My name is Button Mash, and tonight, I'm on a date with the second most popular girl at Canterlot High. The problem is, I don’t want to be here.
Though, how this happened is quite a story in itself. It all started last Friday, I guess, when mom woke me up to get ready for school...
*****
"Button! You awake?"
I groaned at my mother’s words as I stretched under the covers. "Yeah, mom, I'm awake!"
"Alright! Hurry up, or you’ll be late for school.” There was a pause. “Oh, and don't forget, you have an appointment today!”
"I won't, mom!" After a moment to make sure she wasn't going to shout anything else, I turned to my dog, Charlie, and scratched his ear. "You doing okay, boy?"
He gave a loud yawn and stretched on the bed.
"Yeah, me neither, but what are you going to do?” I pulled him into a hug. “Now come on, we better get our day started."
He gave a moan, then slowly pulled himself up off the bed. Next, we made our way towards the back door, where I could let him out so he could do his business.
"Come on," I encouraged, "you’re not that old."
He gave me a pout, but regained his vigor, wagged his tail, and raced towards the backyard.
I smiled "That's a good boy."
Once I had showered and all that, I let him back in so we could have some breakfast.
“Come on,” I told him while I slipped in some bread with his regular meal, “how about we eat all the food today?”
He gave me another moan.
I leaned down next to him. “Oh, come here.” I then wrapped my arms around him, forgetting I had school in about an hour while he returned the hug.
“Button!” Mom called.
I jerked away from Charlie’s hug. “Coming!”
Mom shook her head and laughed when I entered the kitchen. “We really need to talk about your excessive nighttime gaming.”
I grabbed a waffle. “Ah, come now, I’m almost at level 67!”
“And I bet you were also going to bring your games to school?”
I held my backpack close to my chest.
She chuckled. “The least you could do is find someone to play with.”
“I do!” I lowered my head, “I trades at school and online rpg.”
“Un-huh, well,” she beamed while she messed up my hair. “just don't forget about your doctor's appointment after school and have a good day.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah,” I then gave her a genuine smile when I said, “thanks for letting me go by myself again.”
As I ran out, she called to me, “You’re welcome, and I love you!”
Charlie barked in response while I hopped onto my bike.
By which I mean that I rode a bicycle. Sure, I could have gotten a driver's license whenever… It was just something not a lot of people encouraged me to do. In any case, I liked the smooth and gentle ride of getting from one place to the other. Going down hill, only having to bike up, pretending I was a starfighter in battle, and then to just being able to pass stop signs, as long as I at least yielded. It was almost as good as when I hugged Charlie or—on occasion—mom.
****
One unimportant bike ride later, I made it to school, passed the wondercolt statue, and headed to my first hour class where my closest acquaintances were waiting.
I say ‘acquaintances’ since I wouldn’t call them friends. Not that they do not mean anything to me, far from it.
“Hey, Button,” my closet acquaintance, Rumble, said as he pulled out his handheld, “ did you bring it?”
I nodded. “Yeah, so what else is new?”
A guy named Featherweight said, “Had a little fun this weekend at the lake. Sure was a good time.”
I nodded.
While I wasn’t ‘friends’ with any of them outside of school, I found the time I had some company within school was satisfying enough for me. After all, the longer I hung out with people, the more likely they would say something that would make me uncomfortable.
"Also,” Featherweight said as he pulled a magazine out of his bag, "look what I got!"
The guys all started to snicker as they zoomed into it. Shortly after, I got my look, and groaned at what I saw. I mean, a copy of sports illustrated, swimsuit edition, really?
"Dang," Rumble whistled, "where did you get that?"
"I know a guy. Anyways,” Featherweight said while he flipped through it, “they got Britney Hays in here." They all raced forward as I hung back.
Which, to my dismay, caught Featherweight's attention. "What?” He smirked at me. “Not into girls?"
"Ease off him," someone else, who I wasn't that close to, said, "not his fault he's gay."
They all snickered while my hand curled into a fist behind my back. "Haha, very funny." I crossed my arms and used all my willpower not to say what I wanted. "I just don't see the big deal. I mean, it's not like we're ever going to meet any of these women."
