Grade seven's going to be the best year yet! Cheerilee thought to herself as she trotted through the sunny streets.
She'd done what she usually did for the first day of school---wake up early and spend two and a half hours styling her mane so it looked like she just rolled out of bed, much to her parents' consternation. Another half-hour in the bathroom to put on concealer and lip gloss, the only makeup her mother would allow. Then she'd listen indulgently as her father scolded her on her appearance over breakfast, only to silence him with a peck on the cheek as she waltzed out the door.
The small school was already looming on the horizon, and Cheerilee picked up her pace. She couldn't be late on the first day! She had to make a good impression, especially now that her family had finally settled somewhere. No more facing a new town every six months---no, they were going to stay in Ponyville for a good long while, her parents had assured her, which meant that she could finally make some fast friends instead of just pen pals.
And it also means you can't just make a mistake and leave it behind you anymore, her mother's nagging voice echoed in her head.
She was at the front gates before she knew it. Good, no broken glass, no graffiti, no sketchy older ponies sucking on cigarettes lingering out front---this place was already better than the last three cities she'd lived in.
A quick scan of the schoolyard, and Cheerilee could pick out most of the cliques: the cluster of overly-painted fillies giggling priggishly to each other---she made a mental note to avoid them---the jocks and their predictable game of hoofball down on the field, the moping crowd who had just discovered angst and eyeliner, and a few knots of nerds here and there. No matter where she went, the flora and fauna of junior high always stayed the same. She knew what to do: find the rag-tag group that were friends with each other only because they fit in nowhere else, and get to know them better.
But before she got to that, somepony caught her eye. A large, lanky colt who looked like he hadn't quite grown into his limbs was sitting by himself under the shade of a tree, poring over a book that looked too battered and well-loved to have been on the curriculum. Although he seemed content to be by himself, he would offer a smile and nod to a few of the passers-by. Her interest was piqued. He had a kind of rugged handsomeness to him, even though he was wearing a yoke that looked a few sizes too big, and his mane and tail had obviously never seen a stylist. She felt her cheeks heat up a bit. Having been shuffled from big city to big city, it had been awhile since she'd spoken with a real country boy.
Cheerilee put on her mega-watt smile---the one she'd been practicing in the mirror ever since she got fitted with those damnable braces---and trotted over to him. Why not? she thought. Nopony reads a dusty old tome like that unless he's smart, which means he's gotta be interesting.... and it doesn't hurt that he's cute, too!
When her shadow fell over the pages, the colt looked up in surprise.
"Hi!" she said brightly.
He looked over his shoulder, and, seeing no one there, turned his attention back to her. He pointed at himself with a confused expression.
"Yes, you! Mind if I join you?"
"Uh... n-nope," he mumbled, closing his book.
She flopped down beside him, not touching, but just close enough that she could feel the warmth of his body. "So! I know you're, like, reading and all, and it's totally rude to interrupt, so I'm not gonna bug you for too long."
One of the things her father always admonished her for was to stop 'chattering' and let other ponies have a turn at the conversation, so Cheerilee paused, waiting for the colt to say something.
Anything.
After a few long seconds, she went on: "Anyway, I'm new here! I just moved to Ponyville a week ago. It seems like a really great place!"
"Eeyup."
Ooh, his voice had already changed! Nice. Not even a hint of a squeak. "But with all the moving and unpacking and stuff, I haven't even had the chance to take a tour of the school yet. I think I might get lost. Is it really big?"
"Nope."
"Oh! Ohmigosh, where are my manners?" She offered her hoof, and after a moment, he took it with a tiny smile. "I should have introduced myself first! Duh. I'm Cheerilee."
He shook her hoof, and she tilted her head forward a bit. Her smile was starting to feel tight. Okay, sweetie, this is the part where you tell me YOUR name...
When it became abundantly clear that wasn't going to happen, she started to get the first pricklings of nervousness in her gut. "Um... so, heh, do ponies ever call you 'Red'?"
He just raised an eyebrow.
"Y'know, because of you coat colour!"
When he frowned in confusion, the pinch in her belly tightened to a full-blown knot. What am I doing wrong? Did I forget to put deodorant on this morning or something? "Uh... well, it's just... the fillies at my old school used to call me Pink because of my mane, but, I mean, who wants to be named after a colour, right? Lame!"
"Eeyup," he said, but he was starting to look as uncomfortable as she was.
Cheerilee bit her lip. She knew some colts her age were awkward around pretty fillies, but with her metal-mouth and frizzy mane, she didn't think herself to be that intimidating.
"Are you new here, too?"
"Nope."
Oookay. If she was going to have a proper conversation with this colt, she was apparently going to have to ask something that didn't have a yes or no answer.
