Your hands shake. Your mouth goes dry. Your eyes open so wide that you can practically see the curvature of the earth.

OK, maybe it’s not that big a deal, but it’s still pretty freaking terrifying knowing that this time you’re not just standing in front of a celebrity; you’re shaking hands with him!

Feather Bangs, the hottest new face in fashion and music, is looking straight into your eyes, flashing his pearly whites while your knees buckle together, hopefully in a way he doesn’t notice. You probably look ridiculous right now, but hopefully he understands that you’re usually just in the background while Vignette Valencia takes care of all the public relations. Speaking of which!

“Feather, this is my bffbb Anon,” she says, pulling out a mirror and doing some last minute makeup touches. “She’s still pretty shy, but I’m trying to help her grow into a beautiful social butterfly.”

“Well, she’s certainly already got the beautiful part taken care of. Ha ha.”

This would be a really awkward time to faint, but when he’s smiling at you and complimenting you and still shaking your hand--Oh, sweet Celestia! Hopefully your palms don’t get all sweaty! Fortunately, though, he pulls his hand away from your grip, turning his dreamy smile towards Vignette Valencia so that you can turn into a pile of mush on the floor.

“Speaking of which, I was thinking we could use the courtyard for some good lighting,” Vignette continues, snapping her makeup kit closed. “Maybe add Clarendon as the main filter, Reyes if we accidentally catch an off blemish and keep Nashville on reserve in case we take one that’ll spark some curiosity in how close we are behind closed doors.”

Feather Bangs slides his hands in his pockets with a chuckle, rolling his shoulders back with his head held high. “Talkin’ shop already? Girl, I was hopin’ that you, me and your friend here could take this time to possibly get a little more acquainted first. That is, unless you’d rather not have us taking pictures with the sunset in the background. Ha ha.”

Wait. Did he say her friend? Are you that friend? Does that mean that Feather Bangs wants to actually communicate with you rather than spending the whole afternoon just with Vignette?! Shoot! Even after spending a good hour doing your makeup this morning, you still feel underprepared knowing that you’re face to face with the second-biggest celebrity at Canterlot Prep!

“As much as I love the enthusiasm,” Vignette begins, showing off her own beautiful smile, “I sadly can’t stay too long. Anon needs to pick up her sister from school in a little bit, and I was hoping she could be here to be an unbiased third party.”

Suddenly, Feather Bangs turns towards you, grinning handsomely and making the hair on your neck stick up. “I--” you stutter with a gulp. “I can probably take a day off just this once. Sh-she knows her way home, after all.”

“Anon, honey, are you sure? I don’t want you to ignore your own responsibilities all because of a couple selfies.”

While it’s true your mom will be mad if she finds out that you abandoned Cozy Glow, you know that your sister wouldn’t exactly go blabbing if she got the opportunity to go home unsupervised. Hopefully she doesn’t get into any trouble on the way, though…

Lifting up your head with a semi-confident expression, you say, “Yeah! It’s fine. I’ll text her right now and let her know to head home without me.” Pulling your phone from your skirt pocket, you hesitantly begin typing out your message, praying that you won’t end up regretting this decision later. This is Vignette’s big day, after all, and you’re sure as heck not going to ruin that by letting her put your needs in front of her own like she always does!

“You must be quite the responsible young lady for your parents to put your sister in those very delicate hands of yours everyday.”

You immediately shriek, slapping your hand to your mouth almost as soon as the sound comes out. Turning your head to the side, you see Feather Bangs right behind you, practically whispering in your ear in his charming, soothing voice. “N-not really,” you say, hiding your phone behind your back like you’re somehow embarrassed to be texting your little sister. “My mom just doesn’t like doing it s-since her school is on my way home anyway…”

“Don’t be so quick to sell yourself short now, girl. I’m sure you protect her from all kinds of dangers everyday. Now the only question is if you’ve got someone watchin’ over you too. I wouldn’t want anyone puttin’ a single scratch on that... angelic skin of yours. Ha ha.”

“...Vignette? Help!”

You slowly begin backing away, holding up your hands as a shield between you and Feather Bangs. It’s not that you don’t appreciate what he’s saying--in fact, it’s kinda making you blush a little--but hearing that kind of talk from someone twelve leagues above you in the social hierarchy is a little more than you can handle right now.

