Vinyl Scratch and Octavia Melody were walking to school on their way to their first day of Sophomore year. The two had been best friends since both could remember and, after such a long time being friends, started dating about halfway through Freshman year. The two had been walking in silence for the 5 minutes they’d been walking. Octavia, who was walking on the left, had her left hand on her backpack strap and her right hand open at her side. Vinyl knew this was an obvious sign that she wanted to hold hands, but wasn’t sure how to do it without seeming to come on too strong. When Vinyl finally worked up the courage to reach for her hand, Octavia pulled it away and put it on her other backpack strap. “Crap…” Vinyl thought to herself.
As they reached Octavia’s first classroom, she paused for a moment before entering the room. “Well, Vinyl, I’ll see you at lunch, then,” Octavia said. She stood there for a couple seconds, all the while Vinyl was debating whether or not to give her a kiss before she went in. After the time passed, Octavia frowned and just went into class. As soon as the door closed, Vinyl let out a loud “Crap!” into the empty hallway.
In history class, Vinyl’s thoughts drifted off to Octavia. Her thoughts wandered from things she plans to do with her in the future to things Vinyl found attractive about her. If it was about Octavia, it crossed her mind. A loud voice demanding an answer snapped her out of her day dream. After a bit of studying the board, she responded with “I believe the answer is The Lewis and Clark expedition, Professor Discord,”. “Very good, Ms. Scratch. Maybe there’s some hope for you in this class after all.” The teacher retaliated. “Not unless I can actually focus,” Vinyl thought to herself.
As lunch came around, Octavia was no where to be seen. Vinyl searched all around Canterlot High, but couldn’t find her. Finally, she went into her favorite teacher, Ms. Cheerilee’s class and found her sitting with and talking to someone. Vinyl could only think of their deal to hang out at lunch all the time, since they didn’t have much time after school for it. “I’m sure she’s just discussing a school project. She’ll come find me when she’s done,” Vinyl thought to herself. However, it wasn’t enough to keep her from thinking the worst.
Minute after minute passed as Vinyl waited for Octavia, but she never came. The bell signaling the end of lunch sounded and Vinyl headed to her next class. As she passed Ms. Cheerilee’s class, she noticed Octavia was still talking to the girl she was talking to earlier. Her heart sank into her stomach as she felt the overwhelming idea of being ignored, forgotten, or replaced crept into her mind. Every thought soon turned to what she thought life would be like without Octavia. She didn’t like the idea, so she decided right then and there to step it up and be a better girlfriend for Octavia.
Vinyl put a fake smile on her face and found her way to Octavia. “Hey, Tavi! Lunch is over. We should probably get to our next classes,” She said. “Ugh… Okay, Vinyl. Bye, Lyra! I’ll talk to you later!” Octavia said on her way out. Octavia positioned her hand the exact same way she did earlier that morning, and Vinyl sprung for the chance. She gripping Octavia’s hand and laced her fingers in her own. Octavia smiled at Vinyl, appearing sincere. Vinyl doubted almost everything Octavia did recently. Nothing nice she did toward Vinyl felt sincere. So, whenever it came down to it, she gave her the benefit of the doubt.
Each passing day began to get colder and colder for Vinyl. Her everlasting smile began to fade as Octavia and her grew more and more distant. Each time Vinyl would reach for Octavia’s hand, she would pull it away. Each time, Vinyl leaned in for a kiss, Octavia ducked out of it. Vinyl began to feel like she was slowly being erased from Octavia’s life. She began hanging out with other people on planned occasions, she began avoiding Vinyl at home, and she seemed to never have the time to do anything with Vinyl anymore. Though, Vinyl still held onto that one small string of hope.
One day, while Octavia was talking to Lyra in Ms. Cheerilee’s class, Vinyl decided to sit with them and join in on the conversation. However, everything they would say sounded like gibberish, seeing that they used professional classical terms. While Vinyl formulated a plan on how to get into the conversation, the two continued talking and didn’t even notice Vinyl had arrived. “Hey, have you heard Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony?” Octavia asked Lyra. “Of course! I’m not a simple cretin like--” Lyra stopped herself when she caught a glimpse of Vinyl. “Like who?” Vinyl asked. In a hurry to respond, Lyra blurted out “Oh, it’s no one you’d know,”. Octavia’s face began to turn red. “Vinyl, could you please leave us alone? I’d rather just talk to Lyra right now,” Octavia said. Vinyl felt herself get more and more depressed. “Y-yeah… Okay, Tavi… I’ll see you later, then,” Vinyl said as she walked away. “And, please do stop calling me that ridiculous name,” Octavia said over her shoulder.
That was it. That was the sign that their relationship was officially over. “Tavi” was Vinyl’s way of telling Octavia she cared about her. It meant that she cared enough to give her a nickname- something she didn’t do for anyone else. Vinyl broke down on her way out of the room. She put her purple glasses in her backpack so she wouldn’t mess them up.
As she walked the hallway with tears in her eyes, she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. “Neon, get your hand off me,” Vinyl said with an aggressive tone. Neon Lights stood behind Vinyl, not removing his hand from her shoulder. “Then tell me why you’re crying. Who’s ass do I need to kick?” Neon said with a smirk. Vinyl kept her back turned to Neon so he couldn’t see the tears streaming down her face. “I’m fine, Neon. I’ll be okay,” She said. “Not much can be done at this point,” She said, shrugging the hand off her shoulder. She walked away without looking back.
Vinyl started wearing a jacket, no matter the weather, to hide the marks on her wrist. She Made sure to never wear shorts and to always wear jeans. Her style completely changed to a much darker one with her new found emotions. And each day, she felt the need to hurt herself more and more. She began avoiding every person who cared about her. And she basically became nothing but a roommate to Octavia. They’d see each other often and Vinyl would always manage to fake a smile and hold a conversation for a little while. But, it still hurt seeing her when they never really had a break up.
Vinyl’s grades suffered because of her depression. She felt lost and couldn’t see any hope for a better tomorrow. Mainly because each tomorrow meant another day she’d have to see Octavia. One day, she saw something that drove her over the edge.
As Vinyl walked to her next class, she passed Ms. Cheerilee’s class. This was something she did every day, so she didn’t think anything of it most of the time. But, when she glanced in, she saw Octavia and Lyra holding hands and kissing. The pain drove Vinyl over the edge. She bolted out of the school’s front doors and ran all the way home. She couldn’t take the pain of knowing she wasn’t good enough anymore. She couldn’t take the feeling of being replaced and forgotten. She couldn’t take the fact that everything that went wrong in their relationship was because of her.
As soon as she burst through the door, Vinyl went to her room. She pulled out and pen and paper and wrote her last words:
Dear Octavia,
I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused you. For keeping you up late at night, and eating all the food, and generally making your life suck. But, it’s alright now. You won’t have to deal with me anymore and your life can finally have peace like you always wanted. I’m sorry I wasn’t good enough. I’ll see you on the other side. Good bye, Tavi.
As she finished writing the note, she pulled out a rope she had bought for this occasion from under her bed. She tied a noose into one end and tied the other around her bedroom fan. She stood on a chair that raised her up a bit and put the noose around her neck. She heard the door slam and Octavia calling for Vinyl in a panic. With the noose fastened around her neck, she prepared for her death. “Good night… Tavi…” she said with tears in her eyes. She kicked the chair out from under her and waited for death.
As she hung there, slowly spinning, she saw the door open and a frantic Octavia enter the room. Her eyes began to close themselves forcibly and she could do nothing to keep them open. The last thing she saw was Octavia’s Violet eyes staring into hers. And she knew she could never see those eyes again.
