Love, Actually (amongst other things)
She shot up in her bed, looking around her in shock as her brain slowly kicked in, normality asserting itself as the last remnants of her dreamlike state faded. It became clear to her that all was normal once more, and that what had transpired in the last few moments was nothing but a dream.
But it had felt so real. The pain of rejection, the fear she felt, the sinking sense in her stomach- those were all real emotions she had felt, so what if this dream became a horrible reality, a nightmare from which she could never awaken? Shoving such thoughts to one side as her autopilot kicked in, the girl got out of her bed and looked into the mirror mounted on her wall.
Her reflection looked back, a dishevelled mess, far from the exterior she preferred to display of smartness and attention to detail, not to mention the outward appearence she showed to the world. She had pink skin and purple hair, which currently hung in a mess of curls and hair around her head, and of which a small proportion got in her, or was very close to getting in, her amber eyes, which stood out from her face somewhat, currently locked in a neutral expression that conveyed very little of the turbulent emotions in the girl's heart. She was currently clad in a pair of blue pajamas, and her usual clothes were spread over the back of her chair, set behind a desk on which her computer sat, next to a sewing machine with some fabric next to that. The light was currently not turned on, and she went over to turn it on. The bulb flickered into life, illuminating the world around her and shining light on the previously very dark room (the curtains were still closed, and those formed a natural barrier to the light).
Her name was Suri Polomare, 12 years old, and living in Crystal City in California. Today was a pretty typical day in her life. Get showered, go to school, come home, do her homework, and then have the rest of her day to herself. That mostly consisted of indulging her hobby, which was sewing and fashion design. She had already converted her bedroom into a partial workshop, which allowed her to test new designs and new outfits. That sewing machine was a second hand one that they had acquired, but it worked very well, and suited her needs very well. But apart from her work as an amateur seamstress, for which she had become well known at school, she was not a remarkable student. This made her something of an oddity at Crystal Prep, a school known for its academic performance, and the fact it seemed to produce the bulk of the country's top scientists and mathmaticians. But none of that was any consolation for Suri. She wandered over to her window. She had other interests apart from sewing, of course. She loved music, and although she couldn't play any instruments, she was a pretty good singer according to others. But at the moment she had a bit of an issue.
She was facing a small crisis. Well, OK, a pretty huge one. There was a fellow student she liked. Really liked. Probably more like loved. And that was the problem, at least Suri feared. That student was a girl. Suri wasn't more sure to be worried about the fact she was gay, or the fact that this girl may not even like her back. She had had several nightmares of telling this girl how she felt, only to be rejected and left in a puddle of her own tears. As such, she had to stay strong.
"Come on Suri," she said quietly to herself. "Just tell her how you feel. Be strong. You don't know until you ask." But she'd already tried a few times, only to lose confidence and falter. Yeah, that's right. Suri Polomare, lose confidence. But that was the way it seemed to work, sadly.
"Suri?" shouted a voice, that of her father. "Are you in the shower yet?"
"Just going now, OK?" she called back. She stepped over to the door, opened it, and stepped out to the shower. She'd always found showers to be therapeutic. They helped her wash off the trials and struggles of her day, not to mention wake her up after her dreams and sleep (which was pretty poor at the moment, to be honest). The water gently rolled along, and the steam in the air helped her clear her head. Once she was done, she shut the water off, stepped out, and wrapped a towel around herself, walking back to her room as she did so. After drying herself off, she pulled on her usual clothes, her uniform for Crystal Prep Academy. This consisted of blue shoes (were they called loafers? Suri wasn't sure) with crystal buckles holding them on, indigo socks, a tartan skirt of which the primary colour was purple, a white T shirt, and a purple jacket with pockets, and buttons to hold it in place. She also wore a light blue scarf around her neck, at the top of the jacket, and did her hair up into a bun to prevent it all getting messy, supported by a yellow hairband. That would never do, and would hurt the school's... rrrreputation, as Principal Cinch would have put it. Suri, satisfied all was in order, popped downstairs and came down the stairs, sitting down at the dinner table where her parents were slowly eating cereal and toast.
"Hi Suri," her father said, only briefly looking up from his newpaper. He'd never really been around much, as his job was pretty demanding.
"Hey to you too," Suri replied, sounding sad and disinterested.
"Did you sleep well?" her mother asked, looking closely at Suri's face. That woman worried about her a lot.
"I don't want to talk about it, OK?" Suri replied, stepping back. "I'd also appreciate it if you didn't invade my personal space."
