30. Knockdown
The school still seemed awfully quiet, but Indigo welcomed the return to the classroom with a sigh of relief. Walking down the corridors, she was sure that she wasn’t the only one who felt the break only made everything worse. Especially since after the first few classes, all the thoughts of Sour Sweet evaporated from her mind, replaced by the things she was learning.
During the second lesson, she noticed that Sugarcoat had a black eye. She smirked, wondering who she’d pissed off enough to punch her. While Indigo was no detective, she started to suspect Lemon Zest – if only because Lemon seemed awfully excited, barely managing to sit in one place. Besides, Indigo was sure only her and Lemon were allowed to attack Sugarcoat without getting a beating in return, and she didn’t remember punching Sugarcoat recently.
It was only during the break, when Indigo had an occasion to approach Sugarcoat, who was creeping in some dark corner, observing Lemon from the safe distance.
“Hey Coats,” Indigo said. “What are you thinking about?”
“Lemon Zest,” Sugarcoat replied. “She’s talking with Melon Mint and Zephyr.”
“Everyone can talk with them, I guess.” Indigo shrugged. “Did Lemon try to fix your face, too?”
“Your incisiveness never ceases to surprise me,” Sugarcoat muttered. “How did you know?”
Indigo smirked. “It wasn’t that hard. Well, at least it was easier than what I’m about to do.”
“And what is that?” Sugarcoat asked, furrowing her eyebrows.
Indigo took a phone from her pocket and looked at it. “I wanted to meet Bulk and I’m trying to come up with some message.”
“I’d start with using capital letters and proper punctuation,” Sugarcoat muttered. “Your texts are outrageous in that matter.”
“Oh, shut up,” Indigo replied. “Maybe something like, ‘Hey dude, we should totally go out sometime. No talking about all that shit with Sour, just fun, we need some.”
Sugarcoat looked at Indigo’s phone and furrowed her eyebrows. “I see some progress. There are commas there, but you also need a semicolon.”
“There’s only one person who uses semicolons in texts, and she’s standing right in front of me.” Indigo tapped the ‘send’ button. “There. Now you’ll be unable to sleep because of a missing semicolon.”
“And you’re in for a semicolonoscopy,” Sugarcoat replied.
“Sounds painful.”
Sugarcoat smirked. “It’s not that bad. I mean, Sandalwood and I–”
“I don’t want to hear the end of this story.” Indigo winced, backing off.
“The end was rather tight.” Sugarcoat let out a chuckle. “But seriously, if you ever try to go that way, go and get something to cleanse your colon…”
“I really hope that you’re still talking about punctuation…” Indigo shuddered and looked at her phone which had just beeped.
“I can’t sleep because of your semicolon, you won’t sleep because of my colon,” Sugarcoat said. “What did he write?”
“He asks where we’d go,” Indigo replied. “Bowling alley, I guess.” She typed the message. “You can go with us too.”
“No, thanks,” Sugarcoat replied. “You’d better ask Lemon. She could use some entertainment that doesn’t involve punching people.”
Indigo nodded and turned to Lemon, who was sitting by the opposite wall. “Wanna go bowling, Lemon?”
“Sure.” Lemon muttered without raising her head.
“Okay then.” Indigo grabbed her phone to write another message.
When Indigo and Lemon reached the bowling alley, Bulk was already there, accompanied by Muffins. Indigo didn’t expect her to be there, but she didn’t mind; her heart fluttered when she saw Bulk, much to her surprise. She’d never show it, but she still missed him, if only a bit.
“Hello,” Indigo said, approaching Bulk and Muffins slowly. “What’s up?”
“Same old.” Bulk shrugged. Indigo noticed that he didn’t hug or kiss her, like he used to do. “Muffins wanted to tag along when she heard you’re bringing Lemon.”
Muffins nodded. “Doing fucked-up is always funnier with someone else.”
“Not in a mood, really,” Lemon muttered. “Also, I’m not sure what’s fucked up about bowling.”
