One thing you'd always found funny, is that when you're an active member of the robotics club, spend all your free time studying or nose-deep in your laptop, and wear thick-rimmed glasses several inches too big for your eyes; you don't tend to have many friends. Or really any, in your case.
But the thing about friends, is that you're probably better off without them.
Friends are too much trouble. So high maintenance; with the whole, "always having to be there for them any time any place any reason" thing and besides all that takes away precious time from robotics and school. And then having to always hang out with only them and talk about meaningless occurrences in your lives to pass the time, just seems like a pain to you. Besides, you weren't exactly the most social butterfly.
You could never think of anything to say, and most conversations trail off into awkward silences. You'd just end up stiffly standing there wishing you could walk away, but then they were still there like they're waiting for you to suddenly transform into this incredibly amiable, social person. Obviously that wasn't happening anytime soon.
In all honesty, you couldn't stand talking to people in general. Well, save some of the members of the robotics team, as they were a group of equally anti-social shut-ins.
Outside of that, conversation was entirely loathsome. You hated it. And then the topic of your name always managed to rear its ugly head. Just another reason not to meet new people. "Oh really?" they'd say, in their sing-songy squeaky little voices that make your head want to implode, "Peridot? Like the birthstone?"
You'd given the little shpeel so many times, it'd practically become a scripted response of yes, like the birthstone. And no, you technically aren't a peridot, but your parents thought you were going to be. Yet for some implausible reason, you'd naively decided to enter this world two weeks early. You suppose you can't blame your baby self, though; she didn't know what it was like out here.
Your appearance also liked to worm its way in on the rare occasion you aren't wearing your favorite over-sized green sweater and ratty jeans combo. Apparently, you were what normal people would consider "pretty", or so you'd been told by a handful of obnoxious chatty girls who wouldn't know reality if it hit them with a semi-truck. You'd always marveled at how they'd managed to reach that conclusion, because you're more than a little on the short side (not even reaching a full five feet in height) and didn't pay attention to your appearance most of the time besides.
Most days, you couldn't care less about what you looked like. You don't even waste the effort of brushing your hair in the mornings, and usually just sort of pat down your oddly shaped blonde rat's nest. If you're in a good mood or going to a robotics competition or something, you may take a comb to it. Though your hair usually finds a way to re-tangle itself by the end of the day.
You moved a tentative hand to it, poking down one of the many loose strands. Sighing, you flicked the computer mouse in front of you and watched as robot design plans flashed onto the screen.
You'd been unproductively staring at the little animation the computer played when it went to sleep for the past ten or so minutes, which wasn't the best way to spend your time but honestly, you were kind of done with trying to deal with the design software. The robotics lab had updated the program, and although it was almost exactly the same as the old one; some genius had decided to change all the icon pictures, so it was taking you forever to find everything. You'd kind of given up and zoned out a while ago.
This particular project had been sucking your time away for a few years now, and outside of build season (two hectic months the robotic's club's given to build a bot for this big competition thing) you find yourself working long hours on it.
You've come to call it affectionately a "robonoid", and it's main purpose is to move. That's pretty much all it's supposed to do. Though at the moment, it can't even do that very well.
You're onto your seventh attempt at creating an actual, operational physical model.
Though you think the bot's more than worth the hours upon hours you've spent on it. It's not just moving, but how it's moving that's something worth mentioning on any prestigious college application. You designed it to use electromagnets to support itself on four cylindrical legs, all while keeping it's body essentially free-floating. This results in flawless turns and rotation abilities on the robonoid's part.
You jerked up suddenly as someone lightly tapped your shoulder. "W-what?" you spat, though you sounded more surprised than you did irritated. The person who so rudely interrupted your daydream retracted her hand quickly, wrapping it around a clipboard held tightly to her chest. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you-" Pearl began.
"What is it, what do you want? I'm kinda busy if you hadn't noticed," you interrupted. Pearl's expression hardened immediately at your blunt comment, and she retorted snidely "Yes, of course you are. I just came to check in on you because you haven't seemed to have made any progress in the last hour. Did you get stuck somewhere? Is there any way I can help?"
"No of course not! In fact, I'm so far ahead I think I'm going home early, see?" you said quickly, without thinking. Which was really stupid, because now you had no choice but to leave otherwise Pearl'd definitely say something. Great, that was just perfect. Because despite what you'd said, you actually did have a fair amount of work left.
Reluctantly shutting down your computer, you grabbed your backpack and marched indignantly from the room.
