//------------------------------// // Chapter 12, A Diamond— // Story: Button's Date With Silver Spoon // by TheOneAJ //------------------------------// “Thanks for driving me to school.” I said when Silver Spoon picked me up the next morning.   She kissed me on the cheek. “Don’t mention it. Was the least I could do for making you leave your bike behind.” She adjusted the mirror. “And for last night when—”   “Hey, don’t apologize. I acted like a brat, and I shouldn’t have shouted.” I breathed. “Just a lot to get through. Still, thanks for being there.” I boldly ran a finger across her hair. “I had fun, with everything else." I paused then gave her a sly smile. "Everything.”   She blushed. “Oh, you.”   I grinned before clicking in my seat belt. “Yeah, though, are you going to be okay?”   She pushed in her glasses into her face. “More or less.”   My seatbelt clicked. “It will be fine. Although, seriously, what’s the deal with Diamond Tiara anyways? I mean, next to Tray, she seemed to have it out for me more than anyone else.”   “I… beats me. Figured she’d be happy to see my reputation demise, yet, she’s also been one of my best friends since, forever.” Silver Spoon clicked her tongue. “I know she can be a… decent person.”   I laughed, then asked. “So, if I may ask, what was Tray’s ‘oh so special’ photo you threatened to take down if he tried anything funny?”   Silver Spoon smirked. “Oh, it was just him flexing his muscles on the field. Actually, I asked that day if he wanted one with us in it. His response,” she coughed a little then deepened her voice to say, “no thanks, babe, my muscles and I are fine.”   I burst out laughing and she laughed along with me.   Then, I shrank into my seat. “Sorry.”   Silver Spoon raised an eyebrow. “What for?”   I twiddled my fingers. “I mean… this probably sounds stupid.”   “Button…”   “Alright, but it’s just this thought I had. I mean, he’s always saying mean things about me to get a laugh, and her we are, laughing about him. Doesn’t that make us hypocrites?”   Silver Spoon tapped on the wheel.   I shrank into my seat. “I know, it sounds stupid.”   “Never said it was.” She touched her glasses. “Though, I wish I had a good answer for it.”   Seeing as how I had caused her distress, at the next stop sign, I ran my hand over her back. “Hey, don’t overthink it. I mean, it wasn’t as if we were trying to hurt the guy.”   She smiled, and stared back at me. “Yeah…”   We lost ourselves in each other’s eyes for a moment, only to find ourselves kissing shortly after. While our lips were locked, I played the memory of the night again, just the two of us. We did some homework at first, then went right to the games, then we held each other close, then kissing—   A car horn beeped behind us.   “Move it!” the drive shouted.   “Um, er,” we both said as we broke away.   “Yeah, we better—”   “Totally!” Silver Spoon nodded and drove off. “Though, I’m happy to see you’ve gotten more comfortable with all of this. Maybe next time I can get your tongue.” She stuck out her own to make her point.   “Maybe soon I’d be okay with sharing a bed with you.” I teased.   She giggled. “Yeah, that would…” Her eyes widened. “Did… did you just make a sex joke?”   My pupils shrank. “Oh, um… er, I’m sorry! I…” My eyes narrowed as I watched her smirk. “Haha.” We laughed for a bit, and then the car ride became very quiet.   “I mean… we don’t have to, do we—.”   “Hey,” Silver assured, “we’ve only been together for a few days. We can cross that bridge when we get to it. Besides, I’m in no hurry, not like I ever did it with Tray.”   I stared at her. “Really?”   She rolled her eyes. “Seriously?”   I began to fidget my toes. “Sorry, I mean…” I shook my head. “Hey, I don’t care!”   She sighed. “It’s alright, guess it’s what anyone would think. Though no, we never have.” She tapped the wheel. “Oh, he’s always hinted at it, but I always pushed it off, saying let’s make it a special night during prom or something.” She frowned.   I looked at her. “You just hoped some guy you’d actually like would come along beforehand...”   She looked away from me, took a deep breath, and then turned to smile. “Like I said, it’s okay, but that’s enough if you don’t mind, Button.”   I nodded fiercely. “Yeah, totally, cool. Though,” I said as we pulled into the parking lot. “sure you want to do this?”   