//------------------------------// // Denim Heaven // Story: Hey, It's Me // by TwilightUCrazy //------------------------------// Rainbow flung her tennis shoes across the room with a flick of her legs and fell back against her big cushy armchair. Exhaling tiredly, she yanked off her windbreaker and shed it without care on the floor next to her. The other article she’d brought into her apartment hit her sofa with a flick of her wrist. School had been tiring. It never wasn’t. Listening to older people talk so they could feel more important never stopped being boring and boredom had a habit of calling out to her in the form of naps. She’d breezed through her Physics test, did so-so on a pop quiz in Algebra, and just barely squeaked by with a C- on last week’s History midterm. It hadn’t been school, though, or even the track meet that had thrown her off her game. Sports had never exhausted her before. She’d tried them all and one-upped everybody without much effort. What exhausted Rainbow Dash more than anything were thoughts. Thinking did a number on someone when they were so used to doing. Her magenta eyes rolled into the back of her head as she leaned back and started rocking back and forth in her chair. Gradually they rolled down the edge of her eye and landed just next to her on the denim jacket draped across her couch. She had left it in her car when she’d dropped Her off. It was almost like an angel from Heaven or somecrap had plucked it right off of Her and left it in the front passenger’s seat, as if it were a gift of the gods. She’d never been overly religious or anything, but at that point, she had to believe that someone up there was working in her favor. Reaching out, she pulled the fabric closer. Rainbow inhaled deeply. Her scent still faintly lingered on the fibers of the cloth; the same smell every time She let her in for an embrace. The same smell that spiraled off that gorgeous mane of hair and sexy body of hers. She smiled and nibbled on her bottom lip. Thoughts crossed her mind of keeping it. It wasn’t like She would ever know. She’d probably just figure someone had picked it up for themselves at school and kept it. And She didn’t exactly come over all that much anymore. Life had gotten far busier for them both since entering high school, and didn’t allow for social extravagances like their sleepovers of yesteryear. It wasn’t that she didn’t miss the interaction. Sometimes Rainbow Dash lay awake at night, feeling those old desires of having Her close resurfacing, drifting asleep nearby as she listened to Her breathing. The longing only grew stronger when she gazed over from her spot in the batter’s box or from her position on the soccer field to see Her cheering wildly for her in the stands. Rainbow hugged the jacket against her and smiled. If she kept it, she thought, she could always have a piece of Her around. It’d be like carrying an angel’s feather with her for all time. She could stash it away where no one would ever find out. And whenever she felt alone, she could retrieve it, and have a piece of that angel close to her. But angel feathers were only precious if given as gifts. This… this felt like she’d stolen it. She knowingly had Her favorite jacket in her possession. Rainbow would know, even if She didn’t. Knowing she would have to return it, Rainbow growled in frustration and tore her school uniform off as she headed for the bathroom. After a hot shower and a change of clothes, she sat on her chair again, and pondered. It could have just fallen under the front seat, she thought. It’s not like she would have looked over much at the passenger’s seat anyway while she’d been driving. The more she thought about it, the more the gift felt like a trap. No matter how much she tried to justify it, she couldn’t figure an excuse for how she’d made it all the way home without noticing Her jacket just lying there. She would have looked down at some point; at a stop sign or something. And she sure wouldn’t have much of an excuse for why it took so long for her to notice, much less why it smelled partially of her sweaty self now. She would have questions. “Why’d you have to go and leave your stupid jacket behind, anyway?” she pouted, huffing and