“Wake up, sleepy head!” A high pitched voice chimed.

“It’s too early for this…” The lump in the dark green sheets groaned.

“It’s already seven thirty! We have to be there for eight!” She argued.

The lump turned over. “I’m fully aware.”

Suddenly, the warm quilt was torn away from him. The warmth of the night was replaced with the cool air of day. The teenaged boy sat bolt upright, looking for where his blanket went. He did not have to search long.

“Looking for something?” A young blonde girl asked innocently, hardly trying to hide the green quilt behind her back.

He moaned. “Will you stop?”

“Only after you get up.” She stuck out her tongue.

“I’m up!” He hissed.

“Well then, prove it!” Still clutching the blanket, she ran from his room, leaving him chilly and tired on the bed.

He pulled his blue t-shirt down over his exposed stomach and kicked his legs, sporting a pair of plain grey sweat pants, over the side of the bed. Brushing back his dark brown hair, he sighed at his sister’s weirdness and stood up.

“Light,” He called out, standing still, “I want to be able to make my bed.”

“That’s hard to do without a quilt!” His sister, First Light called back. “C’mon, Rivet! Find me!”

Rivet’s head rolled back, letting a painful crack out as he groaned loudly. “Please?”

“Why didn’t you just ask in the first place?” First Light slid around the doorway and dropped the quilt on the floor. “Now, mom wants you to get dressed and have a little breakfast. Then she’ll drop us off at school. Happy first day!” She grabbed his hand and dropped a muffin into it with a candle sticking out before running excitedly out of the room. “Make a wish!”

Rivet was left alone in his room. Though, it was hardly his room. Since he had just recently moved in, most of his belongings were still in cardboard boxes scattered around the room. Only his furniture, such as his bed and bedside table, had made it out already. The floor was a dark brown carpet, and the walls were a bland off-white colour.

As soon as she was gone, Rivet looked down at the muffin with a little smile tugging at his lips. His sister may have been a pain when she woke him up, but she was thoughtful. He blew out the candle and pulled it out of the muffin before chewing on the pastry. It was even his favourite flavour. He had a hard time staying mad at her. Maybe it was her bubbly personality, or the fact that she was the only friend he had been able to keep in the move, but she always knew what to do to make him smile.

Quick as he could, Rivet pulled on a grey t-shirt with wings and a cog on it, as well as his dark blue cargo pants. He quietly made his way down the stairs into the kitchen, where his mother was sitting at the kitchen desk with a coffee, reading the newspaper. Rivet looked over to to the coffee pot, which was still half full, and retrieved his favourite mug, one his father had gotten him.

As he mixed his coffee with a light tinkling noise, his mother noticed him in the room and looked up. “Good morning, Rivet.”

“Mornin’, Mum.” Rivet grinned slightly, raising the mug to his lips and taking a sip. “Where’s Dad?”

“He’s already at work.” She replied, before looking down at her crossword.

“Already?” Rivet turned to the clock to confirm the time. It vividly read ‘7:29 AM, October 11’. He muttered something to himself about his sister lying about the time before looking back to his mother.

“It’s becoming the new trend, but they need him.” She smiled. “That’s why we’re here.”

Rivet nodded, leaning back on the counter, observing the morning light drifting in the window. The peace of the morning made him want to just lay back and watch the day bloom, but before he could totally lose himself in the beauty of the new day, his mother brought reality back in.

“C’mon, Rivet.” His mother stood up. “I’m gonna go get ready for work, and hopefully your sister will be ready in time to leave. You finish up here and get your jacket.”

“Sure thing, mum.” Rivet turned back to the window, but the sight had lost its captivating air now that he knew he would leave it. Finishing his coffee in silence, Rivet dropped his mug in the sink and headed over to the closet to grab his jacket.

He quickly found his green jacket, dusted off the epaulettes and threw it on. While he was getting comfortable, his mother came down the stairs and looked at him, then to her watch, and then back at him.

“Have you seen your sister?” She cocked her head, pointing a thumb back up the stairs.

“No.” Rivet shook his head. “Last I checked she was up there, getting ready.”

“That girl…” His mother bounced back up the stairs, returning nearly a minute later.

“She up there?” Rivet asked.

“She can’t seem to find which hairpin represents her.” His mother groaned.

Rivet walked up the stairs, giving his mother a pat on the shoulder as he passed her. He knocked twice on his sister’s door and waited for an answer.

“Just one more minute!” First Light pleaded innocently through the door. “I almost found it!”