She bite her lip then turned to me and squeezed my hand. “Hey, I’m Silver Spoon, I’m not going to let some hothead's push me around or dictate who I’m allowed to like.”   I chuckled. “Feisty, I like that.”   She stuck out her tongue, and I went in to a surprise kiss.   Unfazed, she kissed back, and I even allowed her tongue in. While I wouldn’t say it was uncomfortable, it was still a bit nerving taking another step outside my comfort zone. I fought past it, the whole way thinking, this is Silver Spoon, the last person I would have found comfort in letting my tongue dance with a week ago.   Our kiss was shortly interrupted by a loud bump. Jolted from our seats, we looked to the passenger side to see a familiar mass of light violet and pink hair fly by.   “I’ll be right back,” Silver Spoon said as she hopped out of the car.   I followed right behind her.   “What is your problem?” Silver Spoon called after Diamond Tiara.   Hand gripping her purse, DiamondTiara flipped around and said, “Like, my problem? I wouldn’t know what you’re talking about, Sil.”   Silver Spoon groaned. “Seriously? Look, I know things have been going crazy, Dia, and that even though we're supposed to be best friends who are also rivals for power, we still care about each other.”   Rivals for… My brain clicked that she must have been talking about a history of competing with each other to be the most popular, even though I’ve only ever know Silver Spoon as the second most popular girl in school.   Silver Spoon crossed her arms. “You win, so why do you even care? Why are you making such a big deal about this?”   Breath’s long and deep, face turning red, Diamond Tiara looked like she was going to say something, only to step back. She did that for a few moments, nearly saying something, then taking another step back as Silver Spoon tried to get closer. Finally, she just said, “Losers,” and stormed off.   I raced over to Silver Spoon and placed a hand on her shoulder. “You alright?” She rubbed her head. “Yeah, I mean,” she coughed a little and put on a fake smile. “Just another hot headed brat I have to deal with today, no problem.” She chuckled nervously.   I sighed, and planted a kiss on her cheek.   She giggled, then locked her fingers with mine and brought our hands down. “Come on, boyfriend, let’s face the last day before the weakened together.”   I smiled. “Sounds like a plan to me.”   Hands held, ignoring any gasps and whispers as we headed inside, I saw Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo trying to wipe something off of my locker.   “What the—”   “Oh, hey, Button,” Sweetie Belle waved at me, “how’s it going?”   “Um, fine,” I said as I looked to my locker, only to find a capital F remaining where the pair worked.   “You didn’t have to.” I told them.   “We wanted to.” Scootaloo insisted though she gritted her teeth as she fought the pain in her arms to get the F removed. “Would have if I had known Diamond Tiara would be more of a bitch today.”   “Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle scolded.   “What?" Scootloo questioned. "Good ass or not, that queen bee has what’s coming to her.”   After blinking and rubbing her eyes, Silver Spoon added, “Ignoring that, what else did she say?”   “Well,” Sweetie Belle said, “she came storming in, saw us cleaning off your locker, and called us freaks of nature, then pushed some guy carrying a bunch of books to the ground.”   I stared at them. “And…”   “That’s all.”   Scootaloo clicked her tounge. “More or less, but yeah.”   Silver Spoon sighed. “Well, I wish I could help, but I doubt things will calm down anytime soon.”   I squeezed her shoulder. “Oh come now, I’m sure by now everyone will have matured and will be more focused on the fall formal next weekend. The most we can do is not give a dam ad ignore it, and i'm sure no one will care.”   Seemingly on cue, a water balloon whacked me on the back of the head.   Even though my blood began to boil, I knew blowing up wouldn't do any good for my friend's moral. “Well,” I said brushing it off, “in any case, it could have been eggs, and i’m not in a tux.”   “Speaking of, Sweetie Belle,” Scootaloo began, “about that dance…”   Sweetie Belle shot up. “Oh my, did the bell just ring? I gotta go bye!” And with that she raced off.   