On this fine morning on the fifteenth of November, Class Pon-3 started their day with Science. Their Science class was in common with the students from the PE department who were still sour from their unfair defeat against Class Pon-3 and their teacher’s friend, who had turned out to be a rising basketball star back in Manehatten. Well, not all of them were sour about it, the boys had no beef whatsoever and a good half of the girls’ team had declared it was water under the bridge for them. The other half was glaring at the four present girls of the music department, who simply ignored them and were staring at the open door of the school lab with fervor.
“Girls,” Frederic called from his spot next to Harpo, just behind their female classmates. “What are you doing?”
“Yeah, it feels like you’ve never seen an open door before,” Henry remarked playfully from the other side of Harpo.
“We’re waiting!” Octavia, Diana, Laura and Beatrice responded in a monotonous chorus.
“Is this about Sund…” Nathan asked with curiosity, he never got the time to finish talking.
“Yes!” the four girls replied in unison.
“You’re still mad because they never came back before you had to leave Fiona’s place?” Harpo asked with a roll of his eyes.
“Yes!”
“And that other than those two messages you have no news from them?” Frederic asked with a knowing frown.
“Yes!”
“I don’t see what’s that much of a big deal,” Nathan commented with a frown. “It’s not really our business.”
Four simultaneous snap of necks later, the tall guitarist was the new target of his classmates’ glare, giving a more than deserved rest for the poor lab door it was aimed at before. Unfazed by the eight dark eyes he had just received, Nathan rolled his shoulders and pulled his chemistry notebook from his backpack.
“You can stare all you want, I’m not easily intimidated just like those three bozos!” He said, pointing as his three male classmates.
“HEY!!!” Frederic, Henry and Harpo nearly shouted in an offended tone. “Like we’re scared of those …”
“Those what?!” Diana asked darkly as the stares moved from the guitarist to the other musicians.
“...Charming..” Frederic replied with a nervous gulp.
“...Lovely…” Henry sheepishly said.
“...Pretty…” Harpo grinned shakily.
“...Ladies!” they all ended in a scared tone.
“Pfffft, you guys are funny!” an unknown feminine voice called from the doorstep.
All the students in the classroom turned their to the door and saw who had just talked. A five foot and a half tall girl wearing the CRA uniform with curly, pale pink hair stood on the threshold. Her head slightly tilted to the side, she smiled at the music students, her light-blue eyes shining warmly while she waved at them slowly with her right hand. Her left one was holding a small rectangular case along with her backpack.
“Hello!” she cheerfully called. “Are the music department seniors in this room?”
“Uh..Hello,” Octavia, who was sitting the closest to her, replied with a small wave. “Yeah, we’re here…”
“Oh, cool!” the newcomer let out with relief. “I thought I wouldn’t find my class in time!”
“Wait, you’re the new student the teach’ told us about!” Laura intervened as she remembered Scratch talking about it last week.
“That’s right!” She nodded with fervor. “Name’s Arietta Lafleur, but you can call me Ari’! Everyone did in my old school!”
Ari’s arrival kept the Class Pon-3 busy with the introductions, among which Henry’s was unexpectedly the quietest : He kept blinking and mumbling his name so low that he had to repeat it three times before the pinkette heard it correctly. While his friends looked at him with a questioning cocked eyebrow, Ari giggled at Henry and told them that the Headmistress had told her that there was a very funny guy in the class and that she had apparently found it. The small blush on his cheek was not lost to Nathan while his other classmates re-focused their attention on the newcomer.
Though, introductions were cut short as the bell rang at the same time their science teacher, Mr. Turner, walked in the classroom and immediately called for order for all students to sit at their spot. After noticing the new student with her rather visible hair color, Turner placed her next to Dash, who was sitting all alone in the last row. and started to call the roll. While he had questioned her pink hair, the teacher let it go as Ari explained that the Headmistress had accepted to let it slide as they had two teachers with dyed hair. Then he started to call the roll. After finishing the bigger list of the PE students, Turner called the roll of the music department.
