Day 6: The Undeniable Fate
Serenade's slumber was disturbed abruptly by knocking on his door. He groaned and looked at the clock in his room 5:45am, who the hell was coming to his door at 5:45am? He sighed and got out of bed to answer the door. He opened it to see Olive standing there with a towel and a swimsuit in her possession.
"Serenade! Remember when you said you were gonna come swimming with Tickery, Samurai and I? Well come on!" She said to him.
"But...the morning wake up call hasn't even been broadcasted" Serenade complained
"I know, but the pool isn't off limits at night-time, come on! Don't be so boring. Those lockers in the laundry room have a swimsuit for each student as well so grab one and get to the pool ASAP! I already got Tickery so I just need to get Samurai, move it!"
"Ugh...fine, I'll be five minutes..." He went to leave his room but got stopped by Olive.
"First though....I think you should put some pants on..."
"Huh...?" Serenade then realized...he answered the door in his shirt and underwear "AH!" He slammed the door in Olive's face, face bright red. "I can't believe I just did that!" He said to himself before quickly putting his pants, socks and shoes on. He left his room to see that Olive was already gone and her voice wasn't echoing in the hall so she had already got Samurai. He headed to the laundry room to retrieve his swimsuit and towel from his locker and then headed to the changing rooms.
He scanned his ElectroID and walked in, placing the towel and swimsuit on the bench. Inside the room there were some exercise equipment. Dumbbells, a punching bag, a treadmill, various other equipment Serenade didn't recognise. He threw his shirt off as Samurai walked into the changing rooms.
"Ah! Hi Serenade!" He beamed. He was far to energetic for this time in the morning...or maybe it was because Serenade was in the room?
"Hey Samurai...Olive wake you up to?" Serenade half asked, already knowing the answer would be
"Yep, banging on my door. Didn't she know there was a buzzer?"
"I guess not..." Samurai placed his stuff on the opposite bench and started changing into his swimsuit. There was an awkward silence.
I wonder if Samurai is watching me... Serenade shivered.
"Hey, Serenade?"
"Um...y-yeah?"
"This might seem kind of weird to ask but..." Oh great. Here it comes. "Boxers or briefs?"
"...excuse me?"
"I knew it sounded weird, just forget I-"
"Briefs..."
"Oh..."
"Not just gonna leave you without an answer..." Serenade said awkwardly at the question
"Well...thanks for answering"
"No problem but...why did you want to know?" Serenade said that as he put his swimsuit on
"I'm not sure, I heard Olive and Tickery talking about what each of the boys wear and...I think I started wondering to."
"I think those two are a bad influence on you...are done getting changed yet?"
"I think you might be right...um...yeah, I'm done, you?"
"Yep" The two turned and faced each other.
"Shall we?" Samurai nodded and they went through the door to the pool. The room was huge, there was a diving board, a slide, a lifeguard chair a side room at the other side and a cart that had pool noodles, and diving equipment...which seemed pointless to have in a school pool.
"Hey, where are Olive and Tickery?" Samurai asked pointing out the fact that the two weren't to be seen.
"Maybe they're still getting changed, girls take a while for a lot of things"
"Yeah I guess....anyway, let's jump in!" Samurai ran, he was lucky the floor was dry or he would had slipped onto his back. Serenade sighed and walked over to the pool edge with Samurai swimming around the edges. "Come on in!" Samurai beckoned the reluctant Pegasus to join him.
"I'm not sure...I'm not a big swim-AH!" Before he could finish his sentence, Samurai grabbed Serenade's ankle and pulled him into the water.
"Don't think, just do!" Samurai gave a goofy smile as Serenade glares at him. "What? You were going to come in anyway, I just cut out the middle man. Reluctance"
"Well I'm in the water now..."
"Thanks to my help"
"Yeah...so what are supposed to do until they get here?"
