> Sour Love
>  by RomeoDKat
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

        ‘Okay, let’s see here. The Crystal Prep’s reddish-purple blazer worn neatly and proudly, shirt tucked in properly, dark-blue tie is presentable, dark-blue slacks are clean pressed, and hair is combed to perfection. *sigh* Sure, let’s just wait until after you get on the bus to worry about my appearance, right, White Foam.’

        I was sitting there thinking to myself, wondering why I was riding the bus to get to the school known as Crystal Prep. Oh wait, that’s right, my parents took it upon themselves to send me to a school that I wasn’t really fond of going to, under the excuse of, “we just want to give you a promising future.” I mean, sure they’re not wrong, I’ve heard how successful Crystal Prep students are once they graduate and the fact that I met the prerequisites and barely passed the entrance exams needed to transfer my grades over to Crystal Prep once we moved to Canterlot, considering the grades I usually made in my previous high school, was more than an accomplishment for me as far as I was concerned. But at the same time, I’ve heard some pretty negative things about Crystal Preps student body and faculty, mostly about them being snooty, show no sportsmanship towards the schools they compete against, and are mostly out for themselves. Not to mention Crystal Prep’s high standards when it comes to their curriculum and the grades their students are expected to make. Why couldn’t my parents send me to Canterlot High instead?

        I suddenly felt the bus crawl to a halt, causing me to look out the window. There it is, Crystal Prep. I see that it lives true to its name, since several aspects of the building look like it was made entirely out of crystal. Seriously, someone give the architect an award, he or she fucking deserves it.

        As I got off the bus and entered the school grounds, I started going through my mental checklist. ‘Alright, go to the principal’s office, get my locker assignment and schedule, store my stuff in my locker, and survive the school day. What could possibly go wro…..nope, not going to finish that sentence.’

        I spent the next ten minutes trying to find the office that I was supposed to go to, until I found a door labeled, “Principal Abacus Cinch.” ‘Okay, just go in and introduce yourself. She can’t be as bad as everyone says she is,’ I think to myself before opening the door to the office, only to find the room to be eerily dark, with only one lightbulb lighting up the entire room. The only objects that are clearly visible are a desk and an oversized leather office chair, which made it impossible to determine if there was somebody sitting there or not. 

        ‘Okay then, ten bucks says that this person looks and acts like a stereotypical villain’

        “Um, hello? Is anyone here?” I called out.

        Suddenly the chair slowly rotates revealing a middle-aged woman with her elbows on the armrests and her fingers interlocked. Upon seeing me, the woman, who I can safely assume at this point is Principal Cinch, looks at me with an uninterested expression before speaking, “Hmph, so you’re the new student who just transferred into my school. I’ve been expecting you.”

        ‘Nailed it.’

        “Y-yes ma’am, my name is White Foam. I-it’s an honor to be accepted into your academy,” I say, trying to get on her good side.

        “As it should be, this school has a reputation of absolute perfection to uphold. After all, I would hate for something to tarnish my school’s reputation again,” she said as she gave me a look that let me knew that by something, she meant someone.

        “Yes ma’am, I understand.”

        “Good,” she said as she reached for the phone on her desk. She pressed a button, and raised the phone to her ear, “Dean Cadance, would you please come to my office with White Foam’s locker assignment and schedule? Thank you.” She then put down her phone before turning back to me. “Now I hope that you perform well in my school, but remember,” she leaned in closer, “it’s even easier to get kicked out of my school then it is to get accepted.”

        I gulped, “Yes ma’am.”

        The door behind me suddenly opened, causing me to quickly turn around, expecting someone similar to Principal Cinch. Instead, I found a young woman, possibly in her mid-twenties, who radiated kindness as opposed to Cinch’s cruelty. She seemed like someone that I could look up to as an older sister figure.

        She gave me a kind smile before extending her hand to introduce herself, “Hello, you must be White Foam. My name is Dean Mi Amore Cadenza, but you can call me Cadance. It’s nice to meet you.”

        “It’s nice to meet you too, Dean Cadance,” I say, as I reach my hand out and accept her handshake.

        She gave me another warm smile before ending the handshake, pulling out a folder. “Now then, I’m sure you would like to know your locker assignment and your schedule for this semester, correct?”

        “Yes, ma’am”

        “Alright then,” she says as she pulls out a couple of forms from the folder, “this form shows you which locker you are assigned to and to locker combination. Your locker is number 130. You’ll find it straight down the hall after turning right once you leave the office.” I nod in understanding. “And this form shows you your schedule for this semester. Will you need any help finding where your classes are?”

        “No ma’am. I think I can find my way around just fine.”

        “Okay. Well if you have any questions about our curriculum or about any of our extra-curricular activities just let me know. Enjoy your stay at Crystal Prep!”

        “Thanks, I’ll try,” I say as I leave the office and make a right towards my locker.

        ‘Alright, let’s see where my classes,’ I think to myself as I pull out my schedule, ‘Let’s see, first period is Physics in room 158. Great. My worst subject as my first period class. This will end well. Next is History in room 243, then Pre-Cal in room 215, followed by-‘

        My train of thought was interrupted when I felt myself run into something, knocking me down on my ass. ‘Okay, what did I run into?’ But when I looked up, I saw that the something was actually someone, a girl to be more specific. 

        She had pale, light grayish gold skin, indigo eyes, some freckles on her cheeks, and moderate rose colored hair with a lighter moderate rose and aquamarine steaks tied in a ponytail with a berry styled hair tie. She was wearing the standard Crystal Prep vest and skirt, with a white shirt underneath the vest, a dark blue bow tie, dark blue socks that went up to her knees, and the standard shoes that female students were required to wear. She was in the same position I was in, clearly still slightly disoriented from the collision. Looking in the direction that her back was pointing to, I could see the hallway that she came  from. She probably didn’t see me coming around the corner, and me not paying attention didn’t exactly help either. 

        I managed to get up first and went over to her to give her a helping hand up. It seemed like the most sensible thing to do. “I’m so sorry about this miss. Guess I wasn’t watching where I was going,” I say giving her a friendly smile.

        She looked suspiciously for a moment before returning the smile and accepting the help up. “Oh it’s no problem at all. I’m sure you didn’t mean it,” She said in an almost obnoxiously sweet voice. 

‘I guess the students at Crystal Prep aren’t as bad as I’ve heard.’

        But as soon as she got on her feet, her sweet smile turned to an angry frown as she yanked her hand out of mine before exclaiming, “If you were watching where you were going.”

        ‘Okay, where did that come from?’

        “Look, I said I was sorry. I’ll admit that this is partially my fault and that I should have watched where I was going. Can we just leave it at that?”

        She seemed to think about it before responding, “Fine, but so long as you keep your distance from me. Understood?” I nodded in understanding, which caused her to change her attitude again. “Great! Now, I’ll be on my way,” She says, turning and walking away, right in the direction I’m headed.

        ‘*sigh* Oh well, might as well continue on to my destination. She’ll probably just assume that I’m just walking in the same direction as she is.’

        However, a few moments after I started walking, she turned her head around and noticed me walking behind her. She then frowned before turning around even further and exclaiming, “Didn’t I tell you to keep your distance? Why are you following me?”

        “I’m not following you, I’m just headed to my locker, which just so happens to be down the hall.”

        She then gave a slight smile. “Oh, well if that’s the case,” she said as she stopped at one of the lockers, entering in a combination to open the locker, “ this is where we part ways.”

        “Okay then, that’s fine by...you’ve got to be kidding me.” I had taken the time to look at the other lockers and noticed the locker to the right of hers...130. “You’ve got to me kidding me!”

        “What is it?” My only response was to enter the combination and open the locker. “ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?”

        “Apparently.”

        She sighed heavily. “Okay, we can deal with this. Let’s just go to class and ignore each other when we’re at our lockers. Deal?”

        “That’s fine by me.”

        She nodded at me with a sneer before heading off to her class. ‘Okay, so my first class is in room 158 which is...that way....right in the direction she started walking in.’

        So, needlessly, I had to walk in her direction in order to get to class, which she unfortunately noticed. “Didn’t I tell you not to follow me?!?”

        “I’m not following you. I’m just headed to class, which just so happens to be in the same direction that you’re going to.”

        Her only response to that was turning to a door, which I could only assume was the class that she was going to, while exclaiming, “Whatever you say, creep.” She then turned toward the door and walked in the room.

        I didn’t say anything; I just continued to walk down the hall thinking to myself. ‘Yeah, well, whatever helps you sleep at...Did she just walk into room 158?’ I looked back at the door. ‘Yes. Yes she did. Well, time for the shit storm.’

        With no other option, I walked into to classroom and sure enough, the girl was there in one of the seats, just staring at me with an angry and shocked expression. It didn’t take long for the teacher to notice me walk in before speaking to me. “Ah, you must the new student. White Foam, correct?”

        “Yes sir.”

        “Alright then. Well, class is about to begin. Why don’t you take the empty seat right next to Miss Sour Sweet?”  He said as he pointed towards an empty desk, next to the girl from before, who just sat there even more shocked than before ‘So, her name’s Sour Sweet, fitting name actually.’ I took the seat right next to her, which caused her to scowl at me. ‘Can things get any worse?’

        “Alright class, today we’re going to start our lesson on electric currents.”

        ‘Oh wait...this is physics class……yay.’




        Once class was over, I decided to get out of the class room without any further incident with Sour Sweet. The last thing I need right now is her yelling at me again just for going about my day. Seeing as how my locker is right next to hers, I might as well just go to history class to avoid seeing her again. 

        When I did find the room, I walked in and decided just to sit in an empty desk in order to give myself a breather. ‘Hopefully I don’t have to run into her again anytime soon,” But it was at that moment that I heard a familiar, obnoxiously sweet voice coming from the hall.

        “And then he just follows me down the hall! Can you believe it?!?”

        “And was he actually following you?”

        “…Okay, no, he actually wasn’t. But that’s beside the point.”

        “So don’t you think that you’re overeating?”

        “Absolutely not, Sugarcoat!  Look, so long as I don’t have to deal with him for the rest of the day, than I’m sure that I can-” It was at that moment that she and another girl with white pigtails walked in the classroom and froze in place as soon as she laid eyes on me. ‘We share the same history class, don’t we?’

        “ARE YOU KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW?!?”

        'Yes, yes we do. Great.'




        I was so exhausted by the time I got to the bus to go home that I decided that I didn’t really care about where I sat. I decided to just take a seat next to a girl with mostly green hair jamming out on her headphones, figuring she’d leave me alone as I sat there thinking about the day I just had. Specifically my run ins with Sour Sweet. Turns out, history wasn’t the last class that we shared together. We shared 4 out of 7 classes together, and each time I ran into her, she met me with just as much hostility, if not more, than our previous encounter. At this rate, I think my time at Crystal Prep is actually going to be worse than I originally thought.

        ‘Can this day possibly get any worse?’

        It was at that moment that I heard a voice suddenly blurt out, “Dude, you’ve got to hear this!”

        As I felt a set of headphones blaring loud music, the only thing going through my mind was, ‘Oh why did I have to jinx this now? Now I have someone forcing me to listen to whatever crappy song she was listening t-...wait. Is this Pat Benatar’s “Hell is for Children”? Never mind...I might actually enjoy this,’ But just as I was enjoying the music, I felt the headphones lift off my head, forcing me to turn my head towards the girl next to me in confusion.

        “Dude, you actually enjoyed that?” She asked with an eyebrow raised.

        “Yeah, why? Is that a bad thing?”

        “Are you kidding me? That’s one of first times someone didn’t cringe in pain or try to throw off my headphones, other than the first time I had Indigo Zap listen to my tunes. My name’s Lemon Zest by the way,” she said as she gave me a warm smile.

        “My name’s White Foam, nice to meet you.”

        “You too! I take it you had a rough day?”

        “Yeah, not exactly how I wanted my first day here to go.”

        “Wait, today was your first day?” I nodded. “Shoot, sorry to hear that man. Hey, why don’t we become friends?”

        I couldn’t believe it, she wanted to be my friends. Just like that. “Why do you want to become my all of a sudden?”

        She just shrugged and said, “Well, you seem like a cool guy, we share the same taste in music, and I could use someone else to talk to. Besides, you look like you needed one good thing to happen today.”

        I smiled in return and said, “In that case, I’d me more than happy to be your friend.” On second thought, maybe my stay in Crystal Prep won’t be as bad.
        
        

> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“So, you’re positively sure that you have an idea on how I can get more friends here?” I said to Lemon Zest, as I open the door to my locker collect my notes for physics, and to put my bag away.

“Dude, will you relax? My plan is so simple, that you’re going to be surprised that you didn’t come up with it. Besides, do I look like someone who’s plans fall flat repeatedly?” she said with a sly smile on her face.

“Do you really want me to answer that?” I simply respond with an eye brow raised.

“…..Okay fine, I’ll admit that my plans aren’t exactly the best in the world, but I actually thought this one through.”

I chuckle a little at her response as I rummage through my locker, “Okay, so what’s this plan of yours?”

“Uh dude, it’s simple, join an extra-curricular activity?” Lemon said as though the answer was obvious. The more I thought about it, it honestly was.

“That’s a pretty good idea, why didn’t I think of that?”

“What did I tell you?” She said with a sly grin on her face. “So, what academic activities and/or athletic teams were you a part of in your own school?”

“Well, I was a part of my school’s swim team.”

“Alright, we’re on the right track, give me a few moments.” Lemon said as she pulled her phone out of her pocket. She scrolled through her contacts, then put her phone to her ear after selecting one. “…….Yo Zap, it’s Lemon, you got a minute?….Great, I’ve got another potential swimmer for our swim team…. Yes, it’s the new kid….I understand you’re not exactly looking for new swimmers right now, but can you please give him a chance? He might actually impress you……Great, when do you want him to try out?......Okay, he’ll see ya there. Thanks Indigo!” She ended the call and turned to me. “Okay, I just talked to my friend, Indigo Zap. She said that she’ll meet you tomorrow morning at around 6 A.M. at the swimming pool for your tryout.”

“Okay, I’ll see if I can get my parents to drive me here tomorrow then.”

“Or, I can get my friend Sugarcoat to drive us.” 

“Wait, what do you mean by ‘us’?”

“Uh, it’s called giving my friend support. Besides, you’ll probably want me there to keep Indigo Zap in check tomorrow.”

That actually stopped me to think about what she just said. ‘She might have a point. If the phone conversation is something to go by, she’s probably not looking for just any swimmer right now. She’s probably going to make it incredibly hard on me just to see if I’m actually worth something. Maybe having Lemon Zest there wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Deciding that Lemon Zest’s logic was sound, I turned to her and said, “Alright, I’ll take you up on your offer. It’s not going to be a bother to the person you’re going to have drive us tomorrow, right?”

“Don’t worry about it, dude, Sugarcoat gets here around time anyway. Besides, she owes me a favor anyway.”

“Alright, thanks a lot by the way.”

“No problem, dude. What are friends for?” She says with a smile.

I respond with a smile of my own, only to lower it as soon as I hear the locker to the left of me open up. I look in that direction and sure enough, there’s Sour Sweet going through her locker. ‘Okay White Foam, just continue on with the conversation and ignore Sour Sweet. So long as you don’t bother her, she won’t bother you, and everything will be just-.’

“Oh hey Sour Sweet, what’s up?” Lemon Zest exclaims as she walks over to Sour Sweet.

‘Oh come on!’

Sour Sweet just looks over her shoulder, before turning around completely to face Lemon Zest. I noticed that as she was turning around, she made a small glare toward me, probably her way of telling me to keep my mouth shut. “Hey, I haven’t been really up to much. Not like there’s anything to do around this time. So what’s up with you?”

Lemon Zest doesn’t even bat an eye at that sudden change in tone as she responds, “Oh nothing much, just helping my new friend out with something.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yep!” Lemon states as she turns to me, “Hey White Foam, have you met Sour Sweet yet?”

Before I could respond to her question, Sour Sweet decided to respond for me, “Oh don’t worry Lemon Zest, we have.”

Now Lemon Zest responds to her change in tone, probably noticing when she changed it. “Okay, so you already know White Foam then?
“I said I met him, we really didn’t get much further in our conversation. Not that I need to.”

Lemon Zest looked like she wanted to talk with her further, before reconsidering the idea and turning to me. “Hey White Foam, let’s start heading to class. See ya later Sour.” She says before walking off

I just simply nod, happy that Lemon Zest decided to end the conversation there, and followed her. When I did catch up with her, she took a look over her shoulder, and then turns to me before saying, “So now that we’re away from Sour Sweet, can I ask what happened between you two for her to be that sour towards you?”

“I accidentally ran into her on the way to my locker yesterday. I tried to apologize to her, but she still gave me cold shoulder. After that, we both headed to our lockers, which caused her to think that I was following her. And then after that, she thought the same thing when we were both headed to class, which turned out to be in the same classroom. The rest of the day was pretty much spent trying to ignore each other as much as possible.”

As I told her about my interactions with Sour Sweet yesterday, Lemon Zest just remained silent as she listened to the entire story. When I was done, she remained silent in thought before turning to me. “You said you had class with Sour. Which class is it?”

“Physics, history, pre-calculus, and English.”

