Friday, February 5, 2016
Friday, February 5, 2016
Today's Horoscope (Virgo): Someone close to you has a secret they may choose to confide in you.
Early Morning
At breakfast, Sonata is still in her pajamas.
"Uhh...Sonata? Shouldn't you get ready for school?" Twilight asks.
Sonata picks up her tablet and writes on it.
I've got a doctor's appointment and a physical therapy session today.
"Oh. Okay."
After breakfast, Twilight and I walk Spike. The ground is still damp and muddy, so keeping him from getting completely filthy is a challenge. "I've been talking to everybody," Twilight says. "We're going to Zodiac on Sunday."
"Good." I grimace. "I could use the exercise. I think all this skipped tennis practice is messing with me."
"Skipped?" Twilight asks.
"I didn't tell you? The court's trashed. It won't be fixed until next week."
"Oh." She yanks on Spike's leash. "No!"
Spike reels back from the mud he was about to dive into and whines.
After School
Since the tennis court is still being resurfaced, I head back to the dorm. I feel like having a snack, but there's nothing in my own stash that appeals to me, so I head downstairs to root around in the kitchen.
As soon as my feet hit the bottom of the stairs, the front doors open and Sonata bounds in, a huge smile on her face. She sees me and rushes over to me, grabbing me by the shoulders and jumping up and down.
"You're in a good mood," I say.
Sonata nods rapidly, her head bouncing up and down like a ping pong ball.
"I was about to fix a snack," I say. "Wanna join me and tell me what you're so excited about?"
Sonata grins and nods. Then she steps back and waves her arms over herself. I blink. "What?"
She rolls her eyes and slaps me upside the head, then pulls her tablet out of the knapsack slung over her shoulder.
I'm out of the wheelchair, you dummy!
...Oh!!
"Wow, congrats!" I hug her. "I didn't notice because you only use it at school and stuff..."
I head to the kitchen and search for something decent to snack on. We have pizza rolls. I microwave enough for both of us. We head to the lounge with them; I turn on the TV. "So, this is a big thing for you," I say.
Sonata is bouncing in her chair with excitement.
Yeah, getting rid of that wheelchair makes me feel a little more normal. You have no idea how sick of that thing I was getting.
"So, planning on trying to join any of the spring season teams now that you're up and around?"
Sonata shakes her head, grimacing.
I'm not big on sports. I hate getting sweaty.
"But you'll do something to keep in shape, right?"
Of course! I've already gained five pounds since the crash.
She looks at her pizza rolls.
This isn't helping, but I'll burn these off in no time now that I can run around silly and everything like I used to.
"Run around silly and everything?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. Sonata giggles sheepishly.
That's what Aria used to say, anyway.
She sighs.
I kinda miss the way she used to diss me.
"That's a strange thing to miss, but...I think I get what you're saying."
Sonata sighs.
If only...
"If only your sisters were still here?"
She looks down at her lap. A moment later, she looks up. She writes something on her tablet, very slowly.
Can you keep a secret?
"Of course."
She looks hesitant, but after a minute, she writes:
I should've been driving that night. If I had...they'd still be alive, and I'd still have my voice.
"What do you mean?"
Sonata sighs heavily.
Adagio was driving that night...drunk.
"Oh my God..."
Sonata nods.
I'm the only one who knows, because they blamed the other guy for the accident, and...well...
She swallows heavily.
I...I couldn't bring myself to tell anybody the truth.
She sets her tablet and her plate aside and puts her face in her hands.
"You didn't want anybody to know..."
She nods miserably.
"And they didn't find out when they did the investigation?"
Sonata shakes her head.
There were only two witnesses, and they both said the other guy ran a red light. They didn't really look into it too deep.
I sigh. "You'll have to tell someone the truth eventually. Your mom, for one."
Sonata sniffles.
Why? I'm the only one who survived the crash.
"But the other driver..." I trail off at her expression. "Oh."
Yeah.
She sighs.
Can you blame me for not telling anybody? I don't want the last memory everybody has of my sister to be her killing three people and crippling me.
She looks down.
And...and I'm scared.
I sigh. "Your secret's safe with me."
She looks up at me, a guilty expression on her face.
You don't think any less of me, do you? For lying about what happened?
I shrug. "Honestly? I...can't say I wouldn't do the same thing in your place. It's an awful situation."
The Broken Bird Social Link of the Death Arcana has reached rank 5!
Your power to create Personas of the Death Arcana has grown!
I stand up and stretch. "Want some more pizza rolls?"
Sonata smiles.
Sure, why not.
We eat some more pizza rolls, then I grab my guitar and amp and bring them down to the lounge to practice. The others trickle in over the next hour or so, some sitting to listen to me play.
Evening
At dinner, everybody congratulates Sonata on being out of the wheelchair. The overall mood is cheerful and happy, and Sonata's earlier revelation to me didn't dim her good cheer for very long.
After dinner, we all sit in the lounge to watch TV.
There's a few good shows on Friday night that are all on the same channel. Every single commercial break, there are two commercials for something called Tiderippers. By the third ad break, it's getting pretty annoying.
After an hour, Rainbow Dash lets out a scream of frustration. "I hate when they do that! Why do they gotta show that thing twice every break?"
"It's pretty annoying, yeah," Pinkie says.
Twilight frowns. "It's...counterproductive," she says. "By overpromoting something, they make people lose interest in it because they're so disgusted with all the ads..."
"Yeah..."
I have no plans for tomorrow, so I stay up late watching TV with whoever's still up.
