//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: My Lil' Vinyl // by Count Paradox //------------------------------// The house stood on the edge of town, facing the wheat fields of a nearby farm. It wasn't a very large house, but it wasn't exactly small either; it consisted of one floor with three bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen and dining room, a front room, and a dual garage. In the back yard stood a little shed, a simple one in construction, made of a sheet metal roof and four wooden stilts to support it, and it contained an array of old gardening tools that had been left behind. In the front, a “FOR RENT” sign was stuck in the ground next to the road. And currently, the sign was being pulled out by a young man. Trent yanked the sign out of the ground, sticking it under his arm as he grabbed the keys to his new house out of his pocket. As he walked up to the front door, pushing his messy, blonde hair out of his eyes, he was met with a grin and was asked, “Well, how’s it feel?” He looked up from the keys in his hand and saw his best friend, Lewis, leaning up against his house next to the door. “How does what feel, dude?” He asked, smirking. “Aww, you know exactly what I'm talking about!” Lewis walked over to Trent and gave him a congratulatory slap on the back. “How’s it feel to finally own your first house, man?” Trent put the key into the lock and turned to Lewis, saying, “Oh, that.” He gave another smirk. “Well, it feels… nice.” Lewis punched him in the shoulder. “Okay, smart-flank,” he said. “No need to be like that, trying to get me all jealous and stuff.” They both laughed, and then he asked, “But, hey, where’s all your stuff, dude? Don't tell me your family kept it all!” Trent shook his head and replied, “Nope. I hired some movers to bring it all over for me yesterday. I just hope they set some of it up for me.” He opened the door and walked inside, followed by Lewis, who shut the door, and they walked into the living room. They stopped in their tracks, because there was no room to walk anymore, because the movers had left almost everything there. Boxes were stacked upon each other, a rug was leaned against the far wall, and a couch was buried under a mountain of boxes, bags, and other things. The only thing that the movers took to a different room was Trent’s bed, most likely because they had ran out of room in the living room, but they hadn't even set it in there nicely, just laying it all over the floor. Putting his hand to his face, Trent shook his head. “Well, it looks like I've got a lot of work to do…” “Well, hey,” Lewis said, laying a hand on Trent’s shoulder, “I can help you out if you want. I've got nothing to do today, so I can help you get things sorted out.” Lewis smiled, then clapped his hands together and asked, “Okay, where do we start?” Trent raised his eyebrows and said, "Really, man? Wow, you don't know how much I appreciate it, even though you really don't have to. Well, I guess we could start with..." For the next few hours, Trent and Lewis worked on getting things put away into cupboards and cabinets, hooking up the television and sound system, putting together his office room equipment, and getting Trent's bedroom in order. Finally, around four o'clock, Trent put away the last of his clothes into his dresser and flopped back onto his bed, shouting, "We're finally done with my house!" He grinned and pumped his fist in the air. Lewis walked in just then, telling Trent, "Not quite. We still have this last box." He carried a box with the word "ponies" scrawled on the side and dropped it on the bed. Trent sat right up, his eyes lighting up as he grinned even wider. “Oh, man, I can't believe I almost forgot about this stuff!” He slid the box over to him and pulled open the flaps on top. He began to then empty the contents onto the bed, one by one. He laid a plastic bag full of blind bag ponies, a binder full of cards and commissions that he had ordered, buttons, and a tee-shirt with his two favorite ponies on it, Vinyl Scratch and Octavia. Lewis looked over the procured items, impressed at the variety of things in the box. “Wow, man, you sure have a lot of stuff! I mean, not as much as me, but...” He wore a smug look on his face, which Trent ignored. “But anyways, why are you so excited about getting your pony stuff out?” Trent replied, “Well, for one thing, it's ponies,” and this elicited a nod from Lewis, “and for another, you know that my father never really accepted my bronydom, and I had to hide away most of my pony stuff from him. I was lucky enough to talk him into letting me order my Octavinyl shirt!” Lewis shook his