"Relax...I think everyone is a bit on edge, can't blame them obviously but...a good swim could go a long way"
"Extra on edge today..." Serenade bites his lip
"Those goddamn secrets..." Samurai grunts. Serenade stayed silent, remembering what was written on his. "Sorry...I'm probably not helping right now..."
"N-no...it's fine..." Serenade lied. They stayed in the water for a few minutes until the door to the girls changing room was opened and Olive and Tickery came in
"Finally!" Samurai said
"Sorry, Tickery forgot where she had put her ElectroID" Tickery apologised
"Yeah, turns out she left it under her bed" Olive told the two.
"Well come on in!" Samurai beckoned the two and Tickery gleamed.
"YAY! Samurai, catch me!" Tickery ran over.
"Wait, wait, WAIT!!" Before he had time to react, Tickery body slammed Samurai into the water. They rose up with Tickery giggling at the glaring earth pony.
"Sorry if you two have been waiting a while" Olive said sitting on the edge.
"It's fine" Serenade assured her "It isn't like anything major happened after all"
"True enough" Olive smiled
*Ding dong, Bing bong!*
"Ahem! Wake up you bastards! It is now 7am and night-time is officially over, let's make this day a good one!" the monitors switched off.
"Oh wow, is that really the time?" Olive questioned
"Aw...Tickery just got here though!" Tickery complained
"If we don't meet up with everyone else, they'll start wondering where we are" Samurai points out. They all look at each other before heading to the changing rooms once more.
"It's a shame we didn't have more time in there" Serenade says wrapping the towel around himself and taking off his swimsuit.
"I know. Tickery and Olive are good fun" They were left in silence until they finished getting changed and drying off from the water and head to the laundry room to put their swimsuits back before heading to the cafeteria where most, including Tickery and Olive, were waiting.
"Where were you two?" Zoom asked
"The pool with Tickery and Olive" Serenade answered
"You...were at the pool?" Beau repeated "Why?"
"Swimming is actually a really good way to relax so I invited them to the pool with me" Olive explained "Sorry if it made us a little late"
"Well, you aren't the latest. What about Hammer, Lock or Orion? Did any of them join you?" Nimbus asked her
"Um...not that I know of. I was going to invite Lock, but he wasn't answering the door"
"Hmph! I'll go check on him and the others" Nimbus gets up from his seat to leave but before he does, he points to Serenade "You shall come with me"
"Huh?" Serenade tilted his head
"Just come with me" Nimbus walked by with a confused Serenade closely behind. They head to Lock's door and press the buzzer. They waited for a few seconds and tried again but nothing happened.
"N...Nimbus...?" Serenade gave a concerned look.
"He must still be in the school, you go look around, I'll check on Orion and Hammer" Nimbus walks along the hall. Leaving a scared Serenade to look for Lock. He quickly headed back the cafeteria. "Um..." He looked around "Tickery, Olive, Zoom? Could you three come out here for a second?" The three give him curious looks before leaving the room.
"Is something wrong?" Zoom asks. Serenade explains the situation to the three.
"Lock isn't answering his door still?" Olive says
"Right...Nimbus has gone to get Orion and Hammer so I need some help finding Lock"
"Sure! If Locky is lost, then Tickery shall find him!" Tickery gave a salute.
"Alright, Serenade and I should search the third floor, you two search the second" Zoom suggests "If Nimbus is here, then he might come across Lock"
"Good point" They all gave each other a nod before splitting up. On the third floor, Zoom and Serenade split up and search the separate rooms. Serenade goes to the pool to check once more, there was no trace of Lock being there, nor in the art room. He leaned against the wall. There was one room left. The garden. He walked over to the door and went inside. He saw Zoom, with a horrified expression pressed up against the shed.
"Zoom...?" Serenade walked over to her. She shakily raised a finger and pointed to the shed door.
"In...I-inside..." she says, petrified.
No...this means... Serenade grabbed the handle of the garden shed door and took a deep breath before opening the door.