"Oh, OK," her mother replied, putting out a bowl for her with... something in it. Suri sighed and began to eat. She needed to tell somebody how she felt. But who, and how to do it? She had no idea how they'd react if they learned she was gay. She resolved, then and there, in her heart, to try that very night... after winning over the girl of her dreams.
The bus journey was one of the most dull parts of Suri's day. Crystal City was known for many things, but a good standard of public transport was not one of them. As a result, the school ran a bus service for its students, using old machines from the 1970s. Most of them were pushing 40 years old, which gave them incredibly rough suspension. Most rides rapidly turned into carnival rides, and Suri hated every second of it.
"Hey Suri," said a fellow student sitting next to her.
"Hi," Suri replied quietly.
"Hey, is everything alright?" they asked, leaning in closer. Suri shuffled away from him.
"The last thing I want to do is talk to some random person about my feelings, OK?" she said.
"OK, I won't then," the student said again. "Bus ride seems even bumpier than usual," they added, as the bus lurched upward and then back down.
Suri laughed. "If I ever write a biography, the part about travelling to school will start with the word 'OUCH', followed by multiple pages of swear words."
"Blunt and to the point. You haven't changed, Suri." The student remained silent for the rest of the bus trip, and when the bus came to a stop at Crystal Prep Academy, parked up behind a fleet of nearly identical run down vehicles, Suri grabbed her bag from between her legs and hopped onto the pavement, heading onward to the school.
Crystal Prep had been founded and built in the 1930s as part of a WPA program, and was built out of red brick with several concrete buttresses that had been added during a rebuild in the 1980s. For some reason, they had been painted an icy blue, and this was echoed by the two huge towers that flanked the entrance. The top of the towers was crowned with granite caps, and three doors allowed students in and out. Suri wandered indoors, to find the main foyer to be a hive of activity as usual. Ever since she had taken charge a few years ago, Principal Cinch had stepped up the academia to crazy levels. Students had their stats tracked carefully, and a slight slip would require an explanation. These scores were displayed on a public board that was updated at the start of each week. To say this had encouraged unhealthy competition was an understatement, with students very keen on maintaining their 'scores'. Purely out of interest, Suri checked the board to see who was at the top. To her complete lack of surprise, it was Twilight Sparkle. That girl was an absolute genius, and could probably pass most of her classes with flying colours, usually with her eyes closed. There was no way Suri could match her, so she focused her efforts in her strongest class; clothing design. It was here she absolutely excelled, partly through the help of some fabric a girl she knew in neighbouring Canterlot had loaned her.
Suri dumped her bag in her locker, and sealed it up, having got the folders she needed for the morning. The stuff she needed for clothing design was already there anyways, and she started to head off- only to walk into somebody.
"Watch where you're going!" she shouted, as she fell onto her back. Her eyes were like daggers as she stood up, but her face softened when she saw whom she had knocked over.
The person was a girl with yellow skin and two tone blue hair, as well as a flower in her hair. She had blue eyes, and was dressed almost identically to Suri, with two notable exeptions. The first of those exceptions was the fact she was wearing a short sleeved shirt rather than a long one. This was discernible due to the other exception. This girl was wearing a sleeveless jumper rather than a jacket, so the collar on her shirt was clearly visible. This girl was Coco Pommel, or 'Miss Pommel', as some teachers called her purely to annoy her, a fellow student in Suri's clothing class, not to mention one of the most naive people Suri had ever met. Seriously, Suri was astonished nobody in the school hadn't taken advantage of her academically. But there was one other key factor, and that Coco made Suri's heart melt.
That's right, Suri was in love with Coco Pommel. Just Coco didn't know it, it seemed. It probably didn't help that every time Suri had tried to speak to her, she had ended up getting interrupted in some way or another. Coco seemed to be stammering, as if trying to say something.
"S-sorry for walking into you, Miss Polomare!" she stammared.
Suri smiled. "Take it easy, OK?" she said. "I walked into you. Looking forward to fashion design?"
Coco nodded enthusiastically, at a speed that would put a bobblehead to shame. "Oh yes! I've had some new ideas I want to share with you, and I can't wait to see what you've come up with!" Coco had been astonished by Suri's work ever since she had made something pretty basic. Well, basic by Suri's standards, but Coco had been absolutely amazed by it nontheless.
Suri laughed. "Yeah. Look, Coco, there was something I wanted to talk with you about."
"Oh? What was that?" Coco looked closely at Suri, as if trying to read her face and expression for some sort of opinion.
"You see, I- I l-"
Suddenly, the school bell went off, and the corridors became full of people moving between lessons. Coco turned around. "Oh no! I'll be late for class, and so will you! Come on! Catch you later!" And Coco vanished into the crowd.
