Even if we weren’t perfect
“Mom, where’s my History textbook?” I called over my shoulder, having just sorted through the entire pile of textbooks for the third time. “It’s got all my notes for the exam tucked inside it!”
“I haven’t seen it, no lo sé,” was the rather weary response.
“Come on, I didn’t grab it and throw it away somewhere, what’d you do with it? I don’t care if you spilled something on it,” I replied, taking the hulking pile of books and throwing them onto the bed.
“Te dije que no lo tengo, no te enfades conmigo!” she snapped, sounding far more angry than her usually patient self.
I gave an irritated groan and yelled, “Mom, for the last time, I don’t speak Spanish or understand a word of what you just said! English! Where is my book?!”
“I DON’T HAVE IT!” she screeched, finally losing her temper with me. “Get in here. NOW!” she added after I hesitated for a few moments.
I stomped towards the kitchen where she sat in a chair, dressed in her typical uniform and staring at me with disdain. “Well?” I asked testily.
“Drop that tone right now,” she said, rising to face me. “I am your mother and I will not be spoken to like that, do you understand me?”
“Jeez, so I got a little mad, what’s the big deal?” I replied huffily. “I could do worse.”
“And you never have thought that the reason you have done worse is because maybe you can’t even practice simple manners?” she asked. “Now shut up before I get so mad I ground you for a week!” She sank back into her chair and wiped her forehead with a corner of her apron, looking more anxious than usual. I realized something was up and that I may have triggered her anger, but I definitely wasn’t the source.
“Something up?” I asked. “You usually ain’t this mad.”
“You just made me angry, that’s all,” she replied distractedly.
“Mom, come on, I’m not a little kid anymore. What’s wrong?”
She gave a sigh and buried her face in her hands. “The Roberts dropped from the client list yesterday,” she said. “As did the Coopers and the Roses.”
I visibly winced, knowing how important these three clients had been to our survival. All three of the families were among the super-rich in the city, right there underneath Jet Set, Upper Crust and a few others I didn’t know. The Roberts had been one of our first clients when Mom had started working and they’d always tipped her rather well. Now that all that money was gone…
“We’ll find other folks,” I said bracingly. “There’s got to be others who need good maid service. Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna at school are both stupid loaded, maybe you can ask them. Do you need me to do anything?”
“No, no, you just concentrate on doing well in school,” she said firmly. “You need to do well this last year so you can get to college and get a good education. I don’t want you having a job like this the rest of your life.”
I felt my insides squirm as I knew I already wasn’t living up to her expectations. I was desperate to find my history textbook for good reason and my English class was going just as poorly. I had a decent Math grade carrying me right now but if I didn’t pick things up soon I’d be handing in a frightening report card.
Mom smiled at me and got to her feet, heaving her purse over her shoulder with a lingering sigh. “How about we go eat at Sugarcube Corner after school? My treat,” she offered.
I knew I couldn’t refuse, though I knew full well we shouldn’t be spending any extra until we filled the void left by three dropped clients. “Sure, see you there,” I said through a fake smile.
The fake smile lasted until second period, when Miss Cheerilee began distributing our latest exam scores. “Now, it looks like most of you did relatively well, a good mix of A’s and B’s,” she remarked, “but a few of you could use some extra work. Let’s go over the questions that were most commonly incorrect and review, shall we?”
I sat there and stared down at my paper, too anxious to flip it over and see my grade. Come on, Yahtzee, baby, Yahtzee, I thought desperately. Gritting my teeth, I flipped over the page to see a fat shiny ‘D’ inked in on the corner page. I was crushed. The third bad English grade in a row and no end in sight. I saw Scott Green leaning over and trying to sneak a look at my paper out of the corner of my eye. I immediately stuffed the paper into my bag and flipped him off, hoping Miss Cheerilee wasn’t looking my way.
After the class was done, I waited for everyone else to leave so I could speak to Miss Cheerilee privately. When she noticed I was still standing there, she promptly took a seat and waited for me expectantly.