“Wait, you have to deal with her in four of your classes?!?” I nod in confirmation. “Jeez, no wonder you were having such a shitty day yesterday.” She then turns forward to face the direction she was walking. “And she said that she was going to treat others better after the whole friendship games incident.” She said more to herself than to me.

I would have questioned her about what she just said, but decided to keep the question to myself. Partially because I saw my classroom coming up, but mostly because what she just said sounded too personal for me to question. Even if it did involve Sour Sweet. “Hey, my classroom’s coming up. I’ll see you around, okay.”

“Okay, see ya later.”

When I went to my desk, I couldn’t help but think to myself. ‘What could have possibly happened to cause Sour Sweet to want to treat people better?’




The next morning, I made sure to be up early so that I can get ready for Lemon Zest and her friend to pick me up. I had to make sure that I had my goggles, practice swimsuit, and a bag to put them in, just in case I didn’t get a locker in the boy's locker room. Eventually, I heard a car horn outside, signaling that my ride was waiting for me. After getting my bag, I walked out the front door, then made sure that everything was locked up. I walked up the yard to find a Volks Wagon Jetta was waiting out front. I saw Lemon Zest sitting in the passenger seat waving to me and a familiar looking girl with white pigtails behind the driver’s seat.

When I got into the back seat of the car, Lemon Zest immediately greeted me. “Hey dude, how’s your morning been? Oh, by the way, this is my friend, Sugarcoat. Sugarcoat, this is my new friend, White Foam.”

I nodded to the girl, “It’s nice to meet you Sugarcoat. Excuse me for asking, but do we have a class together? It’s just that you look familiar.”

She started driving forward before responding in an almost monotone voice, “Yes, we both have second period history together. I was the other girl that was with Sour Sweet.” 

“Oh that’s right. I’m sure that she’s told you about me.”

“She had some choice words about you. But I didn’t take anything that she said about you seriously. You seem like a decent enough person to me.” Again, maintaining her almost monotone voice.

The rest of the car ride to the school was spent getting to know Sugarcoat.  As it turns out, she was pretty blunt and monotone when it came to everything she said. However, we did end up getting along pretty well by the time she pulled in to the school parking lot. When she pulled into a spot, the three of us got out of the car and started headed to the pool.

“You sure you want to come with us, Sugarcoat?” I asked.

“I usually just do a little bit of studying in the library around this time, but since there’s nothing coming up this week, I don’t really have anything else to do.” She answered.

“Okay, whatever you say.”

It took us around 5 minutes to get to the pool. When we did, we found a blue haired girl talking to various other students wearing swim gear. It was at this moment that Lemon Zest ran ahead of us calling out, “Yo Indigo Zap, we’re here!”

The same girl haired girl turned to face Lemon Zest. She then smiled and gave Lemon a simple wave and responded. “Hey Lemon.” She looked over Lemon’s shoulder. “So, is this the guy you were talking about?” She said with a hint of curiosity and indifference.

“Yep, this is White Foam.” She then turned to me. “White Foam, this is Indigo Zap. She’s the current captain for just about most of our sports teams, including swimming.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Indigo Zap.” I say as I extend my hand out for a hand shake.

“You too.” She simply says as she accepts the handshake, gripping my hand as hard as she could and giving my arm a rough shake.
“So Lemon here says that you were a part of your previous school’s swim team.”

“Yes, that would be correct.” I said, trying to recover from her attempt to dislocate my shoulder.

Indigo just stands there as she looks at me, probably giving me a once over to see if there’s anything impressive about me. “Well, your height and arm length are good indications that you were practically built to swim, but other than that there’s not really a whole lot that’s really impressive about you. And, like I told Lemon yesterday, I’m not exactly too hard pressed when it comes to looking for new swimmers right now.”

Honestly, I was expecting that kind of response. True, I had the height and arm length down, but then most of the team members I saw when I walked in seem to have that down as well and she hasn’t exactly known me long enough to know how good of a swimmer I was. Sure, it would have been nice to at least show off what I’ve got, but when you already have a full roster for a swim team, you can’t exactly just pick up anybody from the school to fill in an extra slot. I guess all I have to do now is to wait until next year to-.

“Oh come on Indigo, haven’t you heard of not judging a book by its cover?!?” Lemon Zest suddenly blurted out, not exactly accepting what Indigo just said.

“Look, we already have a pretty full roster for the team and I know that the coach gave me the okay to allow him to join if he meets my approval, but I can’t exactly just let anybody in on the team at this point.”

“Yeah, but how do you know that he’s just anybody. You’ll never know how good of a swimmer he is until he tries. Come on, please?” Lemon said, adding the best puppy dog eyes she could make to the last sentence. Indigo for her part responded the same way anybody would to the action, with a deadpanned stare.

“……If I come up with some sort of try out for him, would it stop you from embarrassing yourself?” 

Lemon just shrugged before saying, “Whatever gives him a shot of getting on the team.”

Indigo just rolled her eyes before turning to me. “You,” she spoke to me as though she were a drill sergeant, “get changed in the boys locker room. I hope you brought your own suit with you.”

“Don’t worry, I brought just in case.” I said as I headed to the boys locker room.

It took me a few minutes to walk to the locker room, change, and walk out of the locker room. When I returned, I found Lemon Zest and Sugarcoat waiting patiently outside, but I couldn’t find Indigo Zap anywhere. “Hey, where’s Indigo?”

“Well, she just said that she came up with something for you when you left and just walked into the girl’s locker room.” Lemon Zest explained. “I don’t know what she’s up to, but don’t worry; she assured me that she was giving you a fair chance to try out.”

I breathed out a sigh of relief. I walked in not expecting much to happen, but now I’m actually getting a fair shot at getting on the swim team. Maybe things are starting to look up. Suddenly, the girl’s locker room opened, revealing Indigo Zap wearing a dark purple one piece swimsuit, a dark blue swim cap over her head, and a pair of goggles in her hands. I didn’t know how to react, Sugarcoat just raised her eyebrows slightly, and Lemon Zest was completely shocked. Indigo just walked up to us before saying, “Your tryout is several races against me. Try to keep up.” She then walked over to one of the lanes, signaling me to follow.

Before I did, I turned to the two girls next to me. “So, on a scale of one to ten, how screwed am I?”

Sugarcoat just maintained an emotionless expression and shrugged saying, “She’s probably not going to go easy on you.”

“That bitch lied to me!” Lemon suddenly yelled out in anger.

“Okay, eleven. Got it.” I said, suddenly thinking that this tryout wasn’t exactly fair anymore.




Sugarcoat was right, Indigo did not go easy on me. She beat me in every single race that we’ve done so far. The only two events I was able to get close to tie with her was the 50 meter and 100 meter freestyle, but that wasn’t enough to impress her. After the break she had us take after the 100 meter butterfly, she turned to me and said, “Okay, we’ll have our last race for the day be the 500 meter freestyle. If you don’t impress me there, than your last chance will be with the 200 meter I.M., but seeing how well you did with both backstroke and butterfly, I’m not really expecting much with that one.”

I nodded in return, agreeing with her presumption, since the 200 I.M. was one of my worst events, along with the 100 meter butterfly and backstroke. But fortunately for me, the 500 meter freestyle was the event that I was good at, excluding the 50 meter and 100 meter freestyle. It was one of the only events that required people to swim long distances, since it was a 20 lap race in a sport that was usually revolved around swimmers swimming on average 100 meters a race, which scared some people from actually swimming it, but swimming long distances was something that I trained myself to do. But I’m also sure that this event was also something that Indigo Zap could beat me in as well.

After we waited for two of the swimmers to go to the other end of the pool to count our progress, Indigo and I put our goggles over our eyes and got on the starting blocks, ready for the event to start. When the swimmer who was operating the starter saw that the both of us were ready, she spoke through the pool’s PA system. “Swimmers, get set.” Both of us got to our starting positions.

*bzzzzt*

At the sound of the buzzer, both of us dove into the water. My strategy for this race was simple, start off slow and progressively build up speed. The idea was to keep my stamina during the race until the last 100 meters, where I would swim as fast as I can possibly go. And that’s exactly what I did. I first started off a little bit faster than what would be considered a warm up, progressively getting faster with each lap. But I soon as I started the last 100 meters of the race, I moved as fast as I could. Sure having just swam 400 meters makes the process of swimming that much harder, but you have to do whatever you need to do in order to win the race. I didn’t care if I didn’t beat Indigo Zap at this point, since I’m sure she just finished when I started the last 50 meters of the race, but I continued moving anyway. Maybe I could impress her enough with a strong finish, so I swam until the very end of the race and reached as hard and as fast as I could.

I took a hold of the edge of the pool to catch my breath, expecting Indigo Zap to already be out of the water and look at me with a smug grin. Instead, I found nothing but looks of shock on the faces of everybody in the room. Even Sugarcoat broke her neutral expression. When I looked at Indigo Zap’s lane, I found out why. She was only halfway done with the 17th lap, but instead of finishing the race, she decided to just finish the lap she was on, apparently noticing that I had already finished the race, and turned to me and said, “You know, we haven’t had a swimmer go the 500 meter freestyle as fast as you have for quite a while now.” 

I raised my eyebrows in response. ‘She’s not saying I actually made it right.’

She then swam over so that she was closer to me before reaching her hand over the lane line. “Congratulations White Foam, you’re now officially a member of the Crystal Prep Swim Team!”

I smiled as I accepted her handshake, which thankfully wasn’t as rough as her previous one, while everybody else was clapping in congratulations. Except for Lemon Zest, who was cheering as loud as she possibly could. I climbed out, thinking that nothing, not even Sour Sweet, could possibly ruin this moment. After all, what could possibly stop me stop me from joining the Swim Team when I got the okay from the team’s captain? 




> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“What do you mean I can’t join the swim team?!?”

Apparently there are things that can keep me from joining the swim team. Since Indigo Zap and I still had some extra time before classes started once we had our uniforms on, we went straight to Dean Cadance’s office to make me an official member of the swim team.That’s where we hit a little snag.

“I didn’t say you were not able to join the team.” Dean Cadance said, trying to calm me down. “I’m saying that at the present moment, you can’t compete at meets with the rest of the team.”

“But what could possibly stop him from competing? He already has my approval and I’m sure the coach wouldn’t be opposed to having an extra person on the team.” Indigo Zap said, just as surprised at what Dean Cadance was saying as I was.

“It’s his grades that are stopping him from competing. He is still able to join the team, but the only thing that he will be allowed to do is attend practice.” Cadance answered simply.

“But that’s impossible! My grades from my previous school transferred over, right? And in my previous school, my grades were high enough to compete with the swim team. So what’s stopping me from competing here?

“You may have been able to compete with your previous school’s team, but this isn’t your previous school. Here, our students need to make at least a C or higher in all of their classes in order to compete in athletic competitions.

Of course, Principal Cinch would make higher standards for the academic performance needed to participate in athletics. In my previous school, just simply passing courses with a D was enough to be considered allowed in there athletics programs. But here, I needed a C. “So, what courses do I need to pull up?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“Fortunately, you only need to pull up one class, physics.” She said trying to cheer me up. It only filled me with dread. Last time I checked, my physics grade was currently a D+.

Indigo Zap just stood there with a frown on her face, arms crossed, and sighed in frustration. She made it very well known that she was not pleased with what Cadance was telling us.

“So, what do you recommend that I do in order to raise my grade up?” I asked.

“Well, our school does have a tutoring program. Basically, we have various students that are doing well in their courses help students that are having trouble by becoming their personal tutors. In return, we give them a little bit of extra credit to their final grade.”

‘So, you give students that are having trouble tutors to improve their grades and give the extra credit to students that are already doing well. Both result in students possibly getting higher GPAs when they graduate. Very clever, Principal Cinch.’ I thought to myself.

“So for you, I would recommend you take advantage of the program.” Cadance continued.

“Yes he would!” Indigo Zap answered before I could. I just smiled and nodded to Dean Cadance to confirm that that’s what I would like to do.

She just smiled before browsing through the computer on her desk. “I only have one student that’s available, and she’s available at any time after school. Would you like to set that as your time for tutoring?”

So, my personal tutor is going to be a girl. “Yes please.” I said, not really having any other option.

“Okay.” She said as she looked at the clock. “I think that she’s actually on the school grounds right now, I can call her in if you want to meet her right now.”

“That would be nice actually.” I replied.

“Alright.” She said as she turned on the school’s PA system. “Miss Sour Sweet, could you please come to my office if you’re available?” 

I was suddenly filled with dread. Sour Sweet’s going to become my tutor. If I had any other options, I would have said no right on the spot. But Cadance said it herself, Sour Sweet was the only student avaliable that had signed up to tutor physics. ) So I stood there, kept my objections to myself, and mentally prepared for the shit storm that was going to come.

Around five minutes later, Sour Sweet walked in with a sweet smile on her face as she called out to Cadance. “Hello Dean Cadance, was there-.” She stopped talking as soon as she noticed me, and her happy expression turned to a slight look of rage. She started to make everybody in the room feel uncomfortable, but thankfully she didn’t blow up in a fit of rage. Instead, she turned to Dean Cadance again, giving her another smile. Only this smile was more forced than her previous one as she continued her greeting to Cadance. “Was there something you needed to speak with me about?” She said with a forced sweetness.

However, this did little to ease Cadance’s comfort level as she responded to Sour Sweet’s question. “Um, yes, I have a student here who would like to sign up for tutoring sessions for physics. Have you met White Foam?

Sour Sweet continued with her forced sweetness. “Oh yes, our lockers are right next to each other and we share four classes together.” Then she suddenly changed to the sour tone that I had been expecting. “Which is four too many classes than I would care to have with him.”

“Okay then, so I was wondering if you would be able to tutor him. I understand if you aren’t able to, but keep in mind that you are the only available tutor right now.” Cadance hesitantly said, still feeling uneasy about the situation at hand. “It is possible for me to make you a temporary tutor for him until another tutor opens up, if that's what you'd prefer."

Sour Sweet seemed to consider that for a moment. Then she turned to Indigo Zap and asked, [b“]I take it you have a hand in this, Indigo?” 

‘So asking Indigo why I need to raise my grade instead of asking me. Real classy Sour.’ I thought to myself as opposed to saying in to Sour Sweet.

Apparently Indigo wasn’t expecting Sour to include her in the conversation either, since it took her a few moments to give Sour a shaky answer. “…Oh, um, yeah. I actually want him to compete with our swim team, but his grades aren’t where they need to be, so...” 

Sour Sweet raised an eyebrow at Indigo’s response before asking, “He actually impressed you enough to make you want him to join?”

Indigo, clearly nervous by how Sour Sweet would react to her answer, shakily responded, "Um....yes actually. He actually beat me in the 500 meter freestyle."

Sour Sweet just stared at her with a deadpanned look, and gave a sigh in frustration. “Only because you want him on the team.” She said with disdain. Wait, she wasn’t actually going through with this, right?

She then turned Dean Cadance, returning to the forced sweet persona she had earlier. “Dean Cadance, I will be his physics tutor. At least until he finds someone else to tutor him.” She said, switching personas to let everybody know that she intends to make this a temporary arrangement if she can help it.

Cadance gave a sigh of slight relief before responding. “Okay, I’ll put you in the system with a mark for temporary tutor. As for scheduling, I'll let you and him take care of that.”She kindly stated as she typed a few things on her computer.

Sour’s smile wavered a little bit before responding. “Of course.” She then turned to me. “I’ll meet you in room 158 where we have our physics lectures around 2:45. It’s usually empty around that time. Don’t be late.” She then walked out of the room, not giving me enough time to react to her arrangements.

Cadance then turned to Indigo and me. “Well, you two better be off as well if you don’t want to miss your first class. You two have a good rest of the day. Let me know if Sour Sweet becomes too much of a handful for you, okay White Foam?” She said sweetly.

“Will do, you have a good rest of the day as well.” I said to her as Indigo and I left her office. I then turned to Indigo and said, “So, I guess I’ll see ya at practice tomorrow then.”

“Yeah, sure. See you then.” She said without much emotion. She seemed to have been thinking about what happened with Sour Sweet a few seconds ago. She then turned to me and worriedly asked, “Are you sure that you’re going to be okay with her as your tutor?”

“I should be fine. So long it gets my grade up, I should be able to struggle through Sour Sweet, right?”

She then turned away and muttered, “Yeah, if she actually helps you learn the material.”

I pretended that I didn’t listen, but I knew that she had a good point. Dealing with Sour Sweet everyday would mean nothing if I couldn’t learn the material in the process. But at this point, I didn’t have any other options. All I could do is hope that another tutor becomes available. “Don’t worry about, I’ll be fine. Trust me.” I tried to reassure Indigo. But at this point, even I didn’t believe what I was saying.

Apparently, Indigo didn’t believe me either, because she gave me a skeptical look before responding, “Sure, whatever you say. Well, I need to start heading off, see ya later.” She said, before walking. As she walked out, she pulled her phone out of her bag. She flicked her fingers around it's screen, then put the device to her ear. “Hey Sunny, are you doing anything after school?” She was still audible from where I was standing. “….Great, I have something that you need to do, it involves-” Before I could hear the rest of her conversation, she turned the corner, causing me to lose sound from her conversation. Even so, I imagine that it involved Sour Sweet, since what occurred in Dean Cadance’s office was still fresh in her mind.

Seeing as there was nothing else for me to do, I decided to head off to my own class, getting ready for the impending doom that was and extended day with Sour Sweet. 





