I stared at the back of Rainbow’s head quizzically—her face glued to the car's window as she watched the scenery race past.
We were on the freeway headed to school. It was a weirdly late start for the first day: 10AM. Thankfully, it meant we didn't have to get up early or fight the morning traffic.
Rainbow Dash had been up before 7AM—I heard her talking to my mom over an early breakfast through my door. Whether it was by habit or being unable to sleep, I had no idea. For now, it seemed to be the former as her eyes darted from sign-to-sign with a focus I had never seen from her before.
"You okay, Rainbow? You don't feel any nausea?"
"I'm doin' okay."
"Lemme know if that changes so I can engage 'grandma-driving.'"
Exiting the freeway, I pulled up to the first of several stoplights before reaching school.
"How do you not get distracted by all this stuff," she asked, staring at a sign for one of the many car dealerships nearby.
"I've lived with these kinds of views my entire life. If I was in Equestria, I'd probably be all googly-eyed like you right now."
She scowled at that remark but said nothing. We sat in silence for a few minutes as I continued to work through the sparse traffic of the post-morning crowd.
"So how come you said not to bring any books today?"
"It’s gonna be a field day. No classes. We even end early."
Normally a full day lasted seven hours—with first period starting at 8:20AM and the last period ending at 3:25PM. Today was a little more than half that, lasting only from 10:15AM to 1PM.
"So sports?"
"Team games. It's different every year. Think 'tug of war' or 'dodgeball.' That kinda stuff."
Rainbow sank into her seat.
"So are we gonna be on the same team?"
"My mom requested that we be together today. Since this school's pretty small they should have no problem honoring that request."
Rainbow straightened up a bit. She looked relieved.
"Well, aren't you lucky. Hope you like winning."
"That’s not... Well, I do like winning."
She glanced at my plain blue tee and matching blue basketball shorts with curiosity.
"So they let you wear that to school?"
"We're on blue team so I gotta wear this. It'll make more sense once we get there."
"How many teams are there?"
"There’s gonna be a lot. The entire high school is divided up into these teams, so it'd be pretty confusing if we only had a little armband or something to identify team members."
"I thought maybe we were painting something blue today."
***
"Whoa. I thought you said your school was small."
"It's a K-12 school. They need the room. Just wait till you get to the high school quad. Place is depressingly small."
We walked through the "lower school" area first, it being nearest to the street. Having been renovated the earliest, it was the most impressive of the facilities—boasting a modern-looking two-story building full of huge classrooms and fancy ice-cold water fountains. Just past it was a large concrete yard and the some less-impressive single-story classrooms and a library.
"Looks deserted."
"The rest of the school starts up tomorrow. High schoolers are the only students here today. Unless you're interested in meeting some janitors."
"Hey! Kevin!"
Rainbow stiffened as one of my friends jogged up. Lean build with short hair and a pair of cheap plastic glasses. He wore his signature purple Nike hoodie with cargo shorts and high-top basketball shoes. Unsurprisingly, he was a fellow Asian. My passive expression warped into a big grin.
"Sup, Eric!"
"What’s good, dude? How come you weren't on Live last night?"
I turned, extending an arm towards Rainbow Dash.
"Busy hanging out with my new roommate."
"Oh, whoa. Hello!"
Rainbow gave a quick nod.
"Sup."
"Eric, this is Rainbow Dash. She's staying with me this year."
"So David's in Equestria right now?"
"Yeah. He was supposed to call last night but I guess he forgot."
Eric glanced over Rainbow Dash before turning to walk with us.
"You're the only other person here right now."
"You mean we're early or something?"
"He means in our friend group."
"You'll kinda pick it up fast, but there's different kinds of groups that hang out together."
Rainbow's ears drooped as she looked past the middle school quad and into the start of the high school area—various students milling about in the open space.
"I thought I left that behind in flight school."
"It's just the 'lifer' kids making things weird as usual."
"Kids who've gone here since kindergarten."
As we got closer, the students started taking notice of the brightly-colored pony walking next to us. Most of them spoke in hushed whispers while the occasional student offered a friendly wave towards Rainbow.
"Hey! Miss pony!"
The three of us stopped as one of the juniors rushed up. It was one of the girls—she wore a baggy orange t-shirt and matching headband, thick golden curls spilling over it. Her face beamed a warm smile.
"I just wanted to say your hair looks really cute. I'm Alison. Nice to meet you."
Rainbow smiled, giving her a nod.
"Thanks, Alison. I'm Rainbow Dash."
"Oh my god, that's awesome. Anyways, nice meeting you! I'll see you at lunch!"
Alison flashed me and Eric a smile before running off to rejoin her team.
"Man. Is it just me or did she get hotter?"
"Too bad she's gunning for the soccer jocks."
Rainbow rolled her eyes as she started forward.
"Ugh. Boys."
"Actually, we're men. Thank you very much."
