Vote count as of 6/25/16:
Old outfit: 1
Street clothes: 3
New outfit: 4
I probably should put a little more thought into my look than your average hobo, and while I like my old outfit, nothing says I can't try something fresh. I mean, showing up in something new is probably gonna turn some heads, but since when do I care what people think?
...Well, other than when Adagio was face-rubbing me in front of witnesses. Or when Sonata practically made passes at either of us in public. Or when law enforcement gave us funny looks. Come to think of it, the whole crowd of We Want You Dead stares at the end of the Battle was pretty scary for-
Gah, whatever! I'm gonna give the new look a go, just to see how it fits. Besides, I've kinda always wanted to try on some of my sisters' clothes. I've never gone through their wardrobes before, but I know that both of them had a thing for various shades of pink and purple. My girlyness threshold is a lot lower than theirs, so I keep in mind the stuff I have in my own closet while looking through Adagio's.
"So you do have stuff without spikes on it!"
"Very funny."
"No, seriously, sometimes I wondered if you were planning to build some kind of pointy death-trap out of your own clothes."
"Plan D if I ever thought someone was going to try to break into our house."
I turn around and stare at her in shock, finding that Sonata had the same idea. Adagio gives us both a blank look.
"What?"
It's with a hint of fear that I notice half her shoes are stilettos. Plenty that aren't too girly, though.
"Ooh," says Sonata, pointing to something on a coat-hanger, "you should wear that!"
When I see it, my jaw drops. It's some kind of red, shiny bondage-leotard thing, like a skimpy, one-piece swimsuit with belts on it.
"Adagio... why do you have this...?"
Adagio casually inspects her nails. "It's relatively new, Plan C if we ever needed something from the Rainbooms."
"Gah!"
Horrific mental image now making its nest in my brain, I close my eyes and slam the closet shut. I already knew Adagio had outfitted (no pun intended) most of her wardrobe for seduction, and I don't mind showing off a little, but I'm gonna be wearing what I pick to school... So, that in mind, I decide I'll come back to Adagio's clothes later and head to Sonata's room, where I do indeed find her clothes. Scattered all over the room. Luckily, I have her here to help me find things in the organized chaos.
Unluckily, I have her here to help me find things in the organized chaos.
"Over here! I bet you'd look great in sneaker-boots!"
"Uhh, pass."
"Okay, how abouuuut... um... Ooh, this bow!"
"No bows."
"Eh, fair. I think this bra is clean."
"What? No."
"These black jeans?"
"N-... Well, actually-"
"Because I've always wanted to see you in my pants!"
"Gyagh!!"
---
After a while, I've got something I think I'm okay with. From Adagio's closet, I've got black, shiny, high-heel boots partly covering the sleek, silken, red tights on my legs and a fishnet shirt that goes all the way down my arms, ending in fingerless gloves. Sonata actually has some stuff the two of them convince me to try on too, like the dark-red, blue-striped, asymmetrical plaid miniskirt that hangs down past my knee on one side and stops just over the top of my thigh on the other. I'm still wearing my criss-crossing belts with the star-buckle to hold it up.
I also put on a white, close-fitting, sleeveless shirt that goes up to my neck, partly because I feel like it camoflagues the gem a little, and partly because the fishnet shirt alone left me kind of exposed, as Sonata was all too happy to point out. I top it off with a loose, stylistic jacket the same shade of green as my old vest, the torso-part of it stopping just below my shoulder-blades as the long, slightly baggy sleeves go most of the way down my arms. I roll one sleeve up to show the two spiked armbands I'm wearing on one wrist; one from Sonata's dance outfit, the other from the one Adagio wore on stage at our last performance.
All in all, I feel pretty snazzy as I head out the door. I've barely started down the street before I have a tiny heart-attack about my undead sisters not being able to follow me away from the house, because I thought that was how haunting worked. I end up worrying them both for nothing, because they follow me to school with no problem.
Speaking of which, I have to explain to them on the way why I'm still going at all. No friends there, not crazy about sitting in class all day, and there are other ways I could kill the time, but... I guess after all that's happened, I just want to try living a normal life for a while.
Well, y'know, mostly normal. Apart from the ghosts and my Royal Heartstone, whether I actually use the thing or not.
It's something we got a taste of since we came back, when fixing the gems faded from all-consuming obsession to just this private hobby thing we (mostly Adagio) did when there was time. In a couple weeks of just kinda living, no nigh-impossible goals or frustrating harvests to fret over, things were actually pretty okay. Not as great as being all-powerful queens of the world, but it was fine. It'd be cool if things could just be fine for a while. I'm a little relieved when neither of them argues with this.