“Bluenote?”
“Present!” Beatrice raised her hand swiftly.
“Buckner-Smith?” Turner called, this time not hearing an answer.
He looked up from his class-lists and noticed the violinist’s absence. Frowning a bit, Turner wrote something next to Fiona’s name before starting the roll call again.
“....Present!”
“Horzowski?”
“Present!”
“Krau…”
“PRESENT!” Viola nearly shouted as she barged inside the classroom in a hurry, Fiona right on her heels.
“.... Nice timing, Miss. Krauss,” Turner nodded with an impressed frown as Viola caught her breath back from running up to the lab. “Though, should such timing happen to be required again, do not forget to knock first!”
“I...I’m sorry, Mr. Turner,” Viola said with a sincere apologetic tone.
“Sorry as well, sir!” Fiona added slowly.
“Miss Krauss, you can take your seat!” Turner turned his head to his list. “Miss Buckner, you can go out!” he added as Fiona followed Viola to the last spots.
“Hu...Beg pardon?” Fiona let out in confusion, stopping dead in her tracks.
“I’ve already noted you absent, you can go enjoy some time out of the classroom. Meadow?” Turner called casually.
“Huh, present,” the blond answered with a confused expression as Fiona still stood there with her mouth agape while some students snickered at her.
“Excuse me, sir?” Fiona said uneasily as Viola and the rest of her classmates glanced between her and the Sciences teacher.
“You’re still here?” Turner asked with surprise.
“Can’t Ah stay for the class?”
“I’m afraid not! You see, I labelled you absent, so I’m bound to not give you class for this morning,” Turner explained. “You should have come earlier!”
“Bu-but.. Ya let Viola in!”
“Well, she was lucky I haven’t noted her absent when she walked in! Parish?”
“That ain’t fair!” Fiona protested earning nods of approval from the class Pon-3 and a good portion of the PE section.
“Ha, there you are! Patterson?” He asked, ignoring Fiona and spotting the two boys and marking them present. “Philharmonica?”
“Sir, the class hasn’t even start…” Octavia began with a frown.
“It would have already if she had come in time or if she had left when I told her to, Miss Philharmonica!” Turner retorted coldly, silencing the young cellist instantly.
“But sir, that’s not fair! Fiona arrived at the same time as I, and you’ve accepted me in class!” Viola argued in Fiona’s defense.
That gesture shocked everyone in the classroom, including the teacher, Fiona and those that knew of the little change in the two violinists’ relationship. The only exception was Ari’ who frowned in confusion and wondered why all the students were gaping like idiots at the curly-haired brunette. Unfazed by the sudden silence, Viola grabbed her backpack and stood up.
“...What are you doing?” Turner asked in shock as Viola grabbed Fiona’s collar and pulled her back to the lab door.
“You can mark us both absent, sir! That would be fair!” Viola called as she passed through the door, pulling Fiona behind her. “Good day!”
“Huh… Can Ah say someth…”
Fiona’s remark was cut short by the door closing behind Viola and her, causing all the students, besides Ari’ who was still just confused, to stare in shock at the door. Turner blinked a couple of times before he returned to his presence sheet.
“That was weird,” he let out in shock as he scribbled the word absent next to Viola’s name before he started to give class to a group of shocked teenagers, with the exception of Ari’ who still didn’t understand what the fuss was all about.
~~~~~~~~~~~
They had just came out of two hours of Sciences with Mr. Turner, during which everyone’s attention had been on the escape from the two violinists instead of the lecture. The class Pon-3, along with Ari who had been briefed on the situation by Laura and Harpo, had found Viola and Fiona at one of the cafeteria tables, both leaning on old notebook that laid between them: both were taking notes from it while conversing a bit.
“Okay, you two! We’ve been patient and understanding as possible!” Beatrice stated as she and her friends sat across the two violinists. “But, now you two are going to tell us everything!!!”