“Umm, about this grade,” I said offhandedly, fluttering the paper. “Is there ANY way I could boost this thing? A couple bonus points possible?”
She gave me her signature “Teaching Smile” and said, “I’m sorry, but I gave the grade your exam earned. There’s no way for you to increase it.”
“Nothing? Teach, we’re almost into October!” I said desperately. “You know I need to start getting this together, I’m doing the best I can!”
“Hmm… have you been asking me or any of the faculty for tutoring?” she inquired. When I remained silent, she continued and said, “You aren’t using your full abilities and aids quite yet, so there’s no need to panic. You may have a block about English but I assure you I’m more than happy to help you. But only if you ask.”
I glowered. She didn’t know it but back at San Marino, anyone who ever asked for help would usually get mugged. Asking for help, whether financial, academic or whatever was a sign of weakness and we’d always pounced on things like that. What I was being asked to do was impossible.
“Is there anything else I can help you with?” she asked, still looking at me with that expectant smile, almost as if she knew there was more on my mind.
Mom’s worries crossed my mind for a moment and I opened my mouth to speak, only to shut it just as quickly. “No, I ain’t got nothing to say,” I said, and hurried out of the room.
Lunch that afternoon was a subdued affair. I could feel my stomach rumbling but I knew every dollar I spent wasn’t my own. If I ate, it was as good as stealing the money Mom needed to keep us afloat. No food would taste good with that in mind, not even Granny Smith’s cooking.
I felt a poke in the back and Applejack was there beside me, her usual good-natured smile across her lips. “No one can say “no” to Granny’s cooking,” she said. “What’re you waiting for?”
“I’m not hungry,” I said coolly, trying to navigate my way out of the situation. As usual with Applejack, it didn’t work.
“You, not hungry? You eat almost as much as ah do,” she said. “You feelin’ alright?”
“I’m fine, Applejack,” I replied testily, pushing away her outstretched hand. “I’m just not hungry.”
“Ah don’t believe you for a minute,” she said bluntly. “Come on, you need something t’ eat. Go on.”
Most reluctantly, I picked up a tray and had it filled to the brim with Granny Smith’s usual goodness, trying to bed down the guilt that was pulling knots in my stomach. I followed Applejack to a table where a recent friend of mine, Pinkie Pie, a vivacious girl with frizzy pink hair, was waving to us so enthusiastically I imagined that her arm would go flying. She was irritating to the nth degree and had a jabberjaw that could make a politician blush, but she was unbelievably friendly (perhaps too much so) and had a knack for cheering people up. I was hoping today would be one of her more talkative days so Applejack would be distracted. Alas, it was not to be.
“Umm, Pinkie Pie, maybe today you shouldn’t talk so much,” Applejack said, “Seems our friend here is a little occupied at the moment.”
“I’m fine, thank you,” I replied impatiently.
“Aw, what’s the matter? Can we help? Can I help? Do you need a song or a party to cheer you up?” Pinkie Pie asked, speaking so rapidly it took me a few moments to understand what she had just gabbled out.
“Uh, no to all of those,” I replied. “Seriously, I’m fine.”
“If you were fine, you’d be eatin’ like a pig,” Applejack countered sagely. “Come on, sugarcube, just tell us what’s wrong.”
I picked at my roast potatoes with my fork before saying, “Mom lost a couple of big-time clients. We’re gonna be short a lot of money real soon.”
Neither of the two girls said anything for a bit. Applejack and Pinkie Pie both came from farming families so I knew they could understand my problems, but I guessed they just didn’t know how to help. After all, Applejack’s financial problems were determined by how the crops did and Pinkie Pie- actually, no one was sure how Pinkie Pie managed but she seemed to be doing fine.
“So, uh, what’re you gonna do?” Applejack asked.
