Chapter 1
"Let's see, let's see," Aleo said, walking through the empty halls of Canterlot High. He stared down at his crumpled up schedule. "Geometry, room 202."
He glanced at the numbers on the classroom doors he passed by and sighed. These were in the 300's. He was lost and would probably miss geometry. As if being late for his first day wasn't bad enough. Aleo stopped and ran his fingers through his short brown hair. This was useless; he was never going to find his class. Almost twenty minutes of wandering around campus looking for it had led him nowhere. He folded up his schedule, placing it in the pocket of his hoodie. He had lunch hour soon anyways, so he decided to head to the cafeteria now, although at a snails pace.
He took out his phone and put his ear buds in. While he didn’t like CHS that much so far, he did enjoy the fact they had free Wi-Fi for their students. He took the opportunity to check his social media pages and the like.
Aleo reached the cafeteria with about 20 minutes to spare, so he sat outside the door and listened to some music to pass the time. He closed his eyes, tapping his finger on his knee and bobbing his head to the beat of the music.
Pretty soon the bell rang and the hallway began to fill with students. Aleo got to his feet, pulling on his backpack and heading through the double doors into the cafeteria. Having packed an (albeit small) lunch, Aleo sat at a table in the far left corner of the cafeteria. He didn't wish to draw anybody's attention. The song playing in his ears shuffled. He grinned as the electronic beat began to speed up. Aleo reached into his backpack and took out his lunch, a toaster bagel half covered in cream cheese and chopped pieces of apple. It wasn't much, but he wasn't a lunch person and never got really hungry until four.
Aleo glanced out the window. It was a cool fall day. The sky was a brilliant shade of blue with not a single cloud in sight, save for a few jet trails here and there. The breeze had a bit of a nip to it, but nothing his jacket couldn't protect against. I can't believe I have to be stuck inside here all day, Aleo thought. This is the perfect day for a walk.
His thoughts were interrupted as a group of kids sat at his table. They were what most kids would probably deem as nerds. They had the stereotypical glasses and sweater vests, and one had a hideous bowl cut. The others had all right hair, although much longer than Aleo's.
One of them said something to him, although Aleo only knew because he saw the kid's mouth move. He took out his ear buds. "Hmm?"
"I asked if you were new here," said the teen with cyan hair.
"Oh. Yeah, it's my first day," Aleo said.
"Welcome to hell," said the kid with purple hair. "What's your name."
"Aleo. Yours?"
"I'm Nike," said the purple haired kid.
"Jacob," said the cyan haired kid.
They both looked at the kid with the bowl cut, who was scribbling stuff down in a composition notebook. He looked up. "Huh? Oh, sorry. I'm Albert."
Aleo nodded slowly. "Nice to meet you guys I guess."
"What school did you come here from?" Albert asked.
"That small military charter school in the city. You know, the one that went bankrupt a month into the school year," Aleo said.
The trio looked surprised. "You were at FMMA? Dang, I heard that place was strict," said Nike.
Aleo shrugged. "Oh, it wasn't that bad. Discipline was usually things like push-ups and stuff, so if you did something you got that instead of, say, a referral. So really, you had a bit more room to screw up."
"So why'd you transfer here then?" asked Albert.
"Didn't have much of a choice," Aleo said through a mouthful of bagel. "The place went bankrupt, and this is the school I'm zoned for."
Albert nodded in understanding.
"What I want to know," Nike spoke up, "is why you were going there in the first place?"
"Well, for the most part it was because my grades sucked in middle school, and my dad sent me there for my freshman year hoping it'd improve my grades. It helped a bit I guess. Anyways, I was hoping to be there this year, buuuuut, eh, the place sank financially and here I am."
"
Like I said, welcome to hell," Nike said.
"Thanks," Aleo said, his voice laced with sarcasm.
Things got quiet as they all ate their lunches. After he finished his bagel, Aleo took out his schedule. He had two classes left, chemistry and gym. Chemistry was in room 308. At least he knew where to go now.
The lunch bell finally rang, and the four stood up. "Well," Aleo started, "it was nice to meet you guys. I'll see you around."
"Alright, see you," Jacob said, and the trio walked off. Aleo grabbed his bag and headed out of the cafeteria.
~~~
Chemistry was an interesting class. The teacher, Mrs. Bunsen, was quite energetic and enthusiastic about the subject she taught. Aleo had come to school at a bad time though. The class was halfway through a week long experiment, on some chemical reactions he had no knowledge of. Mrs. Bunsen was sympathetic though, and decided to let it slide and start entering his grades after the project was finished. So, he had today, Thursday, and Friday to relax in the back of the class.
He found Nike was in his class, but was to involve with his project to talk with Aleo right now. Aleo put in his headphones and sat in a desk in the corner, leaning his head against the wall. He was just starting to doze off when someone kicked him in the shin.