“Ask Miss Only-Fair here,” Fiona responded casually, not looking up from the notebook. “Catchin’ up on Sciences ain’t gonna do itself!”
“Isn’t, Fiona,” Viola stated with a smile. “And I think you’ve covered more than what they saw today in class from my sister’s notes.”
“First, whatever!” Fiona retorted playfully. “Second, Ah prefer to be ahead of schedule, since Ah’m not really that good in sciences!”
“Fair enough,” Viola admitted casually before facing her classmates. “So what do you want to know?”
The one and common reply she got from her friends was to point at Fiona then at her repeatedly. Ari on the other hand simply rolled her eyes and went to get a chocolate bar from the vending machine.
“Are you two a couple now?” Beatrice asked with narrowed eyes.
“Where have you been after leaving the club?!” Diana asked angrily. “I was this close from calling the cops!” she added, bringing her forefinger and her thumb a millimeter long distance from each other.
“What exactly happened?! How did you come from ready to bite each other’s nose to what we saw in the club?” Octavia asked with a little bit of giddiness that was quite welcome after the two accusing questions.
“How good of a kisser is Fiona?” Laura asked in genuine curiosity, causing Fiona to look up from her Sciences. “You can’t murder me, it’s not about the s-word!”
“Whatever they asked,” the boys added, pointing at the four questioning girls while the new student came back crunching on her chocolate.
“I’m your new classmate, Arietta! You can call me Ari’!” Ari explained when she saw the curious look on Viola’s face. “And I don’t really care to know what happened between you two, but I’m just going with the flow.”
Viola nodded slowly while welcoming Arietta to the school when Fiona simply waved at her non-committally. The classy violinist then cast a short look at the scarf-wearing one before she answered with a brief nod.
“So… Yes, we’re a couple now,” Viola admitted with a small blush, her hand reaching for Fiona’s before they entwined their fingers together.
“D’Awwwwwww,” Harpo let out softly when he noticed that, earning questioning looks from the boys. “What?! You’re all thinking it, I’m just the only one manly enough to say it outloud!”
“As for where we were Saturday night,” Viola continued, unfazed by Harpo’s comments. “Well, we’ve spent it in a motel … for huh… privacy!”
“Right, Privacy!” Laura retorted with a knowing smirk as Viola’s face flushed red along with Diana and Beatrice’s. “Please, don’t hit me!” she added when Fiona glared at her.
“Anyway, how exactly it happened… Well, we had a talk Saturday morning, a rather long and stressful talk.” Fiona nodded slowly before caressing her lover’s hand in reassurance, earning another manly d’awwww from Harpo. “… and things evolved from that.”
“Wait, so you’ve been together “together” since Saturday morning?” Octavia asked with a frown. “You could have told us then! We wouldn’t have judged you!”
Viola shook her head. “We weren’t together back then… It all happened at the club…”
“Nice!” Henry commented with a smile.
“And for your question, Laura, I’ll just say she satisfies me….”
“Really naw?!” Fiona asked with a smile.
“Even if her lip-skill is seriously lacking,” Viola smirked with a playful wink.
“It ain’t what ya yelled Saturday night… Or Sunday mornin’ for that matter!”
Viola’s face turned in a deeper shade of crimson before she gave a small slap on Fiona’s face, only to have her smiling in triumph before she grabbed her lover’s uniform top and pulled her close to press her lips against the flushed violinist ones. Viola widened her eyes in shock before passing her arms around Fiona’s neck and started to kiss back with intensity.
“Wohohoooo!” Laura let out with a wide grin as her classmates looked at the kissing pair with blushes matching Viola’s. “Remember she needs to breath, Fio,” she added playfully when they noticed the Southerner’s tongue make its way past Viola’s more than accepting lips.
Fiona simply flipped her off, while not breaking the kiss and not looking in her direction.
“Oh, that’s what’s been happening!” A feminine voice mocked from behind Viola, causing the two violinists to break their kiss.