“Then you haven’t seen me play.” Muffins chuckled, walking to Lemon and embracing her. “Girl, I once nearly got banned from this place…”
They walked into the building, mostly filled with students who wanted to play some bowling after school, though Indigo also spotted four guys that seemed to always be there, just like old couches and tables. She also saw the tall girl who was working there and whose name was Allie Way – not that Indigo remembered it, she just had a tag with her name on it.
Allie was just escorting two Canterlot High girls to the exit. Indigo knew them, but she couldn’t quite recall their names; she just remembered they played piano and that at least one of them was in the school’s soccer team.
“Don’t even think of showing up here again,” Allie muttered when the group walked past Indigo and her friends. “You’re a threat for yourselves and the others!”
“Hey!” the minty green girl exclaimed. “I’m a lesbian, I’m not good with balls, okay?!”
“Lyra, shut up,” her friend muttered. “We play soccer. You can do it without hitting anyone’s head…”
“That’s another thing!” Lyra shouted. “It’s like, a different kind of–”
“Oh, shut up.” Allie slammed the door behind the girls and turned to Indigo who only now noticed that the girl got pregnant since she’d last saw her. Allie noticed her gaze. “If you want to make a bowling ball joke, go on. I’m sure it’ll be as funny as the last seven thousand times I heard them.”
“Well, that’s not the most fortunate t-shirt…” Indigo pointed at the t-shirt with a green bowling ball Allie was wearing.
Allie chuckled. “Well, yeah… Most of my clothes got too tight, somehow. Anyway, my spine is soon gonna give up because of those two nutjobs, so I hope you’ll forgive me if I tell you to hurry up with paying, okay?”
“Sure.” Indigo grabbed her wallet.
“Have fun while I try not to think of my swollen feet…” Allie muttered when they changed their shoes and walked towards the lanes.
“Back pain, swollen feet…” Indigo shook her head when Allie left them to sit behind the counter and rub her legs. “I don’t wanna get pregnant, like, ever.”
“Well, she’s pretty tall,” Bulk said. “You have a lower centre of gravity and shorter spine.”
Muffins nodded and turned to Lemon. “You and me, however…”
Lemon shrugged. “I’m too sad and too gay to have kids…”
“Gay?” Muffins smirked. “That only means you’re, as Lyra put it, bad with balls. Some dexterity required with getting pregnant, but it’s quite possible. Unless you find a shorter girlfriend, then you can dump it on her and become a daddy…”
“Slow down, Muffins,” Bulk said. “Don’t get her all confused. Or pregnant.”
“Yeah.” Indigo grabbed a bowling ball. “I guess we’re all too young for that anyway.”
She threw the ball down the lane. It rolled, curving gently between the first and third pin, knocking them all down. “Huh,” she muttered. “There are things you never forget.”
“I once had a dream that I forgot how to ride a bicycle.” Muffins patted Lemon’s back. “Have you ever forgotten something?”
Lemon shrugged. “I wish.”
The walls of the visiting room were painted light, pastel pink. In theory, it was supposed to have a calming effect on patients, but Sour Sweet always hated it. It didn’t mean much, these days; after being admitted, she decided to follow the doctor’s orders and swallow whatever pills she was given without spitting them out. As a result, she couldn’t muster anything more than a mild irritation.
“What’s up?” Sweet Leaf asked. She was sitting on the other side of a round table, staring into her eyes. “How was your day?”
“Sweeten Sour was here,” Sour Sweet replied. “She’s an idiot.”
“Why do you think so?” Sweet Leaf asked, resting her hands on the table. “She at least visits you, right?”
“Guess my parents are busy convincing everyone I’m crazy so I don’t end up in prison.” Sour Sweet shrugged. “Sweeten brought me a book.”
Sweet Leaf nodded. “That’s… nice, I guess.”
“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is not the most fortunate choice, though.” Sour sighed.
“Oh.” Sweet Leaf raised her eyebrows.
“It wasn’t that bad.” Sour shrugged. “Now, how about you? Are your–”
“Some people just can’t give me a break.” Sweet Leaf shook her head. “But I just kinda stopped caring about it. Interestingly, it’s the girls who are the worst.”