The air outside held the frigid bite of mid-September, and an array of goosebumps settled into place on your knuckles. Wonderful, that was the last thing you needed to think about; the looming threat of cold weather.
You cupped your hand around your mouth at a slight yawn as you began the walk home. You were way too tired for this early in the evening, and definitely not looking forward to the long trek back to the girl's dormitory. It was at the very North of the side, and the farthest building from the robotics lab (just your luck). The building itself was set apart from everything rather nicely though, as it sat on a fairly steep hill that sat above the rest of the campus. It was backed by the thick black metal fence that bordered the school on all sides, and beyond that was the small two-lane road that led to the nearby town.
There was definitely a good amount of distance from the dorm and the rest of the school, so you couldn't really complain. The isolation was nice.
It had once been a unisex dorm; the top half being girls and the lower boys.
But there'd been an "incident" your freshman year that'd made the school separate the two groups, involving a snake escaping into the girls dorms. This unfortunate event had led to the discovery of not only the reptile's quirky owner, but the multitude of hidden cameras he'd placed all around the upper floors under the pretense of "revealing the sneople and their diabolical schemes". No one had believed him obviously, but he got away with a mere detention because most of the cameras were only in hallways or light fixtures. They weren't even well positioned, and all they could see were the array of roaches that'd met their fateful end against the light bulb.
You only knew all this because you'd been called to the principal's office with the weirdo, because you'd happened to be the one to finally step up from the crowd of squealing teenagers and throw the snake out a window. The boy'd given you all kinds of suspicious looks while you were waiting for Principal Dewey.
After that, they'd decided it best to keep the boys and girls separate.
You heaved a sigh of relief as you stepped off the dew-laden grass and onto the thin line of concrete that surrounded the dorm. Your breath was slightly uneven from the ascent, as walking to and from the dorm was about the only exercise you got. The main hall was empty, and you only passed by a couple girls, whispering about something or other, on your way up the stairs to your home on the second floor.
Twisting the knob to your dorm room, you walked inside and slid the door shut behind you. Something felt different about the air of the room, something out of place. You didn't care enough to look into it though, and decided to shrug the feeling off. You'd probably just left the heater on or something unimportant like that.
You yawned again, rubbing your eyes with the back of your sleeve. You normally weren't this tired, especially at this time. Maybe it was the odd early darkness that came with the beginning of fall, or maybe you'd finally reached your breaking point.
You needed to splash some water on your face or something.
You clicked the bathroom door open, and all traces of drowsiness immediately fled from you as the girl inside shrieked, covering her chest hurriedly with both arms. Your mouth went dry, a mix of shock and confusion settling in the back of your throat. Why...was there a strange girl in your bathroom. And why wasn't she wearing clothes.
You hadn't realized you'd set your eyes in her direction during your internal breakdown until she awkwardly grabbed a towel from the side of the shower and wrapped it around her torso; a wild blush flooding her face, framed by locks of wet hair.
How had you not heard the water running.
You didn't say anything, couldn't think of anything to say, just backed out and closed the door. Stiffly turning around, you marched almost robotically to your bed, flopping onto it in a heap.
What had just happened. You couldn't seem to wrap your mind around it. Instead you occupied yourself in studying the various marks and scratches on the wall by your bed. A part of the paint was chipping, and you reached out and tore off a piece. Rolling it between your fingers, you again attempted to comprehend what you'd just walked in on. You'd have to face the girl eventually, and you didn't need to be a spluttering mess when you did. You decided to start with what you knew.
Fact : there was a girl in your bathroom.
Fact : you knew she attended school here. Once you'd been able to think somewhat clearly you could remember seeing her in Chem class. So she wasn't some criminal or stalker or something.
Fact : there were two suitcases and a duffel bag you'd failed to notice stacked neatly on the previously untouched bed across from yours.
And she'd had the key to get in. She had to have gotten that from somewhere. And right now, you were more than very upset with that somewhere.
You'd had an agreement with him: no roommates, ever. Under any circumstances. You'd told him, you'd told him about your personal space issues. As well as the claustrophobia and social anxiety. And if you were triggered by any of these, you were highly prone to anxiety attacks. He'd agreed to let you dorm alone because of that. Yet here you were with another girl, whose stuff lay all over your other bed and who was currently locked in your bathroom.
As if on queue, you heard the water-stained doorknob squeak as the door inched open. The girl walked out hesitantly, this time fully clothed in bright blue pajamas. She made her way into the room slowly, closing the door behind her but keeping a hand on the knob anyway, as if it were a lifeline.