head, sighing, saying, “Jeez, you'd think that at least your family would be a little more accepting than others...” He looked at the things on the bed again, and then noticed, “Lemme guess, your dad, also never let you buy your Vinyl and Octavia plushies that you wanted, am I right?” Trent laid back onto the bed, sighing. “Yeah, he thought that they were too “girly.” I tried arguing, begging, everything that I could think of to get him to let me buy at least even Vinyl! But he never listened to me!” He sat up, grabbed a pillow, and threw it across the room, knocking over his lamp, which landed on the floor. Lewis walked over, picked up the lamp, set it back up, and suggested, “Well, you don't live with him now, do you?” “No, why?” “Well, you should so totally get one now!” Trent sat up, saying, “Well, I would, but all of the money that I have right now is going to go to rent, if you don't remember, and a three-room house ain't cheap rent.” “Oh, right.” “And,” said Trent, standing up and walking to the door of the room, “Speaking of money, I have to go to the place where I make said money. And YOU, good sir, have to leave.” “Alright, alright, I'm going.” He got his keys out of his pocket and opened the front door. “I guess I'll see you tomorrow, dude. And don't worry about the plush, you'll eventually be able to buy one!” He waved to Trent, who waves back, and leaves. Half an hour later, Trent walks out of the front door, dressed for work, and looks at the sky, thinking “Man, it's a nice day today. I think I'll ride my motorcycle to work.” He walked over to his garage and opened it up, walking past his car and getting on his bike. He started it up and backed it out, closing the garage after him. He pulled out onto the street and took off towards his job. A few minutes later, he arrived at Wal-Mart, parking his bike as far away from the building as possible, getting off and jogging to the front door. As he passed one car, a voice called out, “Oh, hey there, Trent!” Trent stopped and looked around, finally noticing the girl standing next to the car he had just passed. The girl walked to Trent, smiling, her brown hair bobbing. Trent smiled and blushed a little bit, saying “Oh, h-hey Allison.” He started walking again, and Allison fell in-step beside him. “So, how are you today?” she walked along, carrying her jacket draped over her arm, smiling at Trent. “Oh, I'm fine, h-how about you?” Trent stuttered as he spoke. Being this close to Allison was hard for him, because he had a crush on her. But, she never seemed to notice even the most obvious signs, so that took a little bit of the pressure off. “I'm fine, thanks for asking!” They entered the front door and went towards the area with the time clocks. “I just can't wait until the work day is over!” Trent laughed, “But we haven't even started work yet!” “I know, but honestly, does anyone really like working here?” She laughed and put a hand on Trent's shoulder, which made him flinch. “But, hey, at least we only have a few hours to work today, right?” Trent nodded, quickly replying “Y-yeah, only three hours!” He looked at the time clock and saw someone standing there already. “Oh God, no...” He said as he slowed his walk. “Just ignore him Trent...” “I know, but...” “Don't pay attention to what he says.” “Well, Allison, it's kinda hard when he-” “Hey, look who it is!” The guy standing at the time clock turned and noticed Trent and Allison approaching. “It's the pretty and the pussy!” “Hello, Kendal...” Trent replied through clenched teeth. “So,” Kendal said, grinning, “Been watching more of your pretty pussy ponies?” Trent walked over to the time clock, not looking at Kendal as he replied, “Yes, I have been watching my show, and like I've told you before...” He finished clocking in and turned to Kendal, “If you've got a problem with it, you can kiss my ass.” Trent stared at him, seething. Kendal pretended like he didn't see this, turning and walking away, while saying, “I'm sorry, but I'll have to say no. I'm not like you.” “What the hell do you mean by that!?” Kendal turned back and flashed an evil grin, “I'm not gay.” He gave a loud laugh and walked away. Trent stood there, trembling, his face red with anger. He didn't notice Allison saying, “Trent, calm down. He just wanted to get a rise out of you.” He only realized that she was talking when she put her hand on his shoulder and said, “Trent, please calm down.” He took some deep breaths and calmed down, trembling less but still bright red in the face. He leaned up against the wall, putting his face in his hands. “I'm sorry you had to see that, Allison...” He sighed, “It's just, when he starts messing with me about that