It had been a day since Paul's lunch and discussion with Joe at Mario's. Despite Joe's poking fun at him and saying that he and Apple Bloom were secret coltfriend and fillyfriend, He honestly did have some thoughts about him and Apple Bloom but he was unsure about these thoughts so he just decided to put them out his mind... by buying about 50 bits worth of weed and about two packs of beer then getting cross faded in his bedroom that evening. Of course he never really needed an excuse to get high or drunk...or in this case both. He just didn't think that anything would work between them and he just wanted to forget.

The alarm clock that morning felt unusually loud, less monotonous beeping and more Nuclear War Air Raid Siren. Paul's bloodshot eyes whipped open and looked upon his digital alarm clock with furious anger has he attempted to shut off the alarm clock but could not. Then he pulled out every expletive in the book, "Motherfucking, cock-sucking, son of bitch, fag, bastard, motherfucker!" before finally ripping the alarm clock out of the socket and standing up. "Fucking piece of shit...." he said before he flung it at the wall, "FUCK YOU!" he yelled before he grabbed a number of beer bottles sitting on the nightstand next to his table, yelling "FUCK YOU!" three times each as he threw three bottles at the wall where he had thrown the alarm clock.

He was about to throw a fourth one when saw it still had some beer in it. Not one to waste alcohol, he downed the liquid before tossing the bottle at the spot on the wall. "Fucker...." he uttered. He walked downstairs with his eyes squinting like Clint Eastwood, into the kitchen where he plugged the sink hole and turned on the faucet. While he let it run, he walked over to the freezer with a couple of glasses which he filled from the ice dispenser and dumped them in the sink which was now full. He shut off the faucet and stood before the sink for 3 minutes before plunging his head into the icy bath. After about 10 seconds of having his head submerged in the icy bath, he pulled his soaking head out and screamed, "GODDAMN FUCKING SHIT ON MY FATHER'S BALLS!!!" He shook his head out before unplugging the sink and walking back up to his room.

After about 30 minutes he came down stairs, wearing his usual outfit with the T-shirt for today reading, "Shit Happens When You Party Naked." He wasn't wearing his hat because he had gotten a haircut before he got fucked up last night. He was rather fond of spiking his hair. He liked having a little punk look to him. Made other ponies less likely to fuck with him. Before he sauntered out the door, he put on his sunglasses. He had the feeling he was going to be wearing those all day today.....

About 20 minutes later Paul was walking through the halls of Oxton High when he looked at his digital watch to see that it read: '10:34'. "Awwww, Christ." He muttered remembering that he was supposed to walk Apple Bloom to class like he always did. "Shit....I'm going to have to make this up to her." He thought as he turned the handle of the door to his math class and walked in. On cue, all the students and Joe looked to the door to see him walk in. The teacher also looked over and said, "Nice of you to join us, Paul."

At this Paul brought his hand to his temple and yelled, "LOUD!!!...You're too loud." As he walked to his desk.

"Might I suggest you lay off your 'late nights' so you can come to class on time..." The teacher scolded.

Paul sat down and leaned his head back saying, "I'll take that under advisement."

Joe chuckled to himself, he knew that "I'll take it under advisement" was Paul's way of saying "Fuck off, asshole." without actually saying it. The teacher, not realizing this, went back to her lesson plan as Joe leaned over and said, "Want to talk about it?"

Not moving, Paul just said "Not really but since your probably just going to annoy the shit out of me until I do, we'll meet after class...let me know what happens with the lecture." He murmured before sleep overtook him.

Joe sighed as he went back to listening to the lecture....

The Lunch bell rang on cue, causing Paul to grimace. His time asleep in class had made him less sensitive to noise so now it was just annoying. "You coming man?" Joe inquired as he stood up from his desk and began to file out of class with the rest of the students.

Paul looked up, "Give me a minute man. I'll be out directly."

"Alright, I'll be getting something from my locker. Meet me there." Joe replied

"Okay..." Paul uttered before laying his head down.

After about 3 minutes, Paul stood up and walked out the classroom. It took a minute to get through the hallway where both his and Joe's lockers’ were located. As he approached, he heard the familiar sound of banging and swear words that became a regular occurrence around this time of day. "Joe must be having trouble with his locker...AGAIN..." he uttered to no one in particular. He rounded the corner to see that he was indeed correct for Joe kicking his locker. "Jesus man, your locker looks like hammered shit." Paul said with a tired smile on his face.

"Funny...the same could be said for you man." Joe replied smiling as well. "Little help?"

"What? Scootaloo's not around to open for you and make awkward conversation?" Paul chuckled as he knew he could always push Joe's buttons about his past cluelessness about Scootaloo's crush on him.

"You gonna help me here, or are you just going to make smart remarks?" Joe said.

"All right. What's the combo?" Paul asked as he grasped the combination lock.