“Maybe they’re jealous?” Sour Sweet groaned, hearing her own voice. Even when she tried to sound more caring, it was still a dull monotone. Sweet Leaf shuddered and lowered her head, her hair covering her face.
“You okay there?” Sour asked. “I’m sorry if I sounded insulting… I think.” She looked around, realising that those few people who were in the visiting room were staring at her. She thought of getting up and breaking someone’s nose so they’d stop, but the thought quickly disappeared in the medication-induced cloud covering her mind.
“No, it’s fine.” Sweet Leaf swallowed her tears. “No, it isn’t. You shouldn’t be here. None of this should’ve happened. You should be outside, not drugged out of your mind...”
“You wouldn’t like my mind when it’s not drugged,” Sour replied. “Ask Suri if you don’t get why.” She frowned, trying to recall the look on Suri’s face just before she threw her across the corridor but only succeeded in getting a headache. “I’m tired.”
Sweet Leaf sniffed her nose and stood up. “I’ll better leave.” She trembled. “See you tomorrow, Sour.”
Muffins grabbed a bowling ball and weighed it in her hand. Everyone around her backed off when she took a few shaky steps towards the lane. She most definitely had none of Indigo’s grace, throwing the ball straight and nearly breaking a finger. It was, nevertheless, rather effective; the ball rammed into the pins like a sledgehammer, leaving only one of them standing.
“Not bad.” Indigo nodded.
“A friend taught me how to play.” Muffins looked at the pinsetter’s rake removing the pins from the lane. “He said there were too many variables for him to spin effectively, but someone told him to throw it straight.”
“How many more friends I haven’t met do you have?” Bulk asked.
“Well, this one had to go back to England,” Muffins replied, taking another ball. She threw it at the sole remaining pin and knocked it down. “I kinda had a crush on him, but he was a few years older and never really noticed.”
“I know that feeling.” Indigo nodded. “I once had a crush on Shining Armor. I still find that dumb.” She turned to Lemon. “You also had a crush on someone weird, I think?”
Lemon blushed. “That actress who played Daring Do in 1990s TV series.”
“Eww…” Indigo shook her head. “Saturday morning re-runs and cheap special effects.”
“I didn’t care about it much, back then.” Lemon smirked sheepishly. “Is it my turn?”
Bulk looked at the electronic scoreboard. “It is.”
Lemon got up from the couch and took one of the bowling balls. She looked at Indigo and weighed the ball in her hand just like her. She then rushed towards the lane and threw it straight. Unlike with Muffins, however, it went slightly off-course, knocking only three pins on the right side of the rack.
“Crap,” Lemon muttered under her breath.
“No worries, we all started somewhere,” Indigo said. “My sister would occasionally take me to the bowling alley when I was a kid, but I really sucked back then.”
“I remember she brought you to school on our first day.” Lemon took another ball and threw it without aiming for too long, knocking all but two pins.
“Oh yeah.” Indigo smiled. “Those were good times.”
A large muscle car drove smoothly down the street, waking up everyone who was still asleep. The driver, a teenage girl with blonde hair and wearing a denim vest, looked at her little sister, who kept watching the interior of the car with wide eyes.
“Where did you get that car?” Indigo asked. Her hair was tied into a ponytail and her new school uniform was looking simply divine, as her mother would put it. Unfortunately, her mother was currently out of town, and her dad was playing one of the pre-season games in his football team, leaving her on Lightning Dust’s head.
“I borrowed it,” Lightning replied, slowing down next to the cinema to check out the posters. “Hmm, that’s a new one… I don’t think they’re gonna let you in the cinema with me…”
“The Wicker Man,” Indigo read. “You can always smuggle me into the cinema.”
“I’d rather not get caught again.” Lightning shrugged. “I’ll see it with Gilda and I’ll tell you if it’s worth it, okay? Also, you have school or something.”
“I don’t want to go to school,” Indigo muttered.
“Who wants, kid?” Lightning Dust shrugged. “Shouldn’t be hard for you, though. Find some friends, kick some guy in the nuts, draw circles in your notebook, and you’re set.”