Rumble shrugged. "Come on, man, you know we're just messing with ya. Though," he held up the magazine to my face, "how can you not be into that?"
Having no choice but to look, I gazed at the picture.
I had to admit that it was a nice photo. She wore a yellow two piece and was sitting on a rock with her back to a seaside cliff. It was well shot, but I know that's not what they wanted or cared about.
"Well, she's hot," I lied, "but not as hot as Diamond Tiara."
Pipsqueak nodded. “That is true, that is true."
Rumble pulled the magazine away, handed it to another guy, then opened his joyboy. "In any case, sorry you couldn't come to the lake with us."
I chuckled nervously. "Yeah, was a shame."
He narrowed his eyes. "One of these days though, Button."
I let out a sigh as we simply played our game while the other guys looked over the magazine till class started.
****
That Friday passed much like any other, english, math, social studies, lunch, then science, followed by P.E—most of which I played video games whenever I could—and then my last class of the day, chemistry. The only class I had with Silver Spoon.
I suppose I should talk about her just a bit since she would play a big part in my life the following days. Though, I guess I could sum her up as; 2nd most popular—and 2nd hottest according to every guy—at CHS.
Along with her best friend, Diamond Tiara, they ruled Canterlot High at the top of the food chain. Acting like they owned the place while the only ones who cared were those of us who they laughed with or at.
As I walked in, I saw one guy whistle, to which Silver Spoon gave him a less than amused look, waved him off, and joined the her friends of the hour in the back of the classroom.
Since Diamond Tiara wasn't in this particual class, she was the head queen of the hour, while her king, Tray, co-captain of the football team, did all they could to soak in the attention.
"Hey, Button!" a familiar and sweet voice called to me, snapping my attention away from the primadonna.
"Hey, Sweetie!" I waved at my closest female acquaintance, Sweetie Belle.
We had met on the first day of Jr. High where I ended up being partnered up with her for something. She had a nice and caring personality, though would often feel guilty if something went wrong. It once took me a whole week to get her to relax when she thought she messed up whatever that first homework assignment of ours was. In the end, we both got B’s for it, but I kept it to myself that it really was her fault we didn’t get A’s.
However, since then, we've always seemed to have one class together, sometimes even play something online or on our joyboys, and would always sit by each other whenever we could.
Also, yes, I have been teased by people as to why I didn't just ask her out already. I mean, even I could tell she was somewhat 'interested' in me. Or a least, I think she was. Though while I made many excuses as to why I didn't try to make her my girlfriend yet, I like to think the real reason was because neither of us seemed pushy towards the idea.
I never tried to hit and her, she never tied to hit and me, and it worked for both of us rather well. I think there were a few times she gave subtle hints that went over my head, but for the most part, we were happy to just be close acquaintance at school.
To top it off—if truth be told—I didn't find myself attracted to her. Okay, that wasn't entirely true, but more or less, I didn't feel like I had any form of crush on her.
Sometimes, when I would think about wanting Sweetie Belle alone, trying to picture her as my girlfriend, I could get really happy at the thoughts of us holding hands and dating. Then, the next day when I would see her in class, something just—I guess for lack of a better word—turned me off.
Which I really hated about myself more than anything. She certainly wasn't ugly by a long shot, I knew of few other guys who'd be happy to date her. However, whenever I thought of a girl just as a friend or acquaintances, I found myself content. The moment I thought about them as a girlfriend, that was when things turned sour inside my mind.
But hey, maybe it was better that way. As I said, I liked Sweetie Belle just as an acquaintances, and she seemed happy to be likewise.
"So, how was your day?" I asked, sitting down next to her.
She shrugged. "Not all that special. My sister was talking about Sunset Shimmer, Scootaloo did a neat trick on her skateboard, and there's a new Daring Do video game coming out, but that's all."
I nodded, and was about to talk about my day when the teacher walked in and class began.
*****
Looking back at that afternoon, all I can remember was hearing Silver Spoon and Tray talking, and not in the good way.
Friday might have still ended there—appointment not included—until Silver Spoon’s problems had to become my own.