"So, umm..." she trailed off, fidgeting with the top button of her shirt. "Yeah," you responded in your almost cracked but incredibly uncaring voice. You tried to give the word a note of irritation, but you were finding it oddly difficult when your eyes kept wandering to her bright blue pupils. In your brief glimpse you'd gotten earlier (which you were very much trying to forget), you hadn't really looked at them. The seemed to run like a river across her eyes, pooling in the centers which were flecked with sea-foam green. They were the weirdest eyes you'd ever seen, and you were almost certain she was wearing contacts.
"Okay, look," you breathed irritably, "I don't know what your plan is, or what you've been told, but I don't share rooms with people. Ever." You poked your glasses up the bridge of your nose, rising from the bed but not taking any further action.
The girl flinched a bit as you stood, her freckle-flecked face contorting slightly at the sudden movement before being forced to fall into a more relaxed expression. She tucked a stray strand of blue-dyed hair behind her ear.
"Um I, sorry. But, I don't really have anywhere else to go...I hadn't realized you didn't know, or didn't want me here. But Professor Universe said you'd be okay with it..." she trailed off, turning her gaze to the single window in the room, in an attempt to break eye contact.
"Why can't you go back to your own dorm?" you asked stupidly, knowing full well that of course, there was some reason she'd been kicked out. Though you couldn't seem come up with any plausible reason as to why this one single student was suddenly being relocated.
"You haven't heard?" her eyes darted towards you for a moment to give you a puzzled look, "There was some animal, I think it was a raccoon or something, that got trapped in the walls on the upper floors and did all kinds of damage. When they tried to have it removed, they found a bunch of safety hazards in the structural support. No one's allowed up until it's fixed, everyone had to leave. They made us take all our stuff and stand on the grass outside for a couple hours, and no one knew what was going on. Then they told us that we were going to share the dorms with the students down here for a while. I guess the bottom floors are all fine because of all that remodeling they did a few months ago.
You gave an indignant grunt. Why should you care? Whatever problems these people on the upper floors had, they could deal with them themselves. Everyone on the lower floors shouldn't have to get involved. Couldn't they all just sleep in the gym or something? You'd done that once (long story), and it hadn't been that terrible.
But of course, the teachers wouldn't make the students do that. It wouldn't be "fair" or whatever (like overcrowded dorms were much of an improvement).
"Why can't you go somewhere else down here?" you shot nastily. "There's no room," she began in a quiet voice, "Everywhere else is so full they're worried about fire safety. They couldn't figure out where to put me, and Professor Universe said that here would be fine, because your room was kind of-"
"Please, just stop." you interjected blandly, "I can't stand to hear your whiny little mumble for the next half hour as you over-explain something that should only take two sentences." The girl's face fell at this, and her lips twisted slightly in an almost hurt way. You felt kind of bad now for being so blunt. It wasn't her fault she didn't have anywhere else to go, and if it was just some simple repair work it couldn't take more than a couple weeks, right?
"Aaaaugh, I can't believe I'm doing this. Okay, fine. Stay," you groaned unpleasantly.
The girl bobbed her head in a nod, "Thank y-"
"Don't thank me, I'm not doing it because I feel sorry for you. I'm letting you stay because if I don't, I'll have Universe nagging me about regulations and compromises and whatever. So the second they finish that repair work, you're out. And if they don't soon, you'll just have to find somewhere else to stay."
"It's supposed to only take a couple weeks," she nodded again, her shoulders noticeably unwinding with relief at finding a definite place to sleep. She'd been so eager for your "approval" to the point that she was actually stressing out. How annoying.
This girl was so passive you were almost driven to nausea. She seemed exactly like one of those oh-so-sweet and perfect quiet girls who integrated themselves with the noisy, popular groups just to feel like they were a part of things. Those types of people that just follow others their entire lives without having an independent thought the whole time. She didn't get anything above barely average grades in Chemistry either, so she didn't even have intelligence going for her.
"What's your name?" you asked blankly, falling backward onto the quilt spread across the worn mattress you'd had since you were a kid. "It's Lapis. Lapis Lazuli," her voice came from the bed on the other side of the room. It sounded silently forced, as if she wanted to get this whole thing over with as soon as possible and stop talking to you. You could find yourself relating.
"Like the birthstone?" you questioned, holding back a small sense of irony. You could almost feel her bobbing her head, nodding in that almost dizzy way that made it seem as if her skull was going to go flying off her thin neck at any time. "Yeah," she said as if she'd answered the question a million times before.
It was going to be a long two weeks.
[[A/N : I'm operating around the Highschool!AU seen in some of the official episode posters]]