The alarm clock was buzzing loudly next to my bed. I open my eyes and hit the snooze button to shut it off. “5 AM already?” I said as I was looking at the clock. I started to get out of bed and look out the window to see that the sun was barely rising. “Well, I have to get to school early if I want to make sure everything is laid out for my junior year.” I got up and made my way to the bathroom. Got undressed and went into the shower so that I could scrub my gray body and crimson red hair clean. Turned off the shower and wrapped a green towel around me and went to the sink to finished up before returning to my bedroom to get dressed. I went through my closet to grab a pair of jeans, the through my dresser for the rest of my clothes, including my favorite shirt, a white shirt with four cards printed on the corner of the shirt where my heart would be. Each one of the cards was a Jack, with the Jack of Diamonds in the front of them.
My name is Jack Diamond. My family just moved to Ponyville a couple of weeks ago, out of short notice. We just moved from Manehattan because of my dad’s new job. He works for D.I.Y. Inc. It’s the biggest construction company in the nation, and they just built a new store in Ponyville. My father, Ace O. Spades, is a master construction foreman for the company. Now he’s the manager of the new D.I.Y. Home store in Ponyville.
Now some may think that’s a step down in the company, but for D.I.Y., it’s a step up. Not only does he manages the store, but also oversees all home construction plans in Ponyville. The reason for all this is that the CEO of D.I.Y. respects his talents well in past projects in the company. That also means that we have moved from city to city about every year for the next project.
We were living in Manehattan the last two years on a big project that my father was in charge of, which was done in a year and a half, just before I turned 16. This finally gave us some family time working on an old truck that I would be using to drive my way to and from school. My father then got word from the CEO, Mr. Fix-It, on a new store that they were building in Ponyville, and needed help in looking into some issues in it’s construction. You can guess what happened next.
As I’m cleaning up, I hear a voice from behind the door. “Jack, make sure you hurry up and get ready for school.”
“Yes mom,” I replied.
That’s my mother, Candle Heart. She runs an online store called “Queen of Hearts.” She works on candles and scented items for her clients online. With all the moving that we have been doing, she felt best to just start an online business, which has grown big, in a way. She works with clients from each and every city to help send her products to their customers. One of her clients just happens to live here in Ponyville. I believe her name was Twilight Velvet. I do know that she has a son and daughter that attend the school I’m going to, Canterlot High. They were able to help out on getting me enrolled into school on such short notice. I’m just hoping I have the same classes that I was able to enroll from my last school.
With everything done, I grabbed my backpack and went downstairs to the kitchen, to which my mother already had some blueberry muffins ready for me.
“Here you go, son. Blueberry muffins with butter in them. Just how you like them this Monday morning.”
“Thanks, mom.”
“And you do remember to meet up with Twilight Sparkle at school. She’s supposed to help you meet up with the principal at school.”
“I know, mom. I know.”
I sat down at the table, laying my backpack to the side, and had my breakfast. When I was finished with breakfast, I noticed that it was 5:40 in the morning. I got up, grabbed my book bag, and made my way out of the house. I saw my father next to the old truck that we worked on months ago. Somehow, I figure that he was double-checking the engine one last time before I drove it to school.
“Dad, we made sure it was in running condition yesterday. Why are you looking over the engine again?”
“Just making sure it doesn’t break down,” my father replied. “You know how old “Rusty” is, right?” Rusty is what we named the white truck that I now own.
“I know, dad.” I rolled my eyes after saying this. “You drove this truck when you were my age. About over 30 years ago, right?”
“Yes. And it has held up for all this time with the work I spent on it to keep it running.”
When my dad got a new truck back in Manehattan a year ago, as a gift from Mr. Fix-It for all the work that he has done, he decided to let me have his truck when I turn 16. He was a natural in his craft, and the tattoo of the “Ace of Spades” card on his right arm was proof of that.
I got into my USED truck and started it up. The engine started like any truck did, loud enough to wake the neighborhood. Good thing we are the only house in this new sub-division that Mr. Fix-It just purchased to help start building new homes on. Our house was near the entrance to the sub-division, with other houses being built in the process.
My dad came up to the window and said, “Still runs as it always does.”
“Yea, as loud as a dragon.” I gave a small laugh after saying this. I then asked my dad, “How much longer do you have before the store opens?”
“About a month before it is ready. Then, the boss has to look at it to get his final approval. So my guess would be mid to late September,” my dad said.
“I’m sure the school would love to have a store that has what they need for all those floats and formal events and everything else,” I said sarcastically.
“Don’t worry. Maybe during that time, you can finally find yourself a girlfriend.”
“Really, dad? I got enough going on as is.”
My mother heard us talking and joined in the conversation. “Ace, he needs to be making friends first before looking for a girlfriend. Plus there’s college down the road, so he has time to find one.”
“Mom, you’re not helping.”
“What about that girl you were friends with during your freshman year?” my mother said. “I know she moved a year ago, but were you able to keep in touch with her?”
“No, mom. And she wasn’t my girlfriend. We were more like brother and sister during that year.”
“OK,” my mother said. “We better not hold you up any longer.”
“Bye, mom. Bye, dad. I’ll make sure I let you know how my first day goes when I get home.”
I started pulling out of the driveway and made my way towards Canterlot High School.