned to while Starlight Glimmer tried to help us figure it out.
"Augh! How are we supposed to know when the numbers have to be switched to get the right answer?" I complained.
"I agree. It's unsettling that we have such difficult math formulas to learn right at the beginning of the school year," Octavia said.
"Come on, guys. It's not that hard," Starlight Glimmer said. "You just need a little practice."
"Easy for you to say," I said. "How did you become such a mathematician?"
"Oh, I wouldn't go so far as calling myself a mathematician," Starlight Glimmer said humbly. "I just learned a few things from a guy from my old school, Sunburst, who is the real mathematician."
"I see," Octavia said. "Are you good friends with Sunburst?"
"He was my best friend, actually." Starlight Glimmer answered.
"Was?" Octavia asked. "What happened?"
Starlight Glimmer frowned and said, "He moved to go to a bigger school last year, and we lost contact after that."
"Oh. I'm sorry," I said.
"Hey, it happens, Rough Draft," Starlight Glimmer said, giving me a sad smile. "I moved on a while ago, so it's fine. Plus, I'm happy where I am now, now that I have friends like you, and everyone else in our group."
I gave her a friendly smile while Octavia asked, "Oh, you two are in a group?"
"Yeah, one of our friends, Pinkie Pie is my neighbor, and she and Applejack made me a part of the group the day I moved into Canterlot," I explained.
"Oh, that's wonderful," Octavia said with a smile. "I imagine you're happy about that since you didn't have friends in Appleloosa, am I right?"
I smiled and nodded as Octavia, and I stared at each other, making Starlight Glimmer uneasy. She cleared her throat the break the moment and said, "Let's get back to the math problems. We still have fourteen more problems to go before we're done."
Octavia and I groaned before we reluctantly did as she suggested. But even with Starlight Glimmer walking us through every agonizing step for each problem, it took an unbearable amount of trial and error just to solve each once. By the time we were finished, it had been more than two hours since we started this one piece of homework.
"Ugh, my brain hurts," I whined.
"Mine too," Octavia complained before chuckling. "In fact, since you are my assistant, why don't you remind me to get some Tylenol on the way home."
"As long as you share some of it with me," I said.
"Deal," Octavia replied.
"Aw, you two are being a bunch of babies," Starlight Glimmer said. "You figured out all of the problems. Just practice a little more, and you'll get the hang of it."
"I wouldn't hold your breath on that, Starlight Glimmer," Octavia said.
"Ditto," I said.
Starlight Glimmer rolled her eyes over our childish demeanor and said, "Would it help if the three of us met here after class all the time?"
Octavia and I looked at each other, and I said with a sigh, "If Octavia is up for that, I wouldn't mind getting help from you from now on if it's okay with you, Starlight Glimmer."
Starlight Glimmer smiled and said, "I'd be happy to do it."
Octavia and I gave Starlight Glimmer grateful looks before Octavia said, "Right, what shall we do now?"
Immediately, I remembered what she and I discussed earlier and said, "Weren't you planning to practice your cello?"
"Oh, my goodness. I completely forgot," Octavia said, and she stood up.
"You're going to play the cello here?" Starlight Glimmer asked.
"Indeed. Rough Draft is technically required to watch me practice since he is my assistant, and I want to perform for him anyway," Octavia answered. "You're more than welcome to watch with him if you want."
"Sure. I'd like that," Starlight Glimmer said.
"Wonderful. I'll get my cello from my locker. Be back in a moment," Octavia said.
With that, she left the music room, leaving me and Starlight Glimmer alone. The two of us sat in silence, waiting patiently until Starlight Glimmer cleared her throat.
"So...she wants to perform for you, huh?" She asked nervously.
"Yup," I said plainly.
"She, uh, doesn't want to do that for any special reason, does she?" Starlight Glimmer asked.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
Starlight Glimmer played with her fingers and said, "Well, you know. Like in a way where she actually likes you, likes you."
I looked at Starlight Glimmer, surprised and said, "No. Of course not. She wants to because she hasn't had a private audience before, and she wants to show her appreciation from when I saved her cello from being run over by a car when we first met."
"Oh, okay," Starlight Glimmer said with a hint of relief in her voice.
"Did you really think it would be because she likes me in that way?" I asked.
Starlight Glimmer grew nervous again and said, "I just want to make sure where things are between you two. That is partly why I'm here while you're working for her. Remember?"