My school day was pretty average. I go to my classes, ignore Sour Sweet as much as possible, and get into little arguments with her whenever ignoring her didn’t work. The only thing that was different was that Lemon Zest and Sugarcoat decided to talk with me during lunch. Apparently they heard from Indigo Zap that Sour Sweet was going to be my physics tutor. I tried to reassure them the same way I tried to reassure Indigo, but they believed it just as much as she did. Sugarcoat at least offered me a ride home after school, which I accepted.

It was currently 2:40, and I was walking to room 158, getting ready for the hell that would be tutoring with Sour Sweet. I don’t even know why I was even going there any way, knowing her she was probably not going to show up and force me to waste my time going to a tutoring session she wasn’t even going to have. But as I walked through the door, I was surprised to see her sitting in one of the desks, waiting patiently for me to show up.

She must have noticed the surprised look on my face, because she just raised an eyebrow at me and sweetly asked. “What’s wrong?” Before sourly stating. “You actually seemed surprised to see me.”

“I was actually expecting you to not to show.” I said, putting emphasis on the “you”.

“Please, I actually take my agreements seriously. So, take a seat, because standing there is just going to waste my time.”

I rolled my eyes as I went to a desk right next to her, then pulled my physics notes and assignment for us to go over. “So, what are we going to go over first?”

She decided just to get straight to the point, probably thinking that the less time it takes to learn something, the sooner we get this done. “Well we’re going over circuits, so I think the first we should discuss about is adding up capacitors. So, without looking at your notes, how do you get the total capacitance of a circuit if all of the capacitors are in a series?” She asked nicely.

And straight into a pop quiz on the first day of tutoring, isn’t that great. Not to mention the question she asked involved some sort of memorization, which I wasn’t really good with, and this is material we just learned yesterday. Well, guess that just leaves me with one option, go with my gut feeling. “Um……add the capacitance of all the capacitors together and you get the total capacitance.” I answer hesitantly.

She sat there silently before responding, “Yes, adding the capacitance of all the capacitors together is definitely how you get the total capacitance of a circuit.” She said sarcastically in her sweet tone before suddenly yelling out in her sour tone. “If the capacitors were in parallel!"

‘Okay, so I got the question. Did that really warrant an attempt to make me go deaf?’ I thought to myself as I tried to recover from her sudden outburst. “So, how is it found then?”

“You’re telling me you don’t know material we learned today.” She yelled, keeping her voice at the volume as her outburst.

“Hey, memorization isn’t really my strong suit. Besides, we get a formula sheet during the exams. So why do I need to know to have the formula’s memorized?”

Thankfully, she decided lower her volume when she responded. “Because the more you know the formulas and how to use them, the more likely you’ll actually use the formulas correctly in the test. You’d think that anybody would know that.” She sarcastically pointed out.

This got me to stop and think. 'Okay she actually has a good point, but-'

“And, they’re not going to put the names of the formulas next to them. So what do you think is going to happen if you keep thinking that you find the total capacitance of a circuit just by adding of the capacitors that are in a series together?" She suddenly asked, interrupting my thought process.

I didn’t say anything. I just tilted my head down slightly as she sat there with a smug smile on her face. Even I had to admit, she made a really good point and I had no way of arguing against her logic. She knew that I didn’t have a counter-argument before she even asked that question, and I could tell that she loved every second of it.

I felt that she enjoyed her victory long enough, and decided to just hurry up and make this tutoring session as short as possible. “You still didn’t answer my question, Sour. How do you find the total capacitance then?” I asked harshly.

“Hmph, rude.” She simply remarked as she pulled a piece a paper out of her folder. She then began drawing a line to represent a circuit with three marked segments to represent three different capacitors in the circuit, each marked C1, C2, and C3. “It’s simple, all you have to do when you add capacitors that are in a series together is to take each value of the different capacitors and put them in a fraction of one over that value.” She said as she started writing down 1/C1, 1/C2, and 1/C3 on the paper.

“You then take all of those values and add them all together to equal one over the total capacitance.” As she said this she had all of the values added up to equal 1/CT. She then added another line after that to have 1/CT=C1+C2+C3/C1*C2*C3 in order to show that the next step was basic adding with fractions. She then turned to me and said, “Now tell me what the next step is. It should be easy. Key word being should.”

I looked over the solution that she had written so far, which thankfully made it really obvious what the next step. With confidence, I answered her. “You flip the values. That way you have the total capacitance equal to C1 times C2 times C3 all over C1+C2+C3.”

“Oh my god, you can learn.” She sarcastically exclaimed. I decided to keep silent. The last thing I needed was rile her up when we only just now started the session. “Now,” she said as she pulled out another piece of paper and started writing on it, “to start figuring out problems for you to work on."

“Wait, you’re telling me that you didn’t have a plan?” I asked bewildered.

“Oh no, I definitely had a plan, I was just expecting us to be further along in the lesson by now. But I didn’t account for you being as much of a dumb ass as you are a creep.” She stated coldly.

Okay, it’s starting to be really hard not to argue with her. I get that she’s still pissed off about the incident from yesterday, but did she really need to make it into such a grudge? It’s almost like she wanted me to respond to her insults, just so she could get me to do something stupid.

The rest of the session went by like this, her giving me a problem to work on, me working on the problem, and her belittling me at any possible moment. It was around 3:15 when the two of us decided to call it quits and pick up from where we were tomorrow.

“So, same time tomorrow?” I ask.

“Sure, if you don’t find somebody else to deal with your dumb ass.” She said bitterly.

It was at that point that I had enough with her abuse and decided you yell back. “You know what, that’s perfectly fine with me. I’d be more than happy to have somebody else tutor me on this subject. God, with how much of a bitch you are, I’m starting to question why the hell you even signed up to be a tutor in the first place!”

She immediately stopped putting her notes away and slowly started to look down. I was expecting her to turn to me just to continue our shouting match. She never did, all she did was sit there in silence and her frown to more of a saddened look. It was almost as if she was thinking about that last sentence I yelled. After a few moments, she just put the rest of her notes away, got up from her seat, and quickly walked out of the room without saying a word.

I just looked on with confusion, this was the first time she was ever rendered speechless. I wanted to be happy about actually winning an argument against her, but I didn’t. Instead I just felt empty inside, making it feel more like a hollow victory. Deciding that the least I could do was to see if she was okay, I quickly put my note in my bag, got up, and ran out of the room to see if I could see where she was going. But when I reached the hallway, she was gone. The only other person in the hall was a girl with short mulberry hair with light raspberry streaks wearing a sun hair clip along with her school uniform standing close by the room Sour Sweet and I were in. Turning to her, I asked, “Have you seen a girl with long rose colored hair walk out of room recently.”

She just simply turned to me and answered, “Sorry dearie, but she’s probably long gone now.”

“Okay, thanks anyway” I responded, in disappointment. Since it was too late to go looking for her, I decided that the best thing to do was to go find Sugarcoat and head home. After all, it’s probably best to let the situation calm down before talking to Sour Sweet again anyway. 

When I did walk outside, I found Sugarcoat’s car at the front of the school, with Sugarcoat sitting in the car. I quickly ran over to the other side of the car and opened the door to get in the passenger seat. When I sat down and started closing the car door, Sugarcoat plainly asked me, “Did things go well with Sour Sweet?” I just sat there in silence. Thankfully, the silence seemed to have told Sugarcoat about everything that went on between Sour Sweet and me because she put a reassuring hand on my shoulder before saying, “It’s okay, we’ll think of something.”

I nodded, but then I stopped and thought about what she said. ‘Wait, what does she mean by we’ll think of something?

> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It was now the day after my first tutoring session with Sour Sweet, and I really didn’t know what to expect from her today. It wasn’t because I didn’t know what material we were going to cover, since the homework assignment involved whatever we were doing in physics. But it was because Sour Sweet really wasn’t being herself today, or at least she wasn’t when I was around.

In the hallways and during class, she would remain silent and give me side glances every so often with a sad look on her face. It was somewhat relieving for me, since this meant that I wouldn’t have to deal with Sour Sweet’s usual attitude. But at the same time, I was actually somewhat worried about her. Like earlier today, during lunch when she was talking and laughing with that girl with the sun shaped hair clip that was hanging around the halls yesterday, until she saw me. Then her smile slowly faded and she walked out of the cafeteria as fast as she could, ignoring her friend who was calling after her.

My other friends noticed this as well and practically demanded me to tell them what happened between Sour Sweet and me during the tutoring session yesterday. Even Sugarcoat, who let me get away with not telling her anything yesterday, wanted me to tell her what happened.  I didn’t see any other way out of this, so I decided to tell them everything that happened yesterday, including the moment that I called Sour Sweet out on her insults. My friends looked more worried than they were yesterday, and started to whisper amongst themselves. I couldn’t really hear what they were discussing about, although I had a good idea what the discussion was about. But before I could ask them what they were talking about, the bell rang to go to the next class, and the three of them immediately ran off to their respective classes.

Well, looks like I’m asking Sugarcoat about what they talked about when she drives me home. I thought to myself as I started to head off to my next class.





When the last bell rang to let the students out of school, I started to make way to the classroom that we were using for our tutoring session at a moderately fast pace. Sure I didn’t really want to be there, but I didn’t exactly want my grade to get any lower either. Worst case scenario, Sour Sweet decides to be even more of a bitch than she was yesterday.

It was around 2:40 when I walked into the room, but unlike yesterday, Sour Sweet wasn’t there waiting for me. “Okay, she’s not here right now.” I thought to myself as I sat down and started putting my notes and homework assignment out. “She’s probably just caught up with something, I’m sure she’ll come in within the next five minutes.”

Five minutes went by, and she still didn’t show up. “Okay then.” I thought with confusion. “I’ll give her another ten minutes to show up.”

It was about eight minutes after that when I finally lost patience with her. “Well, if she hasn’t shown up now, she’s probably not going to show up two minutes from now either!” I yelled out in frustration and started to put my notes and homework into my bag.

As if she could hear me, it was when I started to get up to leave that Sour Sweet decided to walk in. She was walking rather slowly and she was looking toward the ground with a sad expression on her face. I sat back down and started to pull me notes and homework back out of my bag. “So, what caused you to be so late?” I asked, making my frustration with her clear.

She looked up in surprise, apparently not expecting any form of question when she walked. “I….um,” she shakily said as her eyes started darting around the room, “Had to help somebody out! Yeah, I had to help somebody out with a...thing. It just took longer than I thought it would.” She said sheepishly.

I could tell that she was lying, but decided not to question her further about it. I didn’t exactly want to get into a shouting match with her before the session started. She took a seat at a desk to the right of me, but didn’t pull out any notes or blank pieces. Confused as to why she wasn’t doing anything, I asked, “So, what do you have for me to do today?”

She just sat there for a moment before answering. “How about you just do the problems that are in today’s homework? I’ll check your work from time to time and let you know what you get wrong. If you have any questions about anything, just… let me know.” She said in a monotone voice.

I raised an eyebrow at her response, but decided that it was better to not question her. This was probably just her way of getting through the whole tutoring session without speaking as much as possible. Instead, I just started working on the homework. The assignment wasn’t too hard, mostly about finding the capacitance, charge, or the voltage of a capacitor. It wasn’t anything too complicated yet.

As I worked on the assignment, I kept making side glances at Sour Sweet to see what she was doing. Every time I did, she would be fidgeting in her seat and muttering to herself. I couldn’t really hear what she was saying, except for the one time she spoke in her sour tone. “Come on you fool, you’re going to have to talk to him at some point.”

That caused me to pause. Talk to me about what? I thought to myself. What could she possibly want to talk to me about, why she’s been giving me the silent treatment? After thinking about it for a few minutes, I decided that it would be a good idea to be the one to break the silence. Turning to her, I said, “Hey, I need your help with this problem.” I figured that pretending to have a problem with a question would be a good way to get her to start talking. 

She looked up at me with a surprised look on her face and just stared at me. She definitely wasn’t expecting me to suddenly speak to her at that moment. After a few moments of staring, she finally decided to speak. “Um, I…uh…*sigh*, I can’t do this.” She said as she grabbed her backpack and started to get out of her seat.

“Wait, where do you think you’re going?” I yelled. It was at this point that I was really pissed at her.

She stopped walking and turned to me. “Look, I’m sorry that I’m just walking out on our tutoring session early.” She said, clearly distressed. “I’ve just been out of it today and need some time to myself, okay?” She then continued walking towards the door.

Not wanting her to just abandon our tutoring session, I started to get out of my seat as well and said, “Hey, you mind telling me what’s going on? I can tell that something’s been on your mind today, so why don’t you-”

Before I could finish, she just suddenly turned around and yelled in her sour tone, “I said leave me alone!” She then turned back around and ran out of the room.

I just stood there dumbfounded and frustrated. I knew that going after her would only make things worse, regardless of how angry I was. After staring at the door for a few moments, I muttered “Fine, have it your way.” I then turned back to my desk and began to haphazardly put my notes and homework back into my bag. Too infuriated to care how they would look tomorrow, I threw my bag over my shoulder and headed out of the room. When I made it to the hallway, I saw that same girl from yesterday standing to the side of the hallway, only with her back turned to me so that I couldn’t see her face.

I tempted the thought of speaking to this girl, but decided that today just wasn’t the day. All I wanted to do at this point was get home as quickly as possible. So, instead, I made my way to the front entrance as quickly as possible and thankfully saw Sugarcoat waiting out in front by her car.

When Sugarcoat saw me walk out of the school, she seemed surprised that I was coming out this early. When I reached her, she stopped from getter in her car. “What happened in there? You shouldn’t be out this early.” She asked with concern.

“Nothing. She just sat there mumbling to herself while I was working on the homework assignment, and when I asked for her help, she just sort of freaked out and left.” I said, frustration clear in my voice.

“Are you sure that’s all that happened?” She asked.

I sighed before continuing, “We had a small argument when she started to leave the room, but that’s pretty much all that happened.”

She just stared at me for a few moments before saying, “Come on, let’s get you home. You look like you need some time to yourself.” She then got into the driver’s seat of her car.

When I got in the passenger seat, I turned to her and asked, “So, what did you and the others talk about at the end of lunch?”

Sugarcoat sat there for a moment before turning the car on and said, “We've decided we’re going to see how you and Sour Sweet interact for a little while. If things don’t get better from here, well,” She paused as she started to accelerate, “we’ll figure something out.”

In other words, they don’t have a plan right now. I thought with disappointment as I stared out the window. I was beginning to think that my best option is to hope and pray that Dean Cadance would find me a new tutor, sooner rather than later.
> Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A week has gone by since the second tutoring session with Sour Sweet, and things have not progressed well with her. She still looked like she was being distracted by something, almost as though she constantly has something on her mind, but didn’t know how to tell anybody what’s wrong. I wouldn’t mind it so much except it’s actually made our tutoring sessions less productive. She still came to the tutoring sessions late, stared off into space whenever I worked on a problem, which would force me to spend some time to get her attention whenever I had a question or when she needed to look over what I did, and sometimes ended the sessions early. I don’t know what’s going on in that head of hers, but what I did know was that the sooner Dean Cadance found a replacement, the better.

Aside from tutoring sessions with Sour Sweet, everything else was going pretty well for me. I was getting good grades in all of my courses, except physics. Lemon Zest always tried to find a way to make me laugh and have a good time, which very rarely failed. Indigo Zap forced me to start going to swim practice during my third day at Crystal Prep, even though I wasn’t on the team yet. With Indigo practically running the practice, she made sure that practice was exhausting, but at the same time made sure that nobody was wearing themselves out too much and gave us pointers as to how we can improve our technique. Sugarcoat always offered me a ride to and from school, and gave me her honest opinion about something, in her own special (allows one to really feel the sarcasm.) way. The only thing that she’d never give an honest answer about was anything involving Sour Sweet.

It was weird, I walked into this school thinking that most of the people I would be interacting with would be a whole bunch of stuck up rich kids. Instead, most of the people I’ve met have actually been really nice to me and actually seemed to be looking out for me. In all honesty, the only people who’ve left bad impressions on me were Principal Cinch and Sour Sweet. The only person I really couldn’t get a read on was that one girl with the sun shaped hair clip in her short mulberry hair that was always hanging around after school near my tutoring sessions with Sour Sweet. Maybe I should introduce myself and see what her deal is.

It was currently around 2:35, and I was making my way to the classroom that Sour Sweet had our tutoring sessions in. I don’t even know why I was actually trying to get there on time, since she’s most likely going to come in late again. Take her appointments seriously, my ass. But, when I walked into the class room, I found something I wasn’t expecting to see. There sitting in the classroom was Lemon Zest, Indigo Zap, and Sugarcoat, looking as though they were waiting for me to arrive. 

“Wait are you three doing here?” I asked in a surprised tone.

“We’re going to settle things between you and Sour Sweet, today!” Lemon said with determination. “Or, more accurately, you and Sour are going to settle things between the two of you.”

I just raised an eyebrow in confusion and asked, “If that’s the case then why are the three of you here?”

“Because we know what Sour Sweet might be going through and we’re here to give her the push she needs to actually start talking to you about it.” Indigo said.

“You do?” I asked curiously.

“Well,” Sugarcoat bluntly said, “based on how she acts when she’s around you during the day, all of us knowing Sour Sweet longer than you have, what you’ve told us, and what Sunny Flare has observed. Yes, we might have an idea on what’s going on in Sour Sweet’s head.”