“Oh, shoot!” Vignette says, opening up her bookbag and rummaging through it with aggravation in her voice. “Sorry, Feather, but it looks like I left my selfie stick back home. I only live a hop, skip and a jump away. You wouldn’t mind waiting for me while I go get that, would you?”

“You’re leaving us alone so you can get a stick?!” you exclaim a little more loudly than you originally anticipated. Both Feather Bangs and Vignette Valencia turn their heads towards you with an eyebrow raised, causing your whole face to burn a bright red as you anxiously giggle, rubbing the back of your neck. “I mean, I’ll keep Feather Bangs company while you’re gone.”

“No prob, girl,” the boy responds, flipping his magnificent hair. “It’ll allow more time for your friend and me to get a little more… acquainted. Ha ha.”

‘Please come back soon, Vignette.’

Sadly, Vignette doesn’t waste a moment racing away from the school as fast as she can, and now you’re stuck standing like a mannequin while some cute, famous pretty-boy is standing behind you. What do you normally do with your hands again? For that matter, what do you normally do with your face? Do you normally smile? That doesn’t sound like you, but it would be weird not to smile right now, right?

While you place your fingers to your cheeks, though, trying to find something you can do without looking like a painting, Feather Bangs walks towards a nearby bench in the school corridors. “Ahh,” he sighs, falling down comfortably and swinging one leg over his knee. “Why don’t you come take a seat, girl? You look tense.”

“Anon.” The pretty-boy raises an eyebrow before you realize that you should probably clarify. “M-my name is Anon.”

“Mine’s Feather Bangs, but I know a girl as lovely as you probably ain’t got time for all those long syllables, so you can just call me Feather.”

“...O… K?”

This whole situation is so weird and unnatural, like you’re a ballerina in the middle of a rock concert or a gamer surrounded by people who aren’t 2-dimensional fictional characters. It’s not that Feather Bangs is a bad guy, but your self-esteem isn’t quite ready to have a one-on-one conversation with him quite yet, especially when your best friend’s reputation is on the line! Still, though, doing your best to wave off your inner demons, you slowly, quietly take one step after another until you arrive at the bench next to him, sitting down as quickly as you can and staring at whatever is straight in front of you.

“Anon?”

You reflexively turn your head to make eye contact, and as soon as you see his beautiful smile, your cheeks blush a bright pink.

“Y-yes?”

“Are you… feeling OK?”

His eyes then turn to the side of your face, and following his gaze, you notice that you’re making a fist, getting ready to punch yourself in the face. It’s a nervous habit. It helps you to stop overthinking things, but probably not the best thing to do in public.

“Yeah!” you respond, trying to play it off like you were really just trying to comb your hand through your hair. “Sorry, F-Feather. I guess I’m just a little nervous without Vignette here.”

“Girl--I mean--Anon, you ain’t got nothin’ to worry about. I’m just a regular guy, only with nice hair. Ha ha.” The comment makes you inadvertently giggle, causing you to bring your hand to your mouth just in case you look weird doing it. “But you and Vignette seem pretty tight. You two best friends?”

You look down at your feet, kicking your legs back and forth. “Yeah, basically since I moved here. I don’t know what she saw in me, but I’m really happy that she decided to be friends with me. I’d be so lost here without her.”

“You a transfer student?”

“Yeah, from Ponyville. My family had to move kind of abruptly, so I was a little worried it would take me a while to adjust to the new school.”

Feather Bangs chuckles, swinging his arms behind his head like a pillow. “Same thing happened to me, if you’d believe it.”

You quickly lean forward, turning your face towards him with an eyebrow raised. “Hang on. Are you a transfer student here too?”

“Fo sho, girl. I came from this backwater place you ain’t even heard of where everybody was basically the same. We all had the same talents, nobody was more special than anyone else, and even though we was smilin’ all the time, deep down, we all knew that there had to be more to life than trying not to outshine everybody else.”

Jeez. You thought you had a rough backstory?

...Yeah, your backstory sucks too.

“My sister manipulated her classmates into tying up her school’s headmaster to a chair so she could take over the school.”

