Applejack looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was combed straight down, cascading over her shoulders like a blonde waterfall. She had on a white top that had a fairly wide collar; exposing some of her collar bone but didn't plunge to an immodest depth. It was very short sleeved, coming to just above the mid point of her upper arms. The shirt was banded at the waist and the collar, sleeves, and waist were trimmed in faux lace. A pair of above the knee length jean shorts and a pair of strappy sandals completed her look.

"So what ya think there little sis?" she asked Apple Bloom as she turned this way and that in front of the mirror.

"I think this guy's gonna feel like the luckiest man on Earth," Apple Bloom replied, sitting on Applejack's bed. Apple Bloom loved her sister immensely and honestly thought she was the prettiest girl on the planet.

"Aw, thanks there sugar cube." Apple stopped looking at herself and turned to Apple Bloom.

"Until you open your mouth that is." Apple Bloom teased.

"Oh hush up girl!" Apple tried to sound mad but couldn't. She was looking too forward to her date with Jeff.

"Applejack, you're young man's here to see you!" Granny Smith called up. The two Apple sisters looked at each other, grinned, and walked downstairs.

Apple Bloom gasped when she saw her sister's date. He looked like he walked of the cover of a teen girls' magazine cover. She looked up at Applejack who was behind her and whispered, "You didn't say he was that good looking!" Applejack gently slapped Apple Blooms shoulder and walked down to meet him.

"Applejack, I know I keep saying this, but you look amazing," Jeffery said in sincere astonishment and awe.

"Aw shucks," Apple blushed and turned her head.

Apple invited Jeff into the living room where he and the rest of the family talk. Everyone liked him right off the bat and before long they were all laughing and joking together. Almost everyone. Big Mac sat back and observed. Applejack caught him just looking and gave him a look that said bot What? and Don't blow this for me!. After a time, the two get up to leave. They all say bye and tell Jeff what time to have Apple home and they get up to leave. As they are walking out the door, Big Mac pulls Apple aside.

"Alright big brother, what is it?" Apple asks annoyed. "You gonna say he aint good enough fer me?"

"Nope. I like him just fine. It aint that. I'm just wondering about Chip though." He said in a relaxed, easy going manner which confused Apple even more.

"What about Chip? He's my friend."

Big Mac just shook his head. "Go on now, you don't want to keep the poor boy waiting."

Apple was about to say something bug just shook her own head in annoyed confusion.

Apple and Jeff talked the whole time to the party. Most of it was talking about when they always used to have classes together, past friends and teachers. Most of the catching up they had done on the beach yesterday. It was fun. Jeff had a great sense of humor, was charming, and just talking about "old times" felt good.

They party was at one of Jeff's friend's beach house. They pulled up and got out. The party was in full swing. Loud music was blaring, kids everywhere, some she knew, most she did not. It was then Apple felt a bit reluctant. She was an introvert or disliked people, she just preferred not to meet so many new people at once.

She followed Jeff up the steps to the deck and he starts introducing her to the others. All seem nice, some are surprise to see Apple there. One girl offers Apple a beer but she politely refuses and asks for water instead. She get asked questions and answers them as best she can. She talks to the others about music and movies, some ask if has "ponied up" anymore since the Battle and what that feels like. Many are surprised she's a gamer and sci-fi fan.

All in all it was a great night. Or at least it should have been. But as the night wore on, Apple kept feeling like something was missing. She couldn't put her finger on it at first. It was like when you have an itch but don't know quite where. You scratch where you think it is but that spot was not really it, so you go on. And that's how it was for Apple. Were the people unfriendly?- No; all were nice enough. Was Jeff treating her bad? - No; he was the perfect gentleman. So what was it? She didn't know but it was really starting to bug her.

Eventually she found herself sitting on a couch in the living room listening to others talking about sports and cars and what they thought the school year was going to be like and what teachers they wanted and what teachers they were afraid to get. It was all nice, normal stuff. And she was bored stiff. The house and rap music that was playing made her want to puke; she didn't care about who drove what or what they wanted to drive. She liked playing sports, she was the only one to give Rainbow a run for her money, but watching them was like watching paint dry. She just had no interest in what anyone was saying.

Then she remembered a conversation she had with Chip and jumped in. "Who do you think is the better leader; Rick Grimes or Optimus Prime?"

Have you ever said something so wrong that the nanosecond you said it, you knew you messed up royally? Apple just did. Everyone looked at her like she just asked if any of them sacrificed goats to Satan. It wasn't even that they didn't know who she was talking about, just why would you ask that and how could you even compare those two? Apple remind quiet for almost the rest of the night.

Jeff could see Apple wasn't having a good time and took her out to the back deck. "Applejack, is something wrong?" he asked concerned.

"I don't know. There shouldn't be. Everything, everyone is fine here. People are friendly and I've had a crush on you for years."

Jeff smiled. He liked Apple and was beginning to LIKE Apple. Hearing she had a crush on him made him feel really good but he knew something was off. "But something is still wrong." He put his arm around Apple's shoulders as she turned to watch the sky over the railing.

"Yeah. And I hate it. I hate that I don't know. I mean, sure, I'm bored a bit with talkin' about football and that. I don't like the music they got on, but that's no reason to feel, oh heck, I don't know what I even feel." She turned to face Jeff. "This night should be perfect. But I can't, I don't feel it."

Jeff smiled and nodded. He was disappointed and a bit heart broken; but he knew what he had to do. "Come on; I'll take you home."

*********************************************************************************************************************

Chip sat in his bedroom reading a collection of H.P. Lovecraft stories when his phone rang. He picked it up in surprise that anyone would be calling him this late. He looked and saw it was Applejack. Reluctantly he answered. "Hello?"

"Who's the better leader; Rick or Optimus?"

Chip was stunned. What was going on? Why was she calling him? Why no hello or even a brief introduction. And why a subject they already talked about? "Applejack, I thought we decided it was Optimus."

"Now hold on. I've been doing some thinking, and I'm changing my mind." And with that the two debated and argued and drifted from one subject to the other. Eventually they came to the consensus that Godzilla was in fact more powerful than Superman; before remembering what their original topic was .

After a couple laughs the phone went quiet. Chip waited and waited. Should he say something? He didn't know what to do, so he quietly asked, "Applejack?"

"Yes Chip?" she said equally as quiet.

"Is everything ok?"

There was a long silence before she spoke again. "I missed this. Our conversations." There was another pause. "I missed you."

Chip sat in stunned silence. Was she saying what he thought she was saying? "I, I missed . . . you . . . too Applejack."

"Please, call me Jennifer."

Author's Note

I didn't want to go with the "guy X is a jerk and the girl goes running back to the geek with a heart of gold" cliché. I wanted Jeff to be a really good guy but have Apple realize that her heart belonged to someone else.

I hope you liked. I tried to keep the dialog to a minimum in this story. So always. Peace.