I sat in Lights' living room, waiting for him to finish his pacing.

"You're gay. I was there when the whole 'Vinyl is gay' thing got huge. You don't do stallions. That's the whole point of you being gay."

"Well, I...changed my mind," I lied. The thought of dating a stallion disgusted me. I would rather be with Bee Bop again than date Lights.

"So...you're serious? You wanna try going out with me?"

"Yeah, I do." Another lie. Lights bought it. I could have been a spy pony. Agent Vinyl Scratch, master of deception. I blinked, trying to clear my head. Lights seemed to be doing the same thing. He blinked. I waited. He blinked again. I waited some more.

"So you don't like Octavia? Cuz I had like, 500 bits on you guys hooking up."

"You were betting on my relationship life?" If it had been any other ponies, I would have found it amusing. Since it was me, I was disgusted.

"Not the point. The point is, everypony on campus thinks you're hot for that cellist. If you're suddenly with me..."

"Well then those ponies can just eat their non-existent pants. Now, are you gonna go out with me or not?" I bit my tongue. It had never really occured to me that Lights might actually have another marefriend, or that he might not even like me at all. Lights grinned and slung a hoof around my shoulders.

"Course I would, Scratchie. Now, does the fun part come now or later?" I shook his hoof off me and hit him on the forehead.

"Later, if ever. And don't call me 'Scratchie'."

"Alright, alright." Lights rolled his eyes. He glanced over at the clock on his wall and his eyes popped out. "It's like, three in the morning. There's no way you can get back on campus in time to get any sleep. Wanna crash here? You can sleep on the couch."

"Gonna let your marefriend sleep on the couch?" I teased, trying to ignore the fact that I was Lights' marefriend now.

"All right, all right, you can sleep in the bed with me." Lights winked. I shot him a look and he laughed. "Joking. You can take the guest bed. I had one put in when I got to The Academy. Down the hall to the left. It has its own bathroom, too."

"Thanks, Lights." I smiled. "You're the coolest."

"I know," Lights smirked. I used magic to throw a couch pillow at him as I walked down the hall.

The guest room was small with a black bed and white walls. It looked really boring, but it was fine to crash in for the night.

"What time do you need to be up by? I'll get us a taxi to The Academy instead of walking."

"Uh, whatever time is fine," I called back, poking my head into the bathroom. There was a small shower, a brush, a mirror, and a hole in the ground for toilet uses. I turned the water on and waited for the room to fill with steam. Leaving my glasses on the sink, I stepped into the shower, letting the hot water pour over my mane. The water felt great and I sighed in content. I was happy. I missed having Octavia in my life, but I was convinced I could be happy. I wanted Octavia. I needed Octavia. I couldn't have Octavia.

Shut up, Scratch, I said to myself as I lathered shampoo into my mane. You'll never have Octavia. She hates you.

I let the water wash away the shampoo and coated myself in magic. The water dried off instantly and I collapsed into bed. It was soft, but the room smelled too much like paint. My old room smelled like lavender.

No, do not think of Octavia and her sexy lavender body wash. I scolded myself. Lavender was nice, but paint would have to do. Octavia wasn't my friend anymore. She was moving dorms. She would live with Lyra. I would never smell her lavender-scented goodness again.

The bed seemed to grow softer the longer I lay there. My eyelids grew heavy, but I couldn't sleep. I had grown used to Octavia playing her cello at night. I missed the sound of that stupid instrument almost as much as I missed Octavia.

Scratch, stop thinking about Octavia! I sighed and turned over in bed, trying to concentrate on other things like the fact that I had a coltfriend. I held back a groan. The whole point of being a fillyfooler was that I did not, under any circumstance, do stallions.

You were with Lights once, I reminded myself. Drunk and confused, but you still slept with him.

"Shut up, brain!" I half-screamed into the pillow. The room stayed silent and paint-smelling. I turned again and tried to get comfortable. Lights turned off the lights in the hall. I closed my eyes. Lights collapsed in his bed across the hall with a loud squeak.

"Night, Scratch!" Lights called from his room. The remaining light that came in from underneath the door went out and the room went completely dark.

"Night, Lights," I muttered. I turned in the bed again and tried to fall asleep.