Keep him interested! Ask him about himself... "So, what're you reading there?"
He just held the book up.
"'Music of the Primes'," she read aloud, "'Searching to Solve the Greatest Mystery in Mathematics'. Wow. Sounds like a real page-turner."
"Eeyup."
Her first reaction was to inform him of her sarcasm, but she quickly decided against it. "Okay, then. Um. I'll just let you get back to your reading."
The shrill of the bell made her jump; she hadn't realized quite how tense she'd become. Getting back to her hooves, Cheerilee put her smile back on and said "Well, nice talking with you, Red. See ya around!"
The fact that a blush could show up under his coat colour surprised her, and he turned his head to the side. That's when her ears perked up in excitement---she couldn't read lips, but she'd seen them move! He'd just said what looked like a sentence!
"Sorry, did you say something?"
"Eeyup," he said, still looking away. "Bye."
She managed to get out of earshot before sighing.
"We have a new student with us today."
Cheerilee sat up straighter. The few minutes she'd spent in the bathroom making sure her hair still looked okay had made her late, and she got stuck sitting in the front of the class. Usually she liked to sit around the middle so she could get a good scan of her new classmates first, but she decided she'd have to do that as quickly as possible when called to come to the front to introduce herself.
"Her name is Ch... Cheery Lie..."
She winced. Why did every teacher mispronounce her name?
"So, why don't you come up here and tell us all a little about yourself?" the teacher concluded with a well-creased smile.
Giving the classroom a fast once-over as she rose, she noted it had a smattering of all the cliques she'd seen outside, including several of the stuck-up ones, who were already sneering. And---oh, no. 'Red' was sitting in the back row, fastidiously avoiding her gaze.
"Uh, hi!" she said, beaming and waving at her new potential friends. "My name's actually Cheerilee---"
The teacher blushed, and a little titter went around the room.
"It's totally okay, everypony gets it wrong," she added with a giggle. "Anyway, we just moved here. My dad's old job meant we moved around a lot, but he's got a new one here, so we're, like, officially Ponyvillians now. Um..."
She eyed the two jocks in the second-to-last row. "I like playing hoofball, but I totally suck at it, so if you want an easy win, just make sure the other team gets me!" Her confidence grew when she saw them nod in approval. Colts like it when you're interested in their games, but hate it if you're better than them, her mother had told her once.
"I speak two languages---Equestrian, and profanity." That got a chuckle from the wastoids at the back.
"Oh! And I'm totally into sci-fi movies and fantasy novels. My favourite movies are set in outer space." The nerds in the front row suddenly seemed a lot more interested.
Cheerilee shrugged. "So, yeah, that's me. Any questions?"
"Yeah, I got one," said one of the snotty fillies. "How many radio stations do you pick up with all that metal in your mouth?"
Her face suddenly got hot, and the gaggle of girls burst into laughter. When they were done their giggling, and before the teacher could admonish them, Cheerilee snapped "Oh, I hear a lot of stuff. Last night I heard your mom fucking every stallion in this town."
Even with the dead silence in the classroom, she was sure they could hear how loud her heart was pounding.
Then someone started a slow clap.
Cheerilee hadn't thought her eyes could get any wider, but they nearly bugged out of her head when she saw where it was coming from. 'Red' was grinning broadly at her, clopping his front hooves together.
"Cheerilee," the teacher said evenly, "This is your first day, so I won't get you in trouble for that. But I do not put up with that kind of language in my classroom."
"And I don't put up with jerks anywhere," she answered.
By the time she got back to her seat, most of her classmates had joined in the applause.
The first lunch hour was always nerve-wracking, but by now she'd learned how to deal with it; much like she did in class, she gave the cafeteria a once-over, figured out which tables to avoid---that ashen-coloured bitch who'd made the crack about her orthodontic work was far enough away, thank Celestia---and zoned in on one that looked promising. It was full of colts, but she'd never let that deter her before. She recognized two of them from homeroom anyway.
It made her smile to see that 'Red' wasn't alone. Good! Well, at least he's got some friends. It's didn't slip by her, however, that while they were all happily bantering about with each other, he was just following the conversation with his eyes, smiling and nodding, as if a stranger lost in a land where no one spoke his language.
Cheerilee plunked her tray down at the one empty spot---right across from 'Red'---and said "Hi, boys! Mind if I join you?"
They all looked at her warily, and she rolled her eyes. "Oh, really? Aren't you a little old to believe in cooties?"
At that, they all laughed, and she eased into her seat. Suddenly the colt to her left did a double-take and plopped his hoof down on her shoulder. "Oh, shit! You're the new filly, right?"