I frowned and said, "Well, it's not like that. Besides, she's still with Blueblood, and from what I've seen, she genuinely cares about him. Plus, she said she's happy with the idea of me being her friend while her boyfriend is not around, so it's pretty clear that she does not think of me in that way, and she most likely never will."
"But, you'd like it if she did, right?" Starlight Glimmer questioned.
I opened my mouth to reply, but I stopped myself before I uttered a sound. Even though I knew I should tell her no to shoot down her suspicion, there was a part of me that didn't want to deny that I liked the idea of Octavia having any feelings for me. I became uneasy, knowing that my lack of response might confirm Starlight Glimmer's suspicion.
Thankfully, the silence was broken by the door opening and Octavia coming back, holding her cello case. I mentally thanked God as my crush placed her case on the floor and dragged two stools over so that they were standing a few feet away from Starlight and me. Octavia then opened the case to take out her cello and bow and then sat down on one of the stools. Then she took out her phone, opened the music app, and selected a track before placing it on the other stool.
"You're using your phone while you play?" I asked.
"Yes. I use an instrumental track for accompaniment," Octavia answered. "I usually have a pianist with me when I'm performing at a concert depending on the piece I use, so it's a good idea to have the pianist's track playing on my phone while I practice."
"Ah, interesting," I commented with Starlight Glimmer nodding in agreement.
Octavia gave me a small smile before her face turned focused. She lifted her head to face the wall above me and Starlight Glimmer and closed her eyes before taking a deep breath. She slowly released it before pressing play on the track she had ready on her phone. While Octavia prepared to play, the sound of a piano started playing from her phone. The track was giving a mellow tune in a high octave that gave a sense of mystery hidden behind the melody. I grew curious about where the music was going before my attention was immediately drawn to Octavia as she started playing her cello. The gray girl's instrument let out a low, long note before Octavia began playing up a couple of octaves, slowly moving her bow back and forth as she played.
I leaned the upper half of my body closer, intrigued as the notes came out of Octavia's cello with a sense of loneliness and longing behind them. I looked to see Octavia looking down at her cello with a look of melancholy on her face. I tilted my head in confusion as she played as if she was telling a sad story behind the song that she had to tell with a heavy heart. What that story could be, I had no idea, but after a while, I started to wonder if the story was about Octavia herself. I began to imagine if there was something that Octavia wanted to express about herself through her music. Whatever it was, I wanted to find out and somehow save her from the misery she might have been letting out with her precious cello.
But while I watched Octavia play, Starlight Glimmer was looking at me observantly. The purple girl frowned as I listened to the song at the edge of my seat. It was at this moment that I unknowingly answered her question, and it was making her heart ache. It didn't matter that Octavia already had a boyfriend or that I only had to be by her side for a few weeks. The way my eyes were fixed on the gray girl as I listened to her music made her afraid of how I felt deep in my heart. She secretly preferred that all her fears relied on only Adagio trying to obtain me with her manipulative tongue, and thin body. At least with the Dazzling wanting me, she could count on me showing no desire to be anywhere near her. But with my thoughts on Octavia, she was afraid that even if my friendship with her ended once Blueblood was better, I would never truly move on and become willing to give someone else a heartfelt chance.
Before Starlight Glimmer and I knew it, the audio playing in Octavia's phone slowly faded out, and she finished playing with a long, high-pitched note. When it was over, Octavia looked up to face Starlight Glimmer and me and waited for us to say something. My mouth was hanging open for a moment before I said, "That was incredible."
"Oh, come now, Rough Draft. You're being too sweet this time," Octavia said.
"No, I'm serious," I said. "To tell you the truth, I've never really been one for listening to the cello, but you made it a fascinating experience. You had a deep passion for expressing something with that song, and it made me wonder what it was. Are all the pieces you play like this?"
Octavia thought about it for a moment and said, "Well, typically, I like to play some famous classical music, not paying mind to what the theme is, but I guess I've been feeling a need to play something like that regularly."
"Really? Why's that?" I asked.
Octavia winced, unprepared for the question, and said, "I'd rather not say."
"Oh," I said, disappointed before I brought back my smile. "Well, in any case, I really enjoyed it. It was a very moving piece. Right, Starlight Glimmer?"
