Maybe this will teach you a lesson about hard work."
Her mum had sneered at her as she made Peridot's bed. Peridot's stuff was still in its boxes, as she tapped away at her computer, waiting for her mother to finish her vitriolic lecture and leave her here. Peridot's father hadn't even deigned to drop her off at the university. He hadn't even looked at her as she left the house, just sniffed as he continued to read his newspaper.
"I told you Peridot, I told you, you have talent but you're never going to get anywhere unless you apply yourself. Three failed exams!" Canary almost shrieked, wringing her hands hysterically."
Peridot nodded, still typing on her slim grey laptop. Her mother sighed, throwing the pillow on the bed and striding over to her daughter. She slammed down the lid of the laptop and Peridot barely had time to remove her hands before they were crushed.
"Jesus, woman!" Peridot exclaimed, finally looking up at her mother.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you! And I'm your mother, you shouldn't talk to me like that. Don't you understand what you've done? This is a disaster!" She gesticulated wilding around the room.
"This second rate university is going to be a permanent stain on your career!"
"I know mum. I know." Peridot slumped in her chair, rubbing her temples with the thumb and finger of one hand, covering her face.
"Oh honey." Canary placed a chronically cold hand on Peridot's back.
"Only you can get you through this. You're just going to have to struggle through with these other… kids. Just don't get too attached. This was a mistake. You don't belong here, with them. You're made of different stuff. I mean, honestly, do you think this is where you should be?" She picked up the university pamphlet, on which two burly men were grappling, and scoffed in disgust.
Suddenly, the door slammed open, making both mother and daughter jump. Filling the entire entrance was a huge woman and her equally huge hair, two large cardboard boxes dwarfed by her enormous arms. She wore a hoodie that barely concealed her chiselled body, the university name embossed proudly on the chest. Her long white hair ended at her knees, which were uncovered by her jean shorts and marked with scars and scabs. Her bronzed skin was spotted with darker patches, the most noticeable a large stripe on her face that crossed her eyes, large yellow eyes that glittered like a cat's. Her eyeliner was impeccable.
Peridot stared openly, jaw agape, before Canary pinched a hand down on her shoulder, the mother's face tight in an unnatural smile.
"You must be Peridot's roommate!" she exclaimed, offering a timid hand out to shake. Jasper's eyes locked onto the girl cowering in the chair and smirked, her eyebrow lifting cockily.
"Roommate?" she asked, ignoring the hand that drifted nervously in front of her.
"Yeah, I guess I am." She turned abruptly and headed towards the remaining bed, revealing a small man with a handlebar moustache grinning nervously behind her. He took Canary's hand in a sweaty handshake, pumping his arm and making introductions.
"Hello, hello, hello! I am Leo and this is my daughter Jasper! I suppose they will be sleeping together in this room together for university, no? It is good, your daughter looks like a smart girl." He clapped Peridot on the back, and boomed a laugh. He spoke with a slight accent that Peridot could not place, and she heard Jasper snort as he said their daughters would be sleeping together.
Jasper had turned her back on the conversation and was setting up her stuff. It was an oddly ascetic collection; the bed was made in a perfect military style and the only thing on her desk was a huge, ancient laptop. Peridot had expected more clutter, but other than a meagre collection of clothes and toiletries, she had nothing. No school supplies, no textbooks, not even a pen in sight. Peridot wondered how she thought she was going to make it through the school year. She, of course, had a multitude of writing utensils in a practical green pencil case, along with several back up pens in each of her colour coded binders. Peridot sniffed at the aged computer, noting the bulky, battered, black exterior and shuddered to think of the viruses fermenting inside it. Her inspection turned to Jasper herself, who was smoothing the already immaculate bed sheets. She had giant hands, ones that seemed out of place doing menial work. Peridot could imagine them perhaps lifting large weights or putting steel beams into place, or tossing another person into bed. What? She pinched her nose, moving her glasses up in a familiar motion. Peridot finally acknowledged the nagging thought that had pestered her ever since the roommate had entered.
Jasper was her type. The rolling muscles, the cocky smile, the…her… bosom. Peridot blushed and her face became pained.
You don't have to like her, Peri,
She thought to herself.
Mind over matter. Just ignore it. She'd probably never be interested, anyway. Doesn't matter because YOU'RE not interested, right Peri? Right Peri.
She gulped as Jasper bent over.
Yeah, just some glutes. Nothing to see there. I mean, it's kind of obscene and gross. Who does that, just bend over while making a bed? Obviously not someone you'd want to hook… up… with.
Her train of thought stuttered to a halt as Jasper stood up. Jasper turned around abruptly and saw Peri staring, shooting her a quick glare that made Peri retreat back into her chair.
Oh fuck now she thinks you're a weirdo. Great work, fuck up.
Jasper took her father by the arm, leading him out the room and away from the conversation that was having an increasing strain on Peridot's mother. From the corner of her eye, she saw them share a quick embrace in the hallways, tears streaming down Leo's face and a small, sad smile on Jasper's lips. He clasped both her hands and said something that looked heartfelt, making Jasper roll her eyes dramatically.
"It's rude to stare, Peridot," her mother reprimanded her softly, still recovering from Leo's enthusiastic introduction. She reached inside of her purse and retrieved her small spray hand sanitizer, spritzing her palms liberally.
"Well, good luck here, Peridot. I've helped you set up, you're on your own now. We'll call next week, okay. Love you." Canary patted Peridot quickly on the back and left, clearly uncomfortable and eager to leave now that Jasper and her father were around.
"Okay bye… mum." But Canary was already out the door, rearranging her hair back into its strict bob.
Peridot shrugged, and returned to her computer, vaguely aware of Jasper returning without her dad. And by vaguely aware, she meant watching Jasper's every move in the reflection of the lap top screen. Jasper eyed Peridot's boxes of unpacked stuff and pounced onto the bed, rumpling the sheets she had just spent a good five minutes making. As she saw Jasper's gaze wonder over to her, she stilled, realizing that she was being observed just as she was observing Jasper. Her looks were sharp and evaluative, the kholed eyes making a dramatic judge. Peridot's hands became sweaty, and she began to work in earnest, hunching over the device in front of her in an attempt to be less conspicuous. As she heard Jasper walk over, she stiffened, turning around in her chair just as Jasper leaned over to her, bringing their face unexpectedly close. For a moment, they stayed like that, Jasper's eyebrows raised in surprise, and Peridot could have leaned over and kissed her. She didn't though, and Jasper stood up straight, bringing them back to normal personal space parameters.
"What's that?" she asked brusquely, gesturing with a thick finger to the code on Peridot's screen.
"You probably wouldn't understand it." She blurted out honestly, before realizing how rude that sounded. "I mean, it's pretty technical and boring, so unless you take like, advanced coding or something they'd be no reason for you to know it so… yeah." She rambled to a stop, gulping thickly. Jasper was staring at her.
"You're kind of a nerd, aren't you?" It sounded more like a statement than a question. "I like that." She flicked Peridot's glasses up her nose, making the smaller girl squeal, and left the room, her thundering footsteps rattling around in Peridot's flustered brain. Her grip was knuckle white on the chair's arms.