stuff, I just.. I just...” “I understand. He's like that with everyone, though.” She shook her head. “I don't know why he does stuff like that, it's really immature of him. But, like I tell people, they just need to ignore him.” “I know, but...” “Trent.” She stared into his eyes sternly, which made him feel a little uncomfortable. “You've GOT to ignore him. He's only going to keep doing it if you give him the satisfaction of a reaction. Ignore him, and he'll get bored and quit.” Trent sighed, “...Alright, I can give it a try.” “Good.” Allison smiled and looked at her phone for the time. “Oh, jeez, we're gonna be late if we don't head out to the check-outs. Well, I'll talk to you a bit later, bye!” She winked and walked off. Trent stood there for a minute, watching as she walked away, and finally started walking out to his lane, thinking about his previous conversations as he flipped his lane number on and started scanning. God, I hate that Kendal. But Allison is right, I just have to ignore him... “Hey.” It's hard to do that, though... He just gets under my skin so easily... “Hey.” But, you know what? I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna try and ignore him as best I can. And who knows, maybe if I do that and show I can be mature and tough, then Allison might... “Hey, Trent!” Trent finally snapped out of his train of thought, looking around to find who called to him. A finger tapped his shoulder, and he turned around, seeing a co-worker staring at him. The guy was rather new, and Trent had just found out that he was a brony, too. “Oh. Hey Mike, what's up?” “Dude, it's clocking out time.” Mike pointed to the clock, which read 10:03 pm. “Are you okay, man? You were zoning out for your entire shift...” Trent stared at the clock, and couldn't believe that he had daydreamed that entire time. “Lemme guess, you were thinking about that one girl, what's her name...Allison! You were thinking about her again, weren't you?” Trent blushed and stuttered. “I-I was not! I was...was thinking about ponies!” “Uh-huh, yeah right.” Mike rolled his eyes as they walked towards the time clocks. “But, anyways, speaking of ponies, are you gonna be on the RP tonight?” “Huh?” “The Role Play, dude. Y'know, the one we're part of on the forums? MLP Forums, remember?” He asked as he clocked out. “Oh, yeah...” Trent nodded as he began to clock out, “I'll try and get on there sometime tonight.” “Alright, cool. Well, I'll talk to ya later, bye!” “Yeah, see ya.” Trent waved as Mike walked away, and then turned and finished clocking out. As he started to head out and turned a corner, he nearly ran into Allison. “Oh, s-sorry, Allison.” She bent over and picked up her phone, which she dropped when Trent startled her. “It's alright, Trent. It's my fault, too, texting while walking.” She smiled at him. “Hey, walk and talk with me, okay? It seemed like you were kinda distracted while you worked today. You alright?” “Yeah, yeah, I'm okay. I was just thinking about my ponies.” He lied. Allison didn't notice the lie and said, “Well, you must have been thinking about them pretty dang hard since Mike had to tell you it was time to leave.” “Well, I was just, um, thinking of my favorite episodes and stuff like that...” He fidgeted with the keys in his pocket as he spoke, eager to try and get away from the embarrassing conversation. Just then, a low rumble of thunder shook through the building. Shortly after, the light drumming of rain started on the roof. “Aw, shit!” Trent ran to the front door as he heard the rain intensify, and stared out at it, pounding against the street. “Great! Juuust Great! NOW how am I gonna make it home!?” Allison walked up beside him and asked, “Let me guess, did you ride your motorcycle to work today?” “Yes,” Trent sighed, “It was really nice out when I left the house... I guess I'm gonna have to ride home in the rain.” “Well,” Allison turned to Trent. “I could always give you a ride home if you would like. It would be no trouble to me at all.” Trent quickly shook his head. “No, I, uh, need to get my bike home so that it won't rust. But thanks for the offer!” He walked out of the door and started jogging through the rain, leaving Allison in the dry entryway. Why the hell didn't I take her offer!? Stupid, stupid, stupid! He thought as he got to his bike and got on. Well, I guess it's better like this. It's less awkward. For me, at least. He revved his engine and drove off into the stormy night. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Heh, sorry for the MLP Forums plug that I added, I asked a friend if he wanted to be in the story, and that's the only way that I could really think to add him.