“I don’t know,” I said heavily. “Mom’s just as proud as I am –if not prouder- so I know she won’t accept anything from anyone, including me. She’ll have to work for it.” I turned to the two of them. “Do either of you need housekeeping at all?”
“Nopey nopers!” Pinkie Pie replied. “The Cakes clean the entire house themselves, they say it saves a lot of money.”
“And we do pretty much the same,” Applejack added compassionately. “Ah’m real sorry…”
“It’s OK,” I added quickly. “Not your fault that three super-rich clients dropped us.”
Applejack paused for a quick second. “How rich?” she asked.
“Excuse me?”
“How rich were the folks yer mother was working for?”
I thought it over in my head. “Really rich,” was the best I could manage.
“Hmm…” Applejack mulled that over for a few seconds before saying, “Sweet Apple Acres sells to a lot of big-time folks here in the city. What if ah tried to get yer Mom a job with Filthy Rich?”
My fork clattered from my plate to the floor. Filthy Rich put every other rich snob in the city to shame with just half his fortune. He was so unbelievably wealthy that there were rumors he had shares in not one, but multiple pro basketball teams across the country. “Are you serious?” I asked slowly.
“Course ah am,” Applejack replied. “Now, what’s the place yer Mom works for? Gimme their number and ah’ll send her his way. That sound good?”
“Yeah. Yeah it does!” I said enthusiastically. Suddenly I could feel my stomach untangle and the usual rumblings of hunger commenced. I wolfed down my food in minutes, feeling lighter and happier than I could have imagined I would. It wasn’t a guarantee but it was a real shot my Mom needed.
After a few minutes I had wolfed down my food, and just in time. I saw the same leather jacket she always wore as well as the bacon-hair. Sunset Shimmer was in the cafeteria and I was one of her favorite targets. Desperate to avoid another taunting, I decided it was time to leave. “I’ll see you two later, alright?” I said. “And seriously Applejack, thanks so much.”
“See you later, alligator!” Pinkie Pie screamed, ignoring the convenient three-foot distance between us.
“Later,” Applejack added.
With that, I was off, eager to finish school so I could get out of here. I had a meeting at Sugarcube Corner and I didn’t want to be late.
The next few weeks changed the lifestyle of our little home rather dramatically. Mom did indeed get an interview with Filthy Rich, as well as a job the very next day. She’d come home exhausted and frazzled but the pay was better than anything we’d ever had. In a way, it was like we hadn’t lost any clients. However, the job was so intense that whenever she would go take care of the place it would require an overnight stay. Mom didn’t say much about it but it was obvious to me that she didn’t like leaving me at home alone. I guessed she thought I’d get into trouble, a thought I usually justified.
At school, people were beginning to get all excited about the upcoming school dance, something they called the Fall Formal. Everywhere you looked girls were gabbing to one another about what they were planning to where, who was going with whom, who was most likely to be voted Princess for the dance; as usual, Sunset had a lock on the popularity contest though a few were putting money on Rarity trying to make a run for it again.
However, it wasn’t like the guys were ignoring the affair. The words “gym” and “workout” were becoming more commonplace than usual and some guys would give themselves a good stretch for an excuse to flex their muscles. A few of the guys like Flash Sentry and his group of friends were usually on a lot of girls’ shortlists for a hopeful date, from what I gathered.
The school itself was becoming rather insufferable as the war of hormones began to rage into full gear. Miss Cheerilee and the rest of the staff had to break up “study” sessions throughout the school more than once and people were far more tense than normal. It seemed everywhere one looked you’d see teenage stupidity take hold and someone would try to perform some dumb stunt so as to be impressive. That idiot Scott Green nearly broke his ankle when he tried to perform a flip off the lockers and one of the girls, some cross-eyed blonde girl I didn’t know caused a ruckus when her overstuffed backpack of muffins somehow exploded. Worst of all was the hygiene: girls and guys were wearing so much perfume and cologne that the mixture was quite literally making some people get sick in the halls. It got so bad Principal Celestia had to ban the stuff until the dance.