Feather Bangs immediately whips his neck towards you with a stunned look on his face. “Wait, what?”

“Yeah. She didn’t use rope, either. She used chains. Like, where does a grade schooler even get chains? What kind of kid agrees with her that that would even be a good idea? I get that she’s good at persuasion and everything, but--”

“Wait, hang on. What was she hoping would happen? Like, she takes over the school, and then what? She doesn’t need to do her homework anymore?”

“I have no freaking clue! She said she wanted to be the Empress of Friendship!”

Feather Bangs continues to look at you with a quizzical expression until finally, he breaks into emphatic laughter, holding his arms around his stomach with tears beginning to stream down his face. At first you open your mouth in offense, but after seeing him completely fall over in hilarity, you find yourself holding back your own chuckles before you join him in a crazy laughing fit.

“Alright,” he says, chuckling one more time. “I think you win that one. I can see why you’d wanna transfer after that.”

“Yeah. She says that she’s changed since then, that she’s ‘reformed’ now, but can someone really change that quickly just because of some change in scenery?”

“You tell me.” You tilt your head in confusion, but Feather Bangs just smiles in response. “You tellin’ me that you ain’t changed since you moved here?”

You put a finger to your lip, trying to think of whether or not anything’s really different about you since you came to Canterlot. Sure, you’ve made friends with Vignette--who’s done plenty to help get you out of your comfort zone--but other than that, are you any different of a person since you first moved here?

Not really.

You shake your head and say, “Not that I can think of. Maybe a little, but Cozy Glow would have to do a complete 180 for me to stop being worried. Whenever I see her at school, I feel like she’s up to the same tricks she was doing before: making friends, using one friend to meet someone else, spreading her influence as far as she can… and dropping them once they’ve filled their purpose.”

You try not to think about it, but your mind immediately goes to Silver Spoon. Has Cozy Glow already gotten everything she’s needed from her by this point? Now that she’s moving up the social ladder as far as she can go, does this mean that you won’t get to see Silver Spoon after school anymore?

“No offense, but I think you’re wrong.” You quickly turn your eyes towards Feather Bangs, who once again flashes his pearly whites with the utmost confidence. “I know at least for me, I was so scared coming here where I didn’t know anybody. The only thing I knew was that I wanted this place to be different from the last place, but I never expected to change so much in such a short amount of time. It’s only been two years since I came here, but I am who I am today because I got a fresh new start in a new place. Maybe your sister’s the same.”

You roll your eyes and slouch forward, putting your chin in your hands with your elbows on your knees. “You don’t know my sister.”

“But I know you.” Once the words leave his mouth, your eyes discreetly turn in his direction with a hint of curiosity. “At least… I’d like to.”

“...Feather Bangs…?”

“Hey heeeyyyy!”

You flinch instinctively, sitting up straight with a nervous look on your face the second Vignette’s voice enters your ears. In the next moment, you see her entering your field of view, leaning forward to catch her breath with a selfie stick in her hand. You have no idea what you’re supposed to be feeling nervous about, but just knowing that she’s here makes you cautious to continue your conversation any further.

“Sorry for the wait,” she continues. “Totes worth it for these fab pics we’re gonna take, though. You two have your cameras ready?”

“Oh,” you suddenly exclaim, holding up your hands. “No, I don’t need to be in any pictures! I mean, this whole thing was meant to be for you guys, right?”

“Come on, Anon,” Feather Bags replies, placing his hand on your shoulder, making your whole body tense up. “Ain’t no reason you can’t be in a few shots too. You’ve got SnapGab, don’t you?”

“Yeah, but…”

Before you can go on any further, though, Vignette waves a finger with her other hand on her hip. “Ah, ah, ahhh! We’ve both decided. You’re gonna take pictures with us and that. Is. Final.”

Well… Can’t say you didn’t see something like this happening.

Vignette holds out her hands to help you back up to your feet, giving you a big grin, just like the boy next to you. Even though you knew that you were going to be in at least a few pictures, however (which is why you spent so much time on your hair and makeup this morning anyway), you didn’t expect to be in more than a couple. Based on how many pictures Vignette normally takes for her social media profiles, you’d be surprised if she took fewer than a hundred today, and she wants you to be in them? With Feather Bangs?!