Okay, so what she told me made sense to me. They definitely would know Sour Sweet longer than I have. Sour starts mopping around whenever she sees me, and I have told them that our tutoring sessions haven’t been progressing well. But there was one thing that didn’t make sense to me that I needed to be clarified now. “Who’s Sunny Flare?” I asked curiously.

“That would be me, dearie.” A girl’s voice elegantly said from behind me. When I turned around, I found the same girl with the sun shaped hair clip in her short mulberry hair. She then walked in to the room and elegantly said, “I’m terribly sorry I’m late, girls, but I had to take care of something real quickly.” She then turned to me, offered me a hand, and politely said, “Hello, I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. My name is Sunny Flare. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“My name’s White Foam. It’s nice to meet you too.” I said returning the politeness and gently shook her hand in return.

“Yes, it’s a shame we couldn’t meet under better circumstances.” She sincerely said. “And I’m sorry for listening in on your tutoring sessions with Sour Sweet without your permission. I still don’t know why those three decided to have me commit such a rude act.”

“Because I’m busy with the tutoring sessions I give after school, Indigo’s always has after school practice with the various sports she’s a part of, and Lemon Zest would probably get bored after five minutes and start listening to music instead.” Sugarcoat immediately chimed in.

“She’s not wrong.” Lemon Zest said as she started to put her head phones over her ears and started jamming out to whatever song was playing. Everybody else just gave her a deadpanned look in response.

After a few minutes of waiting, we started to hear footsteps approaching the classroom from the hall. “That’s probably her.” Sunny Flare quietly said matter-of-factly. “It’s time to settle this. And would someone please get Lemon Zest to turn off her music.” She said pointing a finger at Lemon Zest, who was still jamming out to her music. Indigo Zap, who sat closest to her, tapped Lemon Zest on the shoulder to get her attention and pointed at her ear when she did have her attention to let her know that she needed to turn off her music. Lemon Zest nodded in response and paused the song she was listening to.

After a few seconds of waiting, we saw Sour Sweet start to enter to room. She was looking down towards the ground with a solemn look on her face, like she was dreading stepping into the room. She took three steps into the room before finally looking up. She immediately stopped walking when she saw her friends and me, and almost immediately showed signs of panic. “What are you doing here?” She defensively asked in her sour tone as she tried to back away from us.

“Sour, dear.” Sunny calmly said as she reached a hand out to Sour Sweet to try to calm her down. When she made contact with Sour Sweet’s shoulder, Sour Sweet started to tense up, but soon started to relax when she realized that Sunny Flare didn’t want to hurt her. “I know that what you’re going through is really hard to talk about. But, this can’t go on anymore.”

Sour Sweet sighed before sadly saying, “I know it can’t, but-“

“’But nothing, Sour Sweet!” Indigo Zap loudly interrupted. “All you have to do is talk to White Foam. Just tell him what you’ve been going through.”

“That’s just it, Indigo.” Sour Sweet quickly replied. “I don’t know how I should tell him.”

Sugarcoat walked up to Sour Sweet and bluntly said, “Here’s what you need to do. You need to tell him the actual reason you signed up to be a tutor, what happened afterwards, and why that’s been affecting you’re interactions with White Foam.” She then gave her a comforting smile before saying, “I know talking to him is going to be hard for you, but keeping it to yourself is going to be harder on you. You understand?”

Sour Sweet stood their silently for a few moments, most likely in deep thought, before looking to Sugarcoat and saying, “Okay, I think I understand.”

While the girls were talking, I sat their thinking about what they were talking about. Apparently this situation stems from a problem she’s been having for a while, and what do they mean by ‘the real reason she signed up to become a tutor?’ Are they saying that she didn’t sign up just for the extra credit?

“Do you want us with you, or do you want to talk to talk him by yourself?” Lemon Zest asked with concern, pulling me away from my thoughts in the process.

After a few moments of silence, Sour Sweet finally responded, “I think I’m alright by myself.”

The other girls nodded in understanding and made their way out of the room. Sunny Flare was the last to exit, but before exiting turned to us and said, “If you need anything, just let us know.” She then closed the door behind her as she left to give us some privacy.

The two of us just stood there awkwardly for a moment, with me not really knowing what to do at the moment and Sour Sweet looked nervous and uncomfortable. Eventually, I decided that if we were going to get anywhere, then the first thing Sour Sweet needed to do was relax. “Do you want to take a seat, Sour Sweet?” I asked pointing to a couple of the desks.

She seemed surprised by the sudden question, probably not expecting me to say anything, but soon settled down before she responded. “Sure, I’d like that actually.” She said sincerely. I nodded in acknowledgement and the both of us took seats in the two desks closest to us. After a few moments of sitting, she looked like she was actually starting to relax, which also caused me to relax to. Eventually, she gave a sigh and asked, “Where do I start?”

“Well, Sugarcoat did recommend starting with why you decided to sign up to be a tutor.” I pointed out.

“Okay,” she said reluctantly before taking a deep breath. “Well, this might not come as a surprise to you, but I’ve always kind of been a mood swinging bitch, especially to people that pissed me off.” She’s right, that didn’t come as a surprise. “But then, something happened that made want to change all of that.”

“What happened?” I asked curiously.

She hesitated for a moment before responding. “There was this girl that used to go here that I was just awful to. Actually…we were all awful to her, but I was the worst to her.” She said with a hint of regret. “No matter what she did, I always had something to criticize her about. Accidentally cuts in front of the line to the buses while she was trying to figure out where she was going? Made a mean comment about that. Accidentally gets in my way, but almost immediately stepped aside to let me continue walking? I told her that I’d be watching her before walking off. Have her as a team mate during the Friendship Games and have her cost us an event by losing the lead I put us in to give the other team a lead we almost didn’t recover from? You better believe I was frustrated with her. I hated her and I let her know it on a daily basis. But by the time I realized how my almost daily habit of yelling at her, criticizing her, and just overall making her life a living hell was affecting her, was the day that she became a she-demon at the end of the Friendship Games.”

“What a moment,” I interrupted with slight alarm. “You mean that figuratively, right?” I asked hopefully.

“I wish I was.” She said not missing a beat. “That was probably the scariest thing to happen to me in my life.” I looked at her to see if there was any indication that she was lying. I couldn’t find any.

“Okay, I’ll just take your word for it and let you continue.” I said nervously. “Sorry I interrupted you.”

“Don’t worry about it, I figured that you were probably not going to believe me as soon as I told you about that as soon as I said it.” She said jokingly before returning to a sadder tone. “As I was saying, after the whole she-demon incident, many of us realized that it was our mistreatment towards her that caused her to go berserk on everyone, so we wanted change how we treated others to keep something like that from happening again. We decided that we were going to be more helpful around the school. It worked out well for the others, Sunny Flare was giving helpful advice to the fashion students and asked for nothing in return, Indigo Zap started paying more attention to her teammates instead of herself, Sugarcoat signed up as a tutor for various courses, and Lemon Zest did whatever she could to raise student moral.”

“But as for me,” She continued as a tear started to roll down her face, “I was the lost cause. I did the exact same thing Sugarcoat did by tutoring certain courses, but there were a couple of differences between us. One was the reputations we had beforehand. We were both considered two of the schools best students, but she was only known for being too blunt for her own good and I was the girl with the mood swings and a bad temper. What happened as a result was that Sugarcoat ended up getting fully booked to tutor people and nobody even dared to have me as a tutor. To be honest with you, I figured that something like that would happen” She paused for a moment to wipe away some of the other tears that started to develop. “I probably wouldn’t even be that upset by it if it wasn’t for the other thing that was different between Sugarcoat and I in this situation.”

“And what was that?” I asked, beginning to feel sorry for the girl in front of me.

“Our reason for signing up to be tutors.” She immediately answered. “Sugarcoat did it solely for the purpose of helping other students. I wanted to do it not only to help others, but also to… help myself.” She sadly admitted as she started to drop her head down towards her desk.

“What do you mean by that?”

Her composure started to become less relaxed as she began to speak. “Because the main issue I’ve always had is how I interact with other people. I interact with the four outside just fine, but it’s trying to interact people I don’t know that I start having problems. Hell, it was so bad that I actually promised myself that I’d actually start treating others better. So I thought, if I put myself in a situation where I have to help others by teaching them about the subjects they’re having problems with and be patient with them, then maybe I’d actually start understanding how to interact with other people. But how could I when nobody was willing to sign up for my tutoring sessions? You don’t know how frustrating that was.”

She then turned her head towards me and I saw that she had tears streaming from her eyes. “And when I first ran into you, that built up frustration combined with the collision just caused me to take it all out on you. And when I did that, I started to revert back to my old ways. And I just stayed with my old ways up until the end of our first tutoring session when you called in out on me. When you did that, I realized what I had been doing and knew that there was no going back. All I wanted to do after that was apologize to you about the way I had been acting, but how could I? How could I when you’ve already seen me at my worst? Hell, I don’t blame you for hating me, because I would definitely hate myself too. I just…I’m just so sorry!” She finally blurted as she threw her head down into her hands and began to cry.

I sat there trying to comprehend everything she just said to me. To say that I was surprised by everything that Sour Sweet told would be an understatement. I wasn’t exactly ready to forgive her for everything she’s done, but at the same time I understood where she was coming from. All she wanted to do was make an improvement in her life, but had no one willing to help her do so. I couldn’t blame her for being frustrated; anybody would be frustrated by that. When I first started these tutoring sessions, all I wanted was to have someone help me out with physics. But I never imagined that I’d be paired with someone who needed more help than I did.

I was pulled away from my thoughts when Sour Sweet lifted her head up to try to wipe away her tears and sadly said, “When someone else gets an open slot for tutoring, you can go ahead and switch to that person. I won’t be angry at you or blame you. You’re probably not ready to forgive me yet. Not after all I’ve put you through.”

I couldn’t see her like this. I don’t know why with the way she’d been treating me, but I just couldn’t. It was at that moment that I knew exactly what I needed to do. I started scouting the desk closer to the desk she was sitting at. And when I brought the desk right next to hers, I turned towards her and pulled her in for a comforting hug. I felt her tense up for a moment before she began to relax and buried her face into my shoulder as she returned the hug. After a few seconds of comforting her, I began to speak, “I’ve been thinking, and you’re right. I’m not ready to forgive you.” I felt her hug me tighter, probably preparing herself for the worst. “But, I’m willing to give you another chance.” I said sincerely.

Sour Sweet immediately raised her head off of my shoulder so that she could look at me with a look of disbelief. “Why?” She shakily asked. “Why would you give me a second chance? You don’t have a reason to...”

“You might be right, I probably don’t.” I agreed. “But it’s like you said, how can you improve your interactions with others if don’t have someone willing to help you out? I just think you went about it the wrong way.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” I explained carefully, “you put yourself in a situation where your way of interacting with people you don’t know completely relied on people coming to you. If anything, you needed to seek out others to help you with your social problems.”

“I think you have a point there.” She reluctantly agreed. “But, what do you mean seek out others?”

“I meant going out to make friends.” 

“But I already have friends!” She defensively replied.

“Then make new friends. Someone who you’re not already on friendly terms with. That way you can learn from experience how to treat others you don’t know and keep your mood swings under control.” I pointed out.

“So, someone like you?” She asked, looking up at me hopefully.

I sat their silent for a moment. Would I really consider her my friend? Sure she’s treated me like crap for the most part, but at the same time she regrets the way she treated me, apologized for her actions, and accepted my attempts to show her comfort during the situation. I chuckled a little bit when I realized that the answer was obvious. “Yes, Sour Sweet, I’d be willing to be that friend.” I answered truthfully.

Sour Sweet just continued to stare up at me with disbelief as more tears started to appear. Eventually, she quickly threw her arms around me for a tighter hug than before and buried her head in my shoulder again to cry into it. The difference this time was that these tears were out of happiness rather than sadness as she continuously mumbled 'thank you' into my shoulder. I returned the hug and gave her light pats on the back let her know that everything’s alright. After about a minute, we separated from the hug and I asked, “So, what should we do know?”

“Well, thanks to me being emotional, we’re really behind on tutoring,” She said jokingly. “So, why don’t we spend the rest of the time catching up?”

“You sure you’re up for that today?” I asked with concern.

“I’m, like, a hundred times better than I was the past couple of days. Besides, this talk really made my day.” She said sweetly as she started to get her notes from her bag. “Would it be alright if we started with the material from our second tutoring session? Seeing as I was kinda out of it.”

“That’d actually be nice.” I happily replied as I pulled out my physics book and notes out of my bag as well.

So that’s what we did, only this tutoring session ended up actually being more productive than our first tutoring session. She actually did a quick overview of the notes with various questions asked in the middle of it to make sure I was paying attention. We also worked problems from the physics book, only we did it one at a time so that she could check my work after each problem, told me what I doing wrong, and worked me through the steps to solving the problem correctly. It was by the fifth problem that I was starting to get the questions correctly, as well as some small praises from Sour Sweet. Overall, it was a much better experience than any of the other tutoring sessions we’ve had so far. Sure, she went into her sour tone from time to time, but she wasn’t near as condescending as she originally was.

We were on question ten when we were suddenly interrupted by someone quickly swinging the door open. We turned to see who it was, only to find Lemon Zest in the doorway frantically saying, “Dudes, you’ve been in there for, like, an hour and a half! Are you guys doing okay in here?” Then she saw the notes and books on our desks, as well how close our desks were together, and began to calm down before asking, “Are you guys…studying.”

“We’re catching up on the tutoring sessions.” Sour Sweet explained “And as it really been an hour and a half?”

“Uh, yeah! Have you guys been reading the clock?” She said pointing at the clock that hung on the classroom wall, which sure enough read that it was just past four.

“Shoot, we should probably start getting out of here.” I said as I started gathering up my belongings and putting them in my backpack.

“I agree.” Sour Sweet said as she did the same. She then turned to me and asked, “Hey, since we have a lot we need to catch up on, do you mind meeting up during the weekend?”

I was surprised by this sudden question. We just know started becoming friends and she’s already offering to meet up on the weekends. Then again, this probably just her way of apologizing for being the reason we were behind on our tutoring sessions. “Sure, I don’t mind. Where do you want to meet up?”

“I was thinking that we should probably meet up at your house, since it’ll give us a nice quiet place to work. I would offer to meet up at my house, but I don’t want my parents checking up on us every fifteen minutes. I haven’t exactly brought any boys home for them to pester.” She said jokingly.

“Alright, my house works fine. My parents should leave us alone once they realize we're working on physics.”

“Okay then, do you mind giving me your address? That way I at least know where I’m going.” She stated bluntly.

“Actually, I need a ride home.” I admitted, “So if you can drive me home, I can show you where it is so that you know where to go.” 

“Alright, that sounds like a good idea.” She happily said as she started to walk out of the classroom with me following close behind her. After a few moments of walking, I couldn’t help but think back to what just happened during the past hour and a half. I walked into that classroom expecting another disappointing tutoring session with Sour Sweet. Now I’m walking out of it, with the most unlikely person I’d ever imagine myself calling my friend. I wouldn’t haven’t any other way.
> Chapter 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

           The rest of the week went on without any more problems, and Sour Sweet and I have been starting to make steady progress with trying to form a friendship. For starters, the two of us started to talk to each other more in between classes. At first, it just started with simple greetings and asking each other how we were doing, which was still a major step up from us verbally lashing at each other’s throats. By the end of the week, we were able to have comfortable conversations with each other. Her sour tone would still come up from time to time, but hardly ever to chastise anything I said or did. I actually started to find that tone less abrasive over time and some of the things she said in that tone actually got me to laugh sometimes.

           Once the two of us started talking to each other, we then started to be around each other more often. We walked to classes that the both of us had together and she started to eat lunch with our other friends and I. Even our friends noticed how much more relaxed we were around each other.

           The progress in our friendship even had an effect on our tutoring sessions. They went from being less productive, to being a lot more productive than our first tutoring session. She started to be a lot more involved with her tutoring and made sure that I understood the materials before we started to work on problems related to it. She still threw in a sour insult from time to time, but only if I made a stupid mistake on the problems and they weren’t as harsh as what they used to be. But even with us spending extra hours to catch up on the learning material, we still determined that we needed to meet up at my house on Saturday to finish catching up. Even more so when our professor announced that we would be having an exam this upcoming Thursday. Which was what I was currently getting ready for.

           “Hey, mom,” I yelled down the stairs, “where is the extra lap desk?”

           “It’s in my study room closet.” My mom yelled back. “Why do you ask?”

           “I have a friend coming over to help tutor me in Physics, remember?”

           “Oh, that’s right. When is this friend coming over?” My mom asked curiously as she appeared at the base of the stairs so that I could see her. She's a woman about a head taller than me, light blue skin, and white, shoulder length hair. She also had on a green t-shirt and blue jeans.

           “She said she was coming over around ten.” I informed in a normal speaking voice.

           “Oh, so you have a girl coming over?” She asked in a teasing tone.

           I rolled my eyes before responding, “Yes, I have a girl coming over. And no, I don’t like her like that. She’s just here to help me with Physics.”

           “Oh relax, I’m only teasing you.” She reassured. “Although you probably don’t want to look like you just woke up when she gets here.”