Gilda and Delilah, both aces of the girls basketball team, had walked up behind Fiona and Viola and were both looking down at them with matching and condescending grins.
“I would never have thought a country bumpkin like you to be open to being a dyke! Growing up on a farm and what not,” Gilda continued slowly, causing Fiona to slowly stand up.
“Fiona,” Viola let out with worry, her hand holding her lover back by the sleeve.
“Krauss, I don’t congratulate you on your pick,” Delilah commented with brief shakes of her head. “You had like every single boy of the school ready to court you, and you picked the one girl who probably can’t afford to even invite you to a dinner once…. Talk about thinking ahead,” she added, snorting dismissively at the dozen of dark glares she had earned in the process.
When Fiona took one step toward the two jocks, Viola pulled more sharply on her lover’s arm while her classmates also reached their hands to hold her down. Fiona chased all her friends’ hands with a sudden jerk of her body, all but Viola who held on tight. The two violinists exchanged an intense look in silence before Fiona shoved her notebook and her pencil in her bag. She then gently picked Viola’s stuff in one hand and took Viola’s in the other.
“Hey, I’m talking to you!” Delilah called with a frown. “Don’t they teach you manners at the farm, or Da ah have to talk like n’that for ya to un’erstan’?” she added, mocking Fiona’s accent.
If looks could kill, there would be two piles of dead flesh instead of the two athletic and dislikeable girls. Yet besides that, none of them said a word, and Class Pon-3 just scooted closer to Fiona to make sure she didn’t do anything stupid. The only music student who maintained eye-contact was Ari who simply shook her head at Delilah and Gilda before smiling a bit.
“Why’s the new girl smiling?” Gilda wondered with curiosity. “Those kids are sure weird pussies!”
“So true… I really thought that Buckner was going to cry at some point,” Delilah grinned slowly. “Seriously, what could Krauss see in her?”
“And why exactly do you care about that?!”
“I just don’t get why a girl like her would suddenly start to date a dumb hillbilly like Buckner!” Delilah answered in a snap. “She doesn’t even have the guts to defend herself!!!”
“I suppose that even a dumb hillbilly has heard of the idiom : Silence is best response to imbeciles! Unlike some other students...” a new voice called from behind the pair of jocks who froze with wide shocked eyes at the new voice.
“V..Vice-principal Sedgwick…” Gilda stammered as she looked at the dark-skinned woman behind them. “How...How long have you been there?”
“Oh, not long! I was there when the Misses Krauss and Buckner seemed to have forgotten the Article 4, alinea 7 of our school rules on appropriate behavior on the school ground,” Theresa explained slowly. “A smooch on the lips between two students in love is all good and cute, -they’re teenagers after all- but tongue play is for outside the school limits. Or someplace where they’re unlikely to get caught, like under the bleachers of our sports facilities.” She mumbled more for herself than for the two terrified students before her. “Now, back to you. I think you two need a crash course on English idiomatic expressions… How about I give you a special lecture today? After the school hours and after warning your parents? Wouldn’t that be just great?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I didn’t ask earlier ‘cause I didn’t want to mention them to Fiona,” Ari stated as the group walked up the stairs to their music class after lunch. “What’s going on with those two bitches?”
“Tensions have been high between our class and Coach Will’s protégés for a while now,” Diana explained slowly.
“He never got over the fact that I changed of orientation and left the football team in favor of the music group,” Nathan explained with a sigh.
“Add that one time we humiliated them on the basketball court thanks to Fiona’s cousin to the fact that Gilda and Delilah are known to be part of the sourest losers this school has ever known and Fiona’s humble origins, you get what happened this morning,” Octavia explained with a saddened frown.
“What do you mean by humble origins?” Ari asked with a frown. “This school is far from cheap, if how my brother choked in front of the inscription fee is of any indications! Her family has to be loaded!”
“Well, her family isn’t,” Laura commented softly. “I’m not sure, but I think she’s the only student here thanks to the Philharmonica’s scholarship!”
