“Sweet Celestia’s pearly white flank, did you see his head explode?!”
“Yes Vinyl,” I sighed, “I’m the one who shot him.” It was the next morning and I was killing time with video games as usual, Resident Evil 4 in this case. I have to admit, I was a bit worried I’d end up freaking out Vinyl with some of the more disturbing stuff but she took it all in stride. Turns out Equestria isn’t the sheltered haven I figured it for, which was admittedly a bit shallow but what was I supposed to think when the best description I got of the place was “It's a world full of colorful, talking, magic ponies?”
“Who comes up with this stuff?” She asked.
“Someone with an imagination much more twisted than mine,” I replied
“Said the aspiring writer.”
“Ouch, low blow.” We both laughed, although my laughter was cut short by an extremely annoyed villager with a chainsaw.
“Buck, betcha that hurt,” Vinyl said.
“Not even Leon's fabulous hair could save him,” I added. This earned another round of laughter from Vinyl. Across the room, my phone began blaring “One Inch Punch” signaling an incoming call. I hoisted myself up and grabbed it from the counter. It was Jared, one of my few High School friends I still kept in touch with. He was a MP with the Navy, which is to say he was a glorified security guard.
“Hey!” I said, answering the call.
“Hey man, how ya doin?” He replied.
“Not bad, just settled in at my new flat.”
“You seem up-beat, all things considered.”
“You mean me and Bailey? We’re just on a break.” He didn’t respond right away.
“When’s the last time you checked her Facebook?”
“I don’t stalk her, besides she threw a hissy fit when I got upset about her telling me she wanted a break through a text message at four in the morning and blocked me… Why?”
“Well… It says here, she’s dating another guy.” My stomach dropped clean through the floor.
“Bullshit.”
“Dude, I would not screw with you on this, I swear.”
“Yeah I… Thanks for telling me, I owe you.” My natural failsafe was kicking in: shut down all emotions and don’t shoot the messenger.
“You ok? Is there something-” I cut him off.
“No I’m not ok but there’s nothing you can do… I gotta go. Good hearing from you. You should call more.”
“Phones work both ways you know.” I actually laughed, although it sounded bitter.
“You’re the one with the crazy hours bro.”
“Good point. I’ll check back in tomorrow about the same time.”
“Thanks, talk to you then.”
“Peace,” then we hung up. I turned around to find Vinyl staring at me with huge magenta eyes, her shades pushed up on her forehead.
“Everything ok?” She asked hesitantly.
“Nope,” I replied flatly and moved to the fridge to grab a coke. “I just found out through a friend that my girlfriend, sorry EX-girlfriend, has left me for another man after five years of dating.” I popped the tab and drained it in one go.
“Oh… Uh,” she started.
“No, you don’t have to say anything just,” I paused for a moment, “I’m gonna grab a shower and sort my head out then we’re heading to campus to pick our up books and stuff.”
“Ignore the problem and hope it goes away?”
“For now, just so I can function.” I stepped into the bathroom and turned on the shower. I stripped down and double checked the water temperature before stepping in.
All at once my emotions hit me square in the chest and standing there, in the embrace of the cascading water, I fell to pieces. My head swam at the suddenness of the news. My blood boiled at her betrayal. She had told me she was coming back to me. She had told me there was no one else. She had broken my heart. She had been my first love, my first kiss, my first lover, just as I had been hers. And now she was gone.
At some point in my spiraling decent into madness I ended up curled into a fetal position on the floor of the shower. When I realized where I was I reached out and killed the hot water, letting the shock of the cold bring me back to my senses. The effect was nearly instantaneous. Every muscle in my body retracted before self-preservation sent me into convulsions. Unfortunately my face also involuntarily scrunched up effectively blinding me so I couldn’t find the other valve to shut the cold water off. I pulled the shower door open and half crawled, half rolled out from under the frigid streams and onto the bathroom floor.
“G-g-god I’m p-p-p-pathetic.” I stuttered to myself, still shivering. As I gathered myself Vinyl knocked on the door.
“You ok in there?” She asked through the door.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just… dropped something, that’s all.” The answer must have satisfied her because she didn’t respond. I dried myself and threw the towel across the floor before donning my robe and emerging from the bathroom. “How long was I in there?”
“Bout an hour,” Vinyl replied.
“Damn,” I muttered, “I’ll get dressed.” One plain t-shirt and pair of jean shorts later I returned to the den to find Vinyl sitting on the sofa with her saddlebags on.
“Ready?” She asked. I grabbed my phone from the counter and slid my sandals on before nodding to her.
Our flat was just up the road from the campus so it only took about five minutes to reach the bookstore. I noticed Vinyl caught a few odd glances on the way but it didn’t seem to bother her, in fact, I think she may have enjoyed the attention. For the first time in my life the system had worked to my advantage and our books were waiting for us. After we picked them up we decided to grab lunch.
We found a small local café just outside of campus. After placing out orders, Vinyl surprised me yet again.
“All right, talk to me.” She said.
“Vinyl, you don’t have to-” I started, but she cut me off.
“I know I don’t have to, but you need to talk.”
“Look, I have a bad habit of emotionally dumping on anyone who sits still long enough. I’m not doing that to you. If you wanna help me, then just be a friend and help me forget her for now.”
“You can’t just avoid it forever you know.”
“Yeah, but right now I need to focus on school. She broke my heart, but she won’t ruin my life.”
“Atta boy,” She grinned. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“I don’t get you.” I said.
“How can you? You don’t know me.” She still had that grin.
“That’s what I don’t get. Why are you so insistent on helping me?”
“Maybe it’s because I have to live with you?”
“Come on, be straight with me.” Her grin fell into a sincere smile.
“It’s your eyes.” She said simply. “They remind me of hers.”
“Hers?”
“Octavia, the day we met, she was hurting as well. Not for the same reasons mind you, but the pain was there.”
“I take it she means a lot to you.”
“Oh yeah, but that’s a story for another time, the grub’s here!” Sure enough the waitress was headed our way.
This semester really is going to be interesting.