“Why not the one shaped like the sun?” Rivet smiled. “You know, like a metaphor. It’s a new school and a new day. Start it off with a sun.”

Silence was her reply for a solid ten seconds until her door swung inwards, revealing her attire for the day. She wore a light blue shirt and white pants, her sneakers squeaked slightly as she walked out. Her blonde hair was brushed, but still stuck up in places, giving it an orderly chaos look. To top it off, a red and yellow sun pin sat off to one side of her head.

“Perfect!” First Light called. “I’m ready to go!”

They all filed out into the car before motoring away to the school.

Rivet had to keep looking down at his schedule to find the right classroom for period one. Canterlot was a huge school, and he was finding it very easy to get lost. It was a hard enough time to find his locker, but the classroom was a completely different story.

Stopping in the middle of the hall, Rivet shook his head in frustration at his inability to find his class. But when he looked up, he saw the room number he needed, and found an empty seat at the back of the class.

Looking around, he began to question if he really was in the right classroom. Some of the students were shouting across the room at each other, throwing things back and forth. There were students who obviously came expecting a tough class, sitting quietly at their desks. Rivet was in neither category. He was still tired from the morning, so he rested his elbows on the desk and let his head hang slightly.

The boys in the desk just in front of him and the desk to the right of that one were chatting quietly. Not whispering, but at least quieter than the ones shouting at each other. Rivet had no intention of joining in the conversation, so just stared off into space towards the front of the classroom until the bell rang.

The loud banging of metal on metal caused Rivet to shake his head and start eyeing the front of the class, scanning for a teacher. There was no teacher, and the students continued talking loudly. Rivet was a little confused, had he really heard the bell at all?

Suddenly, a young woman with dark blue skin and flowing hair entered the door, sitting quietly at the teacher’s desk and staring into space the way Rivet had been. She waited for the class to settle down and have a seat, but to no avail.

The woman turned to the loudest and rowdiest student who was in the act of throwing a ball of paper like a professional pitcher to another student at the back of the class. “You. Detention.”

He choked on the throw, the ball of paper sailing through the air and hitting a girl at the back of the class on the head. “What?” The room suddenly became very quiet.

“Detention.” The woman maintained her calm demeanor.

“What for?”

“One, for not going to your desk-let’s see-four minutes past the bell.” She nodded at the clock. “Two, disrupting the class with your shouting. Three, for throwing things in class. And four, for hitting another student with a ball of paper.”

“But I wasn’t the only one.” He raised his arms.

“Unfortunate that you were the first one I saw.” She raised an eyebrow. “Unless you want another detention, Brad.”

His head dropped. “No, Vice Principal Luna.”

“Good. Now have a seat.” She then stood up. “As you heard, my name is Vice Principal Luna.” Luna turned and wrote her name on the board, making it official. “I am filling in for your teacher today, who is away for personal reasons. I don’t know how long she will be away, but I will be in charge until then. As your new English teacher, I will be teaching ‘By The Book.’” Luna paused for a recognition of her poor attempt at humour before moving on. “As it just so happens, we have a new student joining us today.”

Rivet slumped down in his seat, silently begging to stay where he was. His eyes staring so intently at his desk, it was almost like he hoped his eyes would hold him there.

“So, I hope that you will all give a warm welcome to our new student, Rivet. Will you come up to the front?” Luna’s eyes scanned the class for the new student.

Rivet almost groaned, but composed himself and stood up. His shoes awkwardly tapped across the tile floor to the front. When he reached the teacher’s desk, Luna gave him a comforting smile before motioning for him to turn to the class.

“Tell us about yourself. Where are you from?” Luna prompted him.

“I’m-” a voice crack caused Rivet to cough, clearing his throat. Some of the students laughed quietly. “I’m Rivet. I just moved here from up north because my dad got transferred.”

Luna nodded. “Thank you, Rivet. I hope you enjoy your experience here at Canterlot High.”

Rivet nodded back, shoved his hands in his pockets and walked back to his desk.

“Alright, class. Turn in your books to the last chapter for some silent reading.”

Rivet dropped his shoulder bag in the foyer and walked into the kitchen. It had been a pretty long first day. Each of his teachers insisted on getting him to introduce himself to the class, his only break was his study period at the end of the day. He didn’t really talk to anyone other than apologizing whenever he bumped into people.

“How was your day?” His mother asked.

“Fine.” Rivet shrugged and turned to head up to his room.

“How about you, Lighty?” She turned to First Light, who had been a short way behind Rivet on the walk home, chatting happily with two girls she met on the bus.