“...The same Philharmonica as Octavia?” Ari asked in confusion.
“Yes, my Dad’s part of the school board. He set up a scholarship for the musically oriented student… Quite hard to get selected from what I know!” Octavia commented matter-of-factly.
“Oooooh!” Arietta whistled in amazement. “So, you’re like the big-boss of our class?” she asked with admirative eyes.
Octavia blinked in surprise while Diana and Laura giggled at the question.
“No, I’m not…”
“You kinda are, Tavi!” Nathan commented playfully as he walked past them to give Diana the math notes he had borrowed from her during lunch.
“No, I’m not!”
“You’re easily the most talented musician among us… Well, not counting Arietta here, since we haven’t heard her play yet!” Beatrice commented as she caught up with them with Frederic and the rest of the boys.
“Oh, believe me! I’m nothing compared to Octavia!” Ari called with a shake of her head, earning confused stares from her classmates. “I did some researches when my brother said I’d be attending this school. The department website linked to videos of your performances during the last few Canterlot Galas! You rocked!”
“Well, thanks,” Octavia mumbled with her cheeks slightly pink from embarrassment.
“Careful, Octavia, she probably just wants to be in the Boss’ good graces!” Laura joked with a short chuckle.
“Stop that! I’m no one’s boss!” Octavia argued with a frown.
“Well, you’re our class representative,” Diana commented slowly.
“I have never been designated for that position, and you all know it!” Octavia retorted as they walked inside classroom 313.
“Who better than ya, Tavi?” Fiona asked from the class stage while she was busy tuning her instrument. “The teach’ lives even closer than next door to ya!”
“It’s only logical for you to be our representative,” Viola added as she opened her violin case to take her own instrument.
“Whatever!” Octavia frowned sourly as she walked to her desk to drop her bag.
“Our main teacher’s Octavia’s neighbor?” Arietta asked pensively.
“Roommate would more close to the truth,” Harpo replied as he delicately threw his backpack against his deck and climb on stage.
“Huh?!”
“We’ll explain later!” Laura assured after having dropped her jacket and her bag at her desk.
“Okay,” Arietta let out before she glanced at her new classmates putting their stuff at their respective desk before each taking their instruments on stage. “Are we having a rehearsal?”
“Oh, right! We completely forgot to tell you that!” Octavia face-palmed softly. “See, the responsibles for the New year’s Eve’s Gala are coming here to audition us on the first of December. So, we’re practicing all together.”
“Don’t they only audition one or two persons for each of Canterlot schools.” Ari tilted her head in confusion. “Isn’t supposed to be up to our teacher to pick the two best players of the group and then present them to the organisation?”
“Usually, yes, but this year our teacher managed to convince the organisation to audition all of us,” Octavia explained slowly. “I still wonder how she managed that….”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Patricia, dear, how many more batches of cupcakes do you have to send to Canterlot?”
“Don’t worry, Mrs Cake! It’s the last sample I have to bake… That catering contract for Canterlot Gala is in the bag, I tell you! IN THE BAG!!!!!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I think she hopes the band for the Gala is only composed by some of her students,” Laura commented slowly. “Hey, imagine if we would all be selected! Wouldn’t that be great?!”
“Ah think ya’re hopin’ a bit too hard there!” Fiona stated with a shake of her head. “Not all of us are lookin’ forward bein’ selected.”
“You don’t?!” Viola asked in stupor, her expression mimicked by some of her classmates.
“Sorta… Ah mean… Ah would appreciate to be able to play, but Ah know it’s gonna be stressful,” Fiona explained with a shrug. “In ma case, since it would be ma first important gig, Ah’d probably sweatin’ enough to fill a pool…”
“And, Viola would have a swim in it,” Laura stated before frowning at herself. “I’m losing my funk… I could have done better!”
