I woke from the oddly comfortable couch around 8 AM the next morning, the house being incredibly well organized, a busy Twilight moving books in and out of the bookshelves that surrounded all four of the walls of the house. With this rest, I finally had time to reassess my situation. I was in a strange and foriegn land, no recollection of my home, being taken care of by six high school age girls, all who had very distinct and almost polar opposite personalities. It baffled me how these people could be friends. There's the nerd, the bubbly one, the fashionista, the sporty one, the shy one, and. . . the country one. . . I giggled at the thought of her face. I immediately threw it out, though. After all, I had just recently broken up with my first ex-girlfriend, and I couldn't just go off to her like that! Besides, what if she wasn't all she seemed? I had made a promise that I wouldn't deal with love any more, why was I thinking so much about it now?! More importantly, why was I thinking about it at a time like this! I have to get home!
"Oh, you're awake! Hi Joseph!" Twilight giggled, putting a few books down on a nearby table, wiping the sweat from her forehead.
"Hey Tina." I said shyly. "Last night sure was. . . weird."
"Heh, don't worry, we'll help you! See all of these books? I'm sure we can find SOMETHING that can make you remember home! Besides, I have a little helper that helps me every day! He's young, but he's so dedicated to helping me! He'll be sure to find something!" She stated happily. She had a bright sense of radiance to her voice, a sort of nerdy charm. She seemed like quite a normal person, not the type to spend all of her time working with books in the deep darkness of her tiny little home (that seemed more like a library than anything else).
"Helper?" I asked curiously.
"Yeah, his name is Spencer! I call him Spike, though! I've known him ever since he was born!" Twilight stated. She seemed like she wanted to say more, but she calmly stopped herself before making any other statements.
"Oh, that's cool. Is he a brother or a family friend?" I asked her.
"Ah! Yes! A friend! Family friend!" Twilight exclaimed, forcing a smile. I knew she was lying. However, I could tell that it probably wasn't the greatest idea to ask about this Spencer person. It seemed as if he had a very dark past, a past that Twilight didn't seem to want to share.
I stared at her for a bit, thinking of how to turn the conversation away from Spencer's past. Although I wasn't very good at social situations, I could at least tell when someone really doesn't want to talk about something, and this was definitely one of those times. "So, you said he was coming soon?" I asked her, hoping that it was the right thing to say.
"Why yes! In fact. . . " Twilight stared down at her watch, moving one of her fingers in time to what seemed like seconds. "3. . . 2. . .1. . ." As if like clockwork, the doorbell rang. "COMING!" she yelled out, walking away from me to open the door.
I looked down at myself. I hadn't even though to look at my body during this entire experience. I could have been naked, and I probably wouldn't have noticed until someone told me. Luckily for everyone, though, I wasn't. Currently, I was covered with a maroon blanket with a small logo on the front. I moved my head up to see that the logo was from the Carousel Boutique. As much as my body resisted, I moved the blanket to the side to reveal my body, shivering with the sudden coolness of the air. I was wearing nothing special, just my senior jacket and a pair of jeans. My sho-
Senior jacket?! Don't senior jackets usually have names on them?! I looked down sharply, and took a look at my sweater. This definitely brought memories back, of my homeland. I remember a friend of mine, his name was. . . a name. Anyways he was, complaining about how the jackets did not have our school's name on it. I sighed, loathing the person in ASB who decided to not put our school's name on it. Before I could explore myself more, Twilight walked in with a small boy of around ten years of age, wearing a purple jacket, purple shorts, and purple shoes. He was holding Twilight's hand with one hand, and was using the other to play around with his full green hair.
"Spencer, this is my friend Joseph." Twilight stated in a motherly voice. If Twilight weren't so young, I would have assumed just by the voice that Spencer was her son.
"Hi! I'm Spencer, but you can call me Spike!" He stated happily, outstretching his hand. His voice had a sort of raspiness to it, as if in the transition of his voice reaching a man's tone. I stared at him for a few seconds, his dopey smile and his outstretched hand. What he had failed to realize was that the couch was on the other side of the decently sized room, and I could not reach it from the couch that I was at. I couldn't remember my home, but I could at least remember that I hated getting out of bed. Twilight shot me a glare that struck deep into my soul, motioning to get out of bed and shake his hand. I obliged immediately to her silent message and walked rather awkwardly to Spike, and shook his small hand.
