Frenefits

*There aren’t a lot of things that make me more uncomfortable than eye contact. Waiting, getting a haircut from a barber and trying to figure out whether I should try to talk or not, stuff like that. But getting lectured? It was relatively low on that list.*

Celestia’s office was a bit bigger than he was expecting it to be, and had two more bookshelves in it than any he’s been in before, one of them with a mirror above it strangely enough. Her desk was probably wider than him if he were laying horizontally, made out of a light brown wood with three symbols on the front carved into it, the sun, the moon, and what he wasn’t entirely sure to be a mountain.

There were various things on her desk, but they were all things he’d expect to be on there, like a computer, intercom mic, and a few books. He also noticed the window in the right corner of the room with shades on it, a nightstand in front of it with a printer on top. Behind the desk was a large board with various writing on it, he guessed that was supposed to be a schedule of some sort. And a framed PhD on the wall in the left corner of the room, which, he hoped at least, belonged to the principal.

“...While clubs are highly recommended to both help socialize and they look good on your transcript, they aren’t a requirement. We also don’t…”

The principal was giving him a lecture about what the school expects from him, sitting in her chair behind her desk with her arms on the table. Clubs, school programs, all that stuff, he’d heard the same spiel before from his previous principal. He knew that it was either a requirement of principals to tell new students about them, or they just did it because getting more members would get them more funding, so he couldn’t really blame them. But he wasn’t interested in clubs or programs, and he didn’t get nagged on before for getting B’s and C’s, so there just wasn’t anything she was saying that was interesting to him.

He was interested in the principal, however, she looked like someone straight out of a cartoon. She was tall, freakishly tall. Well over six feet, maybe even closer to seven, it was really intimidating actually. She also had long, rainbow hair that almost looked like it was constantly moving on its own. It was kind of majestic, but also kind of freaky. Her skin was a stark white like a vampire, with dark heliotrope eyes to match.

*Diane mentioned she was in a club, I wonder what kind of club she’s in?*

Diane…

He had barely gotten any sleep last night when he finally got home, everything that happened with her kept playing again and again in his head like a broken record. Just the day before that he had never even held a girl's hand, and yet in just under an hour he had his first kiss and almost lost his virginity.

He was still trying to figure out what he said or did to make things go that way, and even now it was a struggle for him to not think about it.

*I wonder, is she thinking about me? I doubt it, I’m sure she has more important things on her mind.*

He was sure he looked like he didn’t get much sleep, he barely had time to change clothes. His shirt was basically the same one as last night, just black. A different but identical pair of jeans with his chain wallet hooked to it, and the same shoes he was wearing last night. The only thing new was the small backpack he was wearing with the bare essentials he would need.

“...That’s about everything, sorry I talked your ear off, it's just this is a big school and we like to give a lot of options for extracurricular activities. Do you have any questions?”

Jason snapped out of his trance, lowering his gaze from her entrancing hair. He put his hands in his pockets nervously, somehow he dealt with people in authority worse than with most people.

“N-no….I think I got it.” He said as he fidgeted around nervously, before remembering something he needed to ask. “I...do need help with something, if it isn’t too much trouble. I’d appreciate it if someone could show me where my classes are and stuff? I’m not that good at finding places myself.”

“Oh no, It’s no trouble at all! I was about to ask you if you needed help, actually.” Celestia said with a dismissive wave of her hand, moving her chair over to the intercom mic. “I have the perfect person for the job, she probably knows this place better than I do.”

She pressed the button on the mic to turn it on, lowering her mouth to the tip of the microphone.
“Pinkie Pie, can you come to the office please? Thank you.”

*Great, another girl, my area of expertise.*

He had expected to be waiting there awkwardly for a few minutes while waiting for whoever was going to be showing up, feeling obligated to make idle conversation but being unable to. But not even a minute had passed before he heard the sound of the doorknob turning, before it swung open, just barely missing him.