“You gonna go to the dance? Are you? Huh? Huh? Are you are you are you?” Pinkie would ask of me incessantly, her hyper personality becoming more off-putting as she would jam her face right into mine whenever she’d ask.
“Please stop that,” I begged one day, having been asked for the twelfth time that day. “I do not know yet and you’re really starting to freak me out.”
“She’s just excited cause she gets to plan the decorations this year,” Applejack explained, walking past me with a batch of party supplies. “She and ah got tapped to help make the Fall Formal a perfectly divertin’ hoedown.”
“Hey, nice!” I said, giving the farmgirl a high-five. “I assume you’ll be going, then.”
“Shore will, ah always do,” she replied. “Gotta go to make sure that Rainbow Dash doesn’t think ah’m too chicken to come.”
I rolled my eyes at that. “Have you ever thought of listening to me and just-?”
“For the last time, no,” she said flatly. “Ah will not try to fight her just to settle a grudge. Besides, that’d be exactly what she’d want.”
The two had been unfriendly toward each other as long as I’d been here at Canterlot High. Some stupid argument or another and they’d refused to speak to each other ever since. I couldn’t understand her line of thought, but then again, I came from a school where if you ever cut someone off you could get thrown in the hospital or a hole in the ground.
“Do you even like going?” I asked wearily.
“Course ah do, why wouldn’t I?” she challenged.
“Because you’re going to show up someone you hate,” I replied slyly. “Besides, when do you ever get dressy?”
“Ah happen to have a dirty job and frilly clothes would get in the way,” she replied testily. I grinned, knowing I had probably just hit the nail on the head. The girl was stiff and stubborn as an old board.
“Well, if you are gonna go,” I drawled, “Why don’t you-”
“Why don’t ah what?” she asked. “Sorry hun, but ah got a lotta work to do today, can’t really stand here and talk much.”
“Nothing,” I replied hastily. Course, it wasn’t nothing as I had almost let it slip that I wanted to go to the dance with her. Perhaps I’d been suckered in by all the constant talk of it, but I genuinely wanted to go because it sounded like a lot of fun. Applejack’s family being in charge of the food and Pinkie Pie being in charge of the festivities was an unbeatable double-punch and I wanted in. Of course, I didn’t want to go alone and I had figured if I was to go I might as well go with a friend. Applejack was pretty enough, she was friendly, and I thought she of all people would be kind enough to go with me. Or, at the very least, not laugh at me if I was to ask her.
The only problem was that I was poor as dirt and too proud to admit it. It was coming to the point that I was going to have to either get my bluff called or I just wasn’t going to go.
But the next day, something rather interesting started happening. I was a bit late to school that morning but everywhere I looked I could see people talking to each other feverishly. At first I thought it was just Canterlot High’s usual bull but when I caught wind of the first whisper I had to pull a double-take.
“I heard the new kid got into a fight with Sunset Shimmer before class even started,” Octavia whispered to her friend, a blue-haired girl whose name I didn’t know.
“New kid? Jeez, I’ve been here for nearly two months and I’m still the new kid?” I asked incredulously, still not quite catching on. “Wait a minute… I haven’t even seen Sunset Shimmer this morning, how can you all be whispering about a fight?”
“Not you,” Octavia replied with disdain. “The new girl, she only got here just this morning.”
“New girl?” I hadn’t heard about a new kid coming yet. “Who? What happened?”
“You don’t even bother to listen to people, do you?” Octavia asked exasperatedly. “The new girl’s name is Twilight Sparkle, she caught Sunset Shimmer trying to bully Fluttershy and they had a face-off for a little while.”
“Fluttershy? Is that the animal lover or the tree-hugging hippie who hangs around the back of the school parking lot?” I inquired, trying to put a face to the names and comprehend the fact that someone in this place besides me had stood up to Sunset Shimmer.
