Author's Note

There's a chair in my head on which I used to sit
Took a pencil and I wrote the following on it
Now there's a key where my wonderful mouth used to be
Dig it up, throw it at me
Where can I run to, where can I hide
Who will I turn to, now I'm in a virgin state of mind

K's Choice - Virgin State of Mind

It's been awhile. I kind of forgot about making this story, and I've been busy- I'm really sorry it took me so long just to get out the second chapter. It's a personal story, and honestly kind of hard to write about something this close to home with fictional characters.

I read the book Speak, and that inspired a great deal of this fic. That and the K's Choice song. You might catch references to other existing works as the story continues.

Worst opportunity

Twist's vision swam as she tried to maintain the stress of rushing a past-due assignment and listening to her instructor's lesson at the same time. It was hard not to start daydreaming over the mellow, even-yet-authoritative tones of Miss Primrose's voice. Especially since math was Twist's worst subject. Even so, she dragged through it, hurriedly scribbling equations onto crumpled spaces left blank thanks to her own

(incompetence)

inability to do basic algebra problems. If there was any saving grace, it was that she had completed five of the ten answers already, and nopony was talking over the teacher. Even the popular fillies huddled in their self-labeled VIP corner of the room must have been paying attention, though Twist wouldn't have put it past those self-absorbed miscreants to be the first to interrupt her.

A good thing about the middle of class time: you didn't get made fun of.

"...And that's the quadratic formula. It's important that you all memorize it. Now, can anyone tell me what kind of equation the formula should be used to solve?"

Radio silence.

"Anyone? Anyone at all?

...

"Yes, Snips."

Twist risked a quick break. She looked up, silently scanning the room for potential snitches before her eyes fell upon the pony who raised his hoof. Snips had lost some of his bulk upon becoming a teenager, and was less awkward and stout-looking than he had been as a young colt. Ever the loyal BFF, Snails sat in the seat next to his friend, sharing the same privileges that came with teenage maturity.

Nervously, he stuttered out a guess. "Uh... q-quadratic equations?"

Miss Primrose beamed. "That's correct! Very good, Snips." Twist breathed a sigh of relief under her breath. It was good not to be the "victim of choice,'' as she had heard some of the upperclassmen in higher grades call it.

The white filly put her head down and focused on her homework again. She at least knew how to add point aX to point bX. This was one of the easier things they could learn.

A little harder was getting that beaming smile pointed in her direction. It was a sunny grin that made the recipient feel lovely inside, if they liked Miss Primrose. Students and staff alike did. She was a pretty earth mare that the male (and some female) students tended to watch intently with lovestruck gazes.

It didn't matter. Twist would always be an average student, no matter how hard she tried. Her parents high expectations kept her grades up, but at best they reached high Cs and low Bs. A D+ in math was currently the biggest stress-inducer that made Twist hope to Celestia her report card wouldn't stay the same over this term. Tests were killer; they were worth so much more than the other assignments...

You wanted to impress your parents. And here you are, not paying attention-

Shit. Twist's head snapped up in a flash, just in time to see Miss Primrose writing a problem in chalk on the north wall's board. Compared to the base starter, this was complicated.

"Here is an example. This is how you should solve... this problem."

So complicated, Twist bit her lip in a mixture of dread and confusion.

Please don't ask us to solve them for you. Please don't, she thought. Just demonstrate-

An equation with missing parts was scrawled under it, shortly completed afterwards. Miss Primrose turned to face the class, still grinning. "I'd like somepony to volunteer to finish this for me. Now who would like to come to the board?"

Nopony raised their hoof. Twist knew that the problem would be easy to any other member of the class. They were just being stubborn as teenagers were wont to do in these situations. Even Snips kept silent this time.

"Come on. It's relatively easy... harder equations are yet to come."

More radio silence.

"Alright, then. I'll choose one. Peppermint Twist, could you solve this for us?"

Twist nearly groaned out loud again.

Slowly, she got up from her seat. By some miracle, there were no pranksters sticking out a foot out to trip her as she padded to the front of the room.

The chalkboard loomed before her like a monolith covered with inscrutable writing. She should have been paying better attention, because she quickly realized she didn’t know how to solve the equation. Her ears folded back and her tail tucked under a fraction as she bit her lip in consternation, though neither she nor the class noticed it- what could easily be taken as signs of weakness. Surrender.

Okay. Take it slow, the filly thought. You have to write something, at least.

Tentatively, she raised her left hoof to pick up a piece of chalk. Dully noting that the white implement blended in, barely visible against her cream-colored fur as she began writing. As if she was made for this very action: dutifully scrawling numbers to satisfy the inane requirements of basic education. Twist didn’t know whether to laugh or feel annoyed.

Eventually, the problem came close to being finished. There were some spots she couldn’t fill in, even though she’d tried hard to solve it. She didn’t know where to begin with those, and for a lack of better options just stood there awkwardly in place, contemplating what to do.

Soft giggling made the filly flinch as if she had been hit. Then, Miss Primrose spoke up.

“It’s a tough problem, I’ll admit. For the most part, your answer is correct, but many parts of it are still incomplete. You may return to your seat, dear. I’ll call on someone else.”

Cringing, Twist stared at the ground as she plodded down the aisle. They were smirking at her. She was sure of it. Judgement was an ugly feeling. Something to be avoided if you could help it, whether it was embedded in a strangers expression or inserted directly into the bloated middle of criticism.

“Diamond Tiara?”

Ugh. Her heart fell with a plummeting sensation and her skin crawled- she could swear it crawled as a chill ran down her spine, cold as ice. Of all the ponies to be called upon, why go with that one?

“Yes, ma’am,” came the enthusiastic reply, grating as ever. Imbued with overtones of I can do this way better than the loser who did it before me, no doubt. Twist forced herself to watch from her seat as Diamond Tiara began strutting towards the chalkboard. If she was a tool that existed to make her teacher happy, Diamond was a star that radiated its powerful light and warmth over the entire class. She made waves wherever she went, and for whatever reason, students were happy to bask in them. Honestly, Twist couldn’t stand her.

Silverspoon was the same. Loved for being obnoxious and haughty, as most popular kids were. It was no surprise that the two made another pair of BFFs.

The purple filly was quick to finish off what remained. Afterwards, she turned around and stared confidently at Miss Primrose, who smiled in response. “Very good!” the earth mare exclaimed. “That’s correct, dear. You did wonderfully.”

Nopony laughed as Diamond Tiara returned to her desk. They didn’t seem to be bothered by that blatant advertisement of over-confidence, and things remained that way until the bell rang twenty minutes later.

Backpacks were slung over shoulders, and chairs got pushed aside. As Twist stood up, she saw that Miss Primrose had moved to stand by the open door, and was handing out homework sheets. She found herself wishing to be complimented in the same way- she had gotten some of the problem right, hadn’t she? But Miss Primrose said nothing as Twist passed her. She only beamed a placating smile, and held out a paper to take.

First period was officially over. She entered the hallway a stranger, quickly forgotten by those that had quietly mocked her earlier, lost to the crowd. But Diamond and Silverspoon were close by, and they stuck out to the insignificant little pony like a beacon. Walking with the masses, but glancing back and whispering to each other with condescending grins- smiles which blotted out the memory of the nice one she had been given.

Twist turned away. There was only so much ridicule she could take, and she needed to go to her locker.