“It. Was. Awesome!” First Light squealed. “Oh my gosh! There are so many cool things at the school, like this one…” Rivet was unable to hear the rest of her explanation as he closed his door.

Sitting down on his bed, he reached next to his bed and pulled up an acoustic guitar his father had given him for Christmas one year. It was a parlour guitar, a slightly smaller size than a usual guitar, so it could be kept in a room with less clutter. He strummed a chord and frowned, plucked every string, tuned them to their proper sound, and strummed the chord again. Content with the sound, he started playing some songs from memory, quietly sitting on the corner of his bed.

When the first song ended, unfortunately on a sour note, Rivet thought for a moment and began playing another song. He went on like that for nearly an hour until a knock came at his door, causing him to mute his guitar with his palm and listen.

“Rivet?” First Light called through the door. “Hello?”

“Yeah?” Rivet replied, leaning the guitar against the bed.

“Can I come in.” First Light asked, turning the knob and poking her head into the room.

“Sure, thanks for asking.” Rivet raised an eyebrow. “What’s up?

“Were you playing guitar?” She asked innocently, pretending not to see the guitar next to him.

Rivet looked over at the instrument. “Yes. I was.”

“Can…” First Light swayed on her heels, “Can I try?”

Rivet grinned slightly. This wasn’t the first time she had asked to try playing guitar. She went through waves of trying different things, eventually coming to music and wanting to try guitar once in a while. Once it was dancing. Once it was magic, then juggling, then magic again. Most of her hobbies lasted about a week, and then she became bored, deciding it wasn’t her special talent this time.

Of course, she’d try again later.

“Sure.” Rivet held out the guitar by the neck for her to take.

First Light held it awkwardly in her hands before sitting down next to Rivet and playing the few chords she knew. The chords were off key, she was strumming hard, and her rhythm was off, but Rivet kept it to himself. She played for nearly thirty seconds before handing the guitar back to Rivet with a broad smile on her face.

“Thanks, Riv.”

“No problem,” Rivet replied, laying the guitar across his lap.

“Can you play a song?” She asked.

“Which one?”

“Any of them.” She shrugged. “Pick one.”

Rivet sighed. That question was like asking a person to say something in another language. You could say anything, but you seemed to forget every word in the language the second the question was asked. It didn’t matter what he played, but he had no idea what to play. Rivet thought long and hard before deciding on a song to play.

He cut it short, and he left out a part, but he didn’t feel like playing the song for its full duration. Regardless, First Light swayed to the rhythm and, once he was done, she stood up. Suddenly, they heard their names being called by their mother.

“Oh, right,” First Light squeaked, “Mom wanted me to tell you it was dinner time.”

Rivet shook his head and dropped the guitar next to his bed, following his little sister. When he came to the kitchen, Rivet looked in either direction around the room.

“Where’s dad?” he asked.

“Dad had to work late,” his mother explained, “he said to go ahead without him. He doesn’t know when he’ll be back.”

Rivet looked down, but proceeded to the table, taking his usual seat across from his sister, who was bouncing in her seat, excitedly awaiting their mother. The table had been set with three bowls and a spoon for each. Eventually, their mother came over from the oven with a steaming pot of soup.

“I haven’t had a chance to go shopping yet, so we’re still stuck with canned food from the move. I hope that’s okay.” Their mom smiled.

“Of course.” Rivet grinned back.

“As long as it makes my tummy stop growling at me.” First Light grabbed her stomach dramatically. “Of course it’s fine, mom. You make the best canned soup!” She giggled.

Their mother chuckled and poured the soup. “Okay, then.”

That night, Rivet lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. He hadn’t seen his father all day. He should have been used to it, it wasn’t the first time his father had to work from the early morning until late at night. Just because he was used to it didn’t mean he had to like it, though.

Ideally, Rivet would have liked to stay up until his dad got in, but he needed his rest, and he had no idea when he would be back. Rivet rolled onto his side and stared at the wall, wishing sleep would take him. Unfortunately, it seemed his mind had other ideas as he found it impossible to close his eyes for even a second.

Was it the excitement of a new school? Probably not. Was it the idea of a new house? Not likely. Then what could it be?

He gave up looking for an answer, tossing and turning, hoping a new position would help him feel tired. Nothing seemed to help.

Regardless, Rivet eventually did get to sleep. He did not remember when or how, but he did. The light of the street lamps faded into the blackness of the night as his mind felt the fatigue his body knew.