The car drove through the school’s gate. Lightning Dust pushed the accelerator, causing the engine to roar, scaring some kids off. She drove to the car park and pulled the handbrake, causing the car to spin, leaving rubber marks on the concrete surface.
“Okay.” Lightning opened the door. “Let’s see what’s up.”
Indigo walked towards the school following her sister. She saw a big, black SUV standing by the edge of the car park and smiled, seeing her friend from the kindergarten, Sunny Flare, getting out of it with her mother.
“Hi, Sunny!” Indigo exclaimed. “What’s up? I hope we’re in the same class.”
“Yeah.” Sunny chuckled. Her mother looked at Lightning Dust, sighed, and shook her head before walking with Sunny and Indigo towards the school.
“Cadance?” Lightning asked, patting the back of a pink-skinned woman in a blue outfit. “Huh. You became a teacher after all.”
“And I’m pretty sure you’re not allowed to enter this school’s premises, Lightning,” Cadance muttered, frowning.
“Chill out, Caddy.” Lightning pushed Indigo forward. “I’m bringing my little sis to school, see?”
“Good morning,” Indigo said.
Cadance sighed. “Okay. You can leave her here like all the parents do and then you’re free to do whatever you want. Outside.”
“Sure, whatever.” Lightning Dust rolled her eyes. “Sorry, Indy, I’m not welcome here. Have fun and be awesome.” She turned back and walked towards the car. Indigo and Sunny Flare followed Cadance to the part of the building dedicated to younger students.
“What’s going on with her?” Indigo asked.
“I have no idea,” Sunny replied.
“This school isn’t kind for those who got kicked out of it.”
Indigo turned back to find the source of that high-pitched, screeching voice, and saw a short girl with glasses and long, pale hair. “Who the hell are you, four-eyes?” she asked.
“My name is Sugarcoat,” the girl replied. “And you must be Lightning Dust’s sister. Everyone heard about what she did last year…”
“Really?” Indigo walked to Sugarcoat. “And have you heard about opening a can?”
“What can?” Sugarcoat asked.
Indigo punched the girl in the stomach, causing her to fall and lose her glasses. “A can of whoop-ass, that’s what.” She kicked Sugarcoat who was trying to get up. “Don’t you ever dare talking shit about my sister again.” She turned to Sunny Flare. “Let’s find our class. Hope we won’t end up with this loser.”
They walked away, leaving Sugarcoat whimpering and trying to catch a breath.
Lemon Zest jumped in place, humming a happy tune under her breath. Her mother just drove her and her neighbours’ daughter to school, but she couldn’t stay there for much longer. She just walked with them to the school building, where a teacher showed them the way to the classroom.
“I have to go to the doctor,” Lemon’s mom told her after they found the right classroom. “Sour’s mom will pick you up later.”
“A doctor? Are you okay, mom?” Lemon asked.
“Yes, I’m fine.” Lemon’s mom hugged her. “Take care, Lemon.”
“Bye, mom!” Lemon turned to Sour Sweet. Even though they were neighbours, she didn’t know her very well; she spent most of her days outside while Sour usually sat at home. Lemon wasn’t sure why; she knew Sour’s younger sister, Sweeten Sour, better, but Sweeten Sour was none the wiser. According to her, Sour was often sick and couldn’t get out much.
Lemon looked at Sour Sweet. Although pale, tall and thin for her age, Sour Sweet seemed rather healthy. She sat by the wall, ignoring other kids talking and playing around her. Lemon found it weird; she knew that Sour also had a brother, but he was four years old, so he didn’t count.
“What are you looking at?” Sour Sweet asked. “Not that I mind, but hey, stop doing that.”
“I’m sorry!” Lemon exclaimed. “I’m just kinda excited, you know. It’s our first day at school and all that.”
“We’d rather be at home,” Sour Sweet replied, looking at the children around them. “Mom wanted to have us homeschooled, totally not because she thinks we can’t be around others, but dad didn’t agree.”