“Hiya Principal Celestia? Whaddya need me for?”

He heard the voice before he saw her, since she spoke before she walked in, he was kind of curious how she got here so quickly. She sounded more like a little girl than a teenage girl in high school, but it wasn’t high pitched or anything to the point of annoyance.

“Pinkie, it's so nice to see you!” Celestia said cheerfully as she smiled at the person outside her door, “Come on in and meet our new student, he needs help learning where his classes and everything is, and I thought you’d be ecstatic to help!”

“REALLY!? I’d LOVE to help! Where is he?” She asked excitedly, walking into the room and shutting the door behind her.

As soon as he saw her, his eyes widened in surprise and recognition.

*Is that...Diane?*

The girl first turned her head to the right as she looked for him, then turned to her left, her bright baby blue eyes locking onto him as she beamed at him, practically the face of happiness.

“Hello!” She said giddily, extending her hands towards him as she did. “My name’s Pinkamena Pie, but you can call me Pinkie! What’s your name?”

She was the spitting image of Diane, she looked exactly like her, could have been twins for all he knew. Her skin was the exact same shade of pink, her eyes the same shade of light blue. He should know, he was close enough to her to recognize it anywhere. Her hair was also pink, but was...different somehow. Well, obviously it was different, it was in a completely different style. While Diane’s was straight and silky, this girl’s hair was bouncy, curly, and a complete mess, like cotton candy.

Though her hair was the same shade of pink, there was something about it that just seemed...brighter, he couldn’t quite explain it. And the smile on her face seemed so genuine and pure, it made him want to smile, and he rarely ever smiled if it wasn’t out of nervousness.

“Um...Hi. My name’s Jason Pitler, nice to meet you.” He said as he slowly extended his hand, shaking hers.

Her hand was soft and warm like Diane’s, or maybe that was just all girls? He wasn’t experienced enough to say, all he could base it off of is the one girl he’s touched. And this girls hand shake was more...relaxed somehow, it wasn’t as firm as Diane’s.

“Likewise!” She exclaimed as she shook his hand frivolously, before letting go just as quickly. “Hand over your schedule so I can see where your classes are! Oh I hope we have some together!”

“Oh, yeah sure.” Jason mumbled as he reached into his pocket, pulling out a folded piece of paper.

Faster than he could see, she swiped it out of his hand, unfolding it just as quickly. Her eyes moved quickly back and forth as she read the schedule, like she was looking for something. Jason was a bit baffled at how quickly and eager she did that, but he decided not to question it, and focused on something else.

Her outfit was very...colorful, was the best adjective he could think of. She was wearing a white blouse that had a purple heart in the center with a bright blue vest on top of it that went down a little past her shoulder, lighter blue bracelets on both of her wrists. She had a purple ribbon at the end of the blouse that was wrapped around her waist, below that was a bright purple skirt with balloons on it. She also had bright blue and white laced boots that almost went up to her nights, a small pink ribbon was at the top of each of them.

He glanced at her bust for a second, just to compare to Diane’s. It was hard to tell, but it was possible it was about her size.

*She looks like a character out of Candy Land or something.*

“Aww...We don’t have any classes together, that sucks.” She said in a defeated tone, her lips pursing together as pouted. She handed his schedule back to him, which he took, folded, and put back in his pocket. “I know where all these are though, we should have enough time for me to show you where they are, if we go right now!”

Suddenly, as her smile came back, she grabbed Jason by the hand. She ran out of the room, pulling Jason behind her, who looked very confused and nervous, not sure what to do.

“See ya Principal Celestia!” Pinkie said as she shut the door, leaving Celestia inside to watch them leave.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Come on, let's walk and talk! That’s like, my second favorite thing to do!”

Pinkie Pie seemed to be very...exuberant, she had so much energy and was always smiling. It kind of threw him off a bit because she was so unlike anyone he had met before, he was trying to figure out whether that was a good thing or not. She also seemed intent on trying to have a conversation with him, but luckily it seemed she was good at holding a conversation.