It took a moment before Starlight Glimmer realized I was talking to her, and she said, "Oh, yes. Totally. You're very talented, Octavia."
Octavia smiled appreciatively and said, "Thank you. That means a lot to me, especially with you analyzing what was happening behind the song, Rough Draft."
"Really? Do not many people catch that?" I asked.
Octavia frowned and said, "Not as much as I'd like. Leastways, not with Blueblood."
"Why? Doesn't he like hearing you perform?" Starlight Glimmer asked.
"Oh, absolutely, he does," Octavia said assuredly. "There's not a time where he's seen me perform that he hasn't expressed how much he loves my music, and treasured coming to my concerts, and I adore him for it, but I wish he would try to dig deeper into what is happening behind my music. To realize that I am trying to express something even if he can't figure it out."
Starlight Glimmer frowned and said, "That sounds like a tall order, Octavia. I mean, I don't want to speak for Blueblood, but not everyone can be that way when they listen to music."
"I know, but I want that all the same," Octavia said, looking away from Starlight Glimmer and me glumly. "The truth is it's something that I've always wanted in a relationship ever since I learned to express my emotions through music. In fact, it's something I want even more from Blueblood because it feels like he doesn't really know me deep down, and it hurts that he's been attending my concerts less and less because of his job."
The room became silent as Octavia became lost in thought. Starlight Glimmer and I looked at each other, feeling sorry for the gray girl. I turned to look at Octavia again, feeling my heart ache at the sight of her so discouraged because of Blueblood. After a minute, Octavia snapped out her thought and chuckled sheepishly.
"I'm terribly sorry," she said. "I appear to have rambled about my relationship again."
"Oh, hey, don't worry about it," Starlight Glimmer said with a smile. "You obviously had that built up for a while, and I brought you into letting that out."
"I agree, and it's good to talk about stuff like that to friends," I said. "And hey, I may not be Blueblood, but at least you have one person who notices your desire to express when you play."
Octavia gave me a sweet smile that made my heart flutter, causing Starlight Glimmer to flinch. The room was silent once again as Octavia, and I stared at each other before our moment was suddenly interrupted by a phone ringing. The two of us turned to Starlight Glimmer, who chuckled in embarrassment before she took out her phone and let out an annoyed groan.
"It's a text from my dad," she said. "He's wondering where I am and asking if I got lost."
"Asking if you got lost?" I asked. "Didn't you tell him you'd be staying in school with us?"
"No, and I wish I did," she answered. "My dad likes to treat me like I'm still a little girl, so he worries that living in the suburb as opposed to a small town might be too much for me. I better get home before he starts making 'missing' fliers or something."
"Has he done that before?" I asked.
"No, but I wouldn't put it past him," Starlight Glimmer replied as she put away her stuff in her backpack and stood up. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."
"Alright, I look forward to more studying together with you, Starlight Glimmer," Octavia said.
"Yeah, same here," Starlight said without looking at Octavia or me as she exited the room.
After she left, Octavia and I looked at each other, unsure of what to do or say until Octavia decided to take out her phone and check the time.
"Goodness, it's after five," she said. "I think I should head home myself before my parents wonder where I am too."
"Heh, come to think about it, I didn't think of letting my parents know that I was staying after school either," I said. "Guess that's what happens when our meet up turned into homework time and then followed up with you performing for me and Starlight Glimmer."
"Indeed," Octavia said. "Now, would my assistant be so kind as to walk me home?"
I smirked as I stood up and took a bow, saying, "It would be an honor, my Lady Melody."
Octavia giggled and asked, "Are you going to bow every time I ask you to do something?"
"Maybe. We have several weeks to find out," I said.
Octavia smirked back as she stood up and put her cello away before we put our school work back in our backpacks and left the room. As I escorted Octavia to her house, I secretly smiled, for making her happy because I listened to her music. But then my smile faded as I thought about how her passion was wasted on Blueblood. After seeing him pretend to be nice to people to maintain a positive image in front of his girlfriend, I wondered if there was any sincerity behind whatever praise Blueblood has ever given Octavia in their relationship. If there wasn't, then I wanted to make the most of every opportunity I had of watching Octavia perform so that she had someone who recognized the special passion behind her music with the short time I had. I didn't care if she only saw me as just a friend. I wanted to support the girl I was crushing on to whatever end.
It wasn't until later, however, that I learned that Octavia was looking at me fondly as we walked.