//------------------------------// // Inside The School // Story: My Little Life: The Beginning // by Kind_Of_A_Rarity //------------------------------// The five of us made our way through the dark hallways of the school, still being guided by the faint light of cell phones. Each of us continued to drip with water from the sudden downpour of the storm. Every few minutes, a loud clap of thunder could be heard from outside and each time seemed to grow louder and louder. I led the four girls, seeing as I was the only one who knew the way around school. I’ll admit that it was a bit scarier than I would have liked. Walking through a place you thought you knew so well in utter darkness seemed to pick at a person’s nerves. I knew the way around well enough, but not being able to see more than a few feet in front of me was slowly beginning to take its toll. “It’s even colder out here than it was back in the Culinary Arts room!” Rainbow said from behind me as we emerged from the hallway and into the cafeteria. A wide open space wasn’t much better than a confined hallway, though. There were some windows in the front of the school that normally would have let in some light, but the storm made sure that there was no way any moonlight could get through them. “Well, we’re here now,” I said, simply, as I opened the door that was immediately to our right. I was greeted by the warm flow of semi-stale air, which tempted me to rush inside, but, of course, I knew better than to do that. I stood there with the door held open and allowed the girls to enter before closing the door behind myself. It was pitch-black inside and I felt as if I was going to be attacked by some unknown monster. I quickly laid my hands on the wall beside me in search of the light switch. “Help me find the lights,” I said in a hurried tone as my hands ran across the stone wall. I continued in this way until a light shone from behind me and I whirled around to see Applejack holding her phone up as a source of light. “Thanks,” She shrugged. “Don’t mention it,” She followed me along the wall as we both searched for the switches. “So,” I began before turning to look at the others, seeing the one I was looking for on the far side of the room near a couple of side exits. “Did you see anything funny? You know, with Henry?” She sighed and shook her head. “Nope. As far as I could tell, Henry seems perfectly fine and Pinkie really likes him.” I couldn’t explain why, but knowing this bit of information made my heart skip a beat. I didn’t want to hear that they were doing well together. “He isn’t.” Applejack turned from the wall to face me. “Pardon?” I turned back towards her as I felt my feet come to a halt. “Don’t worry about it,” I said through a half-hearted smile at the sudden realization of what I just said. Suddenly, just as Applejack began to open her mouth to respond, the lights flicked on with a loud click, causing the both of us to look up at them. Although all of the lights were on, the room was still dimly lit. I supposed it was because this room was a theater and, more often than not, theater productions were done in dim light. I looked around at the room that I had quickly grown accustomed to within my first year at the high school. It was about half the size of the cafeteria, maybe a little smaller. The entire room was on a downward slope towards the stage, except for, of course, the stage itself. There were about fifteen rows of chairs with two aisles separating the three sections of chairs. A small area in the back of the room was where the sound and lighting equipment was held. I quickly walked past Applejack before she had a chance to continue the conversation, my destination being a nearby seat. Sitting down in the chair, I slouched a bit and got comfortable, despite being soaking wet. I laid my hands across my lap in front of me and twiddled my thumbs. The girls soon took surrounding spots: Applejack to my left and Rarity to my right. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash soon found themselves in a couple of chairs in front of me. “So,” Rainbow began as she twisted around in her seat to be able to face everyone, “What now?” I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know. Talk until the storm clears?” “Alright, but what about?” Rarity put in. “How about Sky?” Pinkie suddenly chimed in. “Who is Sky? What is his story?” Her wide, puppy-dog eyes stared me into submission. “Alright, what do you want to know?” I said, my attention having been peaked. Applejack began speaking next, I hoped she wouldn’t bring to the table what I thought she would. “How long have you been goin’ here?” “Um, my whole life.” I said a little uneasily. “Well, that’s not technically true. I went to another school in fifth grade, but as soon as my grades starting falling, we moved back here and never left.” “So you do pretty well in school?” Rarity said, her chin resting on her fist as she spoke. “Yeah, I mean, I guess. I’m making As and Bs in all of my classes.” “What were you making at your other school?” “Terrible grades.” I physically grimaced at the remembrance of that awful school. “I started making Cs, Ds, and I was even failing one of my classes. I hated it over there.” “Do you like it here?” Rainbow Dash chimed in. I squeezed my eyebrows together in thought. “Yeah, I do, actually. I mean, I don’t really talk to anybody, but it still beats failing and being a loner, I guess.” Pinkie