           I looked at her with confusion until I looked over myself to see that she was referring to the sleepwear that I still had on. “Yeah, I know, mom. I just wanted to make sure that I had everything I needed for my study session before she got here.” I said.

           “Whatever you say, dear.” She said before she walked towards the living room.

           I rolled my eyes at her reaction and began to walk to her study room. When I entered the study room, I opened the closet door to look for the extra lap desk. “Let’s see here,” I said out loud as I looked through the closet. “If I were a lap desk, where would I be?” I looked around for a few more seconds before I found it nearby the door. “Oh, there it is.” I said as I picked it up and carried it to my room. When I entered my room, I placed it on the bed next to the other lap desk and my physics book, and looked around my room to make sure everything was in order.

           My room wasn’t anything too complex, just a rectangular shaped room with my bed on left side of the entrance and my desk at the other. The desk was flushed up in the corner of the room and there was a small trashcan between the desk and the door. The bed was a queen sized with a black comforter and black pillows on it, and it also flushed up in the corner of the room. There was also a nightstand next to it with an alarm clock, lamp, and remote for the television set I had in my room. The television set, which was complete with a few game systems and a blue ray player, stood on the other side of the room across from my bed. A few feet from my T.V. set was a couple of book shelves filled with both books and various movies, which ranged from critically acclaimed to so bad that they’re fun to watch. The right side of my room was where my closet was and next to the closet door was my dresser.

           “Okay, everything looks like it’s in order.” I said to myself. “Now, I should probably brush my teeth and change out of my sleep wear. What time is it anyway?” I paused to look at the alarm clock on my desk. “Nine-thirty, good I should have plenty of time before Sour Sweet arrives.” I said as I grabbed a red t-shirt and a pair of grey sweat pants that I had resting on the chair at my desk and walked out of my room and into the bathroom. “It’s not like she’s going to come earlier than she said she was.” I said when I entered the bathroom and started to brush my teeth.

           However, when I was about to rinse the toothpaste out of my mouth, I heard the doorbell ring, which caused me to flinch in surprise. Wait, is that Sour Sweet. I thought to myself. Crap, I thought she was coming a little later. I then calmly rinsed the toothpaste out of my mouth and reached for my clothes. It’s okay, no reason to start panicking yet.

           “I’ll get it!” My mom suddenly yelled out.

           Okay, that’s a reason to start panicking. I thought as I began to frantically take my sleepwear off. “No, I’ll get it, mom!” I yelled down as I stumbled to get my pajama pants off. When I finally got them off, I quickly put my t-shirt and sweatpants on and threw the sleepwear in the laundry basket before I left the bathroom and quickly ran down the stairs.

           When I was halfway down the stairs however, I saw my mom open the door and happily exclaimed, “Oh, hello there! Who might you be?”

           “Hello, Mrs. Foam, my name is Sour Sweet.” I heard Sour introduce herself at the front door. “I’m here to help out White Form with physics.”

           “Oh, so you’re the friend he told me about. Come on in, I’ll call him down.” My mom said. She then yelled out. “Sweetie, come on down. Your friend’s here."

           “I’m right here, mom. You don’t have to yell.” I said as I approached the base of the stairs. When I reached the bottom, I was able to see Sour Sweet come inside. She had her hair done in her usual pony tail, but instead of wearing her school uniform, she was wearing a dark purple V-neck shirt, black shorts, and a pair of black and purple sneakers. She also had her backpack and a black purse on her as well. As I walked up to them, I said, “Hey Sour Sweet, you’re here earlier than I expected.”

           “Sorry about that,” Sour Sweet started to say, “I thought it would be better if we started earlier.”

           “That’s okay, I don’t exactly blame you for that.” I kindly replied.

           I then noticed my mom, who was standing behind her, trying to get my attention. She then silently mouthed to me, “You didn’t tell me your friend was a looker.” I gave her a deadpanned look in response.

           I then turned to Sour Sweet and said, “Well, since you’re here, shall we get started then?”

           “Yeah, lead the way.” Sour Sweet replied.

           I then turned to my mom and said, “We’re going to be studying in my room, mom.”

           “Okay, I’ll let the two of you be then. Call me if you need anything.” She replied before returning to the living room.

           I turned back to Sour Sweet, motioned her to follow me, and led her upstairs. When we reached the top, she suddenly said, “So, you’ve been talking about me, huh?"

           I was a little flustered and surprised by her sudden question. After a few seconds, I managed to reply, “I was only telling her that you were coming over today and that you were a girl.”

           She giggled before responding, “Relax, I was only kidding. Sheesh, you don’t have to get so defensive.”

           I blushed in embarrassment as I continued to lead her to my room. When we reached the entrance way to my room, I opened the door and motioned for her to go in first. She walked in and began to inspect my room. I followed her in and closed the door behind me. After a few seconds, she said, “Not a bad set up you have here. Though the books you have in your shelves prove to me that you’re as big of a nerd as I thought you were.” She then noticed the section of the book shelves that held all of my low budget films. “Not to mention that you have a weird taste in movies. I don’t think I’ve heard of any of these movies."

           “Hey, bad, low budget movies are a guilty pleasure of mine.” I lightheartedly defended.

           She playfully rolled her eyes and said, “Whatever you say.” She then noticed the lap desks and the physics notes on my bed. “So, trying to get me in bed already?" She said in a mixture of a joking and an accusing tone.

           “Yeah, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” I jabbed back as I grabbed a couple of pencils and a calculator from my desk.

           “Eh, not really.” She casually replied as she took her shoes off, grabbed one of the lap desks, and sat down on the section of the bed closest to the wall. “Now, shall we get started?” She asked as she took her backpack off.

           “Yeah, of course.” I said as I grabbed the other lap desk and my notes before joining her on the bed.





           “Alright, let’s see how you did this time.” Sour Sweet said as I handed her the latest list of physics problems she had me do. “That’s right…that’s correct…that’s correct…you got this one wrong.”

           “Okay, what did I do wrong?” I asked.

           “Well, you used the formulas correctly. You just made a simple mathematical mistake. Although to be fair, we’ve been at this for…” she paused as she looked past me to look at my alarm clock, “two and a half hours.”

           “Wait, really?” I asked as I looked over at the alarm clock to see that it was about twelve thirty. “Damn, I didn’t think we were working on physics for that long.”

           “Well, look at the bright side. We only have two lecture materials to cover before we’re finally caught up.” She pointed out.

           “I guess you have a point there.” I said. I then heard a knock on my door. “Come in.”

           The door opened and my mom poked her head in. “Hey, are the two of you interested in lunch?”

           “Sure, that sound like a good idea right about now.” I replied. “In fact, I’m sure that we were thinking about taking a break. Right, Sour Sweet?”

           “I think that’s a good idea. I could definitely use something to eat.” Sour Sweet replied.”

           “Okay, how does grilled cheese sandwiches sound?” Mom asked.

           “Yes! That sounds like a great idea!” I said, causing Sour Sweet to laugh at my response.

           “Okay, I’ll be back with the sandwiches then.” Mom said before she left my room and closed the door behind her.

           “You’re how old and you still get excited over grilled cheese sandwiches?" Sour Sweet asked with a hint of light hearted sarcasm.

           “Hey give me a break, my mom makes amazing grilled cheese sandwiches.” I replied.

           “Whatever you say." She said as she stretched herself out. “So, what are we going to do during our break?”

           “Well, let’s see here…” I said as I looked around my room before my eyes landed on the book shelves holding my movie collection. “How about we watch a movie.” I said as I got up from the bed and walked to the shelves.

           “Sure, I’m okay with that. What movie do you have in mind?” She said as she sat up in order to face me.

           “Well,” I began to say as I went through my movie collection, “it depends if you’re in the mood for a good movie or a bad movie?”

           Sour gave me a puzzled look before replying, “Okay, genius, tell me why I would intentionally watch a bad movie?"

           “Because they’re a lot more fun to make fun of.” I replied with a smirk on my face.

           She raised an eyebrow before asking, “Make fun of them how?”

           “Well, by pointing out plot holes and joking about them, mocking the lazy writing, and, my personal favorite, making fun of the bad acting.” I explained. “Haven’t you ever just watched a bad film just for the hell of it?”

           “NO, I usually end up watching a bad film on accident and then I either stop watching it or suffer through it."Sour curtly answered.

           “Well, you clearly haven’t been doing it right then.” I jokingly replied, causing Sour Sweet to roll her eyes at my statement. I turned back to the shelves and browsed through the movies I had. “Now then,” I muttered to myself, “what would be a fun movie to watch. ‘Reptilicus?’ Nah, I’m not in the mood for a cheesy monster film today. ‘Manos: The Hands of Fate?’ That’s borderline torture, so no. ‘Bled?’” I suddenly yanked the ‘Bled’ dvd box from the shelf and chunked it into the garbage can, startling Sour Sweet in the process. “I could have sworn we got rid of that thing.” I said as I continued to browse through the movies before one finally stuck out to me. “This one will do.” I pulled the dvd out of the shelf and read the title out to Sour Sweet. “’The Final Sacrifice.’”

           “Oh god, you’re trying to force me to watch a snuff film, aren’t you?" Sour asked with a hint of worry.

           “Of course not, it’s just a bad, cheaply made film from Canada. So, it’s almost worse.” I said jokingly.

           She rolled her eyes a bit before responding, “Alright, I suppose we can watch it.”

           “Okay then.” I simply replied as I walked over to the television set to get the movie ready. Once I had everything set up, I turned around and saw that Sour Sweet had repositioned herself so that she was laying down with her head and shoulders propped up against the pillows. So, when I got back onto the bed, I laid down in a similar position that she was in and made sure that there was plenty of space between us. I then turned to her and asked, “Ready to get the movie started?”

           “Yes, I am, so you can go ahead and start it. But if you put your arm around me, you’re dead." Sour Sweet replied.

           “Noted.” I said as I reached for the remote on the night stand and got the movie started.

           The movie opens in a snow-covered forest as two men stand around a fire. One man has medium length, black hair and is wearing a black coat as he looks over to the other man with an evil smirk. The other man is wearing a gray tank top and was putting on a red ski mask that only reveals his eyes. The film then reveals that the masked man has a red, hourglass shaped marking on his arm.

           I turn to Sour Sweet and said, “Well, I guess if you’re not allowed to have a kinky, sex dungeon in your home, then the woods are the next best place to have one.”

           Sour Sweet chuckled a little as she responded, “W-wait, what?!?”

           The movie then cuts to a different part of the forest where a man is being chased by a group of men wielding machetes. The men are also wearing black tanks tops, black pants, and black masks like the one the man from before was wearing. “Huh, so that’s how Total Nonstop Action recruits its wrestlers.” I joked, causing Sour Sweet to roll her eyes as a smirk developed on her face.

           The movie then cuts back to the two men from before, showing us the masked man loading a rifle and the man in black using a can to draw the same hourglass shaped symbol from the masked man’s arm…for some reason. The movie then alternates between showing the man that was getting chased and the two men apparently waiting for him. When they apparently see him, the masked man begins to aim his rifle, which causes the movie to cut to an image of the forest as a loud bang is heard.

           “Hey, he exploded before they could shoot him.” I jokingly complained.

           Sour Sweet gives me a playful slap to my arm as she chuckles at my joke. As the opening credits begin to roll, she asks, “Are you going to be like this throughout the entire film?”

           “Why, do actually want to sincerely watch this cheesy piece of crap?” I said with a smirk.

           “Eh, not really. I’m just worried that you’ll get real annoying about it really quickly." She replied.

           “Hey, I’m just trying to have fun with a bad movie.” I defended. “But, if I do get too annoying for you, just let me know, okay?”

           “I’ll keep that in mind.” She says as she returns her attention to the screen, which was still on the opening credits that blared an annoying, repetitive sounding music. “Can we extend your offer to the film’s music?” She asked hopefully.

           “Unfortunately, no.”

           “Damn." She said disappointingly, causing me to chuckle.

           It was at that moment that my mom had walked into the room. In each hand, she held a plate that had a grilled cheese sandwich, an apple, and a banana. She also had two bottles of water lying down on one of the plates. “Here you are, kids.” My mom said as she handed me the plates. “I also thought that you two could use some fruit and water.”

           “Thanks, mom.” I said as I received both of the plates. I then handed one of the plates and one of the water bottles to Sour Sweet, who accepted them graciously.

           “No problem, sweetie.” She said as she made her way out of the room. At least, that was until she noticed the movie that was on. “Wait a minute, I recognize these opening credits. Is this ‘The Final Sacrifice?’”

           “It sure is.” I responded.

           “Oh god, this film is so cheesy!” She said excitingly as she turned the chair at my desk around and sat down to watch the film with us.

           The opening credits finally ended by showing a title card that stated that seven years had gone by. It then fades to a shot of a cemetery as a teenager that clearly hasn’t gone through puberty yet walks to one of the graves. He stops at it and says, “Hello dad, it’s been a while. I want to know what happened to you.”

           “I died, dipshit!” My mother exclaimed, causing Sour Sweet and me to burst out laughing.





           With the villain now dead, the film’s two protagonists, Troy and Rowsdower, watch as an ancient city flies up into the sky. Rowsdower, revealed to be the man in the red mask from the opening scene, looks at the arm that his mark was on, to find that the mark was gone. He then smiles and happily yells, “Alright!” in celebration as he embraces Troy in celebration.

           “You know, the only reason he’s happy is because his drinking arm’s now healed.” My mom commented.

           “Yeah, and Troy’s happy because Rowsdower finally gave him a hug.” I added.

           Sour Sweet just chuckled and said, “Oh man, the two of you are just awful.”

           The film finally ends as Rowsdower and Troy ride off in Rowsdower’s piece of shit truck and the closing credits roll. My mom got up from my chair and put it back behind the desk as she said, “Well, I better let you kids get back to studying.” She then came over to us to pick up the mostly empty plates and empty water bottles. She was about to leave the room until she looked inside my trash can and found the ‘Bled’ dvd box in it. “Hey, White, is that ‘Bled’ in your trash can?” She asked.

“Yeah, why?” I replied.

“White Foam, I thought I taught you better than this!” She scolded as she pulled the movie out of the trash can. “The trash is too good of a fate for a movie as bad as this.”

           “Well, it was the first thing that came into mind when I found it in my shelves.”

“Well, I guess you can get away with it this time. I’ll get rid of this so that the two of you can focus on studying. Have fun.” She says as she leaves the room.

           “Can’t really promise that.” I jokingly replied to her. I then grab my lap desk with my notes as Sour Sweet does the same. “Shall we continue where we left off?”

           “That we shall, but before we do, there’s something I should clarify.” Sour says.

           “What’s that?”

           “Remember when I poked fun at you for getting excited over your mom’s grilled cheese sandwiches?” She asked. I nodded in response. ‘I’m taking it back. That grilled cheese was amazing!”

           I chuckled before replying, “I figured that you would like it. What she does is that she spreads butter on the pan and uses cheese with garlic and herbs in it.”

           “Oh…really?” She said as she pulled her phone out of her purse and started typing on it.

           I raised an eyebrow at her and asked, “Are you typing down what I just told you?”

           She looked at me and said, “Yeah, why do you ask?”

           “Oh, I don’t know. I guess I’m just surprised that someone your age can be so enthusiastic about a grilled cheese sandwich.” I said with a playfully mocking tone before giving her a smirk.

           “Okay, since you’re going to play that card.” She said as she pulled a piece of paper from her folder and slammed it on my lap desk. “How about you shut up and do the problems I have written down for you?"

           “Yes, ma’am.” I said sarcastically as I got to work on the physics problems.

           The rest of the afternoon was spent going over the last two lecture materials that we needed to go over and working out problems both from the homework and from the list of problems she prepared. It was around early evening when I finished the last set of problems and she began to check them. I just sat there watching her as she hovered her pen over the paper as she read over my work saying, “That’s correct…that’s correct…good…good…and-“ She laid the paper and her pen down, looked at me, and said, “You got all of the questions correct.”

           I gave a sigh of relief and said, “Thank god, I don’t think I could handle anymore physics problems today.”

           “Yeah, I know the feeling.” She said as she looked up the time on her phone and saw that it was approaching five o’clock. “At least we got you caught up with the class and, in my opinion, you should be ready for the test on Thursday.”

           “You really think so?”            

           “So long as you study between today and Thursday, you should be.” She then started to gather her things and said, “Well, since we’re finally finished, I should probably get going.”

           “Yeah, that would probably be a good idea. Here, let me help.” I said as I gathered some of her notes for her. Once we had everything put away in her bag. I escorted her out of my room and down the stairs to the front door. Once we reached the front door, I turned to Sour Sweet and said, “Thanks for coming over today to help me out.”

           “It was no problem. I’m just happy I was finally able to make up for all of those days I didn’t help you. I’m still kicking myself for that." Sour replied.

           “Hey, we’re over that now. It’d only be a problem if you didn’t try to fix your mistake, right?” I kindly reassured.

           “Right.” She simply answered. She then paused for a moment before saying, “I had fun by the way.”

           “What, studying?” I asked.

           “Well, yes to an extent, but I had fun watching that movie with you.” She answered. “I actually enjoyed watching that film with you. Although, the only reason I could sit through it was because of some of the jokes you and your mom made. Ugh, that movie was bad."