Suri sighed. "Oh not again." Fate seemed determined to prevent her speaking to Coco and telling her the truth. Oh well. There was always lunchtime.
Clothing design went along about as well as Suri would have expected, which was to say perfectly. It was as if the girl had been born using a sewing machine, which was where being the daughter of a dressmaker certainly helped. Since a young age, she had been used to the sight of fabric and sewing machines, which was partly why she had sourced one herself, the second hand one that currently sat in her room. Still, she listened as Miss Hemline gave her briefing.
"Students, the assignment for this week is to produce an item inspired by the fashion trends of the 1980s. You are limited to using fabrics of the era, although you may source them from modern suppliers, and of course modern techniques can be used in..."
As she rattled on and on, giving insanely detailed instructions, Suri slowly tuned her out, focusing on her new design. Her sketchbook was already open, and she was already at work on an idea. For reasons that are hopefully obvious, Suri had fairly good knowledge of fashion trends (of the last one hundred years at least. Give her a test on the 19th century and she'd be hopelessly lost) and already had a very good idea of the sort of thing Miss Hemline would be expecting. She would probably be able to do this in her sleep anyways. And that was something she could use to her advantage, even if using a sewing machine while asleep wasn't the best of ideas. After the briefing had ended, they got to work on early assembly and stitching. As the loud rattle and clunk of sewing machines echoed through the room (the students remembering to put on ear defenders), Suri's mind began to drift, to only one topic. Coco Pommel, who happened to be working right next to her. Sure, she was a bit incompetent when it came to the use of this machinery, but her enthusiasm was more than enough to compensate, and even if what she produced wasn't always great, it was the thought and effort that counted the most. At least, in Coco's books.
Suri was so distracted that she only just heard Coco's words. "Suri, look out!" Suri snapped out of her trance, and looked down just in time, pulling her hand away seconds before it hit the rapidly moving needle. Had it gone under, it would have hurt her pretty badly.
"What is going on here?" Miss Hemline asked. "Miss Pommel, what precisely had to be looked out for?"
"I'd prefer it if you called me by my first name, Miss Hemline," the blue haired girl said to her teacher.
"I will call you what I want, thank you very much," Prim Hemline replied. "Now answer my question."
"It was my fault, miss," Suri replied, looking a bit embarrased. "I lost concentration, but Coco alerted me to what was going on and prevented a nasty accident."
Miss Hemline nodded. "Very well, very well. But be careful not to lose concentration again. The last thing we need is a serious injury, or else you could be in the hospital, or possibly worse."
"Yes miss," Suri replied. "It won't happen again, miss."
A moment of silence passed, before anybody realised they were all looking in their direction. "What are you all looking at? Get back to work, all of you!" The students, just as stunned by Miss Hemline's instructions as they were by the scene that had just transpired, were quick to react, and the sewing machines restarted once more with a rattle and a clunk, needles shooting up and down as thread was distributed to attach pieces of cloth together.
The lesson concluded a few minutes later, and Suri attempted to speak to Coco. "Hey, thanks for saving me back there."
"Oh, no problem!" Coco replied, collecting up her books and papers, stuffing them into her backpack. "I'd just hate for a fellow student to get hurt, that's all. That would never do, after all."
Suri laughed, a gentle, quiet laugh. "Yeah. I just appreciate it, OK? And there's another thing I wanted to talk about."
"Was this the thing from earlier?" Coco asked, completely oblivious to Suri's intentions.
"Yes," Suri said, and steeled herself to say what would probably be quite a bombshell for Coco. "I-"
And just like last time, Suri was interrupted by the bell, which was so loud it made it impossible to hear what she was saying. Coco just seemed to brush it off. "See you later!" she called, as she left the room. They didn't see each other next until lunch, which was still three lessons away. Suri groaned in frustration. Her second chance at telling Coco how she felt was blown, and there was no possibility or even chance to try it again until around lunch.
"Why is life always getting in my way?" she said, annoyed, as she put what little she had made of her design into a storage box, and then loaded her books into her bag, slinging it onto her back shortly after. As she headed out of the door, she suddenly realised using lunch as a time to speak up could actually work to her advantage. As most students were in the same place at the same time, it meant that covering up her actions would be a lot easier, and it would attract a lot less public attention. This, alone, would work well. It could be kept between Suri, Coco, and her close friends.
"Perfect," the girl smiled, before stepping out of the room and into the corridor, walking straight into the traffic jam of students that filled the corridor between lessons. As she walked down it and surveyed the others, she started to use her mind, planning out exactly how she would tell Coco how she felt. Hopefully, this third attempt would work, and then all would be well within her soul. Not to mention she'd find it easier to concentrate.
