Learning To Trust

by pandaxxus

"I'm Awesome”

Lunch at Canterlot Elementary was like any other school full of second and third graders: noisy. The cafeteria was filled of kids opening their lunch boxes and catching up with their buddies. While others were just walking to their tables with the school lunch trays in hand.

Laughter filled the air as children told jokes amongst each other, however one particular table seemed to be...disappointed. Three girls sat at a table, all three seemed to be waiting on something.

Was the school lunch worse than usual? Did their mothers forget to write a note in their lunch box? What could be the problem?

A blonde haired girl took a bite out of her apple with a grimace on her face. Her freckled nose was scrunched up in disappointment and her green eyes were narrowed as she scanned through the cafeteria. She wore a green plaid shirt and had a brown “cowgirl” hat on her head. Her long blonde hair was tied into a ponytail with a red ribbon. Her name was Applejack and she was waiting for someone to join their table.

Applejack had met a new friend over the weekend, Rainbow Dash, just as she was finishing up her chores in Sweet Apple Acres. Rainbow Dash seemed like she needed a friend at the time, and Applejack figured that she was the only person that could cheer her up. Applejack found out that Rainbow Dash was new in town, and would be in her class! She was supposed to arrive today, Wednesday, but she was nowhere to be found. She wasn’t there throughout the entire morning.

Applejack was so excited for her friends to meet her! They would like her just as much as Applejack did. She had also thought that this was a good chance to learn more about Rainbow Dash. She had only seen Dash once, and she wasn’t in the best of moods at that time either. Maybe Rainbow Dash didn’t like Applejack. But she hugged her! Why didn’t she show up today?

Across from her were her best friends Pinkie Pie and Rarity.

Pinkie Pie had a similar disappointed expression on her face, but Applejack didn’t know why. It was rare to see Pinkie not smiling, as she liked to do it so much. Pinkie was a loud and energetic eight year old girl and she was always telling jokes. She had messy and curly pink hair, which she seemed to somehow store all of her belongings. Her blue eyes were always filled with energy as she did the most random things possible. It was what Applejack liked most about Pinkie. She loved to make people smile, which was another reason Applejack was excited for her to meet her friend. Rainbow Dash would be smiling in no time.

However, Pinkie Pie was barely even touching her lunch. Like Applejack, she also seemed to be looking for something. It was weird, but Pinkie was always weird, so Applejack didn’t really seem to mind.

Rarity was sitting with a napkin on her lap, eating her lunch. She had been in a good mood ever since Mrs. Moon Blossom, their teacher, had told Rarity that her fashion show was being organized. She had deep blue eyes and curled purple hair. She wore a glittery lip gloss that went well with her light blue sweater. Rarity was ecstatic to showcase her designs to the whole third grade and their parents!

While she was very excited, Applejack noticed that Rarity had also seemed to be looking for something as well. She was just about to bring it up, but Rarity beat her to it first.

“Oh my! I forgot to tell you about my fashion show!”

“Uh...no you didn’t! You told us about it this morning, when we went to our cubbies, after we went to our cubbies, on the way to lunch, and five minutes ago!” Pinkie counted.

“She’s right. Ah don’t see what ya could have possibly forgot.” Applejack smirked.

“No. Girls you don’t understand. My fashion show was...cancelled!” Rarity cringed. She didn’t even want to remember the terrible news.

Her friends gasped. Pinkie fell out of her chair in shock.

“I’m okay! But WHAT!” Pinkie quickly bounced back up and shook Rarity by the shoulders.

“Well, it was cancelled. I didn’t have enough models to show my designs! This girl walked in and was nice enough to sign up, even though she told me she didn’t like fashion.” Rarity explained, slowly taking Pinkie’s hands off of her.

“Why that was mighty nice of her.” Applejack commented.

“I know! She told me she was new, and I hope you don’t mind, but I invited her to sit with us today! I just can’t seem to find her though.”

Pinkie gave another dramatic gasp, “No. Way! I met a new girl too! She helped me feel better when I was super sad a few days ago. She seemed to be a little frowny though, I thought that if she met you guys, she’d smile more! She was supposed to be here today...I guess she’s hiding.”

“Well...I met someone too! Remember, y’all thought she was imaginary.” Applejack gave her friends a frown but continues, “She was crying behind my tree on Sunday. I tried to make her feel a lil’ better but somethin’ ain’t right. She is supposed to be here today too, I just don’t know where she went.”