We didn’t come out of our gaze until the bell rang.   Scootaloo scratched her neck. “Was it something I said?” She picked up her backpack. “Either way, you two have fun and play nice.” She gave us a wink and headed off.   “So,” I began, “I guess we should get to class too?”   “Totally,” Silver Spoon nodded.   Though, neither of us moved for a moment, there was a lingering of awkwardness in the air between us.    “Er,” I muttered and gave her a kiss, “see ya at lunch?”   “Sure thing,” she nodded. “see ya.”   Dazed, we headed to our classes, and to my relief, when I said hi to my friends, they didn’t pester me about Silver Spoon. Apparently, things did move on in high school.   “Hey, Button,” Rumble called out to me, “how’s it going?”   I sighed as the guys all looked at me. “Oh, not too bad. What about you and Apple Bloom…” I bit my pencil., having just thought of the fall formal.  “Um,” I said to every guy, “by chance any of you asked anyone to the dance next week?”   That surprisingly got every guy within earshot to quiet up.   Rumble nervously took his seat. “So… you guys all having trouble asking someone to the dance as well.”   They all nodded.   “Or even asking a girl out in general.” one guy said.   Pipsqueak scratched his neck. “Yeah, I mean, I was kind of thinking of asking Diamond Tiara since I’m pretty sure she doesn’t have anyone.”   I realized something just then. Out of all the popular girls, I was sure that Diamond Tiara—the most popular of all—had never had a boyfriend before. I even recalled a time where she shot down every team captain in school.   “Might be a bit too high for you to aim, dude,” Rumble assured, “still, would our odds be any other time of the year?”   I looked between them. “So, what’s so hard about just asking someone to the dance?”   They all looked towards me.   “Yeah,” Pipsqueak said, “be easy for you. I mean, you asked Silver Spoon out like it was nothing. I’m sure you wouldn’t have any problems.”   I felt a bead a sweat run down my neck. “Actually…”   “Ah, he’s right,” Rumble interjected, “I mean, what’s so hard about asking a girl to a dance?”   “Being rejected,” Featherweight pointed out, “looking like a fool—”   “Aside from the usually reasons?”     I leaned into my seat. “Yeah. I guess it’s just… a thing? Either way…” I then thought back to the awkward silence with Silver Spoon. Was it really that complicated just to ask someone, even if you were dating them, to a dance.”   “Look,” Featherweight added, “all I know is, girls like a sort of, show, or something. You can’t just ask them out.”   I wanted to protest, saying I had done so with Silver Spoon. Yet, that was when I didn’t care. Now that I did…   I shook my head. “You know what? I’m just going to straight up ask Silver Spoon to go to the fall formal with me. No gimmicks like you see in movies, just ask her.”   Everybody gasped at me.   “What? Maybe it won’t always work, but hey, it worked for me asking her out, I don’t see why I wouldn’t work for just a dance.”   Rumble clicked his tongue. “Some days, Button. Still, I guess I could try that with Apple Bloom.”   “Yeah,” Pipsqueak nodded, “I mean, if Diamond Tiara says no, I could always ask another gal.”   They talked about girls they wanted to ask out as I stared at my desk, pondering the thought of having to ask Silver Spoon to the dance.   *****   A pair of scrawny orange arms pulled me into the dead end hallway after second hour.   “I didn’t do anything wrong this time, Scoot—”   She threw a hand over my mouth. “Yeah, keep it down, will ya?”   I moved her hand away. “Alright.”   She winced in pain.   “Sorry.”   She waved me off. “It’s fine, but can we get down to business?”   “Um, sure… And that would be…?”   “I’m worried Sweetie Belle doesn’t want me to ask her to the dance, I want to know why, you know?”   I blinked at her. “Um, okay.”   “I mean, what if she’s falling out of love with me?” She rubbed her hand across her bangs. “I know she has some issues with crowds, but what if it’s a deal breaker?” I can’t go back, I need her and—.”   “Scoots," I warned, "you’re making a scene!”   Her eyes widened as several students stared at us before heading off.   “Anyways, Scootaloo, take it from me, you’re overthinking this.”   She glared at me.   “I mean, nothing wrong with it… Look, she hasn’t said anything, but I’ll talk to her when I can if you want, okay?”   She bit her lips. “I don’t know—”   “Hey, trust me, I promise, Sweetie Belle isn’t going to break up with you. Though, if you’d rather talk to her yourself—”   She scratched her ear. “Um, well… okay, just to be safe.”   I patted her shoulder. “Very good.”   The bell rang.   “So,” she said with a sly grin, “you asked Silver Spoon to the dance yet?”   I winced. “Er, no, but, can you answer me a few questions?”   *****   Depressed that Scootaloo hadn’t been much help in knowing if a girl preferred to be asked to a dance in a big way or not, I decided to just straight up ask Silver Spoon to the dance later that day, might have made this day worth getting out of bed. Despite my belief of things moving on, it seemed as if the whole school—or at least a small portion of it—didn’t want to stop bugging me over everything.   For the whole day, I kept finding things on and under my desk, was continually pushed around, and got my fair share of taunts. It must have been worse for Silver Spoon since I would get at least five messages pre-class and seven in-between, about her former friends giving her the cold shoulder at best.   Though, at least for the taunts on my end, they weren’t that bad. I found myself able to keep in control, and when I asked any of my friends, they weren't letting the popular kids get to the either. Oddly enough, it seemed to work. If anything, as the day went on, it seemed as if all the popular kids—mostly the girls but some of the guys—seemed to be growing tired of the taunts and even began to speak them without passion. It was as if they didn’t want to do it, but something was making them. Whatever it was, they seemed to get more bored and frustrated with bullying me. So much so at one point, as a girl started to call me a fag behind my back, she stopped halfway and declared,   “Oh fuck this, let her do it if she wants to.”   I shook it off, until it was time to head to lunch, talk to Sweetie Belle about Scootaloo asking her to the dance, then see if Silver Spoon wanted to go to the dance with me. Simple enough, till I heard something that I couldn’t ignore.   “Come on, why not? I need someone, you want revenge, and I don’t see Gold Digger getting in your pants anytime soon.”   “Ugh, you’re an animal, Tray.”   Cautiously, I peeked around the hallway to see Diamond Tiara swat Tray’s arm away.   “Oh come on,” Tray said, “what’s your deal anyways? Why do you even care about who my EX dates so much?”   Diamond Tiara wrinkled her nose. “Geez, you sure are one quickly to rebound.”   Tray crossed his arms. “I’m just thinking long term, babe.”   I shook my head, figuring something like this would happen, and was about to walk away when Diamond Tiara said, “Oh you are getting back with Silver Spoon once she’s over that retard. Everything will go back to what it was, and she won’t be considered a loser either.”   Tray clicked his tongue. “Why do you evencare? Wouldn’t you be happy there’s no one competing for your crown anymore?”   She lowered her head, looked away, and said, “Just make him look like a fool, and if you don’t get back with Silver Spoon before the dance, I’ll go with you.”   “You better.” He then walked off, as Diamond Tiara was allowed to pout. As she did so, she caught me spying on her.   I hightailed it out of there before she could say anything, but the dance was no longer on my mind.   *****   “Hey,” Silver Spoon said, as I met her in the lunch line, “You okay?”   I stuttered, “Fine, I mean… Have you talked to Diamond Tiara at all today?”   She deadpanned me. "What happened?"   I sighed. “Well, alright you see…”   I told her everything about what I saw with Diamond Tiara and Tray beforehand.   Afterwards, all Silver Spoon could do was rub her head. “Yeah, haven’t heard from Dia since yesterday, but that would explain why the girls in every other class kept giving me a hard time.” She adjusted her glasses. “You know what?” she pulled out her cell phone. “I’m ending this.”   “Silver, what are you doing? It’s not worth—”   “Oh it is!” she then sent whatever message she had typed. “I’m getting sick of this, I just want to be happy with you, and she won’t let me. ” Her phone vibrated in her hands. “I’m getting to the bottom of this. I’ll see you later.”   “Um…I, you want me to come along?”   She frowned. “Thanks but… this is my fight.” I tried to follow, but she put her hand on mine. “Button, you’re wonderful, and I wouldn’t change a thing about you, but, would you just let me do this, please?”   I began to protest, but one look into her mesmerizing eyes made me stop, I gave a small sigh, “Alright, just be careful.”   She nodded and gave me a peck on the lips. “Promise, see ya.”   I cooed at her touch. “Alright, take care.”   She smiled and headed off.   Once i waved off, i moved forward only to be trip and get my face planted on the ground.   A few people laughed at my misery when I heard a guy whisper, “Loser, stick to men,” but most of them seemed unimpressed once i got up and acted like nothing had happened.   After I got my lunch, I made my way to my favorite indoor table where Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were eating away till I showed up.   “Did you talk to Sweetie?” Scootaloo asked between sandwich bites.   I shook my head. “No, but I think we got bigger problems.”   Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. “Let me guess, her name is Diamond Tiara?”   I slapped my head. “What did she do now?”   “Oh, nothing directly,” Scootaloo said, “but we couldn’t go into one class without someone trying to get under our skin by calling me gay. I only looked at them if they called me a lesbian. One class even made a choir out of it until our teacher put a stop to it.” She then began to pull her hair.   “Scoots, easy,” Apple Bloom said   Scootaloo waved her arm. “It’s fine. I got through it with how hilarious it became. Once they got to the choir, they started to sound bland, as if they didn’t even want to tease me anymore. I actually showed pity on them by telling Mr. Carmel that it was just a game. He didn’t buy it, but went along seeing I was alright.”   “Yeah,” I nodded as I began to sit down. “Silver Spoon is putting in a word with Diamond Tiara now.”   Scootaloo snickered. “Now that would be something I’d pay to see.”   Before I could comment, my phone began to ring.   “Speaking of.” I looked at it, to see that it was from Sweetie Belle instead.   ‘Meet me outside, guys?’   I saw it was a group message, and I shortly after heard Scootaloo’s and Apple Bloom’s phones ring.   “Hey, Apple Bloom,” Rumble said as he was about to take a seat, “I was wondering—”   “Hold that though, Sweet’s needs us outside.”   “Oh, um, okay,” he stuttered.   I shrugged and mouthed a “don’t worry,” and we headed outside.   “So in any case, you don’t think this is anything bad?” Scootaloo asked as she fumbled her hands.   “Oh I bet it’s nothing for you to worry about.” I held open the door for them. “It’s probably something Diamond Tiara did, or perhaps she wants to be the one to ask you out to the dance.”   Once we were outside, we heard a large group of students, whom I recognized for being in the school’s choir, start to hum.   We all stopped to stare at the sight.   "Ready, ladies?" One of the choir girls said.   "Ready." all the students in the choir said, one after the other.   Then, they began to hum as one kid strung a guitar.   "What the..." Scootaloo said, just as dumbstruck as the rest of us.   They continued on for some time, until one of the guys had to force Sweetie Belle forward.   Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. "Sweetie Belle?"   Face flushed red, Sweetie Belle was given another nudge from her friend. After taking a deep breath, she began to sing;   “Lights fade out in this crystal hole I can't see you from down below I can't do this without you”   She started off nervously at first, each word a struggle, but as she looked at the starstruck Scootaloo, her charisma and courage picked up and she chimed.   “The green haze hides me from brighter days All I'm seeing are shades of grey, I can't do this without you”   “The shield has crumbled, the fight begun The sky is buzzing, I'll never run”   “Scootaloo, my love song These stars are shining for you alone, I know I can't win without you by my side”   “Best friends ever since we were young I should have known. Can't believe I was wrong I need you here by my side”   “I've loved you since the day we met I know your heart wouldn't stray from me yet. I need you here by my side”   At that point, Sweetie Belle walked up to the teary eyed Scootaloo, and sang the rest of her song,   “My Scootaloo, my love song Love's in bloom everywhere you go I know I can't win, without you by my side!”   