Studying (with) You

Path 2: Sound of Silence

The rest of the exams go by in a flash without any real interaction between Sandbar and Gallus except from seeing each other in every single one. Sometimes, Sandbar wonders if it really is the right decision to leave him alone. Maybe Hotshot just misunderstood him and, in reality, Gallus wants to talk about it but every single time he sees a chance he hesitates and, after a bit of thinking, decides against it. In his mind, what his classmate said made sense. Of course Gallus needs some time for himself and being forced to deal with the one that deceived him would stress out and hurt the griffon even more than he already was that day. Hotshot's warning eyes, when Sandbar attempts to start an interaction, and approving nods, every time he steps back again and minds his own business, are more factors which ultimately keep Sandbar away from his former friend and, with no idea what else to do, he retreats into his room, drops himself on his bed and just... stays there quiet until sleep takes over his body and mind.

That is the plan for the last day of the exams too. The last exam, which is Twilight's History exam, takes place in the early evening. He only spends as much times as he need, which is a bit more because of his constant problems remembering things and concentrating, and, right after handing in his scroll, he heads for the dorms. He reaches the entrance of the dorm building but before he can enter it a pale grayish arctic blue foreleg, which suddenly appears in front of him, wakes him up from his gloomy trance as he lets out a shriek.
"Hey Sandbar, sorry for surprising you like that but I need to tell you something."
The pony takes a quick breath before answering her with a visibly forced smile.
"No, I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention at all. What is it, Ocellus?"
The Changeling analyzes the stallion inconspicuously and notices the strange smile but decides to not bring it up now. Instead, she tells him why she stopped him.
"My original plan was to tell you, Gallus and Yona together but when I met her at the exam room she told me that you two were already done and left early so I came here because I figured you or Gallus would come here sooner or later but, so far, only you showed up. Strange... So, the group wants to meet tomorrow to talk about how the exams went. You're coming too, right?"
A meeting? That could distract me from... wait, he will be there too... I don't know if that is such a good idea. I don't want to cause a scene and bring the others into this mess. Then again, this could be a good chance to finally talk to him without Hotshot around and without a way of dodging it! I'm sure he does not want to generate Buzz either!, the pale-green pony thinks to himself before agreeing to his friend's idea.
"I could need some distraction from this whole thing. Sure, when and where?"
"We thought that we could meet in the garden behind the school at about 2pm to eat something too. You know, where we met before the big study sessions began."
Where this entire mess began... how fitting..., he criticizes the choice of place in his mind as he nods his head again.
"Of course I know. 2pm, count me in", Sandbar accepts the female's invitation and waves her goodbye as he passes her but she quickly grabs his tail, forcing him to stop once more.
"S-Sorry! But do you know where I can find Gallus? I thought, if somepony should know, it would be you. So, do you?"
No, I don't... Why should I? The last thing he said to me was to leave him alone. I don't think he would tell me anything anymore...
The stallion feels how his eyes begin to burn and a knot begin to form in his stomach as he shakes his head and replies with a simple "No... Sorry..." before rushing off into the dorm building and, without wasting any second, straight into his room, leaving Ocellus behind, who faintly shakes her head as she gazes after him.
Something is different... I can feel it... I can sense it...

As soon as Sandbar slams his door shut, the tears begin to travels down his cheeks and his intestines feel like the knot, that began to form before, became even bigger on the way and has now reached its maximum size, filling his entire body and causing him to feel a mixture of numbness and pain. To prevent his body from collapsing on the floor, he quickly throws himself onto his bed, where he spend every single second since the confrontation with Hotshot, excluding his daily meal in the cafeteria and the hours during the exams. Sometimes he cries, sometimes he screams into his pillow how mad he is at himself for screwing everything up, other times he thinks about how Gallus must feel like right now and the times between that he just lies there without any motivation to do anything or go anywhere. He quickly buries his face in his pillow, which begins to absorb the clear liquid that exits the stallion's body through the tear glands, gaining darker parts in the process. It takes a few minutes until he withdraws his head from it's soft and wet surrounding and drops it next to it, taking a few deep breaths as the burning sensation in his slightly reddening eyes begins to fade away slowly. He remembers what Ocellus told him about their upcoming plans the next day and recalls his train of thought surrounding it.
Yeah... Gallus will be there too, there is no doubt about it. I will use this chance and finally talk to him! We can't just leave it like that, no matter what Hotshot said. We are friends after all... right? I mean, sure we are! If not more than at least friends and I won't give up on that! And if Gallus shows up too I am sure he thinks the same. We've been together since day one, we've made it through good and bad times! There is no way of changing that... I hope...
A trace of insecurity begins to cloud his mind but his will to fix what he destroyed clears the air and fills him with new dedication and, for the first time since that dreadful day, the pony falls asleep with a smile on his face.