“So you’re telling me that we have three new friends?” Pinkie asked excitedly, but that excitement quickly turned into panic, “Wait. You guys should have told me sooner! I only packed one ‘Welcome’ cookie! How am I supposed to give the others a nice welcome?!” She waved a yellow frosted cookie with the word ‘Welcome’ written on it in the air.

“Maybe you can split it? I’m sure they’ll understand.” Rarity tried to comfort Pinkie.

The three girls never seemed to consider that their stories sounded a bit too similar.

“Now, Applejack. Since you were technically the first to tell us about your new friend, and I apologize for not believing you, why don’t you tell us what her name is?” Rarity questioned. Pinkie was practically leaning over in excitement.

Before Applejack began talking, there was a small crash that sounded across the cafeteria. It caught the attention of many students, including Pinkie Pie and Rarity, who all looked in the direction of the sound. Applejack figured it wasn’t anything too big, and ignored it.

“Y’all are going to like her. Her name’s-”

“Rainbow Dash?” Rarity and Pinkie both said in unison, they seemed to be shocked and were both looking in the direction of the crash.

“How’d y’all know?” Applejack now was stunned. Her friends knew the whole time? She saw that her friends were no longer paying attention to her, and decided to look in the direction of the crash as well.

Right in the middle of the cafeteria, mashed potatoes, fruit, and a grilled cheese sandwich, were all scattered across the floor. A rainbow haired girl, who Applejack recognized the moment she laid eyes on her, was also on the floor. She must have fallen. The mashed potatoes were smeared all over her shirt, and some cheese in her hair. She didn’t try to pick herself up. She just stayed there, looking defeated. Her eyes were closed, as if she was in pain, and her hands were balled into fists as she remained on the floor.

Worst of all, people began to laugh. First there was a small giggle, then another, and soon, people were roaring with laughter, pointing at the small third grader.

It was in fact Rainbow Dash. Applejack’s new friend. Where was she this entire time?

Applejack looked at her friends, who had somehow known who she was before she had even told them. They all looked at each other as the realization hit them. They all knew Rainbow Dash. They all invited Rainbow Dash to sit with them! Rainbow Dash was their new friend! However, they didn’t say anything. This whole situation could be dealt with later. The look of shock on the girls’ faces vanished and the look of determination appeared.

They all stood up and nodded at each other, as if they had all read each others’ minds. They knew exactly what they had to do. They all headed towards the fallen girl, who now had a crowd circled around her.

---

Great job, Crash. All you had to do was be normal for once. And you couldn’t even get that right.

Rainbow Dash was a new student in Canterlot Elementary. She had just arrived fifteen minutes ago and was told to go to lunch. She had come here to get away from everything back in Cloudsdale. Nothing seemed to go right for her. Her mother had a stable job and seemed to finally be okay, especially after what happened a few months prior. But now, they had to move, because of her.

---

~~Flashback/Backstory~~~

Rainbow never liked to think about the accident, it only just hurt her more. She was already being bullied in Cloudsdale before the accident, but she at least had a friend to talk to. A friend who actually liked her.

This friend in particular was always dependent on Dash, as she was being bullied constantly. This friend was very, very shy, and that is actually what Rainbow called her as a nickname. Ever since Dash stood up for Shy in kindergarten, the two have stuck together ever since. Rainbow was used to protecting her best friend, and cared for her very much. Dash didn’t want to lose her only friend, so she was strong for her. She didn’t tell Shy that she was getting bullied just as much.

She had been called many names, Crash, Trash, etc; but the words never bothered her at first. But as they grew older, those words turned into insults. That hurt her. She never told her friend about it because she didn’t want to seem weak! How could she protect Shy if she was afraid of the bullies herself? She didn’t want Shy to leave her, then she’d lose her only friend.

Dash hated losing. She was scared that if she ever lost anything, she’d be alone. And she absolutely hated being alone. It stung. Knowing that there was no one to turn to, no one to help you.

Because of her fear, she never left her friend hanging. She never cried in front of Shy either. Dash didn’t like crying, it was weak. And weak would lead to you being alone. That’s all she’s ever learned.