“Are you really sure about this?” You don’t even bother to see how they react, instead turning your eyes down to your shoes with your hand rubbing up and down your elbow. “I mean… You two are so famous already. I’m still a nobody…”

Suddenly, you feel a hand on your shoulder, and in the next moment, you feel a completely different hand on your other shoulder. Once again, you lift your head to see both of them smiling at you.

“Then I guess it’s time we change that,” Vignette says gently.

“Yeah, girl,” Feather adds. “Once the world sees who you are, they won’t be able to get enough of you.”

How… How can people be so nice to you?! What did you even do to deserve people like this in your life?! You want to deny their offer, just because you’ve done nothing worthy of being popular or successful like them, but you know they’d just make you do it anyway. Instead, you hold back a tear and nod your head, making them smile even wider.

Once again, you find yourself thankful to have Vignette as a friend. Whatever you do in your life, the one thing you know for sure is that you’ll never do anything that will ever, ever hurt her...

Hopefully…

You open your front door as quietly as you can, tiptoeing through the entrance and slowly closing it shut without making a single sound. Then, as you silently begin removing your shoes, you see the one person enter the hallway who you were reeeeeally hoping you could avoid right now.

“Uhh… Hi, mom. I’m home!”

“And just where do you think you’ve been, young lady?!”

You flinch from the piercing voice echoing in your ears. You can’t really say that you didn’t see this coming from a mile away, though.

“You know, funny story! I met a boy today, and you know how that goes sometimes, right mom? You know what I mean, mom? Why are you looking at me like that, mom?”

With a low groan, however, your mother pinches the bridge of her nose, making you bite your lip as you wonder whether you should run away now or later. “Anon, do you really not understand that when I tell you to pick up your sister and come straight home, that includes whether or not you meet any boys?”

“...You wanna see the pictures we took? I promise they look really good!”

Again, she folds her arms with a sigh, giving you that disappointed look that you hope doesn’t last long. “You’re lucky she came home with a friend today. Otherwise you’d probably be grounded right now.”

Your ears suddenly perk up. “A friend?! Who?!”

The woman in front of you, though, raises a curious eyebrow. “She’s upstairs playing with Cozy Glow right now. I don’t know why it matters, but you’re more than welcome to go see for yourself.”

“Thanks, mom! Bye, mom!”

You then race up the stairs as fast as you can, not only to avoid possibly (probably) getting your butt whooped, but also to get a certain crazy notion out of your head. Cozy Glow has tons of friends. It can’t really be her… can it? Once you reach the top of the stairs and open up the door to her room, though, your eyes widen and your heart stops.

“Heyyyy! You’re supposed to knock first, you know!”

Sitting there in her room is a girl with beautiful silver hair, large, cyan glasses, a small, fragile frame, and big, purple eyes looking up at you with curiosity. Once she sees you, though, her bewildered face begins to soften into a smile, causing your heart to melt inside your chest. Oh, and there’s also your sister, but she doesn’t look surprised as much as annoyed.

“Anon? Hey! Are you listening?”

“Hueh?” Finally, you realize that Cozy Glow has been trying to get your attention this whole time, making Silver Spoon giggle quietly. Why does that sound make your heart throb so much…? “O-oh! Sorry, Cozy Glow. I just heard that you had a friend over and wanted to see who it was.”

“Ugh. I told you, sis! I’m reformed now! You don’t have to worry about me so much anymore!”

You turn your head one more time towards Silver Spoon, who looks more than pleased to take over the conversation from here. “Maybe she should stay and play with us, just so we can prove that she has nothing to worry about.”

““WHAT?!”” you and Cozy Glow exclaim in unison.

“No way jose, Silver Spoon,” Cozy says. “This room is off limits to smelly high-schoolers.”

“B-besides,” you add quickly, “I don’t want to interrupt your tea party.”

Suddenly, your sister looks up at you with one eyebrow furrowed angrily. “Tea party?! That’s it! Get in here, Anon! We’re gonna teach you how to play Truth Cards.”

You scrunch your mouth to the side of your face, still hesitant about joining the two of them in whatever they’re doing, but once Silver Spoon pats the floor beside her, you quickly fall to your knees like a dog. In the next moment, Cozy Glow shuffles a deck of cards in her hand and fans them out so that each one is visible, displaying them in front of you and her friend.

