BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
The loud alarm clock kept ringing as Aria tried to wake up. She almost never got a good nights sleep, dreams about her abusive father and bullies woke her during the night. The tired filly sat up and stretched.
"Great, another day of teachers and school."
The filly hopped down to the ground and stood there. Sleep was still pondering her. As her eyelids closed, they quickly shot open by a loud bang on the door.
"Get up, ya good for nothin' filly! And turn off that damn alarm clock while ya at it!"
With a whack, she turned off the alarm. She trotted toward the mirror. Her mane was messier then usual.
"Why do I even bother with my mane? I'm not pretty. I got plenty of ponys word for it."
Instead of using her magic to grab the comb, she grabbed some makeup instead. Hiding her bruises, and occasionally a bloody scar, she started to apply light blue powder to her face.
~about 15 minutes later~
The sound of a all-too-familiar bang startled her again, which was followed by a angry, slurred voice.
"Hurry up! If ya aren't done in 5 minutes, I'll get the belt out!"
Not wanting to risk the belt again, she quickly scurried out. After letting her heart beat slow down, and walked to the kitchen. She took a look in the refrigerator. There wasn't much to eat. Beer, crackers, and a rotten apple. After tossing the apples out, she grabbed some crackers and went to the living room, but quickly turned back to find her father holding a beer and watching television. She definitely didn't wanna bother her father unless she had too. She wolfed down the crackers while walking back to her room. Quickly grabbing her backpack, she went back into the living room.
As she walked toward the door to go to the bus stop, a strong hoof grabbed her shoulder and whipped her around.
"Where ya think you're goin' with that hell of a messy mane ya have? Go brush it!
Ignoring her fathers yelling and threats, she continued to walk to the bus stop.
"Maybe today will be different." She said.
One time, she caught a glimpse of a black-and-white photo of her mother as a child. Her eyes sparkled, her cheeks pink, and was holding up a paper with her magic, and those were the words it said. She didn't know why she wrote that, but it was her last glimpse of hope.
~ 10 minutes later ~
As she arrived at the bus stop, she was early. She opened her backpack and grabbed a golden wrist watch to check the time. When the one time she asked her father for a wrist-watch, he said either steal it or ask someone else. Not wanting to steal, she saw somebody drop it, and grabbed it.
"7: 40. I'm early."
The bus arrived at 8:00.
"Might as well check if I have everything.."
She was forgetful, and didn't wanna get yelled at by her father for a call from her teacher for missing homework.
"Math homework? Check. "
"Reading homework? Check."
"Blue powder? Check." Sometimes the blue powder to hide the bruises came off.
"Pencils, paper and a eraser? Check."
"Picture? Check." She carried the picture of her mother, the one with paper and the words.
"Wrist-watch? Obviously, check."
"Lunch money for the bullies? Check."
"Looks like all of it." With a screech, the bus pulled up in front of her. With a sigh, she stepped on.
She was the last person to get on the bus, so almost always there was no seat for her, and even if there was, there was always a pony there that didn't let her sit next to her/him.
"Look at her mane..."
"I can't believe she puts that much make up on. She'll never be pretty."
"I heard she's homeless.."
"Look at the weird girl!"
These were some of the remarks loudly whispered over ponies. She went to the back and sat on the floor, like she often does. After all, where else were you supposed to sit? The few ponies that had a empty seat all to themselves refused to let her sit there. With another screech. The bus began, and she sat there, listening to the awful remarks ponies made about her. She usually blocked them out, gets lost in her thoughts.
~ 15 minutes later ~
Another loud screech interrupted her train of though. Fillies rushed into the building, ready for the day to begin. She waited until there all gone. She was in no rush to get through another dreadful school day. This was her usual routine. Slowly, she got up and trotted to the door. She peered out onto the now-full school. "I better get going..." She slowly stepped out, and started walking, head down. She finally reached her first class, science. Whispering, she said, "Maybe, today will be different.."
She opened the door to find a empty room. Huh? She opened her backpack and checked the time. 8:29.
She wasn't late, but wasn't exactly early, either. She looked around. The desks weren't messed with, the chalkboard was clean and unused, and the teacher desk was cleared. She started to panic a little. Field trip? No, even she would remember that. As she continued to think, she gave up and wondered over to the teachers desk and prowled through it. Maybe there was something that would tell her why everybody was gone. A white paper caught her eye. As she picked it up, she realized it was a calendar. She looked for today's date, jan 16.
"Let's see..jan, 16. Assembly."
Oh no! The assembly! Carelessly, she dropped the calendar and rushed out the door, but quickly slowed down. It's bad enough she'll probably get detention for missing the assembly and a beating from her father, she didn't wanna get in trouble for running either. Minutes later, she arrived at the cafeteria, where most assembly's are taken place. She fast-walked to the assembly and finally got a breath as she stood upon the doors. After catching her breath, she opened the doors as silently as possible.
CREEEEK!
The old door sounded as loud as can be, and as she stepped into the room, all eyes were on her. Most fillies were either starting at her or snickering uncontrollable. Ash she walked to the nearest seat, she tripped and a uproar of laughter.
"Today's going to be the longest day of my life..." She sighed.