Things were already becoming harder, as the insults were beginning to affect her. She was starting to question whether or not she was good enough for anything, if they were right about what they were saying. However, she still stayed strong for her friend.

Everything got even worse when the accident happened. She remembered when her mom sat her down and told her how Dad never made it back home from his business trip. A car slammed into his, causing them both to crash. Unfortunately, her dad didn’t make it. It changed everything. She lost her dad. He was everything to her. He had taken her to see the Wonderbolts, her favorite soccer team. She’d practice with him, and he’d tell her how amazing she was. How she’d be in the Wonderbolts in no time! He told her how great of a friend she was, and how proud he was. Now, he’d never hug her again, mess up her hair, smile at her, laugh with her, tell her he loved her. That was all gone.

Even then, Dash didn’t cry. It wasn’t because she didn’t care, it was because she wanted to be even stronger. Now she had to be strong for her mom, for her dad, and for Shy. Her dad already left her, they couldn’t leave her too. She didn’t even tell Shy about her dad. She just put a fake smile on her face and defended her friend whenever she needed her.

The insults began to get worse. Soon, Dash was being involved in fights, both in defending her friend and herself. She luckily was never caught, as the bullies wanted to make sure Dash was alone, and it was easy to hide any injuries from her mom and Shy.

One day, Dash wasn’t lucky enough. She had a black eye after fighting with one girl. Shy was absent that day, but she still had to face her mother. The school nurse ended up calling her mom, and her mother was so worried, she picked her up early. She demanded that Dash tell her everything. And she did.

Dash had told her about what they have been saying to her, and how she felt worthless. By that time, everyone in school was against her. They’d trick her, poke fun at her, push her, told her that she was terrible at everything. She now fully believed every word they said.

She told her mom how she thought Shy would leave her behind if she gave any signs of weakness. She told her mom how much she missed Dad. By the time she was done, she only had a tear rolling down her cheek, but she wanted to cry more.

Dash’s mom was appalled, and couldn’t believe that all of that came from an eight-year-old!

How long was she hiding all of this? She was proud of her daughter for keeping strong, but it’s okay to be sad sometimes, there’s always a limit. She told her daughter that if anything got worse, they’d leave town immediately. She knew that Dash still had Shy, and she didn’t want to separate the two, especially after everything Dash just told her.

Rainbow knew that she couldn’t make her mom leave town because of her. Why’d she have to go and tell her everything? She couldn’t stop herself, it all just came out at once! All she knew now was that she couldn’t tell her mom about the bullies anymore or else her mom was going to make her leave!

After a few weeks, kids started to spread a nasty rumor about Dash. What’s worse was that Shy believed it! Dash remembers her friend saying how disappointed she was, and how they shouldn’t hang out anymore. Rainbow wanted to defend herself, but she couldn’t. She just lost the only person in school that would talk to her. The only person in school that didn’t think she was a bad person.

If Shy couldn’t even stand to look at her anymore, then maybe she was that bad. Maybe she would disappoint her mom, maybe she’d never make the Wonderbolts, she’d never improve in life. She didn’t deserve anything!

When Dash came home that day, she didn’t smile. She didn’t say hello to her mother, she just walked straight into her room. Obviously, her mother was alarmed and followed her. Dash sat at her desk, about to do homework. She didn’t see the point, she probably wasn’t smart enough, but she did it anyway.

Dash knew her mother was watching her, she just never turned back to look at her. When her mother called her name, she simply answered with a “Hm?” Her mother wanted her to forget her homework, just for a few hours, and asked if she wanted to play soccer outside. Dash told her mother that there was no point, that she’d never be good at it anyway.

The lack of emotion in Dash’s usually energetic tone scared her mom.

“Pack your bags.” was the sudden response from her mother.

Her mother had told her that she didn’t have to tell her what happened just yet, but she knew enough now. The kids at this school were destroying her daughter, and she had waited too long to do anything about it. Besides, Rainbow could use a fresh start. She knew exactly where to go. They were moving away, so Rainbow can get away from everything.

Dash obeyed her mother, but told her several times that they didn’t have to move. That they didn’t have to restart everything. Her pleads fell on deaf ears, and before she knew it, she was living in an apartment in Canterlot. It was nice to be away from the kids at Cloudsdale, but she didn’t think she’d make new friends at her new school either.

She wasn’t cool, smart, or funny. She didn’t see how she could possibly fit in!

