Collide

by TheOriginalDash

Getting Her To Talk

Vinyl

Okay, this is it. I'm finally going to go over and talk to her. I can't believe that we've known each other the entire summer already, and we still don't know each other's names. Maybe it's partly my fault. I don't feel comfortable talking to people I don't know. I'm guessing she's the same, or she would've acknowledged my presence in the group by now. I get it, I'm new, well sort of. I'm just younger, so I was the latest to join, even though I already know half of them.

Anyway, I don't think that's her problem. I think she's just incredibly shy. I haven't heard her speak one word the entire two months I've known her. I'm actually curious as to what her voice sounds like. Is that odd? Maybe.

I'm definitely going to get her to talk to me, though. Even just to say hello, and belatedly introduce myself. Yeah, that sounds about right. Let's hope I don't screw up and start stuttering again. It happens every time I try to talk to somebody I don't know.

I sigh, and propel myself into a standing position, stretching my legs out as I do. I walk away from the cabin, and take purposeful strides toward the mystery girl. I slow my pace as I get nearer, though. What am I going to say? What if she doesn't respond? What if she freaks out or something? Crap, I really haven't thought this through. I can't stop now, though; I'm only a few feet away from her, and she'll think I'm weird if I turn around.

So I continue on to the shady patch under that big oak tree, and wave at her. She waves back, a brief shadow of something crossing her face. So far, so good. I amble along the last few feet, still trying desperately to form a plan of attack. I can't find one. This is not going well.

I walk up to the tree, and turn around to sit down, sliding down the bark with my back. I thump onto the ground, and let out a sigh. Pulling my knees up to my chin, I finally turn my attention to the girl sitting next to me. I jump a little, as I find that her big orchid eyes are already turned toward me, studying me intently. I stare back at her for a second, waiting to see if she will speak first.

She doesn't. In fact, within thirty seconds of sitting down, she flushes scarlet red, and turns away from me. I sigh, readying myself to make the first move. I really want to unravel the puzzle that this girl presents. Why won't she talk to me? I lean back against the tree, and scan the camp grounds for any of our other friends. Seeing no immediate rescue, I turn my gaze back to the shy girl next to me.

"Hey. So, uh, well, hey." She turns to look at me, and I can feel the blood rise in my face. She looks at me, and then smiles a little. I swear it was the most dazzling smile I've ever seen. I don't really know why, but that one smile meant so much to me. Not in any sort of romantic way; I am straight, after all. I guess it was just the fact that she smiled at me at all. I decided to try again.

"Look, I'm not very good at this. In truth, I don't exactly like talking to strangers. But you're not exactly a stranger, so I thought I would give it a go. Mostly because everyone told me to, but also because you're an interesting person. I've been wondering why you won't talk to me. Can you answer that for me?" I studied her freckled face for any kind of sign that I wasn't completely screwing up, but her clear amethyst gaze gave nothing away. She quickly hid her face behind a curtain of long black hair when I looked at her. I turned my head back around to face the lake, and waited eagerly to see if she would respond, though on the outside I remained as calm as ever. I heard an intake of breath, and my hopes rose slightly.

"I'm sorry that I haven't talked to you. I'm not very comfortable with strangers, either. I hope I didn't seem rude. I just haven't found a way to talk to you yet. They've been trying to get me to talk to you, as well." I listened intently to those first words, savoring the sound of her husky, sweet voice. I have never heard a voice like that before, and I probably never will again. It was almost a crime that she didn't speak more often. I counted myself lucky to have finally heard it.

I heard a rustling of cloth, and I turned to face her. She had moved a little closer to me, no longer sitting against the other side of the tree. I looked her in the eye, and smiled as brightly as I could. She smiled back hesitantly. I chuckled a little to myself, and a curious look came over her face. I sensed what she was going to ask, so I went ahead an answered her question.

"Was it really so hard for us to talk to each other? I mean, we just stayed in the same cabin for almost a week. Granted, there were like, ten other girls in there, but why did it take so long for us officially meet? Are we just that awkward, that we couldn't even speak to our own cabinmate?" She just shrugged, and I settled for that answer. We may never know why. At least we're talking now.

"So, I never caught your name. And since we've finally managed to talk to each other, I think that should be important. I'm Vinyl, but I usually just go by my last name, Scratch. You can call me either, I guess. I'll be nice to you, and not insist about the whole Scratch thing." She smiled at me, and nodded her head. She drew her knees up to her chest, too, and closed her eyes. I don't know why, but that bothered me. I wanted to see her eyes. They were just so incredibly violet. Yeah, I'm a sucker for purple eyes. Don't ask me why, I've always been. My own were a peculiar shade of red, that shifted anywhere from black, to crimson, to almost-orange, depending on my mood or how long I'd been awake.

"I'm Octavia. You can just call me Octavia, though, I've never gone by my last name. I suppose you ought to know it, though, since you've told me yours. It's Philharmonica." What a pretty name. Octavia Philharmonica. It sounded so perfect, like it was made for her. Which, I guess it sorta was.