           I chuckled before responding, “Yeah, that movie is kinda bad. If you ever want to watch another one, then you’re more than welcome to come over.”

           She gave a smirk before saying in a teasing tone, “Oh, so I’m allowed to come over, but not any of our friends?”

           “Hey, if you want some of our friends to join us, then they can join us to.” I replied. “Do you think that they’d actually want to join us?”

           “Well,” Sour Sweet began, “Lemon Zest and Indigo Zap would actually enjoy it, Sunny Flare would be indifferent about it, and you’d more than likely drive Sugarcoat insane."

           “That’s if the movie doesn’t do that first.” I added in.

           “Hmm…true.” Sour Sweet responded. “Well, I’m going to get going.”

           “Alright.” I said as I opened the door for her. “You have a safe drive home.”

           “Thanks. See you on Monday.” Sour Sweet said as she walked out the door.

           “Alright, see ya.” I said as I watched her walk out through the front door. When she was halfway down the walkway, I closed and locked the door. I was about to go back up to my room, but stopped when I saw my mom standing in the doorway, that led into the living room with a smirk on her face.

           “So, trying to get more girls here, huh?” She teasingly asked.

           “Mom, I’d just be inviting friends who just so happen to be girls.” I tried to defend.

           “Hey, I’m just saying, if any of them are as good looking as Sour Sweet, then I wouldn’t complain if you tried dating one of them.” Mom said playfully.

           “You know, most moms aren’t this encouraging about their sons dating a girl they don’t know.” I tried to point out.

           “Most moms don’t convince their sons to watch ‘Army of Darkness’ when they’re twelve.” Mom pointed out as she walked back into the living room.

           “Yeah, you got me there.” I conceded. “By the way, what did you do with that movie I had in the trash?”

           “Do you even need to ask?” She asked back.

           “Oh…do you need me to clean the fireplace?”

           “No, that’s what I’m doing right now.”
> Chapter 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today was Thursday, the day of the physics test. Ever since the tutoring session Sour Sweet and I had this past weekend, I studied as hard as I could to prepare for this exam. But that still didn't stop me from being extremely nervous about it as I stood at my open locker. Repeatedly, I just kept thinking about how I wasn't ready for this test and that I needed more time to prepare for it. Right as I was about to close my locker, I heard the locker to my left suddenly open.

  I turned my head to see that Sour Sweet had opened her locker and was putting her belongings into it. "Hey, White Foam, ready for the physics test today?" She asked without looking at me.

"Uh...yeah. As ready as I'll ever be, I guess." I reluctantly answered, turning back to the locker.

Sour Sweet stopped what she was doing before she looked at me with a concerned look on her face. "That didn't sound very convincing. Don't tell me you didn't study for it." She said.

"Of course I did." I said defensively.

"Good, now come on, we're going to be late." She said as she pulled her calculator out of her locker and closed it. Otherwise, you really would've studied for nothing." She added as she began to walk away.

I sighed as I closed my locker and followed her to our physics class. On the way there, I tried to think of anything that would get me to avoid taking the test today. Maybe the teacher will forget about the test? Yeah, when has that ever happened. Maybe someone will pull the fire alarm today? Oh please, who would be crazy enough to do that. Especially when the best outcome is Cinch immediately suspending them. Maybe I can pretend to be sick? Yeah, and trick the nurse how? Besides, even if I could trick the nurse, my mom would find out when she got home and scalp me for it. It was at that moment that I looked up to see that I was right in front of the classroom and just froze. And as I stood there, all I could think of was four words. I can't do this.

Sour Sweet, who had already walked into the classroom, was just about to sit at her desk until she looked back at me and saw me just staring into the classroom. She looked at me with a concerned look before she put her stuff on her desk and walked up to me. When she was in front of me, she asked, "Hey, White Foam, are you doing okay? And don't say that you're fine, because I can tell that you're not.

"...Sour Sweet, I can't do this. I'm not ready for this test." I sadly admitted.

"I knew it. You didn't study!" Sour Sweet responded with a slight scowl on her face.

"No, Sour, I studied. I tried to study at least three hours a day for it this past week. It's just that...what if the teacher put a trick question on the test just to spite with us?" I began to frantically ask. "What if he puts material on the test we barely went over in class? What if there was something that I forgot to look over? What if-"

My series of 'what if' questions was interrupted when I felt a pair of hands grasp my shoulders. Sour Sweet was practically staring into my soul with a slight frown on her face. "Alright, I need you to answer every single answer I ask you, got it?" She asked with determination.

"O-okay" I managed to reply.

"How do you find the current of a circuit?" She asked.

"Take the charge of the circuit and divide it by the time." I answered immediately before flinching back. Where the hell did that come from.

"Good, now if the charge and time are given along with two different voltages, how do you find the power?" Sour asked as a smile began to form.

"Um, find the difference between the two voltages and multiply that difference by the current, which again can be found by dividing the charge by the time." I replied.

"Alright, and how do you find the resistance?" She asked as her smile grew.

"Add the resistances that are in parallel by taking each of the resistors under one before adding them together. Then take all of the resistors in the series and add them together." I said.

She then let go of my shoulders and said, "See, you remembered all of that without having to use the formula sheet. As far as I'm concerned, you're more than ready for it."

Once she was done with her little prep talk, I felt some of the anxiety beginning to slip away. I still felt nervous, but I didn't feel like taking this test was going to be a lost cause either. Sour Sweet's small pop quiz helped, but it was during that last bit of encouragement that I started to really calm down. There was something about her trying to help me that just felt...calming. I took a deep breath before replying. "Alright...I think I can do this."

She nodded before saying, "Good, I'm glad to hear that." She then developed a small frown before she quickly moved behind me and exclaimed, "Now, get in there before the bell rings or you're guaranteed to fail it! She then proceeded to push me into the classroom.

I stumbled forward for a few seconds before I caught my balance and turned around to give Sour an unamused look. She responded by giving me a smug grin as she walked up beside me. I rolled my eyes at her before I walked up to my desk as she giggled and walked to her desk. When I reached my desk, I placed my pencil and calculator on it, took my seat, and faced forward to see the teacher at his desk.

The teacher was reading through some papers on his desk as students continued to enter the classroom. By the time the bell rang, all of the desks were occupied and the teacher had stopped reading through his papers and pulled another rather large stack of papers out of his bag. He then got up and said, "Put all of your books and notes away. The only things allowed on your desks are pencils and your calculator. Several students began to quickly put away their books and notes as the teacher said, "When I place a test paper on your desk, you may begin."

As he passed out the tests, I began to think to myself to keep myself from panicking again. Okay, don't overthink this. You can ace this test. Even Sour Sweet believes you can pass this. When the teacher reached my desk, he placed a test paper on my desk. I took a deep breath and thought to myself, Okay, let's do this, and looked at the first question.

The first question had a circuit that had five different points of resistance in a series. Two of the points consisted of a single resistor and the three other points had resistors in parallel, two of them had three resistors and one had two resistors. The question asked for the total resistance of the circuit.

I continued to take steady breathes as I thought, Okay, remember what Sour Sweet taught you. Add all of the resistors in parallel together before you add all the resistors in the main series together. With that in mind, I added all of the individual parallel resistors by adding all of the resistors in that parallel together the way that Sour Sweet taught me to. When I had the three parallel resistors added up so that each of them was the equivalent of one resistor, I thought, Okay, now I need to add these five resistors together and I get- I entered the numbers into my calculator and added them together. Twenty-six ohms as the answer. I sat up a little straighter as I wrote down my answer and thought to myself, Huh, that felt easier than I thought it was going to be. Maybe this test won't be as bad as I thought it was going to be.

And it actually wasn't. I ended up being able to get through it with little difficulty. The only problem I had trouble with was one where I had to find the voltage of a capacitor, but even with that problem I was still able to finish the test with about seven minutes left to spare. I looked through the test one last time to check my work before I decided that I was finished. So, I got up and walked to the teacher's desk to turn it in. He took the test from me and placed it face down on a stack of other tests that had been completed and continued to watch over the class.

As I walked back to my desk, I glanced around the room to see how the other students were doing. Some of them were racing to finish their test, while everybody else had already finished it. Sour Sweet was one of the students who finished the test and was currently reading a book. When I got back to my desk, I sat there and waited out the rest of the class time.

The bell rang soon after and everybody began to file out of the classroom, with a small handful who didn't finish it quickly writing down their work before turning in the test. I grabbed my things as I got up and walked out of the classroom to get my locker. Along the way, Sour Sweet walked up beside me and asked, "Hey, so how did it go?"

"Honestly... I think I did alright on it." I answered. "I had some problems with one of the questions involving a capacitor, but other than that I didn't have too much difficulty with it."

Sour Sweet gave me a small smile as she said, "That's good to hear. Guess we'll see how you did tomorrow."

"...Wait, what?" I asked after a small pause to process what she just said.

"Yeah, this teacher has a habit of grading our tests the day we take them and then gives them back to us the day after." She casually explained.

I raised an eyebrow at her as I asked, "So, does he sleep at all on test days."

"I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't." She said as she shrugged her shoulders. "Well, on the plus side, we won't be spending the weekend worrying about what we got on the test, right?"

"Yeah, that's a fact." I said as we reached our lockers.





The next day had arrived, and just like Sour Sweet had predicted, the teacher started the class by saying, "Class, your tests have been graded. When I call your name, come up and get your test." He then looked down at the stack of papers and called out, "Suri Polomare."

As he called out names of students to get their tests, I saw movement at the bottom of my eye. I looked down and saw that there was a folded piece of paper on my desk. With a confused look on my face, I picked it up and unfolded it. Inside was a note that read out.

Let me know what you got.

-Sour

I glanced over to my right to see that Sour Sweet was pretending to give the teacher her full attention as she glanced over to me to make sure that I read the note. I smirked at her and gave her a thumbs up to let her know that I got her message. "White Foam." I heard the teacher suddenly call out, catching me by surprise as I looked up at the teacher.

I gave a soft sigh as I stood up and walked up to the teacher. Even though I was walking at a normal pace, it felt like it was taking me hours to walk up to him. Anxiety was starting to hit me again at full force. How could it not? This test could make or break my grade. When I finally reached the teacher, he handed me my test. I took it and reluctantly looked down at my grade as I walked back to my desk. I got a ninety-three.

Time felt like it was going back to normal as relief began to spread throughout my body. I can't believe it. I thought as I sat down at my desk. I got a ninety-three! I actually got an A on a physics test. I looked up at Sour Sweet to see her looking at me curiously. So, I turned my paper a little to let her see what my grade was. She gave me a small, sincere smile and a thumbs up before turning back towards the teacher.

"Sour Sweet." The teacher called out. Sour Sweet stood up and confidently walked up to get her test back. When she got it, she walked back as she looked through her test to see what she got on it and smirked at her results. She turned the paper towards me so that I could see what her grade was as she sat down. She got a ninety-five. I nodded my head and silently told her, "Good job."

The rest of the class went on as normal. The teacher started a new subject and gave us a new homework assignment at the end of class. When the bell rang, everybody got up from their seats and started to head to their next class. When I got to the hallway, Sour Sweet came up beside me and gave me a hug. "See, I told you that you could do it!" She happily said.

I smiled as I returned the hug and said, "Yeah, you did. Although, I don't think I would have been able to pass it without your help."

"You're damn right you wouldn't have." She exclaimed as she released me from the hug.
She then paused for a few moments before suddenly asking, "Hey, why don't we go celebrate?"

I turned with her with a surprised look. "Really!? Don't we have a tutoring session today?" I asked.

"Pttf, we can do that tomorrow morning. So, why don't I take you to this really awesome bakery in town this afternoon?" She asked with a hopeful smile.

"Alright, and I guess we can have the tutoring session at my house tomorrow." I offered "We could even watch a couple of movies when we're done, if you want to?"

"Only if you invite our friends over as well. They all seemed interested when we told them about the movie we watched last weekend." She replied.

"I guess there's no harm in that. Though I think that Indigo Zap and Lemon Zest were the ones interested. Sunny Flare and Sugarcoat just seemed mildly curious." I replied.

"Even so, I'm sure they'll at least appreciate being invited." She reassured.

"Alright, I guess I'll ask them whenever I have the opportunity to do so." I replied. "Where should I meet you for our celebration."

"Just meet me by the front entrance. I'll drive us to the bakery." She replied.

"Alright, I'll look forward to it." I told her as we continued on to our next class.
> Chapter 8
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Sour Love- Chapter 8


It was now a few minutes after the last bell and I was standing outside the front entrance of the school with Indigo Zap and Sunny Flare as students were walking past us trying to get home. I had just asked the two of them if they wanted to join Sour Sweet and me in our little movie marathon tomorrow. Indigo Zap was the first to respond as she excitingly replied, "Hell yeah, I'll join you. I love campy movies!"

Sunny Flare was looking at her nails as she replied, "I guess I'll come too. Seems like a good way to unwind. Who else is going to be there?"

"Well, Sugarcoat and Lemon Zest both agreed to come and Sour Sweet will be there since we'll have our tutoring session at my house tomorrow morning." I informed them.

Sunny Flare looked up from her nails as she and Indigo Zap stared at me with a surprised look. "You're having your tutoring session tomorrow? I thought you two met on weekdays." Sunny asked.

"We do, we decided to celebrate me passing the test we had yesterday." I replied.

"Oh really. What did you get on it?" Indigo asked with anticipation.

"A ninety-three." I said proudly.

"Nice!" Indigo replied as she lifted her hand up for a high five, which I accepted. "Where are you going to celebrate?"

"Sour Sweet's taking me to a bakery in town." I replied.

"Oh, is she now?" Sunny Flare asked as she smirked at Indigo, who smirked back.

I looked between the two of them and asked, "Is there something going on here?"

"Oh, nothing at all." Sunny said as she looked over at the front entrance and saw Sour Sweet come out. "Well, it looks like we'll need to get going. What time should we arrive?"

"I told Lemon Zest and Sugarcoat to come around eleven in the morning." I replied.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then. Hope you have fun during your celebration." She said teasingly as she gave me a friendly one-armed hug, which I returned.

"That's if he survives the trip there first." Indigo added with a amused look on her face.

I widened my eyes in surprise and worry at what she said as Sunny and I separated from the hug. "What's that supposed to mean?" I nervously asked.

"Oh, don't worry about. I'm sure you'll be fine." She reassured with little success. She then lunged forwards and gave me a bone crushing hug, practically lifting me up. "See ya tomorrow, dude!" She said before putting me down and running off towards the busses. Sunny Flare waved at me as she went off into the same direction.

I was in the process of trying to regain my balance when I heard a voice behind me ask, "Hey, White Foam, what was that about?"

I turned around to see that Sour Sweet had walked up behind me with a curious look on her face. I gave her a small smile and said, "Apparently, Indigo's way of saying goodbye. Also, everyone said that they're going to come tomorrow."

"That's good. So, are you ready to go?" She asked as the started to walk towards the parking lot.

"Yeah, totally." I said as I followed her. We walked for about five minutes before Sour stopped at the driver's side of a blue Ford Escape and started to dig around in her purse. "So, this is your car then?"

"Yep, it's not my favorite, but it hasn't broken down yet, so I'll just live with it." Sour said as she pulled her keys out of her purse and unlocked the car. She then got into the driver's seat.

I got in the passenger's seat as I said, "So, as long as it gets you from point A to point B, then that's good enough for you, right?"

She chuckled before replying, "Yeah, I guess so." She then turned the car on and buckled her seat belt as I buckled mine as well. She then pulled out and started to drive down the road. She was going slightly over the speed limit as she cruised down the left lane. "So, how was the rest of your day?" She asked as she kept her eyes on the road.

"It was good. Although, I don't think there's much that could ruin my day after acing that test." I replied as Sour started to approach a car that was in front of us.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." She said sweetly before she suddenly yelled out, "Hey, dipshit, go in the right lane if you're going to move that slow." She then carefully changed to the right lane to pass the car.

"Um, are you okay." I nervously asked.

"Oh, I'm fine." Sour Sweet reassured as we approached another car that was in the left lane. "I'm just a little short tempered when I'm behind the wheel of a car. It was at that moment that the car we were approaching suddenly changed into the lane we were in, forcing Sour Sweet to slow down to avoid a collision. "Hey, don't you look before you change lanes, asshole!" She angrily yelled at the car. "You're driving a car, so either shit or get off the pot!"

As she switched back to the left lane to pass the car, I asked in a concerned tone, "Um, how far away is this bakery?"

"Oh, like ten to fifteen minutes." Sour replied sweetly as passed the car and started to approach three cars.

"Oh...joy." I said as I prepared myself for her string of verbal assaults.

And for those next then to fifteen minutes, it was a lot easier to count the number of cars she didn't yell at, which was one. Needless to say, I was more than happy to get out of the car once we got to the bakery and I got out of it as fast as I could when she parked on the side of the street. Sour Sweet just casually got out of the car and said, "Oh, come on, I'm not that bad of a driver."

"I wouldn't say that you're a bad driver. Just a terrifying one." I said as I looked up at the bakery. It was a café styled bakery that sat at the corner of an intersection called, Sugar Cube Corner. I smirked a little as we walked up to the bakery and said, "So, I take it the place we're going to is the one with the really obvious name?"

Sour Sweet just rolled her eyes as she said, "Yeah, you joke about it now, but I'm sure that the jokes are going to stop once you've had one of their cakes."