After a few days of getting settled in her mother had asked her if she could run to Sweet Apple Acres, to learn more about their produce. They had heard about the place from their new neighbors and they sounded pretty great from the looks of it.

Dash did as she was told, but saw that the field was mostly empty. She looked around and saw how different everything was compared to Cloudsdale. Her mother would have to do so much just to get settled again and it was all her fault. As Rainbow thought about it more and more, she saw that she couldn’t hold anything in any longer. Her vision became blurry and soon she began to sob.

As she tried to calm herself down, she just made herself cry even more. She sat against the tree, crying a river, and didn’t even notice that someone was walking towards her.

This was the day she had met Applejack, the first person that had actually offered to be her friend. Applejack really did make Rainbow feel a lot better that day, and she was very grateful, but she still wasn’t sure if she could trust anyone yet.

Over the course of the next few days, Dash had also met two other girls, Pinkie Pie and Rarity. All three girls considered Dash as a friend and invited her to sit with them. While she was happy about making new friends, she didn’t want to get too attached to them. She had learned from Cloudsdale that while everyone seemed nice, they could turn on you in a split second. Besides, what if they didn’t even like her? Sure, maybe she had helped two of them out, but that was only because she knew how those girls felt, and she thought that no one deserved to feel how terrible she felt.

Now, it was the day she had been dreading, her first day at a new school. What if she messed up? What if they treated her exactly how the kids at Cloudsdale treated her? All she had to do was not do anything dumb...then she’d be in the clear.

~End of Flashback/Backstory...for now

Everyone was laughing at her. Laughing. At. Her. She wasn’t surprised, she was used to being laughed at. It just hurt that she’d have to deal with it all again. Her mother had made such an effort to make her happy by moving to a completely new town, and she blew it.

All she could do was sit on the floor and listen to everyone laugh at her. I mean, she did look a mess, she didn’t blame them for laughing. She held back her tears and she thought that she would listen to the laughter. However, Rainbow heard something much different.

“Hey! Come on now, it ain’t that funny!” A voice said. Rainbow knew exactly who that voiced belonged to; Applejack.

“Yeah! Even I know when a joke gets old!”, another voiced joined in. Rainbow was even more shocked to hear that it was Pinkie’s.

“Really...don’t you guys have anything better to do!”, the final voice shouted.

Rainbow Dash finally looked up to see that her new “friends” were all standing in front of her. Each of them standing around her as if they were forming a shield.

“How would you feel if you had to listen to everyone laugh at ya!” Applejack shouted, her face almost red with anger.

“I mean, I’d be horrified if any of that horrid mashed mess smeared on my outfit!” Rarity cringed.

“What? I’m being serious!” Rarity replied after seeing the deadpan look on her friend’s faces.

“Look! Point is, y’all don’t have to make such a big deal over it. It’s her first day here, is this the first impression y’all wanna make?” Applejack questioned at the crowd. She smiled in satisfaction while watching the children’s ashamed faces as they slowly made their way back to their seats.

Rainbow watched in awe as the three girls stood up for her. It’s never happened before. She said nothing as Pinkie helped her up, and Rarity used a napkin to help clean up her clothes.

“Ah...I can’t have you walk the rest of the day like this! We must go to the bathroom!” Rarity grabbed her hand and led her into the girl’s restroom, the other two following suit.

Rainbow couldn’t say anything, she was too shocked. She couldn’t process what had just happened. She flinched in surprise as she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Are ya okay?”

“U-um...y-yea...I’m fine.” Rainbow replied, looking into Applejack’s green eyes.

“You seem a little nervous, darling.” Rarity said scrubbing away at Rainbow’s shirt.

When Rainbow didn’t respond, Pinkie took that as a cue to speak.

“It’s okay! Everyone gets butterflies in their tummy sometimes!”

Hearing the word butterflies, Rainbow frowned. It reminded her of something, or someone rather, that she kind of missed.

“Ya know you can tell us whatever’s botherin’ ya. We aren’t like them jokesters out there. We wanna be your friend.” Applejack smiled genuinely.

“Yeah! We promise we won’t tell anyone.” Pinkie softened her loud tone to show Rainbow Dash that she was serious.

“We know it isn’t easy to make friends, and honestly you seem like a great person to be around. The first step in a new friendship is gaining trust, and we want you to know that you can trust us with anything.” Rarity continued.