With Alison having broken the ice, many more curious students began to approach Rainbow with friendly greetings and compliments. Pushed aside by the enthusiastic masses, Eric and I sat on a set of stone steps leading to the high school admin offices.
"So, did Abdul really leave?"
"He's in Tennessee now."
"And Jake's on the east coast?"
"He had to. They were driving two hours just to see the nearest lyme disease specialist."
"Dang. So that just leaves Elias, Jon, Brent and Sai."
"Not to mention David's gonna be in Equestria for his senior year."
"He wouldn't shut up about going there. Guess he'd prefer to live the rest of his years there than stay with us."
"I mean, I guess. Bit harsh, but it certainly seems that way. Of all the times to leave he wanted to finish high school in a place completely alien to him."
I crossed my arms, staring at a crack in the pavement. "Yeah. Screw 'im."
"Hey! Thanks for leaving me with the crowds!"
Rainbow flitted over to us, now ignoring the numerous waves and calls addressed to her. She wore a number of different colored items around her ears, wrists and wings as if she was a living ring toss.
"They tried to get me to join their teams."
"Sounds like you're already having some fun. At least you've got some people interested in you."
"How come you didn't join? The teachers won't care if you swap."
Rainbow looked to me before shrugging.
"Didn’t feel like switching."
"Everyone, listen up!"
Several dozen heads turned towards the source of the voice—an older, bespectacled professor with gelled hair and festive Tommy Bahama style button up holding a megaphone.
"If I could have all teams head to the back fields. Everyone to the back fields. Welcome to Olympics Day 2011!"
***
We found ourselves at one of ten tables—each one hosting a differently-colored team. The air was abuzz with discussions and shouts as students fraternized with fellow teammates and harassed nearby 'enemy' players with colorful euphemisms.
Our team leader was a spirited sophomore named Patrick—widely considered the 'big brother' of the high school due to his willingness to listen to others. Also because he was over 6 feet tall. He squinted at his team roster while simultaneously studying our faces.
"Alright! Let's take a look here. Ryan!"
Eric's far more modest (and successful) younger brother eyed Patrick with concern.
"Yes?"
"I'm giving you a nickname! You ready?!"
"No."
"Too bad! Your callsign is 'Lil Ho!' Sound good?"
Ryan laughed to himself. I shook my head in disbelief. While it was his last name, adding an adjective to it made it sound ridiculous.
"I guess so."
Patrick nodded before going down the list.
"Jackson!"
One of the football jocks and a junior. Also a close friend of Patrick and mine from our times of suffering together in middle school theater.
"Big Pat!"
"Your callsign is Michael! How copy, Michael?!"
Jackson failed to stifle his laugh before replying, "Roger that, Big Pat!"
"Kevin!"
Uh oh. My turn.
"Yeah?"
"Your callsign is 'Naka-Yes.' Got it?"
"Uhhh that's a solid copy, Big Pat."
He pointed at the girl standing between me and Rainbow—another senior like me. Student council vice president, Madison.
"Maddie!"
"Yeah, Big Pat," she giggled, unable to stay serious.
"Carry us with your vice-leaderly abilities! Callsign: Baddie!"
"Roger, Big Pat."
He pointed at Rainbow.
"You must be Rainbow Dash!"
She nodded eagerly. "Right you are, Big Pat."
"First, I wanna say welcome to Earth. And, welcome to Country Day. Finally, welcome to Blue Team. Your callsign is 'The Painbow!' How copy, Painbow?"
Rainbow shot me a 'get a load of this guy' glance before snapping a messy salute. Patrick hovered his hand over the middle of the table.
"Hands in! And hoof!"
Dutifully, we all put our hands in.
"'One Team, One Dream' on three! One, two—!"
We threw our hands in the air.
"One team, one dream!"
***
The dodgeball match wasn't going well. Down half of our team, only Rainbow, Patrick and Maddie remained.
The dodgeballs themselves were about coconut-sized and made of soft sponge. This made them easy to throw but notoriously difficult to catch—resulting in both me and Ryan fumbling our attempts to receive and knock out our opponents. Jackson had traded with another but had scored the only out on the enemy team—leaving them with five players.
"C'mon! It's me you want! All this Patrick but yall still can't hit this!" The large student danced about on our half of the hastily painted grass arena with a perfect combo of sass and confidence only Patrick could provide.
A ball flew at his feet, forcing him to jump away to avoid it. A second ball zipped at his upper body, forcing him to throw himself backwards. As he landed on his rear, the nail in his self-built coffin arrived—a third ball bouncing harmlessly off of his midriff.
A ragged cheer rang out from our opponents as Patrick walked off the field, still hollering his support for our remaining teammates.
"It's our turn! Give 'em a taste of our balls!"
"Nice one, Big Pat."
I crossed my arms as I watched our teammates collect the dodgeballs with mild interest. Now that our opponents had depleted their ammunition, we had time to work on an offensive plan.