“Umm…” Lemon shrugged. Sour Sweet kept using a lot of words and Lemon wasn’t very good with them, especially the long ones. “Why’d she do that?”
“We have no idea.” Sour Sweet replied. “I think she called our teacher to tell her we had a seizure once.” She made a brief pause and spoke in a slightly different voice, “But I think she knows it was caused by meds. And stress after a beauty pageant.”
Lemon arched an eyebrow, parroting an expression her father was often making. “What is a seizure?”
“I don’t know, the other one had it,” Sour Sweet replied.
“Who?” Lemon asked.
Sour Sweet gave her a blank stare. “Nevermind.”
Lemon had a few more questions to ask, but they were approached by a long-haired girl with glasses. There were trails of tears on her face, but she didn’t seem to mind. “Excuse me,” she said. “Have you seen a short, blue-haired girl? I need to destroy her entire life.”
Lemon furrowed her eyebrows. “I want to go back to the kindergarten…”
“Why is that?” the girl with glasses asked. “I’m Sugarcoat, by the way.”
“Lemon Zest. This school is just weird,” Lemon replied, looking at Sour Sweet. “And everybody is saying a lot of words.”
“You don’t listen enough.” Sugarcoat turned to Sour Sweet. “And who are you, Lemon’s friend?”
“We don’t want to be here.” Sour Sweet sighed. “Although you seem fine.”
“Her name is Sour Sweet,” Lemon said.
“Don’t bother,” Sour Sweet muttered. “We don’t think we’ll be here for long…”
“Really?” Sugarcoat shrugged. “I think it’s gonna be twelve years or so. Do people even live for that long?”
Lemon Zest shook her head. “I have no idea.”
“Yeah, those were fun times,” Lemon muttered. “Although it took a while before you and Sunny joined me, Sugarcoat, and Sour.”
“It’d take shorter if Sugarcoat didn’t decide to be smug every time I said or did something dumb,” Indigo replied. “Which was quite often, if I recall correctly.”
“Well, I wasn’t a bright kid either.” Bulk took a bowling ball and threw it down the lane. It knocked down several pins, as well as, judging by the sounds, some part of the machinery behind them.
“I’d say it carried over to this day.” Indigo chuckled.
“Said the girl who can’t use semicolons in texts,” Bulk replied.
“Great. Sugarcoat has a fan.” Indigo rolled her eyes. “Though it’s kinda funny how we became friends after all. She was getting on everybody’s nerves.”
“It took a while…” Lemon nodded. “I became friends with Sunny sooner, but Indigo and Sugarcoat wouldn’t get together for years…”
“Actually, it was only a few months.” Indigo smiled sheepishly. “Sugarcoat remembers such things and it was apparently March. First day of Spring, even.”
Sugarcoat sat in the corner of the pitch, blinking and trying to figure out what was going on. She knew what’d her parents tell when they’d see her. Over the seven months in school, they had to buy her six pairs of glasses and twelve new uniforms due to how often her blunt responses caused other students to resort to violence. Now her blazer was torn, and so was the shirt. Also, one of the lenses in her glasses was broken, so she couldn’t exactly see what was happening. Still, what she saw was baffling.
Peacock Plume lay on the ground, clutching to his nuts. His friend, Lemonade Blues, groaned and spat out a few of his milk teeth. Between them, Indigo Zap just pulled out a handful of Ginger Owlseye’s hair and smacked her in the face. Ginger tried to slap her, but Indigo was faster; she ducked and rammed into Ginger’s chest with her head – something she’d first seen at the beginning of Summer vacation, when her dad took her and Lightning to a World Cup final in Berlin.
Ginger managed to grab her and they both fell into the mud. For a moment it seemed like Ginger would gain the upper hand, but suddenly she jumped back, screaming and waving her leg with fresh bite marks.
Indigo stood up and wiped mud from her clothes, smearing it even more. “Get out!” she shouted. “Only I can beat her!”
Ginger clenched her fists, but a quick look at her two friends and at Ms. Cadance running to them caused her to reconsider the tactics and retreat to a strategic position under the bleachers.