The lunch hall, or cafeteria to give the place its official title, was a fairly standard eating place typical of many work places or schools. It had a serving hatch, and several tables at which students were sitting and eating and chatting with one another. Suri queued up in the queue, looking around her for her friends. Upon a quick glance, she noticed that her usual friends had got their usual spot, next to the window and at the end. Suri liked sitting at the end. It made it easier to talk to people, and most people had something to talk about, even if it was just about academics and their 'scores'.
"Plate, please!" said the cook on duty. Suri quickly passed her plate forward. In recent years, there had been cuts to the school budget, and this mostly affected the catering budget. This wasn't helped by the fact that the cook was somewhat old fashioned, and was quite old as well. In fact, many students reckoned he had been around since New Deal, which explained his cooking style in many ways. Suri looked down at her plate, and then remembered it was a Tuesday.
This explained the... thing sitting on her plate. According to the weekly menu (which never changed), today's offering was cheese pie. Unfortunately, the pastry for the pie had been cooked for so long it was blackened, and had gone almost rock solid. In fact, Suri was pretty certain it was carbon. The cheese was also incredibly hot, and must have been incredibly cheap Pepper Jack judging from the complete lack of taste. "Thank you," Suri replied, as was polite, but in reality she wasn't at all keen on the food. She walked across the room and headed for the table. Sitting there were three girls. All of them were dressed fairly similarly, but wore subtle variations on the Crystal Prep uniform. The first had a purple waistcoat on, rather than a jacket, and wore a turquoise shirt rather than a white one. She had lavender skin, purple, pink and blue hair, and wore a pair of black square rimmed glasses. This was Twilight Sparkle, the school's child prodigy and the current occupier of the top of the scoreboard. To describe her as a friend was an interesting statement. She wasn't the most social of people, to say the very least.
Seated next to her was a girl dressed almost identically. She had yellow skin and two tone blue hair, as well as a pair of bright orange eyes. She was Indigo Zap, resident athlete, and something of a loudmouth in more ways than one, as well as having a level of enthusiam which exhausted people from just looking at her.
The last person of note in this scene was dressed similarly to Suri, with a purple bow tie instead of a scarf, and a pair of leggings for some reason. She had very light blue skin, purple eyes, silvery white hair, and wore orange glasses. This was Sugarcoat, and to call her blunt was a massive understatement. She had no concept of tact, at all. The three of them looked at Suri.
"Yo!" Indigo shouted, putting her hand forward in a high five. "How's it going, Polo?"
Suri shook her head. Indigo had a habit of calling her 'Polo', which got Suri-ously annoying after a while. She returned the high five. "Nice to see you, Indi."
Sugarcoat looked over. "You're miserable. Your face is not that of a happy person."
Twilight looked at Sugarcoat. "There's no need to be so blunt."
"I can't help being blunt. That's how it is."
Suri shook her head. "Sugarcoat's right, you know. Something is wrong, and I want you to promise to support me whatever I say."
"Rock on!" Indigo cried, so loud everybody in the cafeteria looked over at them in confusion. "Hehe. Sorry."
"We'll support you, no matter what," Twilight said, barely looking up from her book on enhanced star navigation.
Suri took a deep breath, only for Sugarcoat to interrupt. "You're gay and really into Coco Pommel, and have been trying to ask ehr out for ages, but haven't succeeded yet."
Suri looked stunned. "How did you figure that out?"
"It would be blindingly obvious to anybody with a small degree of observational skill," Sugarcoat replied. Just then, there was a quiet thud nearby, and Coco sat down with the group.
"Sorry I'm late!" she said, looking embarassed.
"It's fine, OK?" Suri said, trying to keep up a smile, but in truth was already afflicted with crippling butterflies in her stomach, which had tied itself into a knot whilst doing so.
Twilight spoke next. "Suri has something to say to you." Suri shot her daggers, but otherwise said nothing, her internal turmoil not massively helped by what the others were doing.
Coco looked over to Suri. "Well?" she said. "What did you want to talk about?"
Suri blinked. No going back. "Well, Coco, you see, I like you."
Coco grinned. "Of course you do! We're friends, aren't we?"
"Not like that," Suri said, her heart beating insanely fast as her mind tried to process what was going on. "I- I," she stammered. Seeing no easy way out, she took the easy route. "Excuse me, please!" she cried, suddenly jumping up and running out of the door toward the outside world.