spoke up. “But, you talk to us! You’re not a loner, Sky!” I hadn’t been looking at anybody in particular up until that point, when I looked at Pinkie. “Thanks, but being a loner isn’t a bad thing. I like being alone; it gives me time to think.” It was quiet for a few moments after that. I’ll admit, it bothered me a bit more than I would have liked, but it was over soon enough thanks to Applejack. “So, who do you live with? I didn’t see anyone else at your house when I got you.” “Just my mom.” I said quickly. The envelope clawed its way into my thoughts. “I don’t have any siblings and my parents split up a long time ago.” “Where’s your dad?” Rarity said, her chin still resting. “He’s in the hospital. He has cancer,” I said without little emotion in my voice. “Oh,” Rarity slowly raised her head off her fist and placed her hand in her lap, glancing away from me. “I’m sorry,” “Don’t be,” I still looked at no one. “We never got along very well, so...” I trailed off, but finished the thought with a shrug. The silence returned once more, but this time, I was ready for it. “Any other questions? I don’t mind, really.” No one spoke. “Alright, then it’s my turn. What do you guys do for fun?” Pinkie was, immediately, the first to speak up. Waving her hand around in the air, she shouted, “Ooh, ooh! I love to bake and throw parties for all of my friends! Applejack already said I could plan her birthday party!” “Really?” I looked from Pinkie to Applejack. “When’s your birthday?” “In eight months,” Applejack dead-panned. I managed a smile and chuckled as I returned my gaze to Pinkie. “It’s gonna be here before we know it!” Pinkie added. “As for myself,” Rarity spoke up. “I like to think of myself as a fashion designer, though I’m far from good enough at it to be called such.” “Well, do you design fashion?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. “Why, of course, I do!” Rarity furrowed her brow and squinted at my, seemingly obvious, question. “Then you’re a fashion designer. It doesn’t matter how good you are, but I’m sure you’re great at it. If you do what the “professionals” do, then you’re one of them! Maybe not as widely-known, but still!” I quickly realized how much I wanted to speak about this subject. It was something I had always thought about myself. My guitar sits in my room all day, doing nothing other than sitting in its throne. I’m not a musician, not because I’m not good at it, but because I don’t play it. “I suppose,” Rarity said, suddenly raising her gaze in thought. I felt the side of my mouth raise in what was a smile of accomplishment. “What about you two?” I said, directing the question towards the two who hadn’t yet given an answer. “You should already know what I do,” Rainbow smirked at me. I let out a weak laugh in response. “I play sports. Well,” She raised her eyes to the ceiling. “I did... before I came here, anyway.” “Yeah,” I said. “I think softball and basketball are the only teams we have other than football.” Rainbow let out a sigh that made me feel sorry for her. “Actually, there’s also a volleyball team, if you want to check that out.” Rainbow perked up at the mention of volleyball. “Yeah,” she said, resting her chin on the back of her chair. “I think volleyball could be cool. I’ve never played much, but it sounds better than the other teams!” I smiled before looking towards Applejack, who quickly began her turn. “I don’t do much, ‘cept work on the farm.” “You don’t do anything?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at the girl. “Nope,” Her answer seemed absolute, until she added, “Well, I do things with my friends, but that’s it.” I can’t say I was surprised. She seemed like the kind of person who was an honest worker and kept good on her work. She just wasn’t a “hobby” kind of girl. I was about to open my mouth to speak, but was soon interrupted by a crash from one of the nearby doors. We all quickly turned our heads to look towards the loud crash. “What was that?” Pinkie broke the silence. “I don’t know,” I responded soon afterwards. My mind wandered towards the rumors, but decided not to share them, just in case one of the girls was fearful of that sort of thing. I looked back towards the others, two of whom were more curious than afraid. “Let’s check it out!” Rainbow said as she stood from her seated position. “Let’s not!” Rarity said from her spot beside me. Her face was nearly as white as her dress. She tried to put on a brave face, but her raised brows betrayed her. “C’mon!” Rainbow begged. “Maybe it’s a ghost!” She was heading towards the door before she had even finished her sentence. “And what if it is?” Rarity said before her face became one of complete terror. “Or what if it’s a burglar?” She said in a hushed tone. “I doubt that,” I said quietly. “There’s nothing worth stealing here.” “Well, either way,” Rainbow said before laying a hand on the door handle, “I’m going to check it out. You guys coming?” “I am!” Pinkie shouted before jumping out of her seat and quickly making her way towards Rainbow. “Let’s go ghost hunting!” “Well, I’m staying right here!” Rarity said, crossing her arms in her seat. “Rarity’s right, y’all. It’s best not to mess...” Applejack wasn’t able to get the words out of her mouth before the door swung open and we had two less in our group. “...with it. Well, now what?” We sat in silence for a moment or so, contemplating our position. “Well,” Rarity began, breaking