It started just before the bell rang as everyone got ready to take off when it did. Sweetie Belle and I were all packed and about to talk about our weekend plans, when out of the corner of my eye, I saw Silver Spoon pushing Tray’s arm away.
Then I heard Tray say, "Come on, babe, why don't you and me go to my place and we can..." he flexed a muscle, "do stuff?"
"Ugh," she moaned, "is that all you ever want to do?"
Tray scratched his chin. "Well, what else do you want to do? Go pointless window shopping?"
Silver Spoon narrowed her eyes and glared at him. "I don't know. But believe it or not, I don't want to spend every weekend watching you flex your muscles."
Tray huffed. "Typical girl." He crossed his arm. "All you girls want to do is go to the mall and spend hours deciding between dresses."
With that, Silver Spoon slammed her hands on the table. "Fine! If that's what you think, then I guess we're over!"
The girls around her gasped while the guys went, ‘Oooo!,’ while Sweetie Belle and I shook our heads.
“I got five bucks they’re back together on Monday." Sweetie Belle whispered to me.
I nodded. “I’ll take that bet. Least I'll have something to look forward to next week aside from their, 'will they make up, will they kiss it out? nonsense.” I then made a kissy face that Sweetie Belle giggled at.
From behind us, we heard Tray say, "Fine, good luck finding another guy to take you to the fall formal!"
"Oh, I will!" Silver Spoon added as the bell rang. "Good luck finding a new date yourself." She then raised her chin, as all the popular girls trotted off behind her while I just stared.
I'm sure everybody stared, but for some reason, she chose to draw her attention towards me. "What are you looking at, retard?" she said, voice full of spite.
Clenching my fist, I looked down, remembered my consoling, and said, "Nothing."
"Hey!" Sweetie Belle spoke, "One of your silly little break ups is no reason to pick on him!"
I really wish she hadn't said that.
Silver Spoon reacted by putting a finger on her chin. "Oh look at this, the little nerd’s girlfriend is standing up for him."
We both blushed. "She's not—"
"We're not—"
"Come off of it, Silver Spoon," Tray said. "I mean, it's not like they can like each other." He looked towards us and said, "both being both gay and all."
Silver Spoon chuckled. "Good one."
I was about to say something, when I notice Sweetie Belle starting to quiver.
'Huh, what?' I though, only to be interrupted when Silver Spoon said,
"Still not enough to charm me back, Tray."
Tray huffed.
I stomped my foot and shouted at them, "Oh why don't you two grow up or something?"
Everyone gasped, except for Tray, who have the smart remark of, "Says the guy with no balls. I bet you don't even consider Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon hot."
I was about to say something, anything, when one of the girls said, “Yeah, like, I don't even think he thinks you're hot, Sil."
Some of the girls chuckled, while Silver Spoon flinched. Crossing her arms, she sighed, pushed in her glasses, ten leaned towards me and said, "Is that true? You wouldn't want to make out with me?"
"I, uh... um..." Looking into her eyes, I quivered and shrank down.
While I might not have problems saying what I think to people, when I’m on the defense, that’s when I break.
"That's enough, all of you!" The teacher commanded before anything could escalate.
At his word, most of the crowd that had gathered scattered, including Tray and Silver Spoon.
“You two alright?" Our teacher, Mr. Carmel, asked us.
"Ye... Yeah," I nodded, "thanks."
He smiled. "It's no problem. Just got to keep your head up and not let them get to you.” He went back to his desk to gather his things. "You two have a nice weekend." He then waved us off.
Once he left, I turned to Sweetie Belle, who had her head down and was still shaking a little.
"Sweetie..." I asked, reaching a hand out.
She jolted back, and began to look up and down at me for the longest time.
I didn't really feel comfortable as she was trying to, I suppose, analyze me, but figured it was best just to be quite till she said something.
"Bu... Butt... Button?" she eventually squeaked nervously.
"Um... Yeah?"
She began to say something, but then swung her backpack over her shoulder and ran off.
"Sweetie, wait!" I cried out, running after her.
However, she disappeared into the halls, and that was the last I saw of her all week.