"Yeah, alright. I like it. Octavia Philharmonica, it has been a pleasure to meet you. You are an excellent conversationalist. Well, when I can force you to talk." She giggled a little, and blushed. I laughed at the display, and she hid her face again, flushing scarlet all the way down her neck. It only made me laugh harder. Eventually I stopped, wiping a tear from my eye.

"You are just the single shyest person I've ever met. It's completely adorable, but we're going to have to break you of your little hiding habit if you're going to be talking to me more. I can't have you ducking your head every time I open my mouth." She kept her head tucked down to her knees, nonetheless. I reached over and put my hand on her shoulder. She flinched an pulled away. I took my hand back, slightly offended, and kind of worried. Was she abused or something?

"Hey, I'm sorry. Did that upset you? I really didn't mean to. I just do stuff like that with everyone else, and I'm not used to them reacting like that. I guess I should have asked. I'm just one of those touchy-feely type people, and it always seems that physical contact is a good way to send a message. I'm sorry if that bothered you. Are you alright?" She looked up at me, and gave a weak smile. I'm seriously starting to think she's been abused.

"No, it's alright. I just don't like to be touched. I don't know why, it just bothers me. It's not you, it's just crazy old me. You're absolutely fine." She slowly stretched her legs out in front of her, bare legs relaxing in the shaded grass. I stretched my considerably longer appendages out, too, enjoying the feeling of the blades cushioning my calves. This was not that weird prickly grass like we have at home. This stuff is really soft. I would take a nap, but break will be over soon, and I can't be late for practice. I'm a "freshman" here, because I transferred from Lakeview. Good first impressions are key, and being a marching freshman here, I make sure I'm always on time for band. Mostly because the director would kill us if we were late. If one is late, we're all late. Such is the life of marching band kids. At least Octavia will be there, too. She's not in my section, but she is there.

"So, we're cool? That's good. I was afraid you were being abused or something. I don't want to hurt you." She smiled, shook her head. She leaned her head back against the tree trunk and closed her eyes.

"I've never been abused. My dad is amazing, and my mom is alright, I guess. We don't always see eye to eye, me 'n her, but she would never hurt me. And I don't have a boyfriend, so that rules out that possibility." She laughed a little, and I found it a little hard to believe my ears. A girl as pretty, amazing, and sweet as this doesn't have a boyfriend? Maybe it's the whole I'm-so-shy-I-won't-even-talk-to-my-cabinmate thing. Boys are scared by things they don't understand. Sadly, that includes me. Unfortunately, girls don't seem to feel the same way. Sorry ladies, I don't swing that way, despite appearances.

"Well, as long as you're not being hurt, I can handle the hands-off rule. It's no problem. Friends have to be considerate of each other, right?" She looked up from the grass she was twirling in her fingers, eyes wide. What did I do now?

"We're friends?" She seemed a little shocked that I had said that. I rolled my eyes.

"Of course we are. We've learned stuff about each other, and we've been sitting her talking for a good half an hour or so. If that doesn't make us friends, I don't know what will." I put on my cheesiest grin, and she laughed.

"I guess you're right. We are friends, now. That's pretty cool." She continued to tie the grass into something. Not that I would know what it was.

"Hey, you're pretty cool. Why else would I have stayed here so long? I could have been swimming or exploring the campground with Thunderlane and Lyra." She shuddered when I mentioned Thunderlane, and secretly, I agreed. He'd had a crush on her for awhile now, judging by how he was always following her around. I didn't even know her, and I could tell she was freaked out by it. He's kind of a creepy dude. I leaned back, tired now. I closed my eyes, and asked her a question.

"If I fall asleep, will you wake me up when we have to practice? I don't want my section pissed at me. I have enough problems as it is." She laughed, knowing exactly how I felt.

"Of course I will. We are friends, after all. Don't worry." I still had one more important query for this girl.

"If someone tries to rape me, beat them up for me, please." She laughed, and agreed.

Comments

[Sweetapplejacker]

You had me at Band Camp.

[Neko-sama]

Hell yes! Awesome so far!

[Moak]

Nice job. It was a little confusing at first because I though I was following Octavia's perspective and had to re-read when I realised we were following Vinyl's perspective.
Also, you mentioned early in that Octavia had blue eyes, then you said violet. Correct that?

Good story, gonna go read the rest now

Edit - I noticed the names at the start of each chapter, assuming that's to show who we are following, maybe put it in italics? Or say "Vinyl's POV" Iunno, just an idea :D

[Somepony Unstable 3224]

Boys are scared by things they don't understand.

like bronies for example.

[Brony4eva]

Flutts it looks like you have some compitition ooo i wanna see octi meet flutts

[Mark Crazeer]

interesting and ironic twist is that in the show (thanks to the higher ups) vinyl is mute (or not very talkative).