"He walks funny! I like you! What's your name?" Spike immediately blurted out before I could introduce myself. Twilight and I both giggled happily. He was just the cutest thing.
"Ah, well I'm Joseph. I don't know where I'm from, but I'm staying with Tina and her friends for a little bit." I shyly stated. His happiness and cuteness intimidated me. He was either the purest child that I would ever meet, or one of the most manipulative. I didn't feel evil from him, though, and I pushed the thought out of my head. I was overthinking things way more than I should. But I have reason, right? After all, I don't know this town very well! What if this is some town where the feminist regime takes men when they turn 18 and sacrifice them to their leader? Spike had been the first guy I had met in this entire town! I had to be extremely careful and not too trusting if I were to survive this. . . but they all seemed so nice and willing to help. . .
"Spike, I have a special mission for you today! Find as many books as you can about history of counties outside of Equestria! Probably ones that speak English!" Twilight told Spike, caringly. "I'll be back home in a few hours, I'm going to go show Joseph around."
"Allright, Twilight!" Spike retorted happily as he skipped towards the shelves of books farthest away from the door.
"Now, shall we?" Twilight asked, holding out her hand. I almost about panicked. I had never been comfortable with girls at all, or holding hands. I could remember in PE. . . PE in. . . somewhere school somewhere, I would get nervous holding hands with people when we had to do certain activities. Even in high school, it took so long for me to build the confidence to hold my ex's hand! I had to think fast. . . what if I scared her, what if she thought I was creepy, my palms getting sweaty as I held hers, my fingers nervously moving and squeezing against her hand. . . I held her hand as softly as possible. I could feel my face heating up, my mouth trembling slightly. I don't know, she was kind of cute, but I wasn't nervous because I liked her like that or anything, I just didn't want her to think I was creepy!
She lead me outside, and I finally was able to see the town for the first time. Most of yesterday had been filled with unfocus and confusedness, and I couldn't appreciate the town for what it was. It was a small town, smaller than any that I had ever been to. I saw no big corporations, but rather people walking to and from small businesses, seemingly ran by families.
"Do you remember anything about home, Joseph?" Twilight asked. "I mean, not like, a name, but do you remember what you did all of the time?"
"Um. . . " I pondered on this. I wasn't much of a social butterfly. I was active in school and was always out of the house, but I never went to hang out with friends. "I was thinking we could. . . just walk around and see what I can find." I answered.
"Oh, allright then! I know just about every building in this town, so be sure to ask me if you have any questions." Twilight stated. Her and I walked in completely opposite directions, stopping once we realized that we were holding each other's hands. I blushed harder than I already was. "Lead the way!" she stated. I could barely see it, but I noticed a little blush. I wasn't sure if that was a blush of embarrassment for pulling on my arm and not letting me lead, or. . . something else. . .
I walked slowly around the town. Her house seemed to be dead in the center of a cul de sac, filled with stores. I read them off in my head as we walked around. I noticed a flower store, with three teenage girls hanging out by the front door, one of them holding a watering can. I looked at the flowers, hoping that maybe I would remember something about home. I remembered something, alright, but it was that I was never one for nature and could never even remember holding a real flower. I sighed and stared at Twilight.
"You know, I wish I could remember home. Not saying this place is bad or anything, but don't you just hate it when you forget something and try to remember it, but can't?" I asked Twilight, giving a heavy sigh afterwards.
"Oh yeah! I know what you mean! Like, I remember this one time. . ." She rambled on about how she had a test at school and she was trying to remember the volume of her encyclopedia that she learned about. . . something. She found out that it was. . . somewhere. I hadn't been paying much attention to her, though, I was too busy looking at all of the stores and trying to find something out about home, or at least something that sparked my interest.
"Ah! Tina!" A regal voice called from behind us.
"Victoria! Hey there!" Twilight called out, turning behind her, recognizing the voice. "I'm taking Joseph along to see the town!"
"Oh well that's just fabulous! You can show him my store later!" Rarity stated. "Carousel Boutique!"
"I'll be sure to do that! Aren't you supposed to be there, though?" Twilight asked inquisitively.
"Oh, yes, but I just HAD to get supplies for school clothes! I want to be the grandest person in the entire school on the first day! Granted, I already am, but I have to outdo myself!" She stated with an odd sense of determination.
"We wear uniforms." Twilight bluntly sighed.