"12, 22, 36" Joe replied. Paul went to work imputing the combination but found himself unable to open the lock.

"Damn you combination lock! Open up! How dare you disobey me!" He scowled upon his failure. He repeated the task 3 times before saying, "Fuck this shit man." Then stepping over to his locker.

"What are you doing man?" Joe asked

"Getting something to help with that lock." He said as he opened his locker to reveal a guillotine blade that dropped down.

"Sweet Jews for Jesus, Paul! Why the fuck do you have a guillotine built into your locker!?" Joe incredulously asked.

"A number of reasons my dear Joe...." Paul said adopting a Sherlock Holmes accent, "First, I'm not for idle threats." he said pointing to the graffiti on his locker door, "And second, I saw it in a movie once and I thought it looked cool.

Joe stood there before saying, "Paul....you're scaring me."

"What can I say?" Paul said as he reached into his locker and pulled out a large hammer while giving Joe a particularly creepy Kubrick Stare. "I'm a scary guy.....You might want to stand aside..." Joe did so, continuing to give Paul a weird look.

"Let's take that hill! AHHHHHHHH!!!!" Paul yelled before charging the locker with hammer. He took one large swing at the lock, before it busted and gave way. Both Paul and Joe stood there dumbfounded for a minute. "Holy shit, it worked." Paul said matter-of-factly. "Well...." he said as he reached into his locker reveal a new combination lock which he tossed to Joe. "Here ya go man, this should be a bit better than that school spec shit."

"Has anyone ever told that you that you're totally and completely fucking insane?" Joe asked as he switched out his books in his now open locker before closing it and locking it with the new lock.

Paul looked up in introspection, "Uhhhhhhhhh......no, not since Tuesday."

"Looney." Joe replied. "Anyway, why did you come into class late and looking like death warmed over?"

"Oh that old chestnut?" Paul said as he leaned against his now closed locker, "Remember how you were teasing about Apple Bloom?"

"Oh yeah..." Joe said as a wicked grin came across his face, "So how was it? Did you do it in the hay?"

"Fuck you man." Paul shot back.

"What? She does have that Farmer's Daughter charm to her." Joe smirked as he elbowed Paul.

"Fuck....you....Keep it up and I'll start cracking jokes about you and Applejack." Paul said with a small smile of his own.

"Really man? I get enough of that from Dandelion and the rest of the guys on the team...." Joe replied in an exasperated voice.

"I can imagine the first time you two did it....You're working out the field, and Applejack was watching you from the window and she couldn't take it any more...She wanted you. So you come in and she's sitting on the couch with her shirt undone a little bit with a 'come hither' look on her face, so you sputter like an idiot about how Big Mac's gonna be back soon. She says he won't and plays dumb to your questions until you say, "Ms. Applejack, you're trying to seduce me.......aren't you?" Paul said in his best Dustin Hoffman voice.

"Okay, here's a change of pace....Fuck you man." Joe scowled. "Anyway......I was in the middle of asking you why you came in late, looking like shit....speaking of which...nice T-shirt, very tasteful." Joe said sarcastically.

"Hey, It's not like it's not true is it?" Paul replied with a smile on his face to the very unamused Joe. "Yeah, yeah....anyway I actually got to thinking about me and Apple Bloom after lunch yesterday. Pretty soon the idea of us kept running through my mind like a coked-up rabbit. And I wanted it to stop. So I got fucked up. That's pretty much the long and short of it." Paul said matter-of-factly.

"Why are you doing this to yourself? She's a nice girl and she likes you, go out with her, I'm sure it would do you both some good." Joe replied

"Because man, it just wouldn't work out....believe me. Speaking of going somewhere, I was planning on taking her to Sugarcube Corner for a coffee as a way to say "Sorry for leaving your ass hanging in the wind." Paul said

"Paul?" They heard a voice say. They both looked to see Apple Bloom running towards them.

"Speak of the devil." Joe chuckled.

"The devil, the devil indeed." Paul replied jokingly.

All of sudden Apple Bloom plowed into Paul enveloping him in a huge hug. "I missed yah!" she laughed.

Paul was a bit taken aback by her reaction and he looked over at Joe to see him giving a smug smile with a raised eyebrow. Paul just mouthed "Ms. Applejack, you're trying to seduce me." which quickly wiped the smile off of Joe's face leaving Paul to smirk at his victory.

Apple Bloom looked up from hugging Paul to say, "Where were yah today?"

"I had long night last night kid. Been feeling like hell all day." He informed her as he rubbed the back of his head. "Listen....let make up for leaving you hanging today. I was going to go Sugarcube Corner for some Coffee. Why don't you come with me?" Paul offered.

"Oh....Ah don't really drink coffee..." Apple Bloom replied while heavily blushing and her heart going a mile a minute.

"Really?.....Big Mac wakes you up at the ass crack of dawn and you don't have a cup of coffee? Well, It's a good thing I'm taking you because Pinkie Pie makes mean cup of coffee." He said.