To my surprise, it was Rainbow that took charge.
"Maddie, right? Throw one of those in the air for me."
Maddie did as she was told, lobbing one above the mare's head. Suddenly, Rainbow whirled on her hooves—positioning herself facing away from the enemy team. With a mighty kick, she bucked at the falling dodgeball with nearly-invisible speeds—one of the our opponents falling backwards from a ball striking their shoulder.
"Again!"
"R-right!"
Two more shots were fired and two more of the enemy fell—the score now even at 2-2. We roared our approval from the sidelines with each successful hit, surprised by the skillful display.
However, the ball was now in their court.
Three more balls were used in unison to knock out Maddie, leaving Rainbow alone.
Suddenly, another ball flew our from our opponents, narrowly missing Rainbow’s multicolored mane. We all looked over in shock as one of their team members arrived with a handful of dodgeballs "borrowed" from the large sack of them left unattended nearby.
"Why didn't we think of that," Patrick despaired as the other team dumped the sack onto their side.
"C'mon, GIVE THEM THE PAIN, PAINBOW," Patrick hollered, refusing to acknowledge the obvious disparity between sides.
The rest of us clapped and cheered enthusiastically, now completely invested in what was once a low-stakes game. Our opponents now palmed two dodgeballs each, preparing a conclusive salvo.
It was at this point that Rainbow spread her wings for the first time.
Two more dodgeballs soared towards her—one high, one low. The pegasus flapped her wings once, vanishing from her spot as she became airborne. Another ball was flung at her from below just as she flapped her wings again to change her direction of descent. A third ball accurately aimed at her flank fired from below only to have the mare dodge that one as well. For a few terrifying seconds, she zipped left, right, up and down as she avoided the deadly bombardment with style and finesse. The cheers fell quiet as it suddenly turned into an impressive aerial display.
As soon as the improvised salvo had started, it stopped—the lack of ammunition grinding our opponents' offensive to a halt. Rainbow landed swiftly, a slight show of strain visible on her face.
The entire group of spectators, regardless of team color, broke out into cheers.
Patrick stepped forward, his thumb held out Gladiator-style. Pointing it downwards, he cried out, "BRING THE PAINBOW!"
Rainbow glanced around at the balls at her hooves, looking uncertain. I suddenly realized her situation: She had no one to pitch it to her.
Suddenly, Maddie pointed to the side, yelling something inaudible. I followed her finger, spying an ousted enemy player rolling a dodgeball back to her team's side.
"Look out!"
Rainbow glanced over just in time to see the ball glancing off of her back hoof. It rolled to a stop in the grass just behind her as our opponents yelled out in unison.
A round of cheers and clapping exploded out from the opposing side as Rainbow approached us, head hanging low.
"Sorry, guys... I couldn't—!"
Patrick rushed forward and hugged her around the neck.
"YOU MADE US ALL PROUD, SOLDIER!"
Maddie jogged up, clapping happily.
"It was like that scene in the Matrix!"
Patrick mimed lowering a pair of sunglasses.
"You move like they do."
Ryan and Jackson smiled and patted her on the back, letting their expressions show their approval. I simply shook my head and clapped.
"Bravo, Rainbow Dash."
***
"Kevin? It's almost 10 o'clock."
I continued to pretend-read my copy of The Great Gatsby, sitting across from the fireplace. My mom rubbed my shoulder with concern.
"He said he would call us back after dinner."
"I know. But I think he's in bed by now."
"I'm gonna finish the required reading for tomorrow before I go to bed."
"You've been on that same page for awhile now."
"Slow reading. Gotta re-read some bits to—!"
"You need to sleep, Kevin."
Dog-earing the tattered book, I closed it before leaning back in my chair.
"Kevin? Come on. Time to go."
"I'll go in a minute."
I stared stubbornly at the vacant mirror for several more seconds. I heard my mom sigh before her retreating footsteps started back towards the hallway.
"Goodnight, Kevin."
Hearing her door close, I stared at the book on the table. My frustration simmered like a busy beehive at the back of my mind as I recalled his words. Having had only minutes to talk with Mom and Dad before having to leave, he promised to call me back after he ate dinner with his host family.
It seemed reasonable enough that he would remember he would want to talk to me.
He's too busy enjoying himself over there.
I inhaled sharply through my nostrils as my anger flared. I shook my head, glancing over at the mirror one last time.
Dropped. Flaked. Forgotten.
My frustration boiled over in that moment. Turning my back on the mirror, I stormed off to my room. Passing by Rainbow’s room, I heard her murmuring behind the door to her mirror. Hearing her happily talking to someone on the other side of it only made me want to walk faster.
Entering my room, I gently shut the door. I flopped onto my bed, hoping weariness would settle in soon.
It wouldn't be for another couple hours before my anger cooled enough to let me sleep.