“Alright, Anon. Pick out whichever one you want.”

You nod your head and pick out the one that looks closest to the middle, followed by Silver Spoon, who grabs one further to the right. Then, once you’ve both picked out your cards, Cozy Glow hands the deck to Silver Spoon, who then shuffles them herself and fans them out for Cozy Glow, who picks her own card seemingly at random.

“Ready, girls?” You look over at the girl next to you to see if there’s anything you’re missing, but after she nods her head, you quickly nod yours as well. “OK! Let’s see what you got!”

Cozy Glow and Silver Spoon then turn over their cards, revealing a three of clubs and a nine of spades respectively. Once you turn over your own card, though, the others gawk at what you picked out.

“Wow!” Silver exclaims. “Good job, Anon!”

“A queen already?! Seriously?!”

You look back and forth between Cozy Glow and Silver Spoon with a question mark hovering over your head. “What? What does that mean?”

“It means you have the highest-value card,” your sister explains. “The one with the highest card gets to ask a personal question to the person with the lowest card, which in this case would be…”

She doesn’t even need to finish her sentence. Once you look at the cards again, you see Silver Spoon’s eyes look up at you with a small smirk emerging on her face. You suddenly understand why the game is called “Truth Cards,” and now that things are starting to click, you feel a lump growing in your throat. Meanwhile, her smile continues to grow wider, and just trying to think of a personal question that isn’t too personal is starting to make your hands shake.

“Go ahead, Anon. You can ask me anything.”

Oh crap oh crap oh crap!! Why is there so much pressure all of a sudden?! Don’t overthink this, Anon! Just ask her anything!

“What…” you mumble, taking a big gulp before continuing. “What color is your… uh…”

As you try thinking of something, Cozy Glow puts her hand over her mouth and whispers in your ear, “Underwear! Say underwear!”

“T-toothbrush?”

Your younger half slaps her hand to her face, shaking her head while Silver Spoon chuckles softly, making your cheeks burn in embarrassment. “My toothbrush? Pink. I guess that’s technically something I’ve never told anyone before.”

“Probably because it’s so lame!” Cozy Glow says annoyedly. “OK, let’s try this again, but next time, do a good question!”

Once again, Cozy Glow shuffles her deck of cards, fans them out and allows you and Silver Spoon to grab cards at random. Then, once she’s finished, Silver Spoon grabs the deck and repeats the process for her to pick out her own card. Once you see the card you picked out, you breathe a sigh of relief knowing that you probably won’t be the one asking the question this time, but that’s when your air catches in your chest at what that probably means instead.

“Round 2! Let’s see what you’ve got!”

Cozy Glow then flips over a seven of diamonds, followed by Silver Spoon flipping over the ace of spades. You want to feel relieved that you avoided being the center of attention, but once you show the others what card you got, they begin to cackle deviantly.

“A five, huh? Sorry, sis. Guess you lose this round.”

You can’t tell who would be worse to get a question from, Silver Spoon or your sister. On the one hand, Cozy Glow would probably ask you the most personal, most embarrassing questions that the human brain could possibly conceive. On the other, though, your heart starts to beat even faster when you think of what kind of things Silver Spoon could ask you. Would they be personal? Would they be embarrassing?

Would they change her opinion of you…?

“Now, what could I possibly ask Anon?” Silver Spoon asks, placing her finger on her lip with a devilish chuckle. “Oh, I know! Have you ever kissed anyone before?”

Your eyes go wide, your cheeks burn up, and all the while, your sister falls onto her back laughing at your expense. “Good one, Silver! Well, sis? You gotta answer the question, and remember, no fibbing!”

“Er… uh… Well, you see…” You bump your index fingers together, looking down at the carpet with a gulp. “Oh! I think I hear mom calling. I’ll be right back.”

“Oh, no you don’t!” Right as you pull yourself up to your legs, Cozy Glow immediately latches onto your wrist, nearly pulling you arm out of its socket as you hastily try making your way out of her bedroom. “You knew what the rules were when you agreed to play!”

“No, I didn’t!”

“Same difference!”