"Yup!"
He turned excitedly back to his friends. "Guys! Guys! She's the one I was telling you about!"
"Uh... that doesn't sound too good," she said, trying to keep her nerves out of her laugh.
"No, it's awesome! The way you showed that bitch up?" He held up his hooves and let out a whistle. "Oh man, I wish I had the balls to do that!"
"No way! She's the one who told Octavia off?" said a pimply unicorn across the table. He turned to Cheerilee, absent-mindedly pushed his thick glasses back up, and reached across the table to shake her hoof. "Man oh man, I wish we were old enough, 'cause I wanna buy you a beer!"
She cocked her head, looking him over. Sure, he had zits, and those coke-bottles he was peering at her through made his eyes a look little spooky, but... well, he seemed cute enough, even if his voice hadn't broken yet. "Maybe you can buy me a soda sometime," she said coquettishly.
For the second time that day, silence descended around her, and Cheerilee wondered what she'd said wrong. The geeky pony she'd just been talking to had gone as red as his eyes.
Finally, somepony slapped the unicorn on the back and said "See, Scratch? You're not the only fillyfooler here."
Cheerilee's hooves flew to her mouth. "Oh my GOSH! You're a GIRL?!"
The rest of his---no, her friends erupted in laughter, some of them pounding the tabletop. Cheerilee groaned internally. Great first impression, you schmuck.
"Yeah, yeah, real funny, you assholes," Scratch said, but she was smiling.
"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Cheerilee squealed. "I didn't--- I mean--- I wasn't looking close enough--- Your mane's so short---"
She held a hoof up. "Hey, it's fine. I get that a lot."
"I... I'm not a fillyfooler," she mumbled. "N-not that there's anything wro---"
"Knock it off, I know you're not," she said with a smirk. "I saw you hitting on Big MacIntosh earlier."
Blinking, Cheerilee stammered "I---what? I wasn't---who?"
But it was too late. The rest of them had heard, and they all began laughing anew. She looked up just in time to see 'Red' get pelted with wadded-up napkins.
"Mac's got a fillyfriend!" one colt sing-songed.
Another elbowed him in the ribs. "Hey, why don't you let the rest of us have a chance with the new one, huh?"
"Why does he get all the luck?"
"Maybe math makes her wet!"
Amid the good-natured mockery, he glanced up and met her eyes. He was blushing.
"So that's your name?" she said shyly.
"Eeyup." It was barely audible.
Cheerilee tried to grab at his hoof, but he swiped it away. "Well, it's nice to finally get introduced, Big MacIntosh. That's a way cooler name than Red, anyway."
"See? See?" Scratch cackled. "She is hitting on him!"
The colt next to him smacked his lips together in an obscene kissing noise. "She calls you Red? Aw, that's so kyuuute!"
Big MacIntosh snorted and folded his forelegs, but he didn't say anything in retaliation.
"Hey, don't let them hound you like that!" Cheerilee said with a grin. "C'mon, stand up for yourself."
"Nope," he muttered.
She giggled, but there was something in his expression that was making her concerned. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"
Some weird flinch went across his face, almost as if her words had struck him like a lash. He brusquely shoved his half-eaten tray away and went stomping out of the cafeteria.
After a few seconds of yet another awkward silence, Cheerilee cleared her throat. "Was it something I said?"
"Hey, you shouldn't pick on him like that," Scratch said. "He's way shy, you know."
"You guys were all making fun of him a minute ago!" she protested.
Picking up his untouched cupcake, she shrugged and said "That's different. We're his friends."
"Yeah. Friends," she said snippily as she got up. "And he just hates me for some reason, right?"
They all stared at her, and Cheerilee grit her teeth, making her brace-stiffened jaw ache. No. No, she could not take another one of these painful lulls in the conversation. No matter what she did today, it seemed like she just kept stepping on social landmines. "Whatever. I'm out."
"Well.... she seems cool," the colt who'd been sitting beside her said as they all watched her leave. "Dibs on her dessert."
The schoolyard was almost empty, which made it easy for her to spot her target, who was lumbering toward the same tree he'd been reading under earlier.
"Hey!"
She saw his shoulders bunch up, but he didn't stop. She had to break into a gallop to catch up with him.
"Big MacIntosh!" She grabbed one of his forelegs and tried to get him to turn to face her, but he pulled away sharply.
"Listen to me!" After pausing to catch her breath, Cheerilee looked up at him again with the big, pleading eyes she was so used to using on her father. "I just want to talk to you!"
He backed up a bit, and his rump collided with the fence. "N-nope."
Seeing as she had backed him into a corner, she decided to press on: "Listen, I'm really, really sorry about what happened in the cafeteria. I didn't mean to make them all laugh at you! Is that why you're mad at me?"