“And you’re lucky I have nothing to throw at you,” Viola threatened with narrowed, blue eyes aiming straight at Laura’s jugular. “...if only…” she whispered while brushing her finger on the string of her bow, as if it was the edge of a blade.
“Anyway, Laura, could you install a microphone for Arietta instead of making bad jokes about Viola and Fiona being a couple?” Octavia asked casually. “Since Scratch showed you how to use that thing,” she added while pointing at the sound consoles.
“Our teacher records us so that we can hear ourselves exactly where we do something wrong,” Diana explained at Ari’s cocked eyebrow while Laura stood up from her spot.
“And then she tells us that she’s not bossing us around,” Laura muttered playfully before chuckling softly.
“Zita, Ragazzina!” [Silence, Little girl!] Octavia rolled her eyes before blinking in confusion. “Oh, God.. I’m becoming just like Scratch more and more….”
“...Hang on! Becoming like who?” Ari asked in a suspicious tone.
“The teach babbles in Italian every now and then,” Harpo explained with a smirk. “A habit that Octavia seemed to have taken as her own.” Octavia replied with a sharp gesture of her hand. “Along with gestures like that that we don’t really understand the meaning of…”
“So our teacher is Italian and is named Scratch?!” Ari asked with an angered frown, earning puzzled responses from Class Pon-3. “Does she have blue hair and really, really huge breasts?!”
They aren’t that bi…. Why do I think about watermelons now? Octavia wondered with a puzzled frown that matched her friends, even if it wasn’t for the same reason.
“Sounds like you know her,” Beatrice commented slowly. “You’re probably not a fan of DJ Pon-3, are you?”
“Damn straight I am not!!!” Ari snorted sourly. “Why would anyone be a fan of that good-for-nothing Has-been?!”
“Huh?!!!” All her classmates let out in shock, while Octavia’s thoughts of watermelons were burned out to make way for a righteous anger.
“Run that by us again,” Laura voiced Octavia’s demand before she could open her mouth. “Good-for-what Has-what?”
“What?! That chick’s musical talent is as fake as her boobs!” Ari growled angrily.
OOOOOOOH, you did not just say that, donna-tagliere!!! [...., Chopping-Board-Woman!] Octavia’s mind was suddenly overfilled with scenes of tortures involving the until-now nice pinkette. “I’m sorry, what?!”
“PRONTI, RAGAZZI?!” [Ready, guys?!] Vinyl’s voice boomed from the corridor before Ari could voice her retort. “I hope you’ve got a nice lunch, ‘cause I’ve been told the new girl has arrived, we’ve got to show her how cool we…” She excitedly walked inside the room and her excitement died down when she saw Arietta glaring at her. “....are….”
“Vinyl,” Ari whispered angrily.
“....You’re my new student?” Vinyl asked slowly, her magenta eyes blinking in shock.
“Hmm-hmm!” Ari nodded with a more than displeased frown. “So, you’re teaching now…. How weird…”
“.....”
“What’s going on?” Diana asked Octavia in a whisper while Vinyl and Ari were staring at each other.
“I have no idea,” Octavia replied softly, though her face still showed anger aimed at the pinkette.
“Mannaggia!” [Damned!] Vinyl sighed while pinching the bridge of her nose. “I suppose your brother told you…”
“What you did Saturday night? Oh yes, he did!” Ari’s frown deepened, causing even more confusion in the ranks of Class Pon-3. “He’s still hurting, in case you’re wondering.”
“Well, I wasn’t,” Vinyl replied slowly. “You lot, start practicing your pieces, I’ll be right back!” she demanded quietly to her already ready students before turning heel toward the door.
“What just happene…” Beatrice wondered outloud before they heard Vinyl’s voice shouting something in the corridor
“Ma che cazzo ho fatto a Dio per avere la sorella del mio ex in classe due giorni dopo che c'ho schiacciato le palle!? FANTASTICO!!!!”
[What did I do to God to have my ex’s sister in my class two days after I crushed his balls!? JUST GREAT!!!!]