Then, you feel your muscles begin to give out. Just as you were about to use all the adrenaline in your veins to rush out of Cozy Glow’s room, you hear Silver Spoon begin to crack up, quietly at first until she falls backwards, kicking her legs wildly. It doesn’t matter whether or not she’s laughing at your expense. Suddenly, you want to stay there for as long as you can, just so you can continue to hear her soft, beautiful voice. You don’t understand how she could possibly have this much power over you, yet for whatever reason, it’s working out in her favor.

Finally, kneeling back onto the floor again, you rub the back of your head and smile along with her. “No,” you say, “I still haven’t kissed anyone yet. Kinda weird for someone my age, isn’t it?”

“Are you serious?! HA!”

Now Cozy Glow’s the one rolling around laughing, yet somehow, you don’t feel the same gentle reaction when she does it. Silver Spoon, though, composes herself enough to pull herself off the floor, covering her mouth and shaking her head after getting out a couple last-minute giggles. “I don’t think it’s weird, Anon. It just means you’re waiting for someone special, right?”

“Pssh,” Cozy Glow scoffs, pulling herself back into a sitting position. “I think she’s just too scared to kiss anyone. Really, Anon. Are you telling me that at seventeen years old, you still haven’t met anyone special yet?”

‘Well, duh. Making sure you stay out of trouble basically prevents me from forming lasting relationships with people.’

Before you can make any snarky comments, though, you see Silver Spoon grabbing onto her knees, tilting her head with curiosity to the question. She’s wearing that cute, innocent smile again, and now your cheeks are burning so much that there’s no way you can say anything mean or sarcastic. You have to be strong, though! You can’t let Silver Spoon find out! Just thinking it, though, basically solidifies what you were afraid of admitting this whole time.

You really do like this girl… and it terrifies the crap out of you...

“No, Cozy Glow… I still haven’t found anyone special yet…”

The words sting like poison as they leave your mouth, making you externally cringe from having to lie to the one girl you want to impress. Then, turning away altogether, you pull yourself back up to your feet, trying not to look directly into her face, which quickly transforms into confusion. If you stay there much longer, though, you know that she’s just going to find out sooner or later. If Silver Spoon were to realize just how much you think about her… you might never be able to see her again...

“Sorry, girls,” you say, already moving towards the door. “I have a lot of homework to do.”

“Huh? Since when do you do your homework?”

“I… didn’t say anything wrong, did I?”

You pivot on your heels, reflexively looking into Silver Spoon’s eyes, which are now starting to quiver in doubt. You want nothing more than to rush over and pull her into a big hug, stroking your fingers through her hair while telling her that there’s nothing she could possibly do wrong. You know you can’t do that, though. Instead, you gulp, holding your emotions in your gut so that you can give her a big, fake smile.

“Of course not. I just have a test coming up, and I need to do as much studying as I can.”

Silver Spoon’s eyebrows continue to point upwards in concern--even though you’re pretty sure that you just did the best acting job in the history of all of Equestria--but regardless, she nods her head. Cozy Glow, meanwhile, shrugs her shoulders indifferently.

“Whatever you say, sis. Remember to knock next time, though! You scared the bejeebers out of me earlier!”

You nod in Cozy Glow’s direction before turning your attention towards Silver Spoon, hesitantly waiting for her permission to leave. Then, after she gives you a small smile that makes all the butterflies in your chest disappear, she nods her head too, finally giving you the opportunity to release the tension in your stomach. You still don’t quite get how she can rattle your brain and soothe your heart at the same time, but the more time you spend thinking about it, the more awkward it’ll be to leave.

Without wasting another moment, you walk out of Cozy Glow’s room and close the door behind you, sliding your back against the hallway wall and breathing out a long sigh of relief. That was a close call, way too close for comfort, but if you’d stayed there much longer, there’s no doubt that Silver Spoon would have caught on that you--

*bzzt!*

Suddenly, you slap your hand to your mouth right as you’re about to make an embarrassing high-pitched noise that they’d probably be able to hear from the other side of the door. After waiting a second to make sure that nobody is going to come out and catch you looking suspicious, you quietly inch along the wall to your bedroom and softly shut the door behind you. Then, pulling your phone out of your pocket, you flop onto your bed and quickly start scrolling through your notifications. Of course, not to your surprise, you see one new message from Vignette Valencia.