“Your memory is pathetic,” Octavia said with disgust and stalked off.
“Hey, I was only trying to ask a genuine question, you self-righteous skank!” I yelled as she walked off. Though we had seemed to hit it off rather well when I had first arrived, Octavia had never truly forgiven me for scoping out her skirt. Whatever chances I might have had with her were gone, and I still hadn’t seen her special someone once.
I kept trying to keep an eye out for the new girl the rest of that day, but everywhere I went I didn’t see squat. Even when lunch period came around I saw zippo. I most unfortunately ran into a very frustrated Sunset Shimmer who somehow managed to ruin my History notes with a pitcher of orange soda. In between my furious mutterings I surmised that the rumors were true- someone really had gotten to Sunset Shimmer. I felt the overwhelming need to meet this girl and see what she was made of.
“She get your note again, hon?” said a voice behind me, and I found Applejack and Big Mac staring down at me and my now much stained papers.
“Yeah, the old cow’s in a particularly foul mood today,” I muttered. “Heard some new chick’s the cause of it- you met her yet?”
“Naw, been too busy today,” she replied, gesturing to her many carts of apple cider. “We gotta get this stuff over to the gym and start getting things ready. See ya later, though!”
“Yeah, see you,” I replied quietly. I rose to my feet and was about to ask her to go to the Formal with me, but then decided against it. Big Mac was with her and he had the strength of a roid-raging ox, therefore being someone I didn’t want to mess with. I reasoned that asking his little sister out right in front of him might set him off.
The next day seemed to be ordinary enough for the most part: I went to my classes, I nearly had a heart attack when I saw my latest History grade, and was all set to pig out on some of Granny Smith’s latest cooking when I heard the most unlikely noise to ever emit from a cafeteria- singing. I was a good distance away when I first heard it so I first thought it was a movie or some online video, but when I started to enter and get some chow I nearly broke my jaw when it hit the floor.
It was Applejack. Not just regular old Applejack but Applejack wearing a blue shirt, a pony’s tail and ears, singing in fine voice along with Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and –a sight so far-fetched I had to slap myself- Rainbow Dash. In the center of it all was a lavender-haired girl I had never seen- the new girl!
I gawked unashamedly at the entire scene. The school was as close to riot mode as I had ever seen the place, and this new girl seemed to be the source of it all. People were on their feet dancing along to the beat, others were trying to sing along, all of it a sight so strange I couldn’t truly comprehend it. When the show finally came to a close, the place was absolutely electric.
“Bro, what’s going on?” I asked of Brawley Beats, a guy who was in the same Physics class as me. “Who is that girl?”
“That’s Twilight Sparkle! She just declared she was running for Princess for the Fall Formal!” he answered enthusiastically. Almost too much so, it was rather creepy.
“Wait, what? But she just got here!” I replied, breaking out into a fit of laughter. “She does realize Sunset Shimmer owns this school, right?”
“I dunno,” he said, “She might’ve just taken it away from her. I know she’s got MY vote.”
My laughter began to die off the more I scanned the cafeteria. The place was still writhing with energy and Twilight Sparkle seemed to be at the heart of it. The thought of her beating Sunset Shimmer suddenly didn’t look so far-fetched. If she actually pulled it off, I genuinely wondered what would go down. It seemed like the Fall Formal was becoming a little more interesting.
Still, that didn’t answer what on Earth had gotten into Applejack –insane musical numbers had always been Pinkie Pie’s thing- and what in heaven or Hell had caused her to patch things up with Rainbow Dash. I didn’t catch sight of her until end of the day and she seemed just as occupied as usual.
“AJ, wait up!” I called. “AJ!”
“Oh, hey!” she replied, lacking her usual friendly smile. “Anything ah can do ya for?”
“Well? What happened?” I questioned.
“What happened?” she echoed.
“In the cafeteria today!” I replied impatiently! “You were singing and dancing, you were with the new girl, and you were with Rainbow Dash! What happened?!”