the silence in the process, “I’m staying here! Those two can get themselves hurt if they want to!” “You shouldn’t say things like that,” Applejack said simply. “Well, it’s their own fault for rushing out there into the darkness to find some noise!” “It’s probably nothing,” I said as I turned myself back into the proper position. “But, something had to make that sound,” Applejack said before doing the same. I didn’t want to tell the rumors in front of Rarity. Just hearing the noise had frightened her nearly to the point of fainting, it seemed. “What should we do then?” I asked no one. “Maybe we should go after Pinkie and Rainbow Dash,” Applejack suggested, much to Rarity’s dismay. “Even if it was nothin’, I’d feel better if we were all together.” “Yeah, I think you’re right,” I said. Although it was against my better nature, I decided to support Applejack’s plan. I was never a “go-getter.” I was the guy in the back who just went along with whatever happened, except in extreme cases, but this wasn’t one of those times. “I’m not taking a single step out there!” Rarity pouted, her lips sticking out ever-so-slightly. “Alright,” Applejack said, “You can stay here by yourself. Sky and I’ll go find the others on our own,” In all honesty, that was the last thing I expected Applejack to say. Rarity groaned before letting out a single word: “Fine,” Ah, I thought to myself before Rarity slowly got to her feet and began following Applejack out of the room, Reverse psychology. Nice. The door pushed open easily, letting out a small amount of light, allowing us a momentary view of the cafeteria before sealing shut and trapping the light inside. Both Applejack and Rarity pulled out their cell phones, Rarity barely able to hold her’s without shaking it. We stood still a moment, waiting for any kind of noise to show us the way to the other two. After a brief number of seconds, I broke the silence. “Which way did they go?” Neither girl answered, but I didn’t need them to. It was clear that they were just as lost on the matter as I was. “So, which way do we go?” “Splitting up would be faster, but...” Applejack glanced over at Rarity, who was busying herself by looking uneasily at her nearly pitch-black surroundings. “She could just come with me,” I suggested. “It’ll be quicker and I don’t have a phone to see with.” “Yeah,” Applejack agreed. “We could also call each other that way.” An idea sparked in my mind, quickly making me feel dumb for not thinking of it sooner. “Wait, don’t you have Pinkie’s number?” I asked Applejack. She shrugged. “No, she never gave it to me. She just wrote down her address on a sheet of paper and asked me to pick her up.” I sighed. “I guess it isn’t in Pinkie’s nature to make things easy, huh?” Applejack chuckled. “Hey, Rarity.” Rarity turned to look at her. She seemed under better control of herself by that point. “Text me. Just so we have each other’s number.” Rarity was a bit taken back. “Whatever for?” It seemed as if she didn’t want to have Applejack’s phone number, for whatever reason. “We’re splitting up to find Pinkie and Rainbow faster and you’re going with Sky.” “Huh?” Rarity seemed to fall back into her previous state of panic. It was then that I realized she hadn’t even been listening to our conversation before. “But-” Applejack didn‘t give Rarity enough time to respond. “Come on, Rarity. You wanna find the others don’t you?” “Well, of course, I do! But-” “It’ll be faster this way. ‘Sides, you’ll be with Sky. I’m the one who’s looking for them alone.” Rarity took a panicked glance towards me and seemed to calm down just enough. “I suppose...” She muttered before programming Applejack’s number into her phone and shooting a text to her, which Applejack then programmed into her own phone. As this display took place, I took the liberty to look down a nearby hallway. It was too dark to see the number, but I was familiar enough to know that it was the 300-Hall. I squinted as I looked down it, trying to make out any detail. I managed to make out one silhouette, but little more. It seemed to be a white figure, but it didn’t move in the slightest. It was distant and blurry, but I could still make out that it was human. I was about to shout towards the figure, but was quickly quieted when the spectre dissipated into the air. They can’t be true, I thought as a chill made its way up my spine. I’m just seeing things. But still, maybe this isn’t the best idea... “There,” Applejack said after having put the number into her phone. “I guess that’s it. I’ll go this way,” she said, pointing towards the farthest hall away from where we were standing. “Might as well get the farthest one out of the way first, right?” I forced a chuckle. “Yeah. Then, I guess we’ll go that way,” I said, my direction being the hall to the right of Applejack’s. “Alright,” Applejack said before heading towards her path. “Call if you find’em!” she shouted from over her shoulder. Rarity and I then began our trek down the hallway of our choice. One quick glance back towards the 300-Hall supplied me with enough fear for the both of us, as, for a split-second, I saw the white spectre watching us. I wonder why I hadn’t thought of shouting for the others. I wonder why the others hadn’t thought of it. Looking back, I wished that I had thought of it. I wish that I had shouted my lungs out before going into that school that night. I might have a bit more of my sanity left if I had..