"Okay...." she said still heavily blushing.

Paul leaned in close to her face as thoughts began racing through her mind, What's he doing? Is he gonna kiss me? she thought as her eyes began to slowly shut.

"You've got red on you." he replied.

Her eyes shot open and she tried getting whatever it was that was on her face when she realized he was talking about her blushing. This caused it to practically get turned up to 11.

"Relax kid, I'm just pulling your chain. Come on." He laughed playfully, signaling for her to follow which she promptly did.

"See ya later Casanova!" Joe yelled.

"See you later Braddock!" Paul replied.

"Braddock?" Apple Bloom inquired as they walked out the front door of the school.

"Just a little inside joke. Listen, wait for a few minutes. I'm going to go get my vehicle." Paul said.

"Yah have a vehicle?" Apple Bloom asked confusedly.

"Well sure, you didn't think Joe was the only one here with a set of wheels did you? How do you think I usually manage to beat the school carriage here?" Paul replied. "Anyway, I'll be right back. I parked down the street a little ways. I don't really like ponies gawking at it." He said before walking down the front steps of the school, across the front lot, and down a connecting street.

As he walked away, Apple Bloom let out a loving sigh. If there was one thing she loved, it was getting to see Paul walk away.

"Well, Well, Well, look who's without her guard dog." Apple Bloom heard. She whipped around to see Diamond Tiara flanked by Silver Spoon and a couple of new colt friends.

"Ah don't think yah have much room talk about that Tiara." She said while motioning to the colts behind Tiara and Silver Spoon.

"So what are you doing out here? His contract up? He only follow you in scheduled shifts?" Diamond Tiara taunted.

"If yah must know, he's taking me tah Sugarcube Corner fer coffee." Apple Bloom said smugly.

"Really? What did you do? Slip him something in a drink like you did with your brother and Cheerilee?" Tiara shot back.

This had struck home on Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara knew it. "You probably did, didn't you? That's the only way you can get some is by slipping something in colt's drinks." It was at this point that Apple Bloom was about ready cry........

It had taken about 5 minutes to get there, but Paul rounded a nearby street corner to see his truck:......... The 1985 Toyota Hilux Xtra Cab 4X4 SR5, 3.0 Liter, 5 speed, 2 door Pickup. A smile crept across Paul's face as he unlocked the truck and sat in driver's seat.

"You miss me baby?" He asked as he turned the ignition and the engine roared to life. "Yes you did..." He answered with grin.

He shifted in to gear and drove off down the street and turned left on the road that led back to the school. As he pulled up to the intersection near the school, he could see Diamond Tiara giving guff to Apple Bloom and winning. "That...fucking bitch. She just cannot go without stirring the pot..." Then an idea went through his mind and he had a devilish grin. "Well honey, I think we should give them a show. Don't you?" He revved the engine at this and said, "I think so as well." as he put on his Ray Ban Aviators and turned on some music.

Diamond Tiara was hammering away at Apple Bloom when all of a sudden they heard the sound of tires squealing and the sound of loud hard rock music. They looked over and saw a large black truck race around the street corner before swinging into the front school lot and screeching to a halt in front of the school steps. They all watched in awe as Paul stepped out of the driver's side wearing his sunglasses and looked to Apple Bloom. "Yo! Apple Bloom! Babe! Time to Go!" before he got back in and opened the passenger door. Apple Bloom happily ran down the steps and jumped into the truck and shut the door.

Paul looked out the passenger window at Diamond Tiara and said to Apple Bloom loud enough she could hear them, "She wasn't bothering you now was she?" as he gave a threatening look towards Tiara which caused her noticeable discomfort.

Apple Bloom looked over to Tiara and gave smug smile, "No.....they were just leaving..."

Paul leaned over to her and whispered, "This'll really stick in her craw.." He said before giving her a small peck on the cheek. It had its desired effect, Tiara's jaw dropped so low it looked like it was going to detach from the rest of her body and Apple Bloom's face turned extremely red

‘He.......kissed me....’ she thought before the internal squeeing commenced.

‘I'll admit she is pretty cute when she's flustered.’ Paul thought before deciding to throw one last quip at Tiara.

"So long Dracula! Whoop! Whoop!" Paul yelled as he slammed on the accelerator and zipped out of the parking lot and down the street as Apple Bloom giggled in excitement.

As she watched the truck speed away down the road, Tiara finally spoke, "That fucking bitch!" She yelled as inexplicable black bar covered her mouth on the "fucking" bit accompanied by the sound of a dial up modem.

"How are you doing that with your mouth?" Silver Spoon asked.

"Shut the fuck up Silver Spoon." as the black bar and dial up sound returned.......

Author's Note

Here's Paul's truck...It should look familiar to you....

For those of you who don't know what a Kubrick Stare is....look it up on TV Tropes.