"Ow!" Aleo exclaimed. He tore out his ear buds and rubbed his shin, looking up to see a girl standing before him, arms crossed. She was wearing black and purple knee high boots, a colorful skirt, purple top with a sun emblem on it, and a leather jacket. Her hair was long, with multiple streaks of yellow and red. Her cyan eyes were locked in a glare at him.
"The heck was that for?" Aleo growled at the girl.
"You're in my seat," the girl said, rivaling Aleo's malice.
"So you kick my shin?"
"Yeah. Now you gonna move or what?"
Aleo matched her glare. "I'm gonna go with 'or what.' There are plenty of empty seats, take one of them."
The girl smirked at him. "You must be new here, so I'll let you in on a little something. I say it, you do it."
Aleo raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"
"It is," the girl barked. "Now, I'll give you another chance. Get out of my seat."
Aleo glanced around. Everyone's eyes were on him, even Mrs. Bunsen's. The tension in the hair was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
He frowned and glared up at the girl. "Yeah, how about no."
The girl's eyes widened. "Excuse me?!"
“Sunset Shimmer!" Mrs. Bunsen shouted. "Stop pestering Mr. Fletcher and just sit somewhere else!"
The girl, Sunset Shimmer apparently, quickly composed herself. She took a deep breath before turning around and saying with a sweet smile, "Yes Mrs. Bunsen."
She gave me one final scowl before sitting at an empty desk, which, thankfully, was far from Aleo. Aleo leaned against the wall and tried to relax. However, when he gave her the occasional glance, he would see her glowering at me. Boy, if looks could kill, He thought before dozing off.
~~~
When the dismissal bell rang, Aleo was the first one out the door. He knew he had pissed this Sunset Shimmer off, and while it felt good in the moment, he was beginning to think it wasn't the smartest idea.
He made it ten feet from the door before he felt someone grab his shoulder. He jumped and about swung a fist at them. But it was only Nike. "Dude! That was awesome!"
"What do you mean?" Aleo glanced past Nike. Sunset Shimmer was leaning against a locker, her cyan eyes fixated on Aleo. He felt a shiver go up his spine.
"You stood up to Sunset Shimmer dude! I don't know anyone who's done that!" Nike exclaimed. He held up his fist. "C'mon bro, you deserve a fist bump."
Aleo hesitantly raised his fist, and they fist bumped. "Yeah, um...dude, the look she's giving me is starting to freak me out," Aleo whispered.
Nike saw her and shivered slightly. "Jesus, I see what you mean. Let's get out of here. What class do you have next?"
"Gym," Aleo said, checking his schedule.
Nike stopped. Aleo looked at him. "What?"
"Gym is...back…that way." Nike pointed over his shoulder with his thumb, in the direction where Sunset Shimmer stood.
Aleo's eyes widened a bit. He took an uneasy breath as Sunset Shimmer grinned at him.
"Um, yeah," Nike said. "You're on your own pal."
He took off down the hall at a sprint.
The late bell rang, and the halls were empty, save for Aleo and Sunset Shimmer. He took a deep breath to calm himself and calmly put his phone into his bag. If fists would start flying, he didn't want the screen to break.
Really, Aleo scolded himself. You're concerned about your phone? She looks like she's going to rip your nuts off and feed them to you!
Slowly, he walked in her direction, not making eye contact. He hoped to maybe get around her quickly and make a break for the gym. No such luck. As he neared her, she stepped out to stop him.
Going somewhere?" Sunset Shimmer asked in a singsong voice. She blocked Aleo as he tried to maneuver around her.
"Uh, I...I guess not," he said when his attempts to get around her failed.
"Good," Sunset said. Her sweet act was unnerving Aleo more than he already was. The fact she backed him into a corner wasn't helping.
"You see Aleo, I have a reputation to keep up," she said, looking at the nails on her left hand. "I have authority over every student in this school, and when someone like you pulls a stunt like that one back there, it doesn't sit well."
An uneasy tension began to grow in his stomach, but he managed to keep himself calm, at least on the surface.
"But," Sunset continued, "I'm not heartless Aleo. You're new; I wouldn't expect you to know whom you were speaking too. So, if you just agree to do me a little favor, I'll be willing to let this whole thing slide, okay?"
"What do you want me to do?" Aleo asked.
"Oh, nothing major. I just need you," she said, producing a folded piece of paper and sliding it into Aleo's hoodie pocket, "to deliver this to locker 584, on the second floor. Got it?"
He nodded slowly. She smiled and stepped back from him. "Great. I hope you have an understanding of how things work around here," she said. Sunset turned to walk away, and looked over her shoulder at him. "Oh, and stay out of my seat next time.”
He nodded quickly. She smirked and walked away.
Aleo felt himself panting. He slid against the wall to a sitting position. Christ, that was terrifying, he thought.