"I'll keep that in mind." I said as I opened the door for her. She thanked me as she entered the shop and I followed her in. The both of us walked up to the front counter, which was being operated by a plump, blue woman, and looked into the display case to see the various types of cakes they had. They had a lot of delicious looking cakes on display, but there was one that caught my eye immediately. "That red velvet cake looks tempting." I said pointing at the cake in question.

"Want to split it and get a couple of milkshakes with it?" Sour Sweet asked.

"Yeah, let's do that." I said as I began to reach for my wallet.

Sour Sweet, however, quickly grabbed my arm to stop me. "Remember, White Foam, I'm the one treating you. That means that I'm the one paying." She said as she gave me a stern look practically screamed, 'You can argue with me if you want, but you're not going to win.'

I raised my hands up as a form of surrender and said, "If you insist."

She gave me a victorious smirk as she asked, "What milkshake do you want?"

"Vanilla's fine."

"Okay." She said as she walked up to the woman behind the counter and said, "I'd like to get a strawberry milkshake, a vanilla milkshake, and a slice of red velvet cake."

"Sure thing, sweetie." The woman cheerfully said as she pressed a few buttons on the register. "Your total will be eleven dollars and thirty-seven cents."

Sour Sweet pulled her wallet out of her purse and pulled out a twenty to pay for our food. The woman took the bill before putting it in the register and getting Sour Sweet's change. "Here's your change. We'll get your order for you right away." She said.

"Thank you." Sour replied. She then turned to me and said, "Go get a table while I wait for our order."

"Sure thing." I said before turning around and looked around for a table for us to sit at. On one side of the bakery, there were a couple of free tables and a table with a couch and a few chairs that was occupied by a group of seven girls. On the other side, there was a mix between occupied and free tables. I decided to pick a table on the side opposite of the couch and waited for Sour Sweet to arrive with our order.

After waiting a couple of minutes, Sour Sweet arrived holding a tray that had a red velvet cake, two forks, and two milkshakes on it. "Here we are." She said as she carefully placed the tray on the table, making sure that my vanilla milkshake was closer to where I was sitting. She then took the seat across from me, raised her milkshake slightly, and said, "To a job well done."

I felt my cheeks heat up at that. I then lifted my milkshake and said, "And to a damn good tutor."

Sour Sweet blushed as she embarrassingly said, "Oh please, I wasn't that great of a tutor. If that long period of time of me doing nothing is anything to go by. Besides, you never would have made that grade unless you put in some work into it."

"That's true," I admitted, "But I never would have been able to understand any of it if I didn't have somebody to help me out with it. And sure, you didn't were a bit distant for a while, but you made sure that you made up for it. So, thanks for everything you've done, Sour."

Sour Sweet turned her head towards the center of the bakery in embarrassment as she said, "Oh stop, you don't have to get all mushy on-" She immediately stopped talking when she noticed the group of seven girls. Her eyes widened in shock as she wore a worried look on her face.

"Hey, is something wrong?" I asked in concern.

She turned back to me and said, "Um, remember weeks ago when I told you about that one girl that me and my friends were pretty mean to."

"Vaguely." I answered.

"Well, she's sitting with that group over there. She's the one with the glasses." She said, pointing at one of the girls.

I looked over to the girl that she was pointing to. She was a light purple skinned girl with dark purple hair with violet and rose-colored streaks that was tied in a ponytail. She had a purple vest over a blue button-down shirt, had a pink bowtie around her neck, and had a purple skirt with an image that would be best described as a sparkle on it. She wore a pair of dark purple shoes and blue socks that almost went up to her knees. She also had a pair of black glasses on as well. She was sitting on the right side of the couch and seemed to be enjoying a conversation with the rest of the girls she was sitting with.

I turned back to Sour Sweet and asked, "You still feel guilty about how you treated her?"

"Of course, I do." She sadly admitted. "I wanted to apologize to her after the Friendship Games, but by the time I got the courage to do so...she had already transferred to Canterlot High." She said as she hung her head down.

We sat there in silence for what felt like hours. Sour Sweet just looking down sadly at the table and me just staring at her, trying to figure out what to say until something came to mind. With a determined look on my face, I just simply told her, "Go apologize to her then."

Sour Sweet looked up with a surprised look on her face and said, "What?!"

"Go apologize to her." I repeated to her.

"But what if she doesn't accept my apology." She asked sadly.

"Well, then that's for her to decide." I answered. "If she does, then great. If not, then at least you get something off of your conciseness and she'll know that you feel guilty about what you've done."

Sour Sweet just stared at me for a few seconds before she slowly looked down at her milkshake and took a deep breath. She then put a more determined look on her face and said, "You're right. I should go apologize to her." She took a big sip of her milkshake, probably as a way to calm herself and stood up as she asked, "You mind watching my purse for a few moments?"

"Of course." I replied.

"Thanks, I'll be right back." She said before she began to walk to the other side of the bakery. She made it about halfway before the orange skinned girl wearing a Stetson hat noticed her and grabbed the other girls' attention. They had worried looks on their faces as Sour Sweet approached them, except for the blue skinned girl who just glared at her.

When Sour Sweet reached the purple girl's side of the couch, pointed to her, and said something to the group with a nervous smile on her face. I assumed she just asked if she just asked if she could speak with the purple girl, because the girl looked over at her friends for a few seconds before turning back to Sour Sweet and nodded to her.

She then stood up and followed Sour to a corner of the bakery that was fairly isolated. She stood there with a neutral look on her face as Sour Sweet gave a lengthy apology to her. As she talked, I watched them with anticipation to see where the conversation was going. I took an occasional glance at the girl's friends, who also seemed interested with the conversation. After a few minutes, Sour Sweet finished her apology and gave the girl a hopeful smile.

The girl just stood there with her arms folded and a frown on her face for a few seconds. She then closed her eyes and took a visibly deep breath before she replied to Sour Sweet's apology. Sour Sweet's smile shifted to a sad look and she slouched a little. I just looked on her on sadly, since the girl's answer was obvious. Then, in a move that surprised both me and Sour Sweet, the girl put a hand on her shoulder and said something else with a small smile. Sour Sweet smiled back and replied to the girls. When Sour Sweet was done talking, both girls returned to their respective tables.

When Sour Sweet returned to her seat, she said, "Well, she didn't accept my apology."

"I could tell," I replied, "but what happened after that?"

"I guess she figured that the apology was sincere, so she told me that she appreciated the gesture and said that my apology was a good step in the right direction."

"Huh, that's certainly something." I said before taking a sip from my milkshake. "So, how do you feel?"

"Honestly, really good. I feel like a weight's been lifted off of my shoulders." She said happily. "Thanks for convincing me to do that."

I smiled at her and said, "You're welcome, Sour." I then used my fork to take a piece of cake and said, "Now, I think it's time to continue our celebration." As soon as the cake hit my mouth, my eyes widened in surprise. "Holy crap, this cake is amazing." I said as I continued to chew on the cake.

"Told you it was." Sour said as she ate a piece herself.

"Well, I guess I shouldn't take your word for granted." I said before taking a sip of my milkshake and eating another piece of cake.

"You better not." She said with a smirk.

We continued to talk and crack jokes as we ate our cake and drank our milkshakes. After about fifteen minutes, we finished everything and sat there letting the food settle. "That was delicious." I said.

"Yeah, it was." Sour said as she put everything on the tray for the staff to deal with later. She then stood up and asked, "You ready to go."

"Yeah, sure." I said as I stood up as well.

"Good." She said as she grabbed her purse. "Let's go, I'll bring you home." She said as she began to walk to the exit.

I stood there and just watched her walk away as I realized that that meant getting back into the car with Sour Sweet. All I could manage to say at that time was, "Oh...joy."





Our bland, generic main protagonist is running off into the woods in the middle of the night, separating himself from everyone else...for reasons. The others were finishing up killing the small army of vampire dogs. No, I didn't stutter. He kept running until he reached the side of a cliff, because at least he's smart enough to not run off a cliff. He then turns around when he hears a growl and he comes face to face with the being that had been tormenting him.

Zoltan, the dog of Dracula. Again, I didn't stutter. The vampire Rottweiler had been tasked with turning the main character into the new Count Dracula, something that he was really bad at. But now, was his last chance to finish the job. He slowly approached the main character, but stopped when he saw a cross around his neck. Now, being a vampire dog, he did what any sane vampire would do...promptly jump off of the cliff and accidently impale himself on a wooden post.

Indigo Zap, Lemon Zest, Sour Sweet, and I proceeded to laugh at the screen. Sunny Flare facepalmed. Sugarcoat just stared at the screen with a deadpanned look. Sour Sweet had come over around ten to deal with the homework that was assigned to us. Everyone else started showing up at eleven and we started our movie marathon. Our first movie, 'Zoltan, The Dog of Dracula,' or as I referred to it, 'Zoltan, the Incompetent One.' Sour Sweet, Sunny Flare, and I were laying on my bed with Sour Sweet sandwiched between me and Sunny. Indigo and Lemon were sitting on the floor with their backs against the foot of the bed and Sugarcoat was content with sitting on the chair behind my desk.

When Lemon started to calm down, she turned to me and said, "Oh man, you were right to call that mutt, the incompetent one."

`"He spent more time turning other dogs into vampires instead of doing his job." Sugarcoat bluntly pointed out.

"Oh, speaking of which." I said as I pointed to the screen, because the film was somehow not over. The camera zooms onto some blood covered grass and shifts until it reaches a rabbit carcass and one of the main character's puppies by it. The puppy's eyes begin to glow red, signifying that it had become a vampire.

"Really!?" Sour Sweet exclaimed. "Did they think that they were being artsy or did they really think that they would get a sequel?"

"Maybe a little bit of both." I said as I stretched myself out. I then stood up and said, "I'm going to go get some snacks."

"Okay, want us to pick the next movie?" Indigo asked.

"Sure, go ahead. I'll be right back." I said as I left the room. I walked downstairs and into the kitchen. Let's see here. I thought as I opened the refrigerator. I should probably bring up a mix of soda and water.

"Hey, White Foam." I heard someone behind me say. I turned around to find Sunny Flare enter the kitchen. "Need any help?"

"Sure, you mind grabbing some chips from the pantry?"

"Sure, no problem." She said as she walked to the pantry and opened it. As she dug around, she suddenly said, "By the way, I haven't had the opportunity to ask how your date with Sour was?"

I nearly dropped a water bottle before turning to Sunny and said, "Um, you mean our celebration yesterday?"

Sunny rolled her eyes as she turned around with a large bag of chips in hand. "Oh, come on. You're going to tell me that you actually thought that what you two did yesterday was just an innocent celebration?" She asked with a smug grin. After a few seconds of silence, her grin started to drop into a slight frown. "You're kidding, right? You actually believed that she asked you out to a simple celebration."

"Uh, yeah. Why wouldn't I? She even said that celebrating our test grades was the reason we went to the bakery." I said, feeling confused.

Sunny Flare rolled her eyes again as she placed the chips on the counter. "Okay, that's what Sour said. But how did she treat the whole thing. Did you split the bill or did she insist on paying for everything?"

"Well...she did." I admitted.

"Thought so. What did the two of you have?" She asked as a smug grin began to form.

"We each had a milkshake and we split a red velvet cake."

"Oh, that's interesting. So, what if I told you that that was the first time she's ever split a cake at Sugarcoat Corner?"

"Then I'd think that you're lying." I answered, "There's no way she's never shared a cake with you or the other girls."

"That's where you would be wrong. The others and I have tried for years to split something with her, but she kept insisting on having a piece for herself." She answered, never losing eye contact with me. "So, let me ask you this. If she has never split a cake with any of her closest friends, then what does that make you?"

I stared at her with wide eyes. If I'm the first person she's ever done that with, does that mean that she... I shook my head before asking, "Are you telling me that Sour Sweet has a crush on me?"

Sunny's grin widened a little bit as she teasingly said, "Why don't you ask her?"

"Like...right now?" I nervously asked.

"Yep, now come on." She said as she grabbed my arm and pulled me through the house. I was dragged along at first before I began to walk alongside her. When we got into my room, everyone turned to face us.

"Hey guys. Where's the rest of the food?" Lemon asked, noticing that the only thing I had in my hands was the water.

"Sugarcoat, Lemon, Indigo." Sunny began to say. "Let's step out for a moment. I think we should give Sour and White some privacy." She said with a teasing look.

Sugarcoat and Indigo shared a knowing smirk as they stood up and began to leave the room. Lemon just sat there with a dejected look as she said, "But...the food."

"We can get the food while we're out, just come on!" Sunny yelled, causing Lemon to quickly get up and run out of the room. Sunny then winked at me as she closed the door, leaving me and Sour Sweet alone in the room.

I looked at Sour Sweet who was just sitting on my bed with a surprised and bashful look. I wouldn't be lying if I said that I wasn't feeling bashful too. So, not really knowing how to go about this, I started our conversation with a simple, but awkward, "So..."

"So..." Sour replied nervously. "...what did you and Sunny talk about?"

"Oh, mostly just about our celebration yesterday." I answered. "Although, she kept on insisting that it was actually a date." This caused her to look away with a shyness I'd never witnessed from her before. "Was she right, Sour? Was that celebration really a date?"

We were silent for a few moments, none of us daring to speak a word. Sour then stood up with her arms crossed and looked at me in the eyes with a slight, determined frown. "If you really want to know, then yes. It was a date."

"But, why?" I asked feeling stunned.

"Why!?" Sour asked with a raised voice. "I don't know, maybe because even after the first couple of weeks of crap, you still decided to give me a second chance to help you out. Or, how even when we weren't in a tutoring session, you still wanted to spend time to get to know me. Heck, you even decided to share a hobby of yours with me and, I've come to find out, I like it too!" She exclaimed, pointing to the movie shelf.

"But what really solidified my feelings for you was how you helped me yesterday. Sure, it happened during our date, but to be honest with you I used that date to see if something would come out of it. But when I saw Twilight Sparkle and felt like I was about to break down, you know what happened? You happened! You kept me from completely breaking down and gave me the confidence I needed to apologize to her. All by telling me exactly what I needed to hear. That's when I knew that I really liked you." She said as tears formed in her eyes.

I just stood there just staring at her, eyes wide in surprise. She was so determined and so heartfelt about telling me how she felt, that she didn't understand what I was actually asking her. "I'm sorry." She suddenly said with a sad tone. "I should have known that you didn't feel the same. I should leave." She then began to walk towards the door.

But, as she began to walk away, I quickly, but gently grabbed her arm. You're not getting away. Not when there's something I have to tell you. "Sour" I said gently, "could you look at me?" She did as tears continued to stream down her cheeks. "I don't think you understand what I was actually asking." I said as I started to wipe away her tears. "What I was trying to ask was, why did you hide our date as a celebration?"

She looked at me surprised for a few seconds before nervously saying, "Well, I was honestly afraid that you wouldn't have gone with me if you thought it was a date."

I gave her a lopsided smile as I began to speak, "Sour, I'll admit that the first couple of weeks were a bit of a bad first impression for the both of us. But, when we agreed to start on a new foot, you decided to start over by showing me a different side of you. And I liked that side that I saw. You became kind to me and more thoughtful about how you interacted with me. And even though you made a mistake at the start of our tutoring sessions, you made sure to make up for it for no other reason than for my benefit." I spoke, my hands traveled from her cheeks to around her waist. "And, if there's anything I've learned these past few weeks, is that I could trust you with my life."

"R-really." Sour Sweet nervously replied.

"Really." I answered with a smile.

She stared at me for a few seconds she asked. "Hey, White Foam."

"Yeah.

"W-would you like to go on another date sometime?" She finally blurted out.

I looked her in the eyes as I said, "Yes, Sour, I'd love to go on another date with you."

Sour Sweet squealed happily as she jumped forward and gave me a tight hug. I almost stumbled back a little bit before I chuckled and returned the hug. We stood like that for what felt like hours. Sour Sweet rested her head on my shoulder, so I rested my head on hers to return the affection. Eventually, Sour Sweet leaned back a bit so that she could look at me, so I leaned to press my forehead against hers and stared into her eyes. We were so focused on each other that I almost didn't hear the door suddenly open.

We turned towards it to see Lemon Zest and Indigo Zap walk in with various snacks and drinks in their hands. "Yo, dudes," Lemon enthusiastically called out, "we're here with the food. Are we going to start the next movie or not?" She then noticed that we were hugging in the middle of the room and said, "Um, are we interrupting something?"

Sour Sweet and I looked at each other before she shrugged her shoulders, "Not really, although we probably would have appreciated it if you had knocked first." Sour said, causing Lemon Zest to smile sheepishly.

Sugarcoat and Sunny Flare then came in. Sugarcoat was carrying a few sodas and Sunny was carrying a couple bowls of popcorns. "I swear, the two of you could have waited a little longer." She scolded before she saw Sour and I. She then smirked and asked, "So, I take it that things went well."

"We have another date next Friday." Sour immediately answered and I nodded in confirmation.

"Oh, really. So, it's not just another celebration?" Indigo sarcastically asked.

I rolled my eyes before replying, "No, it's a date. Neither of us are trying to hide it as something else."

"Well, that's good to hear. We're happy for you." Lemon said as she sat back down at her previous spot. "Now, can we get this movie started or what?"