His eyes were darting around, trying to find some escape. "Nope."
He looked more scared than upset, so she tried another tactic. "Um... are you mad at me?"
"Nope."
"Well then, why won't you talk to me?!"
He grimaced, ears flickering back, and Cheerilee took a few deep breaths to calm herself; she knew she could get a little shrill when she was upset.
"I wasn't flirting with you," she said in a gentler tone.
When Big MacIntosh's eyes widened, she quickly added "I didn't mean that! I mean---!"
They both looked down at their hooves. He started tracing a long line back and forth in the dirt.
"It's not that I wouldn't," she whispered. "Flirt with you, I mean. I think you're cute."
He didn't look up.
That was it. She didn't know quite what it was---the stress of the first day, the way the braces were clasping at the back of her molars, her own raging hormones---but she just exploded. "What's the matter with you?!"
It wasn't until he backed further into the fence that she realized she'd been closing in on him. "Look, I'm just trying to be nice here! I'm not one of those grody bitches who'll make fun of everything you say, y'know! You seemed really cool when I first met you, but--- but---"
Big MacIntosh had sat down on his haunches, using his back hooves to scootch away, as if he was genuinely terrified of a screeching filly one-third his size.
"What is it about me that grosses you out so much?" Her eyelids were fluttering, trying in vain to keep the first signs of wetness from smudging the eyeliner she'd swiped from her mother's purse. "Is it my breath or something? What is it?! Tell me!"
He shook his head, and she could already tell by the shape of his mouth he was going to say 'Nope'.
"I have to know!" she said, her voice rising. "And I'm not leaving 'til you tell me! Why won't you talk to me?!"
Again, he met her eyes, and this time she knew she had him.
"Tell me," she repeated.
She wasn't surprised to she his blush, but what came next shocked her: "B-b-b-b-" He quickly turned his head away and squeezed his eyes shut as tight as they could go, as if concentrating as hard as possible. "B-b-b-b-bec---!"
After swallowing a long breath, Big MacIntosh tried again, every syllable catching on his tongue like the needle on a broken record. Sheer humiliation was etched all over his face. "Be-c-c-caus-s-se, I...! I st-st...! I st-st-st..."
She stepped back a few feet.
"I st-st-....I st...I st-st-tut---I stutt----"
"Shh," Cheerilee said, putting a hoof to his face. He looked up, clearly surprised.
"Hey," she said quietly, "You stutter? I... I didn't know that."
"I'm s-s-s-o---! S-s-s-sorr---sorr---"
"No no, don't force it." Cheerilee moved her hooftip from his cheek to his jaw, and pressed down gently. "Take a breath in, and then say one syllable. Just one, not the whole word. Then do it again."
He looked a little hesitant, so she leaned back and put her other hoof on the wooden collar around his neck. "Go on. Try. I won't rush you, promise."
Knowing that eye contact would fluster him, she glanced down at his barrel, watching it rise as he inhaled. "...IIII'm...."
She smiled when she felt his hot breath whoosh across her mane. "Good! Now, another breath in..."
"...S-Sor....r-ry," he finished.
Stepping back, Cheerilee sighed when she saw a strange mixture of embarrassment and relief on his face. "You don't have to apologize. I should be the one who's sorry. I shoulda figured you had some sort of speech disorder."
She sat down, gesturing for him to do the same. When he took a seat beside her, Cheerilee took a deep, shaky breath... and leaned against him. He jumped a little.
"Do you know what apraxia is?"
"N-n-n-nope."
"It's another speech disorder some foals get when they're trying to learn how to talk. You have a really hard time saying a whole word, or figuring out what sounds a word's supposed to have. You can repeat what somepony says, but you have a hard time talking for yourself. You spend a lot of time traveling to and from doctor's appointments, seeing a lot of speech therapists..."
She felt his head turn towards her, but she didn't look up.
"And then you get picked on a lot, so you learn how to be tough. Not so tough that it shows, but just... tough enough that you can make it on your own."
A breeze wafted through the branches above them, and for the first time, the silence felt peaceful.
"I still have a lot of those speech workbooks back home," she said. "Even though I got over that a long time ago, I still keep them around. Just in case I ever need to help somepony else."
Big MacIntosh shuffled a bit, and moved his huge red hoof so that it covered hers.
When Cheerilee finally met his gaze, they were both smiling.
"Maybe...maybe I can teach you something...?"
For a split-second she thought he was moving in for a kiss, but then he put his lips against her ear instead.
"I'd l-l-l-like tha- tha- that a l-l-l-lot," he whispered.
"Eeyup," she answered with a giggle.