A deathly fear gripped Valve's heart as he crushed the bouquet of flowers he held in his palm. What was once an impeccable tower of beauty was now a crushed shell of its former glory, unable to retain its prior form under the constant, undying, and ever so growing strength of Valve's grip.
He wiped the flood of cold sweat from his face, only for a larger flood to replace it. Bus heart thumped in his throat and his stomach was tied into knot after consecutive knot. In the depths of his mind, an atrocious war waged in his head, tearing him apart as he sat on the bench, egging him to either bail out or stay here. And the former choice was seeming more and more appealing with every second that rolled by.
"No! You can't bail out of this one! You already chalked up the courage to ask her, now all you have to do is stick to your guns and shoot for a headshot!" That was the constant monologue reigning hell in his head as he tried to convince himself that the choice he made was the right one. That even if he misses the bullseye, he could still snatch a good score… or at least not miss the board entirely.
It took him some time to calm down the beast inside of him, to gain at least the confidence to not bolt out of his skin and skip town. With a steady supply of calm breaths and a reassuring thought, he reminded himself that he made this choice of his own volition, there wasn't a single soul that influenced him to ask the mare he did out, he did himself. And he knew that if he was able to get through that stage without leaving a corny note or having someone convey his message, then he should be able to at least get through this with the smallest sliver of his pride, and that was well worth the risk.
"I can't believe you actually think you have a chance?!"
However, the haughty laughing and the smug taunting was enough to cause all that doubt and uncertainty to come back raining down like a storm of gold. Valve instinctually cringed, not daring to face the speaker for he knew who she was, but also out of fear of being forced to witness the hideous face of one of them.
But it seemed like she disregarded his desires by placing a hand on his head and forcing him to look her in the face.
"When somebody as smoking hot as me blesses you enough to talk to you, you give me your full attention." She declared in a tone that suggested that she was a godsend from the high heavens above.
He only regarded her with the best indifferent face he could muster, but due to his nervousness, he could only pull away and push her back. "Look, if all you're going to do is berate me, then you can go do something else, I'm not in the right set of mind to deal with you." He said, trying to deter her from his personal bubble.
Nova smacks her lips and rolls her eyes, backing off only slightly. "I still can't believe you had the guts to ask her out, let alone stick to your guns like this." She crossed her arms, scoffing as if he had just spat in her soup after revealing that he had some kind of disease.
Valve sighs and takes a quick glance at the crumpled up bouquet of flowers before averting his gaze to the ground. "I don't know what came over me, I just wanted someone to go to prom with so I'm not the only loner there since my parents are forcing me to go." He knew reciting his predicament in the presence of the living embodiment of the valley girl archetype was nothing if not a recipe for disaster, but he just couldn't help himself. "I've had a crush on her for a while now-I mean, who doesn't-and thought it was now or never." He hoped beyond hope that the bully standing before him would have the sympathy and common sense to at least leave him be.
His hopes and wishes were crushed and burned faster than he could shrink away as Nova's voice came out as a triumphant laugh as she apparently found his pain humorous. "You should just give it all up, there's no way someone like her would even consider dating someone like you, let alone go to prom with you!" She gloated, roughly patting him on the head. "The only reason anyone would date you is if you beg them to!!" She declared, laughing her ass off along with her clique of companions.
If one cared to listen, they could bare witness to the earth shattering sound of Valve's soul shattering into a gazillion microscopic specks flying to the edges of the universe faster than the speed of light. His nervousness combined with the mercilessly heartless taunting from Nova was enough to blow away whatever confidence he managed to scrounge up. Like a weakly lit candle in the midst of an unholy hurricane. Utterly demolished.
*BAM*
"UNH!!" Nova grunted as she felm to the ground on her ass, the round form of a solid sphere had made contact with her cheek, sending her sprawling down as she had not expected the forceful touch.
Everyone's gaze, except Valve's, were shifted to the originator of the impact, jaws slacking as the one pony they didn't expect to see here was standing right there. The mere sight of her was enough to tear everyone's tongue from their mouth and strangled them breathless as they fought to unearth the words that were stuck buried in the pit of their stomachs.
There, in all her glory, Jade Shine stood with the basketball she utilized to assault Nova firmly planted in her hands. The large horns nestled on her head protruded through the luscious rose gold mane she sported, running down her back and covering her right eye, leaving her left eye beaming a menacing red glow that seemed to petrify Nova and her school of fish.
"Are you going to allow me to elect this choice on my own?" She split the silence with her ethereal voice, finally pulling Valve from the brink of oblivion, if only to make his heart stop as he set his eyes on her. She cast a quick glimpse his way before lionizing all her attention on the cheerleader who finally found her footing.
Jade moved the strands of hair blockading her right eye, tucking it behind her ear so that she may regard Nova with unrestricted vision. Her gaze was enough to freeze the cheerleader and her proxy in their place as she came ever so closer.
"Or am I required to administer yet another humiliating beating?" The tone that accompanied her voice as that statement recalled a particularly unsavory event that had transpired a week prior, while also implying heavily that she would be more than happy to repeat the same feelings.
Nova started the Kirin down, trying to spot any weak points she could exploit, but Jade was harder to crack than diamond cased on reinforced steel and buried underneath a mountain of lead. "Why don't you mind your own-UNGH!!!"
Nova's witty rhetoric was ended shortly as she was on the receiving end of a devastating knee to the gut. How she refused the urge to projectile vomit her lunch from the sheer force of the attack, she doesn't know. But what she does know is that she was in pain.
Nova gripped her stomach, struggling to stand up even with the aid of her group or companions. She gritted her teeth and glared at Jade with all her heart, but her lips were sealed in fear of receiving yet another devastating blow from the Kirin who was more than capable of taking her and her entire team out with relative ease if need be. Instead, she wordlessly evacuated the scene in favor of preserving whatever pride she had left and avoiding any further humiliation.
Amidst the chaos that unfolded before him, Valve released a large breathe he had no idea he was holding. He hoped beyond anything in the world that despite her original reason for being there, she would just waltz on past him.
However, as with all things that day, Jade opted out of leaving and took a seat right next to the Earth Pony. Her right arm snaked around his shoulders, reeling him in a hug and leaning in. Her lips wretched open and she whispered something in his ears that made his blood run cold: "So… about this date?"