“Oh, that,” she replied evasively. “Look, ah haven’t got a lot of time right now, but ah’ll tell you soon enough, ah promise.”
“Oh… OK,” I said, feeling uncertain. I’d never seen her act like this before, so evasive. Was there something I wasn’t supposed to know? I shrugged off the thought. Applejack had never been one to lie or skirt around the truth, she’d always been one to tell it like it is. I didn’t see that suddenly changing now.
When I left school, my route usually took me through downtown and back home, past Sugarcube Corner. When I was a little kid I’d pester my Dad to let me go in and ask for a free sample and, as always, he’d say no. I eventually just settled for a glance inside whenever we’d pass by, hoping for a hint of the sweetness inside. Eventually, looking into the confection store just became a habit. However, when I looked in this time I saw a few faces I recognized. Actually, more than a few. I saw six: Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle the new girl.
I came to a dead halt. Was this what Applejack was so desperate to get to? Had I just been a distraction to her? I peered inside, saw their smiling faces, I even imagined hearing the six of them laughing and swapping stories. It was like… like they genuinely were friends.
Did Applejack lie to me? I found myself wondering. Had she been lying to me from the start? Pretending to be my friend only for this to happen? I mentally sorted through all the time we had spent together, she’d even helped Mom get a new client. But when it came down to it, the answer seemed evident. She was on the inside.
I wasn’t.
“Ah thought you were planning on comin’, though!” Applejack replied, her face bearing a marked look of concern.
“Decided it wasn’t worth it, alright?” I explained. “Dances aren’t really my thing.”
“But didn’t you say you had some moves from when you were at your old school?”
“I just don’t want to go, alright?” I said heatedly. “Canterlot High is filled with a bunch of snobs and going to whatever dumb dance you all have cooked up isn’t my idea of a fun time!”
Applejack winced at that, realizing I had just taken my first personal shot at her. “Look, why don’t you come with me and the gals?” she offered consolingly, reaching for my shoulder. “We’d love to have ya, there’s always room for one more-”
“Save it, farmgirl!” I spat. “I said no!”
She studied me for a little while longer, then said, “You’re too poor to be able to come, aren’t you?”
She’d crossed the line. “Get away from me!” I snarled. “I don’t need your bullcrap sympathy and I sure as Hell don’t need you. Beat it! Go hang out with that new skank and the rest of your stupid little club!”
For as long as I’d known her, Applejack looked visibly hurt. To see such a strong lady be so noticeably wounded was a strange sight, to say the least. “Sure, ah’ll leave you be,” she said calmly.
Without another word, I stormed off, leaving her behind to clean up the rest of the kitchen in solitude. I simply charged through people like I was a speeding bulldozer, hardly noticing that I was nearly knocking people off their feet. It wasn’t until I got slammed in the back with a bag of books did I even notice where I was going.
“Hey, Trash!” said that sneering voice, and I looked behind me to see a particularly ravenous Sunset Shimmer glaring at me. “Watch where you’re going, I don’t need your filthy feet anywhere near me!”
“Sorry to have damaged you,” I replied darkly.
She stared at me inquisitively, perhaps wondering why I was in such a foul mood. “Someone else isn’t trying to take my job, are they? I’m queen of this school and no one takes my place!”
“Relax, Sunset Slut, I’m leaving,” I said.
“Hey! Watch your tone!” she barked. “You better not try to go to the dance tonight or I’ll make your life Hell!”
“I’m not going, so be happy!” I roared. “You win, alright? I suck. Apparently you’re not the only one who thinks so.” I left before she could say another word.
I stormed down the road towards home, unable to remember a time when I had been so unfathomably angry. I couldn’t even make sense of why I was so angry, so immeasurable was my fury. I just knew I couldn’t stand the thought of that stinking school or anyone in it-
“Is that… Holy crap, it is, man! Look who it is!” said a voice I dimly recognized. I came to a halt and looked across the street to see a group of guys led by a meager, tattooed individual with a bandana wrapped around his head.