The looks I'm getting when I reach CHS are totally different today, more "Woah, lookin' good!" and "Oh, that's new," (Sonata identified them on the spot), but with a few that just looked at me like my head was on backwards. Maybe I should have done something with my hair, too, but tying up in tails is all any of us ever knew how to do.
On the way to class, I see two doofuses, Lyra and Bon-Bon, smiling and laughing together. These two bug me, because they act like they're not really a couple even when the whole town probably knows about it by now. They even do the stupid hand-holding thing, the thing only couples do!
Well, I think. Maybe not. If so, that time I saw a little kid helping an old lady across the street was really creepy.
Anyway, hand-holding! Why is it even a thing?! It's so stupid! I heard it's to show affection or something, but if you're boinking someone you occasionally make cow-eyes at, they probably know about it already! There's no point in advertising it! So stupid!
I open my mouth to complain to Sonata and Adagio, but realize at the last second that no one else can see or hear them, so it would look like I was talking to myself. I can't talk to them in public if I'm gonna be keeping them secret, maybe if I whisper? Whispering to voices no one else can hear has never gotten anyone in trouble, right? Maybe I could just pretend to be talking on the phone, but that's something I can't do in the middle of class.
Speaking of things I can hear, you know what it sounds like when someone is talking in your general direction? When what was a low murmur becomes clear as a bell? Taking my seat in class, I can make out the voices of one guy talking amid everyone else.
"I mean, look at her! The other two go up in smoke and she's wearin' bright, cheery colors! Like she doesn't even care!"
"Well," says another, "other than them sexy boots. Think I could still get with her?"
A third sounds disgusted. "Dude! Her sisters just died!"
"So, what, I wait a week?"
"Ugh!"
I really need to interrogate a Rainboom about how anyone else knows this stuff. I don't catch the rest of their conversation over the sound of Adagio's quiet growling as she glares behind me, but she seems to sense it somehow when I glance up at her. Her rage melts away at my raised eyebrow and she puts on a sheepish face.
"Uh, d-don't mind me, I'm just, er-" she glances away, "-annoyed that Sonata is being an idiot again."
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Sonata floating in front of someone that can't see her, holding up her arms and making ghostly 'OOOOoooOOOoooh!' noises.
I can't tell Adagio that I heard them too without opening my mouth, so I just smile a little at Sonata's Christmas Past impression.
Class gets started and soon I'm bored again. I can't tell if Adagio is paying attention out of habit or if she genuinely finds it interesting, but she spends the whole time focused on the lesson. Sonata takes the opposite approach; doing loop-de-loops in the air and flying around the class at random, looking in people's desks, reading text messages they're sending in their laps, that kind of thing. Eventually, she gets bored too and starts calling out things like "BOOOOR-ING!" and "Someone change the channel!"
I chuckle quietly at this, which I guess encourages her, because she starts going further with random peanut gallery stuff any time the teacher makes a mark on the board, and later, every couple of sentences.
"Off-sides! Foul!"
"Woo, take it off!"
"Plural pronouns, for the million-dollar question!"
With a glance at Adagio, I see she's just rolling her eyes at us, but I manage to keep a lid on my snickering enough that the teacher doesn't notice. I think the kids around me did, though, because I'm getting some funny "What the Hell is going on there?" looks by the time class is over. On the way to my next class, I overhear something that makes me stop for a split second.
"Hey, did you study at all for that thing in History today?"
Crap!!
We were told about the test yesterday, but I was still too out of it to care! I jog to the nearest restroom, which I'm lucky is empty, but I head to a stall so I can at least pretend I'm on the phone if anyone comes in.
"Guys," I loud-whisper, "c'mere for a minute!"
"Oh, Hell no," says Adagio, "I've had quite enough of-"
"C'mon, I just need your help with something!"
"Still no!"
When I realize what she's objecting to, I feel myself blush up to the ears. "Not that!! We need to talk and a stall is private!"
She's audibly relieved. "Oh... Say that sooner next time!"
Bathroom stalls are very small spaces, so it's a good thing Adagio and Sonata only poke through the walls from the shoulders up. Sonata tilts her head a little.
"Whaddya need?"
"There's a test next period and I don't even know what it's covering, but you know this stuff, right, Adagio?"
