AN/ And here's chapter one! Enjoy!/


Peridot Diamond was not having a good day. First of all, her bus had been late, and she had to run to class. She was, as you could see by her physique, not suited for running. Secondly, she had to babysit that night, and was not looking forward to watching more of " Crying Breakfast Friends " with Steven. And finally, she was now stuck on a non-moving elevator, with a rather chatty student. She looked at her cellphone. It had been around 10 minutes since she had realized that the elevator had stopped working. The campus staff was working on a solution, but for the time being she would have to stay where she was. It wouldn't have been that bad if she had been by herself, as she liked the quiet, but no, she had to be stuck with the most talkative girl she had ever seen. The girl in question was talking on her phone, and hadn't shut up since she had started, seemingly talking to a relative. Peridot sighed, knowing that the girl was wasting her phone battery, and checked her own device. She tapped the message button to see that her sister had finally texted her back.


BirdNerd

If the person you're with is talking, maybe you should talk back, try to make friends. They can't be that bad, besides, you could stand to socialize a bit more. ;P

PeriTech

Gee, thanks P, you want to talk to her yourself?

BirdNerd

Thanks, but I'll pass, I have ballet class to get to. On an unrelated note, have you changed my contact name yet?

PeriTech

Ha, you wish I did, you clod. :p


Peridot smirked as she hit the send button. Pearl may be her twin, but she was still fair game for teasing, no matter how childlike it may be. She stole a glance towards her elevator companion, and almost jumped as she realized that they were staring at her, finally silent. Peridot turned her phone off and slipped it back into her satchel.

"What are you looking at? Did your phone die?" she snarled, glaring at the other student, trying to intimidate her. To her surprise, it didn't work as it usually did, as the response she got was a smile instead of a wince.

"No, but Jasper, my sister, finally shut up, so I turned it off. What about you?" said the other girl. Peridot stared at her, eyes moving from her flip-flops to her dyed blue hair, trying to comprehend this strange person standing next to her. She had mentioned the name Jasper, and it seemed slightly familiar, along with the girls appearance.

"Unlike you, I like to make sure my phone has energy, in case of an emergency." she said, shifting her gaze to focus on the door, hoping the break in eye contact would make the other girl shut up.

"Emergency's like this?" said her companion, gesturing to the elevator, still smiling.

"It's not that bad. We'll be out of here soon enough. But, while we're in here..." she spun on her heels to face Peridot.

"We might as well get to know each other. I'm Lapis Lazuli Quartz. What's your name?" she said, hand outstretched in greeting. Peridot glared at the offered appendage before reluctantly shaking hands.

"I'm Peridot, Peridot Diamond. " she grumbled, taking her hand back as soon as she could, and wiping it on her shirt. Lapis looked confused.

"Peridot? That sounds familiar..." she said, brow furrowed, thinking hard.

" Wait, are you Dotty?" she asked suddenly, face lighting up with another smile, pointing at Peridot. Peridot raised her eyebrows, a blush rising on her face at the mention of her little known nickname.

"How do you know that?" she stammered. " That's what Steven calls me..."

"I knew it! You are Dotty! Steven always talks about you! You're his babysitter! " exclaimed Lapis. " At least, he talks about you when I get to see him."

"How do you know Steven?" asked Peridot.

"He's my cousin." explained Lapis. " He lives with my Aunt Rose and Uncle Greg. He love to visit, but my mom doesn't let me see him anymore, not since I ran away from home."

"You ran away from home?" said Peridot, surprised. The girl she was talking to didn't seem like the type of person who would leave their family. Lapis blushed slightly.

"Yeah, I moved out, and it wasn't on the best terms with my mom. She keeps Steven away from me as much as she can. I still see him, but not very often." she said, her smile fading for the first time since Peridot met her. Silence fell over the elevator for a few seconds. After so much talking, the quiet just seemed, well, wrong.

" Well, it sounds like you've been through a lot, Lapis." Peridot said awkwardly. She wasn't the best at comforting people. " You must be a strong person to keep being so happy."

Lapis smiled again at Peridot, but this one seemed different, less casual and more thankful.

" Thanks Peridot. The truth is, I'm not really a happy person, but I try to be on the surface. I just look happy. Depression will to that to ya."

" Heh... I know how that feels, trust me." Peridot said with a small laugh, looking down at the floor. She almost had a heart attack when she felt a pair of arms come close to her, stopping just short of contact.

" What are you doing?" she asked Lapis. The other girl looked at her with an expression filled with sadness and longing.

" May I... hug you? I haven't really had anyone who understands me before... I know it's weird, but..." She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence as Peridot leaned towards her to complete the hug.

" I know. When someone knows how you feel, you latch onto them, afraid to let go, afraid that no one else will understand. It's hard, but... that's life. " she mumbled into the other girl's shoulder. Lapis hugged her back tightly.

"Thank you..." she whispered. Peridot gave her a light pat on the back.

"I don't hug people a lot, so... can you let go now?" she asked. Lapis pulled back from the hug.

"Oh, of course, sorry." she said. Peridot gave her a small but genuine smile.

"Thanks." she said. A loud " KLANG " sound reached her ears as the elevator began moving again. She looked over at Lapis to see that she had taken out her phone.

" If this isn't too odd, can I have your number?" she asked. Peridot smirked.

" I literally just hugged you without knowing anything about you. Giving you my number isn't " odd " so much as it is required." she said, tapping her contact info into the other girl's phone. Lapis smiled again as the doors opened.

" I'll text you later. Let me know how Steven's doing, okay? See ya!" she said as she swiftly walked away, one hand raised in farewell. Peridot waved back at her as she vanished into the crowd. Her phone buzzed to alert her to a new text.


BirdNerd

I'll overlook the " clod " thing for now. I have a little time before class starts. Are you out of that elevator yet?


Peridot smiled to herself as she began to text back, speedwalking towards her classroom.


PeriTech

You won't believe who that girl was...


AN: And that was chapter one! I hope you enjoyed it!