Rainbow was overwhelmed by all of the sudden support. She wanted to scream and cry, but she didn’t want to do that in front of her new friends. She didn’t think that anyone would want to hang around her.

“Are you sure?” She asked simply.

“About what?” Applejack replied.

“Are you sure you guys want to be my friends?”

“Didn’t we already go through this ya featherbrain?! Of course we want to be your friend!” Applejack nudged her playfully.

“W-well...I mean, I’m not that great to be around. I always make people angry for some reason. No one likes me and you guys shouldn’t either.” She finished that last part bitterly and she broke out of Rarity’s reach.

“Darling, you shouldn’t talk about yourself like that! You don’t seem like the type of person that-”

Dash suddenly cut Rarity off with a shout.

“You don’t understand! Everything I do...I get laughed and told off about. I can’t even walk in a straight line without falling on my face! The only person that actually didn’t laugh at me ended up leaving me behind! I don’t want that to happen again and I don’t want you guys to end up seeing what a disappointment I am. I’m just a waste of your time...so you might as well just leave me alone. I work best when I’m alone, that is what everyone seems to see anyway.”

Rainbow finished her rant leaving the others stunned. She looked in the mirror with tears in her eyes, but she didn’t let any fall. She closed her eyes, gripped the edges of the sink, and took a deep breath. As she heard nothing but silence, she had assumed that the other girls had left. Though it was what she wanted, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of disappointment.

Dash turned around, ready to leave the bathroom, but froze when she felt two arms wrap around her very tight. She was greeted with a vision full of pink, and realized it was hair. It was Pinkie Pie, hugging her as if she was her favorite teddy bear. She looked at Applejack and Rarity, who still seemed to be shocked at her outburst.

“Pinkie...what did I just say?” Dash groaned and tried to pry Pinkie Pie off of her, but to no avail.

“No,” Pinkie said firmly, “You need this hug. No one should ever be alone. You made me smile again, and now it’s your turn. I don’t care if you really are as bad as you think you are, I’m going to make you happy, and that’s a Pinkie Promise.”

Rainbow stared into Pinkies light blue eyes. She’d never seen the usually goofy girl so serious, and she was scared to refuse her offer. It was probably rare to see her like this, so Rainbow responded with a silent nod.

Rarity stepped up towards Rainbow. “Do...you really think that you don’t deserve friends?”

Rainbow nodded.

“Was it really that bad in your old school?”

Rainbow bit her bottom lip and nodded again, shutting her eyes.

“Alright enough. You need to really give yourself some credit ya hear? Both of my friends here told me that you helped them out. They were upset, and you made them happy again. That don’t sound too bad to me.” Applejack said putting her arm around Dash.

“Now, what’s a word ya like to use to describe cool things?”

“Uh...awesome I guess.”

“Alright...” Applejack turned Rainbow towards the mirror once again, “Now...look at your face in the mirror, and tell yourself that you’re awesome.”

Rainbow stared into her reflection. She saw a girl with messy rainbow hair, bright magenta eyes, and a ruined shirt. She hated it. However, she did what Applejack had told her to do.

“I’m awesome.” she said with little emotion.

“Come on now, ya have to believe that you’re awesome. Think about all of the things you’ve done. You made it past your terrible old school, and you’ve made three new friends before your first day! I think that’s pretty awesome to me. Say it again now,” Applejack pushed.

Rainbow closed her eyes and thought about what Applejack had just told her. She was right, her old school was terrible, but she made it through. She hadn’t heard of anyone else who made three whole friends before their first day of school. Maybe she wasn’t that bad after all.

“I’m awesome.” Rainbow Dash said again, this time with a little more confidence. She looked in the mirror again and didn’t see a pathetic loser, but someone that was putting themself together again. She had a small smile on her face.

“There ya go!” Applejack cheered. Rarity smiled, and Pinkie hugged her again. This time however, the other two girls also joined in on the hug.

Surrounded by her three new friends, Rainbow smiled happily for the first time in a long time. She hugged back, and suddenly didn’t feel so afraid of this place anymore. She had her new friends to thank for everything, and she felt that she wasn’t as bad as she thought she once was. In fact, maybe in the future, she would be able to look in the mirror and call herself awesome...and actually mean it.