"Still, darling, you can make a uniform look fabulous! I can't tell you any of my secrets, though! If you'd like, I'd just LOVE for you to come down and we can work on prettying up your uniform too!" Rarity giggled.
"I'll pass. But thanks for the offer. I shouldn't keep you waiting, though, you should go! I'll talk to you later!" Twilight replied. I could tell that she had no intentions to go to the boutique or pretty up her design. However, it seems like a pretty nice place, and Rar-. . . Victoria seemed like a very nice person (these nicknames were going to annoy me to no end). She was awful pretty too, so it might be worth my time to get to know her.
"Ah, yes, I must spend time on this! Farewell, darlings!" Rarity giggled as she walked hastily towards her home. She was the only person I think I would ever meet that could walk so fast in such high heels and not trip.
"That Rarity sure is something, right? heh" Twilight giggled, staring at me.
"Yup." I said apathetically.
"But she DID remind me! We need to get you signed up for school! How could I forget! School starts tomorrow! How did I forget, this is just terrible!" Twilight walked around in circles, letting go of my hand to place them both on her forehead. "I'm so stupid, aren't I! Come on!" Twilight grabbed my hand and sprinted towards the school, forcing me to sprint to keep up with her. It was at this moment that I remembered what I hated most. Running.
We arrived at the school after roughly 2 minutes of sprinting through town, my only focus being to not fall and kill myself. When we arrived, I panted heavily, almost falling to the floor.
"D. . . Dammit, Tina. . . are you part. . . of the track team. . . or something?" I managed to breathe out during heavy pants.
"No, I just had to get here as fast as possible! After all, school is the most important building in all of town!" Twilight stated boldly, not seeming to be tired at all. "Now come on, let's go inside!" she grabbed my hand and walked (thank goodness) with me into the main office.
"Miss Hamilton, so nice to see you!" The receptionist stated.
"Hello, Mrs. Twombly. I'm here to register my friend Joseph for school! He's new in town." Twilight stated happily.
"Ah." There was a moment of silence. "Just get his parents to fill out this form and turn it back in ASAP." she stated, adding a sort of emphasis on ASAP. She seemed just as bland and uninterested as any secretary that I had ever met.
There was a slight moment of silence, once again, as Twilight stared at me. "He doesn't have parents. Or at least, he doesn't know where they are. I found him lying on the road and took him in!" Twilight stated, looking back at Mrs. Twombly.
"Ah. Well then take it to his guardian" Mrs. Twombly scoffed. She didn't seem like a very nice person at all.
"I'm his guardian." Twilight replied apathetically.
"I see. Well in that case" she pulled the papers away. "I can't let you register him. The school requires that a parent or guardian above eighteen years of age register him."
"Bu-"
"Those are the rules."
Twilight sighed and stared at me. I honestly didn't really care, school wasn't my top priority at the moment. My mind was still filled with the desire to return home, to leave this place. . . not that it was a bad place or anything, I just knew that my family was probably worried about me. I hope.
"REGINA!" A booming voice called out from behind a closed door. The door opened and a largely built man, his mouth almost nonexistant from his dark black beard, walked towards the receptionist. "I need you to make an announcement that the Jazz Band is looking for another trombone player! Anybody who is willing to learn can come in!" He stated. She silently nodded and wrote the message on a sticky note.
"Sir. . . I don't go here. . . but I can play trombone." I shyly stated.
"You don't go here? Where do you go, chap?" The man asked.
"Um. . . I don't go anywhere. . ." I folded my arms to block my jacket in embarrassment. "I kind of just moved here. . . I don't know where my parents are, and my guardian is Tina over here. I just tried to apply for the school but I can't." I explained.
"You sound so nervous, kid! Don't be!" The man replied.
"Oh, I have a speech impediment. I'm not scared or anything!" I hastily stated. While it was true that I had a speech impediment, I was actually scared out of my mind. Band directors weren't always the nicest of people, and I wasn't even entirely sure what I was doing. I was probably just spiting in his face something like "Hah, I can play this instrument, but I can't join your band!"
"I see. . . " The man stared at me and thought for a bit. "Follow me. You too, Tina."