“Hey, Suds,” I called, and the posse of gangsters ran across to meet me. It was like old times: Claws, a gangly crow of a boy with horrific dreadlocks; Tooth, a short spiky S.O.B who kept flicking a knife in between his fingers; Vice, a shifty man who looked more shadow than substance, and Suds, the leader of the old crew.
“Scales! My old right hand, how you hanging?” Suds asked me, extending his hand for the old sign.
“Not bad, bro, not bad,” I replied, giving him the old sign he longed for. “Haven’t seen y’all in forever.”
“Yeah, I know,” he said. “I heard yo Mama got you transferred to a new school ‘cross town, that right?”
“Yeah, Canterlot High,” I answered.
“Well? How’s the place, Scales?” he inquired curiously. “Any need for a seller? How’re the whores, ah? AH?”
I shook my head. “Place sucks ball, Suds,” I said scathingly. “The whores are nothing but a buncha uptight prudes, anyway. Not worth your time.”
“Aw, that’s a real shame, Scales, real shame,” he said disappointedly. “What’choo up to right now? Heading home?”
“Yeah, ain’t got nowhere else to be. No stupid friends back at that tightwad rich kid school,” I said.
“Cool, cool. Say, in case you wanna get the crew back hanging, there’s a party at Jester’s tonight,” Suds said, glancing back and forth for cops. “Claws said they hired out the stripclub for the whole NIGHT, dawg! They bringing beer, they bringing blow, and loose panties for er’body! You KNOW we can’t say no to dat!”
“No way we can,” I agreed recklessly. “Tell you what, Suds, I’ll swing by your place round eleven unless my old woman catches me, aight? I’ll bring what I can and we can make things happen.”
“Tight, Scales,” he grinned approvingly. “Yo, we got get shufflin’, but see you tonight! Adios!”
“Adios, Suds,” I said over my shoulder, dashing away to my house as fast as I could. I barely said a word to my Mother before I rushed into my room and made for a secret compartment I had created in my closet right at the start of freshman year. Inside were the goods I was looking for: a couple of pipes and all the crack we could ever need. It was time to party! I reached for the box and placed it atop my bed, looking through the rest of my junk for a bag to hide the stuff in. I was so preoccupied with my search that I almost didn’t notice my Mom’s footsteps coming down the door until it was too late. Just before she opened the door I threw the contents underneath my sheets.
“Hey, you OK?” she asked. “You seemed kind of upset when you came in.”
“Nah, I’m fine, Mom,” I replied bracingly. “You don’t need to worry.”
My Mom stood there for a few minutes, looking at me with all the love in her heart. She was tired, exhausted even. Lines and creases had begun to wear her form and features down as the burden of raising me, her only child, broke her down. She had never complained once, not even when Dad had been thrown in the state penitentiary, not when I had first been sent to juvi, not after all the struggle and grief I had given her. If anyone in this world truly loved me, it was her.
She smiled after a time and said, “I was thinking we could order a pizza and watch a movie together tonight. I know things have been hard for you, leaving behind your old friends and school for a new one, but I just want you to know how proud I am of you that you’re keeping at it. You’ve stayed out of trouble for almost an entire semester and I couldn’t be happier.”
My thoughts darted to the box underneath the sheet. My stomach squirmed.
“So, what do you say? I promise it won’t be a soap opera this time,” she said.
“I’ll think about it, Mom,” I said distantly. “Just gimme a minute.”
She closed the door on me and I instantly uncovered the box of drugs. Instead of cracking them open and getting busy, I settled for just staring at them, the knots in my stomach taking full form. It was such an unusual sensation that I didn’t realize I was feeling guilty.
