Somehow, Vinyl and I had managed to keep what had happened at the club a secret. Nopony knew about Thunderlane, not even Bee Bop, and I preferred it to stay that way.

“Are you sure you still wanna go out with Concerto after the whole Thunderlane thing?” Vinyl asked me as we were preparing for the concert. I adjusted my bowtie and checked the mirror to make sure it was straight.

“Concerto and I are just friends, and I’m certain that he won’t do anything to me.” I wasn’t entirely sure that was true, but I couldn’t cancel without telling Concerto about Thunderlane, and I wasn’t going to do that anytime soon.

“If you say so,” Vinyl shrugged. Her glasses were perched on her head and her laptop was making the occasional beeping noise. “Want me to go with you and chill in the booth behind you guys? If he bothers you, I can turn around and give him a good kick to the jaw.”

“As kind as that is, Vinyl, I don’t think that it would be a very good idea. It’s just two friends having dinner. If things go wrong…” I trailed off. I didn’t want to think about what I would do if things went wrong. “Let’s just get down to the auditorium for final rehearsals.” I checked my bowtie one last time and Vinyl shut her laptop and put it in a case.

“Let’s go,” She lowered her glasses and we made our way to the auditorium.

~XoXo~

I shut my cello case and trotted into the makeup room, dying to wipe the sweat that was threatening to appear on my brow. Vinyl was already there, talking to one of her classmates.

“—totally dropped the bass too early!” Vinyl was complaining. “The most famous DJ in Canterlot and I ruined everything!”

“Vinyl, you did fine,” a stallion with black sunglasses said kindly. “You’re the only girl in the class, you’re famous, and I swear, nopony noticed that you dropped the bass too early. They loved it!”

“Not the classical nuts,” Vinyl muttered.

“I found it quite enjoyable,” I said, approaching Vinyl. “My father quite liked it too, though he would never admit it. I’m sure my mother would have liked it had she decided to come to the concert.” I smiled. Vinyl raised her glasses up.

“You really liked it, Octy?” she asked, her raspy voice cracking on my name. I nodded and she let out a cry, wrapping me in a hug.

“I didn’t pin you as the emotional type,” I half-laughed as I awkwardly returned the hug. The stallion gave me a half-smile.

“She’s really serious about her work. You should have seen her the first week of classes. She was a wreck! She accidently reversed the notes and she was actually dragged to tears,”

“Vinyl Scratch, crying?” I looked to the unicorn that was now looking at her hooves.

“I didn’t cry,” she muttered. “I had something in my eye. The room was really dusty.”

“Sure there was, Vinyl. Sure there was." the stallion laughed, adjusting his black sunglasses.

"It was!" Vinyl defended. "Don't make me beat you up, Lights, because, girl or not, I still know how to." I laughed as I noticed the stallion look quite frightened at her threat. I wasn't going to say anything, but whatever Vinyl had up her sleeve must've been powerful to frighten him.

"Too bad you have your date Octy; you could watch me beat this wimp." Vinyl smirked.

"It's not a date." I sighed, shaking my head. "You seriously can't just leave it alone, can you? It's just friends having dinner together."

"And then you wake up in his bed!" Vinyl chuckled, pushing her glasses back down over her eyes. "Trust me, it's happened before." She raised her glasses and shot me a wink, turning her head towards her stallion friend. “Before I came to accept the filly fooling thing of course,” she added.

I facehoofed and rolled my eyes. Every time with her…the mare was a mess. A crazy, confusing, beautiful mess that I couldn’t help but love.

~XoXo~

Concerto and I picked at our plates, not speaking. The night was going by slowly, neither of us trying to make the air less awkward. My mind wandered to my dorm room, where Vinyl and I could be sharing instant-noodle dinners and watching a children’s show that we secretly adored. I felt a smile cross my face as I thought of the game Vinyl and I would play where we tried to spot our favorite background characters in the show.

“Something amusing?” Concerto asked, bringing me back to the dinner table.

“I was just thinking of something Vinyl and I usually do about this time,” I said, taking a small nibble of my salad. Concerto raised his eyebrows and my face flushed. “I meant we would watch a television show about this time. Nothing like…”

“I know, Octavia, I was just messing with you. Symphony was right; you need to learn to lighten up,”

“She said that?” I asked, slightly offended. I had always considered Symphony a friend of mine.

“Not in those words. She said that Vinyl was good for you, because you’re set on being a pure Canterlot mare. It’s good that you’re friends with such an easy going mare.”

“Well…thank you…I think,” I turned my attention back to my salad and ate a leaf of lettuce, chewing slowly to avoid conversation.

“Freshly brewed cider?” A waiter asked, holding a bottle by our table.

“I don’t drink,” I declined politely. Concerto sent the waiter away, slipping a ten bit bill into the stallion’s apron.

“How long are you going to wait before you tell Vinyl you love her?” Concerto asked. I nearly choked on my salad.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I snapped. “I assure you, despite my interest in mares, I do not love Vinyl.”

“Everypony on campus knows it. Vinyl, being as oblivious as a disk jockey can be, has no idea. The rest of us know. There are bets going around seeing how long it will take you to admit it. Right now, the highest bid is eight hundred bits that it’ll take until the end of the year.”

“I don’t love Vinyl,” I said again, but I found it impossible to believe. As much as I hated to admit it, I did love Vinyl. She had been the first pony that I ever found attractive in the slightest. I barely knew her, but I knew that I loved her more than I should.

“So when do you plan on telling her?” Concerto asked. I stirred my salad around, trying to avoid the question. There was no use.

“Tonight,” I whispered. “I’m going to tell her tonight,”

Author's Notes:

I'm sorry for the delay! There were some computer issues that I never got around to fixing until today.

Help from my usual cowriter on this chapter.