Sugarcoat sighed. "That went badly." She then noticed Twilight staring at her. "What? Just stating the truth."
Coco looked worried. "Oh no," she said. "What's wrong with Suri? Is she sick? Or is something else troubling her?"
Indigo sighed. "You should probably follow her, and find out what is going on. It's the only way to make sure, so off you go." Coco jumped out of her chair, headed for the door, and followed her way through the maze of corridors, past a series of doors, through another set, and suddenly found herself outside. Sitting on the steps before her, was Suri, and boy did she look upset.
Suri didn't even hear the door closing behind her, lost in her own despair. "Why can't I do this?" she asked in despair and sadness. "Why do I always stumble and fall?"
"What do you mean?" a familiar voice asked behind her. Suri nearly jumped out of her skin as she looked back to see Coco standing behind her. "What do you mean about stumbling and falling?"
Suri stood up, slowly. She turned to face Coco, her eyes full of sadness and near heartbreak. In that moment she blurted it out, angry and no longer caring. "I love you, OK?" she snapped, which sent Coco reeling.
Nobody said a word for a moment. The two girls just looked at one another, like deer in headlights. Then Coco opened her mouth. "Suri, I-"
"I know what your gonna say," Suri interrupted, looking at the floor. Her voice shifted to a bad impression of that of of Coco. "Oh, that's messed up, Suri. Oh, you're such a wierdo, liking another girl that way. You're a freak!" Her anger vented, Suri simply crumpled on the floor, unable to say anything else, sobbing quietly.
A moment later, another set of eyes looked directly into hers. Coco Pommel bent down and looked straight at her. "Suri," she said, "I would never say something like that about you. What sort of friend would I be if I did?"
"A pretty bad one," Suri mumbled, not expecting this turn of events. This was going nothing like her nightmares at all!
Coco then continued. "Besides, I've got something of a confession to make myself. I- I've known it for a long time, but I never had the confidence to speak up until now." As Suri stood up, Coco moved in closer, and planted her lips on Suri's.
They stood there for a few moments, but it felt like hours to the two girls. They separated a moment later, and Suri looked in confusion. "Huh? Are you saying that-?"
"Yes," Coco interrupted. "Suri, I love you, and I have for years. I just never had the guts to tell you, that's all."
Another moment passed, and then both girls started laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. "So, you're telling me that we both loved each other in secret, and never had the guts to tell each other until now. Crazy, right?"
Coco smiled. "Yeah, crazy, right?" Then she fell silent. "What about our parents? How will they react?"
Suri sighed. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Speaking of which, are you available tonight? I am."
Coco nodded. "Yeah. I am. Let me guess; we're seeing your parents?"
The door opened to the Polomare household, to reveal Suri's parents sitting at the table in the kitchen. They glanced up at the sudden opening of the door, to see Suri and Coco stepping through together. "Oh, hello Suri," said her father, looking up from his newspaper. "Have you brought a friend?"
"Oh, I know that girl!" her mother exclaimed. "It's Coco Pommel, from the Golden Crystal district!"
"Yes," Coco said nervously. "Nice to meet you, Mr and Mrs Polomare."
"So, Suri," said her father, "why did you bring somebody over?"
Suri sighed. No going back now. "I have something to tell you both," she said. There was a further silence.
"Well?" her mother asked. "What is it?"
Suri continued. "Mom, dad, I like girls, OK?" Another long pause. "And I- I'm in love with Coco."
And there was another long silence before Suri spoke again. "Wait, you still love me, right?"
Her mother snorted. "What sort of a question is that?" she asked, incredulously. "You are our daughter. We will never cease to love you. And it doesn't matter if you like girls or not. Love is love, and you can't control it."
"Whilst I will admit it wasn't quite what I expected as a pairing," her father added, "the most important thing for us is that you are happy. And if you are happy being in love with Miss Pommel-"
Coco smiled. "There's no need to be so formal, Mr Polomare," she said. "Only my teachers call me 'miss'."
"And if you are happy being in love with Coco Pommel," Suri's father continued, "we are therefore happy, as you are happy."
Suri Polomare and Coco Pommel couldn't be happier. They now knew the truth about one another, and they could embark on a new, exciting chapter of their lives. Theirs was a love story, and all it had taken was the courage to open up, and say yes.
Author's Note
Quick quiz: which British steam locomotive shares a number with the word count on this chapter?
This story provides something of a preview for Season 2 of the Railway Adventure timeline. The first story of the new season will start uploading in late September or early October, so keep an eye out. That, and I wanted to try a ship I've never seen tried before; SuriPommel (or is it CocoMare?).