Nervous and confused, I followed the strange man, with Twilight following behind me. I wasn't really sure what I was getting myself into. Like, sure, he just mentioned the Jazz Band and all, but I didn't know this place that well! Mrs. Twombly didn't seem like she cared that much about my safety either, so I had to follow this man with fight or flight senses, sprinting at any sign of danger. He lead us into a single room with double doors. We entered to see sound proofing covering all four of the walls. Either this was the band room or this was put in place to block out my screams of torture.
"You said you play trombone, right?" He asked me.
"Yeah. I also play Tuba, Euphonium, Bassoon, and I can kind of play trumpet and french horn. I'm do- I mean, I'm also interested in learning a few other instruments, like Oboe, Tenor Sax, Bari Sax. . . oh, and I can play Timpani and Chimes and stuff like that" I explained to him, stating a seemingly prepared speech to him. I always enjoyed telling others the things that I could do. Not in a cocky way or anything, just that I enjoyed sharing the skills that I worked so hard to achieve.
"Hm." He stated in a muffled tone. "Well, go into my office, and there's a Bass Trombone there. There's a mouthpiece in there, all cleaned up and stuff, Schilke 60."
Yes! Schilke 60! That was my favorite Bass Trombone mouthpiece! I walked into the office and saw the case, already opened, a shiny Yamaha YBL-830 sitting on the desk. It had obviously been used, but still, this was a nice instrument! I hastily set it up and returned to the band room, where I noticed a stool and a music stand sitting where I previously was. Tina had pulled up a chair and sat quietly, eager to see how well I played. Damn, I hated audiences. I wasn't much of a solo player, personally. That's why I played Tuba, they were the bass of the band, but few people would write a song where the tuba is the melody or anything.
I sat down on the stool and stared at the music. There were a variety of songs I had never heard of sitting in the folder, some seeming about the level that I remember playing at, and some even harder.
"Now. . . um. . . pull out the song Count Bubba."
Count Bubba. My heart almost jumped at the mention of that name. Quite easily one of my most favorite songs that I played in high school. I scavenged through the folder and saw the song, immediately pulling out all three pages towards the front.
"I want you to play the soli section." I'm surprised he didn't give me time to warm up or anything. I had no idea how I'd sound on this instrument. Would it be muffled nothingness or would it be a rich bass tone?
"Sir. . . could I warm up for a bit first?" I asked shyly.
"Oh! How could I have forgotten? Sure!" He replied.
I sighed to relax myself. This guy was going to put just about anybody in the band. I didn't go to the school, but still, it was nice that I got to play an instrument after so long. I placed the mouthpiece towards my chops and. . .
Yes! This tone was pretty good! Granted, not amazing, but it was rich, supported, and didn't sound all that bad! The best part was. . . I could go louder. It was time to unleash the pedals.
"Oh man. . ." I could hear the man sigh as I unleashed a pedal Bb at about a Forte level. I looked straight into his face, and saw an incredibly smile coming from it. "Go ahead, whenever you're ready!"
Oh, I was ready. I pulled up the song, snapped a relative tempo, and before I knew it, was playing Count Bubba. Granted, it wasn't the same without the rest of the trombone section, but either way, I kept on pulsing on. I finished the soli section, and was lead with a trembling roar of laughter and an earthshattering applause.
"I love it! I love it I love it I love it!" he roared. I could hear Tina nearby, also clapping and cheering. "Now, come. . . Joseph, was it? I'll put the instrument away, please follow me back to the office."
I happily followed his path, and noticed Tina following behind me. I held out my hand, and she happily grabbed it. What was I doing?! Happiness. . . happiness like this sure did outweigh fear, I guess. I'm not entirely sure why I did what I did. . . but it felt nice, having a friend there to watch my successes, especially someone so much successful as herself.
"REGINA!" His voice boomed as he entered the office. "I'll sign this kid's papers. Get him a schedule. You do APs, kid?"
"Um. . ." I stuttered.
"You know, like, Advanced Placement classes? Like, honors?" Twilight asked. I suddenly remembered school again.
"Yeah, kind of. I think I remember my schedule from my old school. . . I had Physics. . . AP Government. . . Jazz Band. . . AP English. . . and uuum. . . I had Calculus, but I dropped it, and I forget one of my classes." I stated, my head in the air trying to remember my school life.
"Allright. . . " Mrs. Twombly sighed as she put in my information for a schedule while the strange large man and I worked together to fill out my papers.
We worked for about five minutes before finishing the information. We asked Tina to be my medical contact in case of an emergency. Mrs. Twombly fought to uphold the rules, but this man had such a presence that she had no choice but to oblige. After finishing, Mrs. Twombly took the paper and reviewed the information.