*I just wish she’d let go of my hand, I’m starting to get sweaty.*

“I mean, sure, but I’m terrible at small talk. Um...what’s your favorite thing to do then? If walking and talking is your second, I mean.”

“Well, baking of course! I love making sweets and pastries and stuff for my friends!” She said as she let go of his hand, much to his relief. Then she twirled around like a ballerina, getting in his face eagerly. “What’s your favorite thing to do?”

She stopped directly in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. She was face to face with him, invading his personal space like only one other person had before. He tried to look anywhere other than her face, his heart quickly beating as he felt himself rapidly being overwhelmed with nervousness and social anxiety.

The worst part was none of the students walking around the hallways were batting an eye, like it was completely normal of her.

“U-um….I-i like...watching...horror movies, I guess?”

After he said that, she backed away from him and put her hands on her hips. Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at him in concern.

“You look upset, was it something I said?”

“No...It's just,” Jason closed his eyes for a moment, taking in a deep breath as he tried to calm himself down. “I’m not a ‘people person’, is all. I get anxious really easily and people just kind of scare me sometimes, it isn’t your fault.” He said as he exhaled and opened his eyes, getting his breathing more or less under control.

“Ohh, I get ya. You should have just said so, I know a few people like you, it's no biggie.” She said as she turned around, “I’ll try to stay out of your bubble. Now let’s get back to walking and talking, your first class is just around the corner.”

Pinkie said as she began walking down the hallway, a bit slower than before for Jason. He followed behind her, keeping his gaze on her back and avoiding eye contact with the people in the hallways. Luckily it was breakfast, so there weren’t a lot of people around. But the few people who were around were stealing a glance at them, interested in the new student he had to guess.

Otherwise, the school looked good. Rows of green lockers with various rooms, it was certainly cleaner than his previous high school for sure.

“This is your first period, Mr. Doodle’s history class. He can be pretty cranky sometimes, but he’s really just a sweetheart.” She said as she stopped, turned to her left and pointed towards a classroom, before turning back to the right and walking again. “So, why’d you decide to move here? Your dad has to come here for work or something?”

“No, I grew up in an orphanage, I never knew my parents. I just wanted to come here for a fresh start, seemed like a decent place and I found an apartment that was relatively cheap.”

Pinkie stopped walking for a minute, something about her body language made her seem...sad.

“Oh...I’m….really sorry, I didn’t think that was a personal question. I don’t mean to be nosy, I just want to get to know people I’m friends with.” She glanced back at him for a moment, before looking forward and beginning to walk forward again.

*Friends, huh? She seems nice, but I don’t know if I can. She’s a bit too...touchy for my liking.*

“It's fine, you couldn’t have known. I do have something I want to ask you though, if you don’t mind.”

*It’s clear to me now this girl isn’t Diane, she’s too different. But at the same time, she looks too similar to her to not be related or something. Diane did mention that she had sisters, maybe this is one of them?*

“Shoot! I’m an open book.” Pinkie said as she turned a corner, having a bounce in her each step Jason didn’t notice before.

“Do you...have any sisters?” He asked awkwardly, turning the corner and noticing something at the end of the hallway. It was a double door entrance that led what looked like a library, but was much bigger than the one at his previous school. The shelves were taller, had a lot more books in them, and were all in the back of the room, there was even a second floor.

There were a few computers in the center of the room in a circle, and while there were a lot less computers than his last schools, they seemed more advanced and up to date. It looked more like a library than a computer lab, unlike his last highschool.

“Well yeah! I have three of them, some of my bestest friends in the world!” She said as she turned around to face Jason, the slight bit of sadness he noticed from earlier seeming completely gone.

“Do you have one that...looks like you and is named Diane?”

Pinkie’s eyebrows furrowed in thought for a moment as she hummed audibly, deeply thinking about what Jason asked her. Before suddenly relaxing her face and looking normal again.
“Nope! Not that I can think of. Unless my dad has a secret family and is living a double life that I’m not aware of.”