crossing her arms. Though it irritated her, feeling like she had such a dependence on the girl, Rainbow couldn’t escape the feeling of wanting to go see Her. She wanted to go return it; see her eyes deeper than the deepest oceans shimmer in delight when she plucked it up off the seat next to her, got up out of the car, and swaggered over to return it to her… If anybody had ever called Rainbow a softie, she probably would’ve knocked their lights out. She had worked hard over many years to maintain the image of a tomboyish, no-nonsense rough-and-tumble one-of-the-guy types. And for the most part, that’s what she identified with. But she wanted the hug of appreciation, the feeling of Her head tucking perfectly underneath her chin as she greeted her, and the feeling of those loving arms wrapping around her. In public, she had to work hard to keep such big, stupid grins off her face. In private, however, Rainbow allowed herself a little, girlish squeal. Looking over to the end table, Rainbow reached over and grabbed the wireless phone off the receiver, held down ‘1’, and heard the dialtone. Booooooop… One ring. Booooooop… Two rings. Booooooop... She hoped she wasn’t out in the- Click. Rainbow’s heart leapt. "Hello?” the familiar voice on the other end of the line said. “Hey! It’s me,” Rainbow said, her cheeks and the skin around her eyes wrinkling from the smile growing on her face. She bit her lip to try and suppress the little giggle wiggling around in her chest. "Rainbow?" She replied. She had to face away from the phone to avoid bursting out laughing, even though that's all She ever made her want to do. “’Sup, babe?” She heard the soft snort of chuckling next to the other receiver. "Heheh. What’s up, sugarcube?” OH how she loved it when She called her that! “Nuttin’. What’s up witchu, AJ?” Rainbow asked lamely. If they had been talking in person, she would have flicked out a pair of sunglasses to complete the effect. Applejack chuckled again on the other end of the line. "Just rummagin’ around lookin’ for somethin’. Swear to God, Ah must be losin’ mah mind.” “You? Lose something?” Rainbow’s grin broadened, if that were possible. “That doesn’t sound like you, Applejack.” "Hey now, don’t you get started. Ah can’t count how many times you went ‘n forgot yer lunch money or books for classes and Ah had to share witcha.” Rainbow couldn’t help the snerk she let escape. All those things were true. She had forgotten her lunch money a lot. And her books. And her pencils. And her bookbag altogether. Several times, in fact. Not once, though, was it not on purpose. Every time she did, though, Applejack was always there to bail her out. She always brought a spare rainbow-colored pencil just for her to every class, just in case, and the two always sat together in the corner of the room just so the teacher wouldn’t notice one of them was missing their textbook. Rainbow made it up to her by being awesome to be around, so it always evened out in the end. “Yeah, you’re right. Only time you ever forgot something was in gym class, and you forgot your shorts…” Rainbow’s eyes glimmered mischievously. "’Ey!” Applejack snapped on the other end of the line, “Ah done toldja Ah didn’t forget ‘em! One of the guys musta stolen ‘em outta mah locker durin’ class!” Okay, that one was half-true. She’d just gotten the gender wrong. That had been funny, though. Applejack had been forced to walk around school minus her denim shorts and plus the nylon gym bottoms all day, getting looks from everybody. It had been one of Rainbow Dash’s rare strokes of brilliance. “Yeah, yeah, if you say so,” she said mockingly into the receiver, looking down at the blue jacket in her grasp. "Aww, shaddup,” the farmgirl huffed on her end. "It ain’t like Ah’d come to school pantless or nothin’.” “Yeah…” Rainbow sighed dreamily. "That’d be pretty hot, but…” Applejack’s sigh was a bit more out of exasperation. "Look, Rainbow, ya called me for somethin’. What is it?” “No, no, I wanna keep chatting. We haven’t gotten to do this in a while.” "Well, if yer just callin’ to shoot the breeze, can ya do it later? Ah’ve been lookin’ all over fer mah favorite jacket, and Ah can’t find it nowhere.” Rainbow smirked. “Looking for your