". . . Last name?" she scoffed.
"Last name?" I asked. She rolled her eyes.
"Hamilton." Twilight stated. "Joseph Hamilton." Mrs. Twombly silently filled out the information and handed me a schedule.
I wanted to say something, but I knew to keep my mouth shut. After all, I get to play an instrument! I had no reason to take that away by saying something so silly!
"Sir. . . if I may ask. . . what is your name?" I asked the large man that had pretty much saved my life.
"I'm Mr. Acevedo, Director of Bands!" He stated happily. Acevedo. . . a name that I'd remember. . . and that sounded so familiar to me for some reason.
"Thank you. Thank you Mr. Acevedo" I stated solemnly.
"Don't mention it! Hey, we have a Wind Ensemble and Winter Drumline too, would you like to join?" He asked me, a beam of eagerness shooting through his eyes.
"PSSHAAW! I-I-I mean. . . y-yeah." I replied entusiastically. Today was just getting better and better.
By the end of the ordeal, walking back to the band room, playing on a few more instruments, I secured a spot playing Tuba for the school's Wind Ensemble (chairs would be determined later) and the Bass V spot on the schools Winter Drumline. I thanked him immensely for all that he had put in for me, and Twilight and I left to return home. The sky was a darkening blue, as night approached us.
"SQUEE! Joseph, I'm so happy!" Twilight giggled, hugging me happily, her leg kicking up behind her as she did so.
"I'm happy too!" I replied, being legitimately happy and not so confused for once, almost forgetting about the situation at hand. "But this schedule SUCKS!" I groaned as I showed her my schedule:
JOSEPH HAMILTON:
1. AP English - Dodswell
2. AP Government - McFerguson
3. Jazz Band I - Acevedo
4. Physics - Martinez
5. Drama - Webber
6. AP Music Theory - Acevedo
"EEP! You have AP English first period?! So do I!" Twilight giggled as she jumped up and down estatically. School was really important to her, I guess. "Let's see. . . I don't remember everyone else's schedules, but I hope you get to see them too!"
"I hope so too. . . One thing, though. . . Hamilton?" I asked her, nervous to ask.
"Oh! Well. . . I had to come up with something! Besides, I'm taking care of you, right? I can be like your mom!" She replied, a sense of nervousness in her voice.
"Oh. . . well, can you be my sister, then? Being my mom would be hella awkward." I replied casually, frightening myself with how well I dealt with the situation. I guess I felt relieved, I was so scared she would freak out or just do something crazy.
"Oh! Yes, sister, of course! Now come on, 'bro', let's go home!" She happily giggled.
Bro. . . it felt nice. I was something to someone. I couldn't remember much of my family, and even though this was only pretend, it still filled me with happiness to be considered a brother to someone. I've never had a sister, and Twilight seemed like the perfect person to be a brother to. She was so kind and caring, so willing to help me with whatever I needed, so smart. . . Granted, it was all pretend, like a group of friends saying that they're family or something. I held my "sister"'s hand and we walked home together. When we came home, Spike was laying on the couch, sleeping.
"Heh, guess we got home a bit late, didn't we!" She expressed quietly. She walked over to Spike and pet his head. "Spencer. Speeencer. . . you gotta get back home! They should be expecting you soon."
Spike shot up, realizing his tardiness. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I wasn't able to find much, I just got so tired that I fell asleep! I'm sorry!" Spike nervously cried.
"Shh shh, there there. . . It's fine, Spencer, just get home. We have lots of time to look for his home." Twilight calmly replied. She gave Spike a hug and sent him on his way. "As for you, you need to sleep early! You can't stay up late and do well on your first day of school!"
I sighed. I never liked sleeping early anyways, it was still so bright and I could do so much. However. . . sleep would be nice. I could finally think things through once again in my sleep. I laid down on the couch and grabbed the blanket that Spike was using earlier. I laid and stared at the ceiling, wondering about my fate. I wasn't very alarmed by any of this at all, for some reason. Granted, I was never really close with my family, but shouldn't the average person have been scared by this?! I am a natually apathetic person, but still! Why wasn't I screaming and looking for the police? Why wasn't I trying to hard to get back home?! Before I could ponder on these questions, the sweet arms of darkness took me into its abyss.