“Hey, girl! The pics we took turned out FLAWLESS! OMG, you look so cute in all of them! I just published mine on all my platforms, and you wouldn’t believe the following I’m getting! You need to upload yours too if you wanna start getting your own following. It’d be kinda selfish of Feather and me to get famous and leave you behind, after all.”

You silently chuckle to yourself, texting back about how you don’t need any fame until suddenly, she sends you another message… and your eyebrow raises in curiosity.

“Listen, Anon. There’s something I wanted to talk to you about… It’s Feather Bangs. After you left, he and I decided to stay and chat some more, and, well… I’m not sure how I should say this, but…”

…

“I… I think I fell in love with him, Anon. I don’t think I’ve ever had feelings this strong for anyone in my entire life. Ohhhh, I probably sound so impulsive right now. Text me back, ASAP! xoxo”

Wow. Vignette finally found someone she likes?! You knew she wouldn’t be able to resist both of Canterlot Prep’s most famous boys, but now that she’s actually found someone, it’s actually kinda exciting! You quickly begin typing a message to respond with how happy you are for her, but halfway into your message, you get another message, and your thumbs stop moving altogether.

“Hey, sorry if I made things a little weird back there. It was worth it, though. You look so cute when you’re flustered like that. Lol!”

How do people normally breathe? You normally do it so easily, but after seeing Silver Spoon’s message, you suddenly forget how your respiratory system is supposed to work. Are you supposed to use your nose or mouth? Or both at the same time? Wait, can you breathe through both at the same time?

Shoot! You’re supposed to be texting Vignette right now!

Coming back to your senses, you pull up your friend’s message again and reply, “That’s awesome! Are you gonna see him again tomorrow?”

Once you hit the send button, it only takes a matter of seconds before Vignette texts you back. “You know it! I’m actually super nervous, though. We were planning to meet up a little later after school tomorrow. Could you do me a favor and come hang out with us after you drop off your little sister? It would mean so much to me!”

Her message makes you smile. “Of course I’ll be there! You can count on me! Heart, heart, winky face emoji.”

Almost immediately, your phone buzzes again.

“Thanks, Anon! You’re the best! Don’t worry, we’ll find someone for you too!”

You roll your eyes and flip onto your back. As fun as it sounds going on double dates with Vignette and Feather Bangs, for some weird reason, the idea of dating someone from Canterlot Prep doesn’t give you the same rush as it used to. You know that it doesn’t make logical sense, considering that your long-term plans haven’t changed at all recently, but somehow, you’d be happy if things just stayed as they are now.

Then, just as you’re about to put your phone away, you feel your phone buzz again, making you lift a curious eyebrow as you bring it back up to your face, and suddenly, your chest begins to burn.

“You’re not actually doing your homework, are you?”

Does she know?! Did she somehow find out the real reason why you left? No way. That’s impossible. Just play it cool, Anon. Don’t blow your cover.

“Yeah, I am! Trigonometry, actually. When do these teachers think I’ll ever need to figure out the angle of a right triangle inside a circle?”

…

*bzzt!*

“Pics or it’s not true.”

Did she just call you out?! Crap. That means you’re actually going to have to get started on your homework after all. At least, that’s what you initially think, but after lifting your torso halfway off of your bed, you fall back down, giving up immediately.

“Aren’t you hanging out with Cozy Glow right now? What are you doing texting me?”

…

*bzzt!*

“Did you not want me to text you?”

‘Of course I do! I want to talk to you more than anything else in the world right now! I want to tell you about everything I’m feeling, everything I’m thinking about, everything that’s going on in my life. I’m just afraid you’ll find out…’

You shake your head and begin typing out your message for real. “I guess so long as she isn’t getting ignored it’s fine.”

“Then let’s play Truth Cards some more! Lol!”

Your face immediately turns red, but somehow, you’re still smiling. Even though you’re embarrassed and self-conscious, you aren’t nervous. Just so long as she doesn’t find out about you or your feelings, you should be fine talking to her as much as you want, so please Silver Spoon, for the love of Celestia…

‘...Don’t find out.’

Author's Note

Did any of you actually try breathing from your nose and mouth at the same time?