She touches a contemplative fingertip to her chin. "Hm. Well-"
"Wait," says Sonata, "why do we even care about grades now? Going out of her way to play nice with the Rainbooms was Dagi's thing, but you and me usually just did whatever."
"Yea," I deadpan, "because willingly coming to school when I have no friends here and no intention of making an effort totally isn't suspicious, right?"
"Huh... Well, you've got magic again, right? Couldn't you just sing the teacher into giving you a good grade?"
Adagio whips her head toward Sonata. "Are you out of your mind?! Aria cannot afford to get caught doing anything of the sort, and even if she's not caught in the act, the effect may be noticed anyway! I've spoken to this world's Twilight a few times now, and I know she had a device for detecting, and absorbing, magic, and until we have a countermeasure for her, using magic at the school is a needless risk!"
"What about just making her let Aria take it later? We could do whatever we wanted while everyone else was takin' the test, and it'd give Aria time to brush up on the material! Or heck, she could try asking all nice, just say she was too sad to study because you and me bit the dust a couple days ago."
"That... Hm. Just asking should be alright..."
"And if it doesn't work, then she could-"
"No!"
"But we could be careful! If she only sings when there aren't any witnesses, she'll never get caught! For all we know, Twilight doesn't even have that stupid thing anymore."
"And if she does?"
"Then... um... we could like, just say that the gem is broken, but still a magical thingy, that her doohicky was just detecting that?"
Adagio gently shook her head and sighed, then looked at me. "What was your idea again, Aria?"
"Just have you tell me the answers as I go. If nobody else can see or hear you, who's gonna know? I don't think even Twilight's gizmo can detect that."
"Hm. That sounds much safer," she winces a little, "but... History isn't your strongest subject, is it?"
I scowl. "Hey, I was a major history buff back home, remember? Not my fault none of that counts here."
"I know, I know, but what will it look like if you suddenly start doing well? Now, I suppose technically, using Sonata and I for information, not copying other peoples' answers, wouldn't be cheating, because if no one but you can see or hear Sonata and I, we might as well be part of your own brain. The idea that cheaters don't prosper in the long run comes from the anticipated loss of whatever the cheater was using to prop themselves up, thus hindering them greatly down the road, but because we intend to be with you for the rest of your life, that doesn't really apply in this case. Unfair to those who aren't as blessed? Perhaps, but that's your gift now, and you could make the same case for Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer."
She reaches her hands through the door to make weighing gestures. "That in mind, even if they get suspicious and make you re-take the test under different circumstances, I can still be right there over your shoulder with them being none-the-wiser, but do you really want to risk that kind of attention? You have a bit of a reputation as a delinquent here already, Aria."
I frown a little. Harshwhinny is the one teaching history, and I'm pretty sure she's got it out for me. "So, you got any better ideas?"
She grimaces. "Well, I don't know about 'better,' but... How would you feel about taking the test on your own?"
"Fuckin' hopeless sums it up."
"Even an average grade would be a bit of a leap for you?"
"Kinda, Harshwhinny is pretty merciless."
"I see. You may do poorly on your own, but you won't be giving anyone ammunition against you by playing by the rules." She shrugged, crossing her arms noncommittally. "And, not that I don't trust Lemon, but should the Rainbooms find out about Sonata and I somehow, we can count on them not to give us any grief about doing things 'honestly.' That said, I'll cooperate if you want my help, and if we're careful, we might be able to aim for a C or a low B."
"Hmm..."
I get out of the stall and jog to Harshwhinny's office. Can't hurt to ask, right?
---
I catch Harshwhinny just as she's standing up to head to class, quickly making my case about the grieving process not leaving me much time to study. She raises an eyebrow.
"Truly? Because you don't look too heartbroken to play dress-up."
"Uhh..."
Something tells me I won't sell her with puppy eyes. That leaves three options.
The door is closed and there's still enough noise from all the people in the hallway that nobody will hear if I start singing. No one would know if I got her to let me take it later. I probably shouldn't outright brainwash her into giving me good grades, but a one-time thing to make her change her mind would be pretty subtle.
Or I could fold, go to class, and get spoon-fed the answers for an easy grade. Unless they've got some kinda ghost-proof chamber at this school, I can say I knew the material better than I thought and get away with it for sure.
Or... maybe I bite the bullet, do the best I can on my own, and carry on. Not like I actually have much riding on high grades anyway.
Harshwhinny is waiting for a reply.