"Alright, alright, we can get the movie started." I said as I let go of Sour Sweet and began to walk towards my bed. "What movie did y'all pick anyway."

"Some movie called, Blood Waters of Dr. Z." Sugarcoat informed as she passed around a few sodas.

"Oh, boy that's a fun one to make fun of.." I happily exclaimed.

"Anything we should know about it?" Sour asked as she followed me.

"Only that it's a cheesy science fiction monster flic where a mad scientist transforms himself into a sea monster. We just have to sit through fifteen to twenty minutes of him walking around to read notes and to check his equipment." I explained

"Oh good, and oh god!" Sour replied, causing me to laugh

I then laid down on my bed and grabbed the remote. "Is everyone ready to get it started."

"Give me a moment." Sour said as she got on the bed and crawled up to me. Once she was right next to me, she lied down and began to embrace and nuzzled into me. "Okay, now I'm ready."

I chuckled before saying, "Alright, let's get the show started." I said as I pressed the play button.

So, the festivities had continued like they had before, only this time Sour and I began to enjoy each other's company just as much as we were enjoying the movies as we continued to on the bed. She practically refused to let go, unless it was to allow me to go to the bathroom or put in another movie. But, the fun unfortunately had to come to an end. Around ten o'clock, everyone began to say goodbye and went off in their respective rides. The last one to leave was Sour Sweet, who stood by the front door with me and seemed reluctant to read. "So, do you want to stay longer or do you have to get going?"

"...I think I'll get going." Sour Sweet answered sadly. "I'm sure that my parents want me to go home anyway."

"That's understandable. So, I'll see ya on Monday?" I asked as I held my arms out for a hug.

"Definitely." She said as she accepted the hug. "And I'll be looking forward for next Friday."

"Yeah, so am I. Hey, since you planned our 'date' yesterday, why don't I plan our next date?" I offered.

She thought about it for a few moments before she replied, "Alright, I'd be alright with that. See ya later then." She then leaned forward and gave me a peck on the cheek, catching me off guard. She then walked out the door and got into her car.

I stood there for a few moments, still somewhat shocked by Sour action, before smiling a little bit and closing the door. I turned around to see my mom leaning against the wall with her arms crossed and a shit-eating grin on her face. "So, just friends, huh." She said teasingly.

"...Okay, so the two of us are going out on a date and might possibly start a relationship." I admitted with an annoyed tone. "Anything else you'd like to hear before I go back to my room?"

"Not really." She said shrugging her shoulders.

"In that case, good night mother." I said as I began to walk upstairs. "I've got a date to plan."

"Need any help with that?" She asked with an interested tone.

"No, I think I'll be fine."

"Okay, I'll let you be." She replied. But, as soon as I reached the top of the stairs, I heard her yell, "Just remember, if you can't think of anything then a dinner and a movie is a safe idea!"

"Alright, mom!" I yelled back as I walked back in my room to get ready for bed.
> Chapter 9
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 9


Students were filling in the halls after the last bell rang. They were either rushing out of the school so they could get home or standing around in the halls talking about their plans for the weekend. In my case, I was at my locker getting all of my stuff together before heading off to swim practice. Since my grade in physics was a C thanks to the last physics test, I was able to be apart of the swim team, much to Indigo Zap’s excitement. Just as I was about to close my locker, I suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around me.

I smiled before turning my head and saying, “Hey Sour Sweet, how was your day?”

“It was fine.” She said as she let me go and looked up at me with a smile. “How was your day?”

“Pretty good. School’s as boring as always, but at least there’s swim practice to look forward to.” I replied as I closed my locker.

“That’s good.” She simply replied. Then she suddenly asked. “So, are you looking forward to tomorrow?”

My eyes widened in fear when she asked that bombshell of a question. Of course she’d ask something about our date tomorrow, since I was the one planning the date. The problem with that was that I still haven’t finished planning it yet. I had some ideas for the date, but the problem I was running into was that I didn’t know what Sour Sweet would like to do. Right now, I was leaning more towards going to this one steak house that was in town. I figured that Sour would appreciate the gesture, but the prices stopped me from making that decision final. After a few seconds of silence, I snakingly replied, “Uh…yeah, I am.”

“Good, me too.” Sour Sweet replied. “So, what do you have planned?”

“Oh, well…um…it’s a surprise.” I hesitantly answered with a nervous smile.

Sour Sweet raised an eyebrow at me and, for a moment, looked like she was about to retort in her “sour” tone. Then she just shrugged her shoulders and said, “Alright, if you say so.” She then looked down at her phone. “Hey, I have to get going. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay.” She said as she pulled me in for a hug.

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.” I said as I returned the hug. She then pulled away from me and proceeded to walk to the exit as I watched her leave.

“You don’t have anything planned, do you?” I suddenly heard a monotone voice said behind me.

I jumped and turned around to see Sugarcoat standing right behind me. “Sugarcoat, don’t sneak up on me like that!”

“I didn’t sneak up on you. I was standing here the entire time.” Sugarcoat simply responded.

“Oh…so you saw all that?” She nodded her head. “And you figured out that I don’t have anything planned for tomorrow yet?”

“It wasn’t hard to figure out. Most people don’t stutter that much when their telling someone they have a date planned unless they’re trying to make stuff up to save face.” She explained matter-of-factly.

“…Does anything get past you?” I asked after staring at her for a few moments.

“Not really.” She simply replied.

“Figures.” I muttered. “So, do you think that Sour Sweet knows that I don’t have anything planned?”

“Of course she does. She’s just waiting until tomorrow to chastise you for it.”

“Great, what am I supposed to do then?” I groaned as I leaned back against the lockers.

“Have you even thought about what you’re going to do tomorrow?” Sugarcoat asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Of course I have.” I answered. “I’ve been primarily thinking of that steak house that’s on Mistmane Avenue and-”

“No.” Sugarcoat suddenly interrupted.

I flinched back and starred at her with confusion. “Um…why not?”

“First off, do you really want to spend that much money on dinner?”

“I mean…not really.” I admitted. “But I was going to ask my parents for money.”

“Okay, but even your parents did help you afford going there, it would still be a bad idea since Sour Sweet hates the food there.” Sugarcoat immediately responded.

“What?!” I exclaimed. “Why?”

“Because the chief there is thoroughly convinced that everything needs to be cooked with a large amount of black pepper, and Sour Sweet hates that. If that wasn’t bad enough, she thinks the salads are bland, the deserts are too milky, and all of their fish dishes are terrible.” She explained.

“…Welp, there goes that idea.” I frustratingly exclaimed as I tilted my head back.

“Do you want my advice?” Sugarcoat suddenly asked.

“Yes please!” I immediately replied, almost pleading.

“Do something simple like going to watch a movie or going to the mall.”

“…Really?” I asked in disbelief. There’s no way that taking a girl out would be that simple.

“The whole point of the first few dates are to get to know each other better and to see if the two of you can like each other romantically. You can do that doing something simple. You don’t need to go all out on something when you’re not sure if Sour Sweet will like it or not.”

“…Huh, it makes sense when you put it like that.” I said as I got off the locker. “Thanks Sugarcoat. I think I’ve got a good idea on what to do.”

“You’re welcome.” She replied. “Although, you do know that you could have avoided this you had just talked to Sour Sweet about the date?”

I gave her a deadpanned look before asking, “Has anybody ever told you that you’re too honest sometimes?”

“Yes.” She simply answered.

“Do you really care?”

“No.”





The next morning, I had woken up and got ready for the date. Once I had gotten myself dressed in a pair of pants and polo shirt, I looked down at my phone to look over the text messages I had with Sour Sweet last night.

Hey Sour, what do you think about going to the mall tomorrow?

Sure, sounds like fun. How long did it take you to come up with that? And before you ask, yes I knew that you didn’t have a plan when I asked you about it yesterday.

Not long…once somebody talked me to the right direction?

Sugarcoat?

Sugarcoat.

Of course. So, what time do you want me to pick you up?

How does 10 sound?

Sure, see you tomorrow! ♥

I smirked a little at the last message she sent. I then glanced up on the top of my phone’s screen to see what time it was. 9:55. She should be here soon. I thought as I waited patiently in the living room.

“You know son,” my dad suddenly said as he worked on his laptop. “Most guys are the ones who pick up their dates.”

I knew he was just teasing, but I couldn’t help but retort, “Yeah, but most guys usually have a car to drive?”

“You could have asked us to borrow one of the cars.”

“You mean the car mom’s using to run errands. Unless you’re saying that you’ll let me drive the Firebird.” I sarcastically replied.

“Not on your life.” He immediately answered. It was at that moment that the door bell suddenly rang, catching both his and my attention. “That must be for you. Have fun and go get her, son.” My dad said as he turned his attention back to his laptop.

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at his last comment. “Alright, thanks dad. I’ll see you later.” I said as I got up and adjusted the collar of my polo shirt before walking towards the door and opening it.

Sour Sweet was standing on the other side with her usual makeup applied and her hair done in her usual ponytail. She was wearing a black blouse along with a pair of blue jeans. She also had a pair of black slip on shoes on as well. “Hey, White Foam. Are you ready to go?” She greeted.

“Yep.” I replied as I walked out of my house and closed the door behind me.

As we walked to Sour Sweet’s car, she suddenly asked, “So, did you have a plan before Sugarcoat suggested taking me to the mall?”

“I did but Sugarcoat was fast to tell me that it was a bad idea.” I replied as we reached the car.

“Oh really, what was it then?”

“The steak house on Mistmane Avenue.”

“Ugh, I hate that place!” Sour exclaimed as she got into the car.

“That’s pretty much what Sugarcoat said.” I replied as I got in as well.

“Well, then it’s a good thing she ran into to you yesterday and got you to take me to the mall.”

“You’re telling me.” I jokingly replied. “Although she did also suggest going to the movies, but-“

“There wasn’t anything currently showing that you wanted to go see.” Sour chimed in.

“Pretty much.” I admitted.

“That’s fine. I feel the same way.” She said as she started the car.

“Yeah, but it still would have been better than bringing you to that restaurant, right?”

“Fair enough.” She said as she started to drive. “Although, I’ll probably have to make you a list of places never to take me.”

“Why, what’ll happen if I do?”

“I’ll break up with you on the spot.” She replied with a smirk on her face.

“Well, in that case, please give me that list as soon as you can.” I sheepishly said, making her giggle.

About five to ten minutes later, we made it to the mall. Once we got out of the car, Sour Sweet immediately ran over to my side and took a hold of my handg. “Looks like somebody’s excited.” I jokingly stated.

“Oh, shut up.” She jovially replied as she bumped me with her hip.

I laughed before asking, “So, where are we going to first?”

“Well,” She dragged out, “there is a clothing store or two that I’d like to go to. If you don’t mind of course?”

Of course, I should have seen this coming. I thought before replying, “Sure, I guess we can go to some clothing stores if that’s what you want to do.”





Fifteen clothing stores. For the past two hours, we went into fifteen clothing stores. Two hours of Sour Sweet looking through clothes, trying them on, and asking me what I thought about them. I mostly just stood nearby and told her that whatever she was wearing looked great on her, although some of the clothing she tried on that looked absolutely stunning on her. In the end, I’m just glad that she decided not to buy anything, otherwise she’d make me carry her stuff like a pack mule.

Next, we moved on to the food where we ordered some burgers and fries to eat for lunch. I was about halfway done with my burger when I asked her, “So, what is it that you do during your free time?”

She just shrugged her before replying, “Mostly just shopping, reading, and browsing through the internet. Although, I do occasionally go to the archery range after school.”

“Huh… really?” I asked with a raised eyebrow even though that’s a something that Principal Cinch makes as a standard requirement for students. Which was something that I still didn’t understand.

“Hey, just because it’s something the principal forces us to do doesn’t mean that I can’t enjoy it.” Sour Sweet replied in between bites. “Besides, it allows me to relieve some stress and clear my head.”

“Hmm, good point. Mind if I join you from time to time?” I asked.

“Of course! So long as you don’t skip swim practice to do it.”

“Hey, Indigo said that swim season’s almost over. We just have two more meets before districts. After that, then we really won’t have a need to go to afternoon practice other that to keep ourselves in shape.”

“Good to know.” She said before taking one final sip of her soda. She then stood up and said, “Ready to go?”

“Yeah, sure.” I said after eating my last fry. Once our trash was thrown away, we continued to walk through the mall. “So, are there any other stores you want to go to?” I asked.

“How about we go to one you want to go to? I’m pretty much done looking at clothes anyway.” She replied with a sweet smile.

“Alright.” I replied as I tried to think of where I wanted to go. I really didn’t know what this mall had to offer, other than the usual stores you would expect to see, and I wanted to avoid some places that would have been obvious, just to make things more interesting for her. Eventually, I gave up on the latter and asked Sour, “Are there any movie stores here?”

“Why am I not surprised.” She muttered as she began to lead me through the mall again.

It took us about a minute to reach the store she was leading me to. It was a relatively small store that had music on one side of the store and movies on the other side. The two of us decided to browse through the movie section. I was picking up various movies and reading the back cover of them while Sour Sweet was just mostly glancing at the titles. “Is there anything in particular that you’re looking for?” She asked.

“Not really,” I answered back. “I’m mostly just looking around to see if there’s anything of interest.”

“So, what’re you’re saying is that you’ll buy a movie you’ve never seen before?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Maybe. Maybe not. It all depends on what I find. It’s not like I can go to a movie rental place anymore.”

“…Can’t you just stream stuff online or something?”

“It’s just not the same.” I replied. “Although, if it makes you feel any better, the really bad movies tend to also be really cheap.” After browsing around for a while, I finally found something that caught my eye. “Hey, Sour. I found something.” I said as I pulled the DVD off the shelf.

She came over and looked over the title of the movie I was holding. “Kelly’s Heroes?” She asked.

“Yep. I saw this movie on T.V. awhile back and absolutely loved it.”

“What’s it about?”

“This soldier named Kelly finds out that there’s a stash of millions of dollars’ worth of gold behind enemy lines. So, he, the rest of his squad, a quartermaster, and a tank unit decide to go AWOL in order to get the gold for themselves. Basically, it’s a bank heist film that’s set in the middle of a war.”

“Sounds interesting.” Sour simply said.

“Yeah it is, and it’s pretty funny too.” I replied. After a small pause, I asked, “Should I buy it?”

“Why are you asking me?! Who do you think I am, your mother?!” She jovially berated.

“Fair enough” I said as I walked to the cashier. After making my purchase, we continued to walk around the mall for a while. We went into a couple of stores here and there, but, just like with most shopping malls, there really wasn’t much that I was interested in. By the time it turned three o’clock, the both of us decided that we were done at the mall. As we walked back to the car, I asked Sour, “So, anything else you want to do?”

She was silent for a moment, probably thinking on what to do next, until her eyes landed on the bag I was carrying. She then shrugged her shoulders and asked, “Movie at your place?”





“Do you know how much gold is in that bank? The oddball tank commander named…well…Oddball asked the enemy tank commander. When he was met with a curious stare, Oddball says. “Sixteen million dollars.” The other tank commanders widened in surprise and realization.

“So,” Kelly began, “Why don’t you turn the turret of that tank around and blow the doors of that bank down for us?”

The scene then cuts to the front doors of the bank in question, only for them to suddenly be blown to pieces as the tank shoots them.

Sour Sweet and I burst out laughing as we watched the scene play out. We were both laying on my bed as we watched the film. I had my arm around her as she was snuggled up beside me and rested her head on my shoulder. We made a snide comment occasionally, but we mostly stayed silent as we enjoyed the movie and each other’s company. Once she calmed down, Sour said, “You know that this probably wouldn’t happen.”

“There’s a good number of things that happen in this movie that probably wouldn’t happen.” I replied. “But that’s why I like it so much.”

“Hmm…true.” Sour agreed as she returned her attention to the film just in time to see the soldiers celebrate as they open one of the many crates that held the gold that they were looking for.

As the credits rolled, I stretched out a bit and asked, “So, is there anything else you want to do, or do you need to get going?”

She looked over to the clock and said, “I think I probably should get going. Although, there is one thing I want to do before I go.”

“And what would that be?” I asked only to suddenly get that answer as Sour Sweet’s lips smashed into mine. My eyes shot open at first, but as the kiss continued my eyes gradually closed and I begun to kiss back. We stayed like that for what felt like hours. Just the two of us enjoying the moment with a simple kiss.

But, as soon as she initiated it, she ended the kiss by leaning back and staring at me with half lidded eyes. I stared back at her while rubbing her shoulder with my thumb. “I really should get going.” Sour said with a hint of disappointment as she started to get up.

“I know.” I said as I got up along with her. The walk to the front door was silent, neither of us really knowing what to say to each other at the moment. When, we did reach the door, I awkwardly said to her, “So, I’ll see you on Monday then?”

“Of course. We have classes together, remember?” I replied.

“I-I know, I just-” I tried to stammer out before she stopped me by giving me a small peck on the lips.

“I’m just messing with you.” She jovially said. “I’ll see you at school.”

“Yeah…see ya then.” I replied. She then gives me one more peck on the lips before opening the front door and walking out. As I watched her walk back to her car, I couldn’t help but think to myself. It feels like yesterday that I would have welcomed the thought of not talking to Sour Sweet for the rest of the day. Now, I there’s nothing I want more than having her around.