jacket, huh?” She looked down at her nails and inspected them, though the tactic only really proved effective for herself. “That’s bad news there, AJ. Y’know what the forecast is supposed to be like tomorrow, right?” "Sunny and warm. What’s yer point?” “Oh… right. Well, they changed it,” Rainbow rebounded quickly. “They said it’s supposed to be chilly and rainy tomorrow morning.” She lied. "Oh, well don’t that beat all…” her friend growled on the other end. "Rainbow, listen, it’s always fun talkin’ with ya, but Ah really gotta go and find it if that’s the case.” “Don’t bother, AJ. You probably won’t find it at your house.” She paused for dramatic effect and gave a soft sniff of the denim in her arms again. “Though I might know a little something about where it might be.” "Ya do? Where?” Rainbow let go of her pent up laugh. “You left it in my car when I dropped you off at home,” she said. “I was gonna wait to see if you’d call.” "Rainbow, you seriously had it all along? Ah’ve been frettin’ fer the past hour lookin’ fer that dang ‘ol thing!” “I know. Aren’t I a genius?” Rainbow giggled again. "Well, if’n ya ain’t too thickheaded to remember, couldja bring it to school tomorrow and give it back?” Rainbow migrated her way over to the sofa and buried her face in the fabric, smelling the lingering hints of farm life. It gave her enough time to seem like she was thinking about it. “Hmm… I dunno, AJ,” she smirked, kicking her feet behind her. “Sounds like that wouldn’t be very appreciated, to me. I mean, calling someone who you wanted to do you a favor ‘thickheaded’ isn’t exactly a way to get on her good side, wouldn’t ya say?” She could hear Applejack shaking her head through the line. "Are ya gonna do it, or ain’t ya?” Rainbow grinned. “Okay, how about this?” she started, rolling over onto her back, “I’ll swing by your place and drop it off in the morning while I’m on my way to school. Sound good?” "…” Silence on the other end. She blinked. “Uhh, AJ?” "Ah know what yer tryin’ to do.” A smirk crossed Rainbow’s face again. “Oh? What am I trying to do?” "Don’t pretend fer a second you don’t know. Ya got the worst poker face… er, voice – in the whole wide world.” “Second only to yours, you mean?” "Ah ain’t gonna ride with ya, y’know.” Rainbow wasn’t discouraged. “Whoever said I was gonna invite you to?” "You always do, Rainbow. Then ya always take us way outta the way on some crazy backroad ride of yers.” “I don’t ever recall you complaining!” Silence. “I mean, the last time we went, you were having just as much fun as I was.” Rainbow’s grin widened. “Does ‘whoo-hoo!’ and ‘Go faster!’ sound familiar to you?” "And we’re always late and gettin’ smacked with a referral by the principal.” “So? It’s not like we do it every day! And you hate first period anyway!” "Rainbow… “Okay, okay, whatever. So am I bringing your jacket by tomorrow morning or not?” A pause. Then, a sigh. "Yer really gonna get up early, jump in yer car, and drive outta yer way just to drop off mah jacket?” she asked. Had she really become so predictable? She exhaled through her lips soberly. “Yeah. I mean, if you want me to.” She lowered the tone of her voice and smirked, glimpsing at her nails. “But if ya don’t wanna see me, that’s cool, I guess…” she said, trying to invoke a more pitiful inflection. Applejack wasn’t having it. "Look, just be there at seven, okay? Mah bus stop’s a hike enough as it is. Ah don’t need to be waitin’ on you to show up whenever ya please.” Bingo. “Alright, whatever,” she said with an instinctive shrug. “Your call.” Her tone was indifferent, but her excitement electrified her. "Remember. Seven o’clock sharp.” “Come on, AJ! When have I ever been…” Rainbow stopped. “Uhh, never mind.” She could sense Applejack smirking on the other end of the line. "Yeah. Thought so.” Click. Rainbow Dash smiled down to the phone in her hand and hung it back up on the charger, snuggling back against the arm of her couch. Typically, evenings couldn’t last long enough for her. Her evening jogs and Playstation time whittled away the hours relentlessly, and before she knew it, she was in bed with an empty stomach. The magic didn’t seem to work that night, however. Tomorrow couldn’t come quick enough.