There was an awkward silence as Pinkie just stared at him, before suddenly letting out a loud gasp and putting her hands up to her face dramatically.

“Do you think my dad has a secret family and is living a double life I don’t know about?!” She asked loud enough for everyone in the hallway to hear, but once again, no one seemed to bat an eye at her.

He was starting to realize this girl had a very...unique personality, and stuff like this happened so often that it was considered normal for her.

“Um...I don’t think so?” He mumbled, not really sure how else to respond.

“Good! Then I’d have to kick his butt for cheating on mom.” Pinkie turned around again and started walking forward, before suddenly skipping like a girl in elementary school playing hopscotch. “The school library’s just up ahead, let me show you it real quick.”

*So, not a sister. Then what, they just happen to look alike but aren’t related? Pinkie doesn’t seem the type to lie.*

“Sorry to ask, it’s just I met a girl last night that looks a lot like you.”

“Really? Just like me?” She asked as she stopped in front of the door to the library, turning towards him with a hand on her chin in a pondering look. “That’s strange, I know everyone in this town, and I can’t think of anyone that looks like me.

Before Jason had time to respond, Pinkie already seemed to lose interest as she grabbed Jason by the hand again and pulled him into the library.

“Oh well, no point in dwelling on it. Anyway, here’s the library!”

Jason felt himself getting anxious again, but a bit less this time. This is just the kind of person Pinkie was, she was very hands on, it wasn’t a big deal. He’d just….have to adjust. Physical contact didn’t bother him nearly as much as eye contact.

Pinkie glanced back at him, noticing she was holding his hand and quickly let go. “Sorry, habit.” She said with a guilty expression, before gesturing towards all the books in the library. “We’ve got tooooooonnnnsss of books, a little something for everyone. But I don’t really come here for the books.”

She walked over to the computers, Jason walked over with her, but honestly was more interested in the books. He liked reading a lot more than talking to people or using computers.

“The school spent a small fortune on these computers, but they are still monitoring them. So don’t try to look up anything…” Pinkie suddenly glared at Jason, her hands on her hips and a skeptical expression on her face like she suspected him of something. “Indecent.”

“I….don’t,” Jason felt her stare peering into him, similar to the way Diane stared at him the night prior, as he tried to look anywhere but her. “Look at porn, I’m not really like that.”

“Really?” Pinkie asked in a genuinely surprised tone, “My sister Limestone told me a lot of boys were horndogs and all they do is watch porn and spank the monkey.”

*Wow, she just...doesn’t have a filter, does she?”

Jason stood there uncomfortably, he had never even talked about this kind of stuff even with other guys. Certainly not with a girl, even if a girl as open as Pinkie was the one he was talking with.

But since last night, somehow he didn’t feel as anxious about it as he thought he would.

“I...probably don’t have any right to say this, but you don’t really have a lot of experience with guys, do you?”

Pinkie’s mouth opened for a second as it seemed she was speechless for a moment, “Um….oh no! Look at the time!” She suddenly said as she looked down at her wrist, before pulling a crayon out of her hair and drawing a watch on her wrist. Her tongue hanging out of the corner of her mouth and sweat beading down her face as she was putting visible effort in it, before putting the crayon back in her hair like nothing happened. “There’s...significantly less time than I thought we had, I have to show you your classes right now!”

For the third time in the past ten minutes, Pinkie grabbed Jason by the hand and began to lead him out of the library, almost faster than he could keep up with.

“Your next class is a bit far away, so we got to speed it up!”

Usually, Jason would be growing more anxious by the second. But each time Pinkie touched him, it made him less uncomfortable. Being around her, who seemed to just radiate joy, made it hard to be anything but happy.

*I’ve known her for all of ten minutes or so, but I have to admit. Pinkie is growing on me, she seems to have a way with people, even with someone like me.*