I’d gotten into so much trouble in the past year alone. So much trouble for my Mom, the one person I knew I cared about in this world. I’d gotten into a rough crowd, broken a lot of laws. And when opportunity came for me to leave all that behind, it only took me a couple of months to want to quit and go back to my old ways. I felt my arms begin to shake as I discovered there was not a word for the shame I was feeling.
What was wrong with me? I’d always been tough, hardcore and brutal to the bone. I was feared wherever I went and that was the way I liked it. Yet now, when I had all the opportunity in the world, I couldn’t do it. Perhaps, even against my wishes, I’d changed. My Mom’s constant pleas may have worn me down, or it could’ve been Applejack and Pinkie Pie’s openness and warmth to me. All I knew was that I was at a crossroads and didn’t know what to do. I could go to Jester's place and relapse with the old gang, and I knew exactly how to sneak out to make that happen.
But then again, hadn’t I promised my Mom I was to go straight? Hadn’t I promised Principal Celestia the same thing? That I would straighten up and fly right, not cause any problems? I knew what the consequences would be if I didn’t keep to that: incarceration and a trial as an adult, for my eighteenth birthday wasn’t too far away now. Yet here I was, tempted to throw it all away because I was a bitter old animal.
I remembered Octavia had warned me my very first day of school at Canterlot High about the way I was acting. That people were going to see me the exact same way they saw Sunset Shimmer. But I couldn’t be like her, she was so cruel and deceptive and conniving! I was, I was… I was a criminal with a record and a mean streak to prove it. I wasn’t Sunset Shimmer… I began to think I might actually be worse.
I felt a dampness sting my eyes and I squelched down tears. This wasn’t me, I wasn’t weak! I could do this! But… maybe my time in Canterlot High had actually changed me. Maybe all that time I had spent around good, decent people had made me want to be… worthwhile, if only for a moment.
Applejack was owed an apology. Even if I was right and she wasn’t really my friend, she deserved better treatment than what I had dealt her. She had helped me out before I had even known her name, and I had spat in her face when we’d become friend. But more than anyone, my Mom deserved respect and the promise of a better life from her kid.
I couldn’t go back. Not anymore. I took the pipes and smashed them into pieces, taking the shards and throwing them into the garbage can. I took the crack and flushed it down the toilet, ridding myself of its presence once and for all.
“Hey Mom?” I called, walking down to the living room. “Order the pizza and the movie, OK?”
“Will do,” she replied warmly, already grabbing the phone and looking happier than I had seen her in months. It took a couple minutes for the pizza to arrive, but the wait was worth every second. I realized it had been some time since I’d spent quality time with my own Mother. I hoped this would start to make up for it.
“By the way, did you hear something strange when the pizza delivery guy came?” Mom asked. “A boom of sorts?”
“Nope, sorry,” I replied.
She shrugged. “Oh well, I thought I saw a flash of light somewhere, too. Must’ve been fireworks,” she said.
I agreed, though didn’t really care. I knew it was probably coming from Jester’s place, just like I knew I had cut off Suds and the old crew for good. That part of my life, far as I was concerned, needed to be buried for good.
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Nice resolution to that inner conflict.
6330197 Thanks.
Looks like things are looking up for our protagonist. What is his name? And keep up the good work.
6331400 Doesn't have one. It's a you perspective story written in 1st-person.
MOAR!
Please?
6333313 With pleasure, working on the next chapter now.
in case no one pointed this out
6341811 Never heard the phrase "to the nth degree"? Huh, maybe it's a military thing.
Replace with "Te", in this case Le refers to someone in 3rd person, while Te is 2nd person.
6343101
nth degree is like saying "to the x degree" It's suppose to be generic
What, is this the guy from Zero Punctuation or something?
I'm wondering how this is going to play out. With him having missed the formal and ye demon Sunset Shimmer et omnium, it's just going to make him feel even more on the outside, even more isolated. And I don't want to think what kind of trouble that could lead to.
Hmm. Not bad, my man. Looking forward to see where you go from here.
He’s going straight.