Once she finished, we—my friends and a crowd of other students drawn into the spectacle, clapped and cheered.   When we stopped clapping, Sweetie Belle went to address her girlfriend. "Sorry I acted so weird today, after we became official to the whole school," without turning her head she looked to the choir, "they insisted I do something special."   They all giggled at the remark.   Sweetie Belle took a deep breath. "Besides I... kind of wanted to ask you to the dance." She took Scootaloo’s hands into her own. "So, would you go to the fall formal with me, as your date?"   The crowd that had gather dawed, and with tears in her eyes, Scootaloo said, "Yes, but, I'm asking you to prom."   Sweetie Belle beamed. "Fair enough." They sealed the deal with a kiss as everybody clapped along.   Apple Bloom sighed. "Ain’t it just the most romantic thing?"   Rumble tugged on his shirt collar. "You... you think so?"   "Definitely." She turned to him. "Oh, um, ya wanted to say something beforehand, Rumble?"   He tensed. "I... um, it was nothing."   "Okay then..." Apple Bloom looked down.   They stared quietly at each other till I slapped my head, walked up to Rumble, put an arm around him and said, "Actually, he wrote something for you, but asked me to draft it."   They both looked at me.   "You did?" Apple Bloom asked.   "I di—" I squeezed his elbows tight. "That's right!" I handed him a piece of paper and whispered, "Take it or leave it, just replace Silver Spoon with Apple Bloom."   It was something I had worked on to ignore all the spitwads throughout the day. Something romantic to ask Silver Spoon to the dance with in case I needed it.   After glancing over it, he said, "Alright, it's not bad." I caught him mumble, "Better work." He turned to Apple Bloom. "Apple Bloom, you are not the second most beautiful girl in this school, you are the most beautiful. You shine more brightly than gold, and make me feel alive. Would you want to go to the fall formal with me?"   He put the note down, and saw Apple Bloom give him a love filled smile. He tossed the note aside. "Okay, maybe my thing was not as big as what Sweetie Belle did," he waved off to the choir kids, "and we haven't been together that long, but I really like you. And, if you say yes to that, would you like to truly consider me your boyfriend?”   Eyes wide, smiling strong, she answered, “Yes.” And wrapped his arms around him. “Though, great speech, Button, I’m sure Silver Spoon will love it too.”   Rumble backed away. “Oh, um…” he started to glare at me before Apple Bloom took his hand.   “Relax, I still want to go with ya.”   Looking back and forth between Apple Bloom and I, he shrugged and said, “Cool.” Apple Bloom then surprised him with a kiss as the crowd went wild.   I joined along, until my phone vibrated, and I looked to see a message from Silver Spoon. ‘Can you meet me by the vending machines? ASAP!’   I didn’t respond, opting instead to just walk away from the crowd and head in her direction. My only thought was on what had Diamond Tiara and Tray done this time? Did it go badly, or did it go well and they were done picking on us? Whatever it was, I soon found Silver Spoon pacing back and forth, her hand held on her chin as she kept going back and forth, back and forth, back and—   “You okay?” I asked.   She jumped at my arrival, but soon took a moment to race towards me and threw her arms around my neck.   “What, did it no go—MMMM!” I moaned as she kissed me.   “Sorry,” she said pulling away, only to sigh dreamily at me. She then shook her head. “Right, so, um, about Diamond Tiara…”   “Oh boy, what did she do?”   Silver Spoon didn’t answer.   “Silver?”   Biting her lip, she spewed, “So it turns out Dia might be a lesbian, and it might be that she’s has had a crush on me for the longest time, and I know this because she kissed me. But other than that, I say this day hasn’t been half bad, how’s yours been?” she said sarcastically. “Oh, and she promised to destroy me if I told anyone.”