Indigo smirked, walked to Sugarcoat and helped her up. “Don’t look at me like that,” she said. “Did you shit your pants, or what?”
“Unlike some other people, I can make it to the toilet,” Sugarcoat muttered. “Are you gonna beat me again?”
Indigo looked at Sugarcoat’s torn and dirty clothes. “That’d be no fun. Also, we’re in trouble anyway.” She turned towards Ms. Cadance with the most innocent smile on her face.
“And then I had to write ‘I won’t be starting fights with other students’ a thousand times,” Indigo said. “I could hardly write, not to mention counting to a thousand.”
“You tell us that at least three times a year,” Lemon said.
“Those scars will never heal.” Indigo sighed.
“Just like the one from a climbing accident?” Bulk asked.
“Oh, you’ve seen it too?” Lemon chuckled. “Well, of course you did…”
Indigo gave her a stern look. “I’m more worried by the fact that you’ve seen it.” She turned to Bulk. ”Besides, I was just thinking… Just to be clear: are we cool now? I mean…”
Muffins froze and looked at Lemon. “Do you want to get something to drink?”
“No, not re–” Lemon paused, seeing the look in Muffins’ eyes.
“You want to,” Muffins whispered, waving her hand.
“Well…” Bulk backpedalled. “What do you mean, Indigo?”
Indigo raised her eyebrows, feeling chill run down her spine. “No, wait… What do you mean? I just want to know if we’re you know, cool… And back together.”
“Cool, yes,” Bulk replied. “But I thought you wrote to me because you wanted to be friends…”
Lemon freed herself from Muffins who was trying to pull her towards the bar. She walked between Bulk and Indigo with a smile on her face. “Interesting coincidence, huh? Just don’t take that too seriously, Indy… We all make mistakes, right?”
“Shut up, Lemon.” Indigo furrowed her eyebrows. “Did you… Did you give up on me? Like, did you really think I broke up with you just because–”
“– you yelled at him in the hospital and stormed off, scaring poor Sweet Leaf on the way,” Lemon said. “I’d think it was breaking up and Sugarcoat keeps saying I’m hopeless when it comes to relationships…”
“I’m not talking to you, Lemon.” Indigo’s voice didn’t tremble; there wasn’t any trace of emotion with it. “You gave up on me… Just like that…”
“Well, Lemon’s right.” Bulk sighed. “I swear, I didn’t know yelling and running away doesn’t mean breaking up in your language, so don’t be mad at me, okay?!”
Indigo lowered her head. “I’m not mad. Just…” She turned back and walked away, sniffing.
“What does she mean now?” Bulk asked Lemon. “Just in case she comes up with something different again…”
“Oh, you just punctured eighteen years worth of ego and expecting people to like her because she’s not her sister,” Lemon replied. “Don’t worry, she’ll get better.”
“I can still hear you!” Indigo shouted.
“Come back to them and let’s play bowling,” Muffins said, walking by Indigo and giving her a bottle of cola. “I mean, seriously, that pregnant one just told me that if you two don’t quit your drama–”
Indigo rolled her eyes. “Okay, okay. We’re getting kicked out.” She walked back to Bulk and Lemon, wiping tears from her face. “It’s my turn now, right?”
“You know…” Bulk said. “We can still be together…”
Indigo threw the ball much harder than necessary. “Just because you don’t want to make me sad?” she asked, watching as the ball went off course, ending up in the gutter. “Never.”
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I want to give Indigo a hug
And Lemon.
But I doubt any of them would probably want that, so...
Ay ay ay........
I'm not even going to say it.
8614456
Maybe Indigo. But Lemon likes hugs and needs a lot of them (though her problem is that she falls in love with all the wrong people).
8615755
I'll give them both a hug. Being fictional people, they can only accept. ;)
Anyway, good chapter. Nice seeing their backgrounds and how they met.
Well, the list of possible reasons for Sugarcoat being Sugarcoat keeps piling on and on and on.
Uhhh...
Ah. Muffins knows the Jedi mind trick.
10801520
These days, Sour Sweet is way better mentally than she used to be. Though that's not saying much.