Author's Note:

Okay! Done! I’m sorry I had taken so long! School kind of got in the way of things.

However, I plan on a sequel where we get to see more of our favorite kind, shy gal.
So far, this is my longest story on the site, so this might have a few mistakes here and there. I don’t usually plan my stories, as they mostly flow as I’m writing, but I do always have some sort of plotline.

I sort of held off on this one, as I had a lot of struggle with Dashie’s past, and I still feel kind of about it.

If you made it to the end, thank you for reading! As I always say, I am open to any criticism. And, if you didn’t already know, this story is a sequel to “Shine” which is apart of a series (still don’t really have a title for it yet ), so don’t be afraid to go and check those stories out as well to see exactly how Dash met everyone else.

I’ll see you all in the next story!

Comments

[diablo4000]

This is so heartbreaking, what happened, and did Dash's mom have a few choice words with the teachers over the phone? Did Shy wind up bullied more now after helping to drive Dasha way, and did she come to regret her actions?

i'm glad Dash found real friends that stand by her.

[MorbidTheBrony]

Hoo boy. This was a sad one. But it was also a great one! I can imagine all of the pain Rainbow had gone through, especially when Fluttershy left her. Though, I am curious as to what this rumour was that caused Shy to leave her. Is it something that'll be revealed soon? If not, it won't get in the way with how much I've been enjoying this little Rainbow Arc, which is what I've been calling it. This arc has been honestly great so far. I've enjoyed every minute of it and cannot wait to see what's still to come.

[pandaxxus]

9338645
I kind of figured that Dash waited until the problem was too big for her mom or teachers to do much help. It could have possibly gotten worse if the kids found out that her mom was involved. And I plan to give more of Shy’s story in the next one .

Thank you for reading!!

[diablo4000]

9338909
I figured she had choice words after they were moving. But can't wait for the next story. This is a touching story and i love it.
Shows a different side of Dash, when she was growing up.

[pandaxxus]

9338728
I’m so happy that you’ve been enjoying the story, and The Rainbow Arc doesn’t sound like too bad of a name...maybe it would work?? And pretty much everything we need to know about Flutters is going to be revealed...I don’t plan to leave her out completely.

Thank you for such a nice comment!! I’ve been trying my best to improve and try to make each story better than the last.

[Natedogg2006]

The tone shift in this was pulled off fairly well. Your writing is evolving with the nature of the story in a natural way. I'm glad I can be a part of this story as it's getting written to see this process.
As far as constructive criticism, I can only offer a few nitpicky things. Some of the writing seems a bit off. Not a great deal, just a few places where I think the wrong words were used.
The big thing I noticed is that the flashback was slightly unstructured. I'm dealing with that in one of my stories currently. How to structure a series of memories can be daunting. Overall it flowed well, but lack of an idea of time passed made it feel a little jumbled. Not a deal breaker though. In fact if you had established it a little differently it might have actually enhanced the story. Maybe establishing as her literally having a panic attack as these memories play out and not as an aside for the audience.
Keep doing what your doing. And congrats on sixteen followers

[pandaxxus]

9343821
Thank you for the comment! Dash’s flashback is the thing that stumped me the most, and the next story is going to include one as well. I’m going to try to pay attention to what I need in one a little more, and put way more planning into it so it isn’t as weird

[Natedogg2006]

9344514
Currently doing a sorry that is going to be almost all flash back, I feel ya. Just remember that weird can be good if done right

[Godiswithus3]

I liked this. Very much.

[pandaxxus]

9526980
Yay! I'm glad! I'm hoping to work on the sequel to this throughout this week. Its been a while but I think I can do it!

[Xenay]

You managed to make me tear up. I really felt this, because I have been through a Cloudsdale School like this as well, although I never got to change schools. You shouldn't feel bad about your stories, your writing is excellent and you describe the characters actions as much as they are in the movie scripts.

[pandaxxus]

9628990
I've never really thought that others would be able to connect to Rainbow in this story when I wrote it but I'm glad that one of those people who were able to was you. I wanted to show that no one really should feel isolated because of who they are, because I feel like that on a daily basis. I've enjoyed your stories for a long time now, before I even made this account so I really appreciate this comment from you. Thank you so much

[Whisper Spirit]

Omg this is bringing back memories of my old friends from school.