Variables

The final days of summer drifted away on the never ceasing winds of time. For the young, who's lives were so much more condensed, it meant a return to school, to boredom, to lost freedom, and alarm clocks. For the middle aged it was a reminder of what they had lost and what lie ahead. For the old it was just a passing from uncomfortable heat to uncomfortable cold; their lives nearly spent, metaphoric and literal changes of the seasons accounted for very little.

Applejack continued to dread the upcoming school year, her second to last; but not as much as before. In the three weeks Chip had been working with her, she had slowly seen an improvement in her comprehension. There was still much she didn't get but she didn't feel as hopeless either. She was becoming somewhat cautiously optimistic. She also knew who she owed it all to.

Chip would never take credit. It was one of his best qualities. Always saying how smart she was, how she could do this, how she had it in her, he always down played his own role. But she knew, she knew. It wasn't even that he was explaining it any differently than in her past classes; but that she felt an ease with him that she never felt with any of her teachers. Then again. she never played video games, watched cheesy sci-fi movies and shows, or go into joke telling competitions with her past teachers either. Apple thought the fact that she and Chip got along so well made it easier to learn. She knew he wasn't judging her and that she had nothing to prove to him.

A couple times they had stayed and ate supper at each others' houses. It was interesting too. Chip, himself, was an atheist but his parents were conservative Jews. It was fun to see how their customs differed from hers'. She would ask Chip's parents questions and they would be more than pleased to answer. She guessed it work out for Chip as well. Her family were non-practicing Baptist; so Chip could just eat at her place and not worry about saying a prayer or hearing about Israel and "Bibi" needed to do or should do or should not do.

It's amazing how people whom we thought had no chance of effecting our lives often have such a deep and lasting impact. When she was with him, she felt smarter. She also felt happy. His bad jokes, his tendency to over explain things in normal conversation, the way he never took himself too seriously, all made her feel, well, just better. She now looked forward to each tutoring session simply because it meant they could hang out again.

But that was tomorrow, today her and the girls were hitting the beach for one last fling before classes started on Monday.

They pulled into the parking lot, all in Rarity's van. It was Rarity and Apple of course. Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash and Soarin (who had come down for the week), Fluttershy and Sandalwood (whom Soarin was staying with while he was down here), and Pinkie Pie. They unpacked all the stuff they brought: cooler, beach towels, bags for putting their outside clothes in while they swam, beach ball, sandcastle making tools (that was all Pinkie), and all the other various items one brings to the beach for a day in the sun.

They walked until they found a spot they liked and laid everything out. Then they removed their outer clothing and put it in the bags they had brought. The guys wore boxer style swim trunks, Fluttershy, Sunset, Pinkie all wore one piece bathing suits, and Rarity, Rainbow, and Applejack all wore two piece. It was Apples' that turned everyone's head though.

Two piece or bikini style swim wear is by nature revealing. Basically little more than a bra and panty set you can wear in water. But Apples' was even more revealing than the others. A yellowish-green number that was designed to have just enough fabric at to not get the wearer arrested; but little else. Basically a "what's the point" outfit.

Apple saw the others just gasping and staring at her. "What?" she asked irritated. But of course she knew what. She knew it was a risk buying the swim suit in the first place. But she had to put on a confident face.

"Nothing darling," Rarity somewhat embarrassingly said. "It's just that I've thrown out bigger pieces of cloth than what you have on."

"Yeah, seriously," Pinkie jumped in. "You might as well be naked."

"Guys, come on," Sunset said in her slightly stern "mom" voice. "You all go on. Swim, play, whatever; ok?" Everyone else left slowly. The guys took a quick look back and were promptly hit by Rainbow and Fluttershy. Once out of earshot, Sunset turned back to Apple and shook her head. "So, what's the story?"

Apple bowed her head and looked away; blushing with embarrassment. "Well, I've been thinkin', ya know, that I aint the most feminine girl out there. I mean, I wear skirts and dresses and all, but still, I aint like Rarity or Fluttershy. I just thought . . . "

"Dressing like a stripper would make you look more feminine?" Sunset said it like a question but really it was a statement.

Apple looked up a bit angry now. "No. But I at least want boys to see me as a girl and not some country boy in drag. I mean I already got these working against me." Apple said as she grabbed her chest. "I'm not blessed like Pinkie Pie in that area."

"Honey, Dolly Parton isn't blessed like Pinkie in that area," Sunset said in a sarcastic manner. "And look around. Most of us aren't overly bountiful in that area either. So why all the concern?"

"Because, as I told Chip, y'all got or at least had boyfriends. I've never had a date. I've never even been asked out on one." Apple lowered her head again.

Sunset walked over and gave her friend a hug. She stepped back and placed her hands on Applejacks' upper arms. "Well, this will get you asked out, but probably not by anyone you'd want to go with." Sunset then lowered her left arm. "Sweetie, when the time is right, when the person is right, you'll know. This isn't the answer. Besides, you're sixteen. You got more than enough time to meet someone."

Applejack nodded. Sunset smiled, patted Apples' shoulder and walked off to go swim. Apple just looked around and felt foolish. She felt foolish for buying this thing, this wash cloth masquerading as a swimsuit; foolish for worrying about meeting a guy, just plain foolish in general She decided to put her outer clothes back on and just sit on the beach.

"Applejack! Is that you?"

Apple turned around and saw you had spoke to her. "Jeffery, Jeffery Frey. Oh my God, I haven't seen you in almost two years."

Jeffery was a boy she used to have a lot of classes with in middle school but hadn't seen him since the first part of their freshmen year. She had always had a crush on him. Tall, lean, athletic, brown hair with piercing bluish-grey eyes, she thought he was perfect. He on the other hand never saw her as anything more than a buddy.

"Wow, you've changed." Apple blushed and was about to apologize when he continued, "You -look-great. I mean you really look good."

Applejack blushed and looked down. "Aww shucks; thanks," she said grinding the ball of her right foot into the sand.

"Mind if we hangout for a while? - catch up?" he asked shyly.

Apple lifted her head just enough to look at him and said, "Naw, of course not."

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Chip answered his phone immediately as soon as he saw it was Applejack calling. Over the past weeks he had slowly began to develop feelings for her. He didn't want to, tried to fight it off, but they just clicked so well; that he decided to finally allow himself to go there emotionally.

"Hey Applejack; what's up?"

"Hey there Chip. Um, listen, I'm gonna have to break our study session tomorrow."

Chip was surprised. Apple had been so dedicated to her lessons, it seemed almost implausible she would back out. Also there was something strange in her voice. He was becoming worried. "Uh, that's fine, I guess . . . is everything ok?"

There was a brief silence where Chip got really scared; but then Apple started to speak again and the joy in her voice was undeniable. "I got a date!" she said. "Oh Chip, I've been crushin' on this guy for years and he finally asked me out to a party tomorrow. I'm so excited!"

"Oh. Um, yeah, yeah, sure. That's fine. I understand. See, you finally got asked out and you're going to do well in Geometry as well."

"I knew you'd understand buddy. I gotta go, but I'll see ya Monday at school. Bye."

Chip turned off his phone and laid on his bed. He turned and saw his reflection in his bedroom mirror. He gave a quick laugh and said to it, "See what you get for having feelings."