Pearl White was in 10th grade at Beach City High School. She was an all A student and studied constantly. High-maintenance and a self-proclaimed neat freak, Pearl kept everything she owned in its place. Everything could be planned out, and she kept it like that. She loved romantic ideas, from sweet novels to the thought of a romantic dinner by a river (although Beach City didn't have any rivers), she loved anything romantic. Despite her love of love, she was always reluctant to start a crush.

Garnet Love was a senior at Beach City High School. She was quiet and kept to herself, but not because she was shy. She just didn't have anything to say. She had amazing grades, but no one ever saw her study. She just seemed naturally gifted at everything, from academics to sports (She was Basketball captain), and had a surprisingly organized fan-club. A few of the lower grade boys and girls that saw her as the 'Perfect Senior' would go to every basketball game of the year, even at far district ones. But Garnet remained by herself forever.

Pearl was close friends with Sapphire, who was dating Ruby, who was one of Garnet's best friends. So somehow through 'friend of a friend' type of situation, she was sitting with all three of them at lunch. She usually sat with Rose, but Rose wanted to sit alone with Greg today, so she sat with Sapphire. She wasn't sure how welcomed she was, since both Garnet and Ruby were huge athletic figures, and she was a thin, weakly brain-head. But Ruby was surprisingly welcoming (a friend of Sapphire's was a friend of hers, as she said), and Pearl assumed Garnet was too, since she didn't say anything against it. Garnet was a senior, so Pearl didn't have any classes with her, but she had seen here in the halls a lot. She had a full head of hair, that's for sure. A large, oddly cubed afro rested on her head. Meanwhile, Pearl grew embarrassed at her measly Bob. Garnet also wore sunglasses, for some reason. Pearl assumed she just had really sensitive eyes. But looking at her from this close, she realized the combination of all of these traits made her look like the coolest person ever.

"Hey, G," Ruby started, "When's our next game? This Thursday, right?"

Garnet nodded.

"Yeah, against the Puffers." Garnet reminded.

"Puffers, what a dumb name." Ruby laughed, thinking of the school with their weird mascot- a Pufferfish. Threatening, right.

"We don't have much room to judge," Sapphire hummed quietly, "We're called The Geodes."

"Yeah, but Geodes turn into super cool diamonds and stuff, so it's worth it." Ruby replied, pouting.

Pearl smiled, they worked well together.

"So, Sapphire," Ruby started, putting the subject back to basketball, "You going to the game?"

"Well, we have the Chem test Friday, but I've been studying pretty hard, so I'll try to." Sapphire answered.

"Sweet." Ruby grinned, "What about you, Pearl?"

"Me?" Pearl echoed, surprised. She wasn't exactly an athletic frequent, "Uh, I guess I'll try."

You can't exactly say no with the Captain sitting across from you.

"Cool." Garnet said, smiling.

Pearl sighed to herself. She didn't know anything about basketball, but she figured she'd just clap when her school did, too.

Thursday came around as usual, and Pearl went to the game as promised. Thankfully, it was home, so she didn't have to drive anywhere (she had gotten her license only a month ago). She located Sapphire, and sat next to her.

"Hey, Pearl." Sapphire smiled, looking up from her book.

"How can you read with this noise?" Pearl asked, looking at the two teams practicing on their respective sides.

"Oh, this is just practice, it's not too loud," Sapphire shrugged. Clearly having Ruby as a girlfriend made you used to loud noises, "When the game actually starts, I put it away."

"Oh, okay." Pearl nodded understandingly. She didn't actually understand, since she thought it was loud enough already, but she tried.

"This is your first game you've been to, right?" Sapphire asked, closing her book.

"Mhm," Pearl nodded, "I'm not very well-versed in sports."

"Don't worry about it, the main point of this game is just get a ball in a hoop. Plus, our school is super loud, so you'll know when to clap."

Pearl smiled, relieved. That would be her plan. Watch and looked like she knew what was happening, and clap when everyone else did.

Pearl noticed that Garnet had her sunglasses off, since it was a game. But she couldn't see far enough to see anything special with her eyes to tell if they were sensitive or something.

The game started, and Garnet was the one for the Geodes' to try to get the ball when it was thrown up by the referee. Pearl noticed that she really was tall. It's hard to notice when you're all sitting. Garnet got the ball to her team, and the game got going. Both teams seemed really good, but that was only Pearls guess. She did notice, though, that every time Ruby got a basket, Sapphire cheered louder, and Ruby would always give her 'winning smile' at Sapphire. Pearl smiled to herself, enjoying the romance of her friends. Garnet got the ball, soon, and ran at the speed of light to her basket, making what looked to Pearl like a professional level Layup. Pearl blinked, seeing it go down in slow-motion. Garnet's arm muscles were really defined, for a high school senior. She must practice a lot. As Pearl watched the remainder of the game, she focused more on Garnet than the ball. Garnet was as focused as ever, dead-set on winning. She could steal the ball, jump, pass, catch, everything with amazing elegance and skill. Pearl's eyes practically zoomed in on Garnet, watching as her defined muscles popped out with each catch, and how her panting caused her shoulders to move up and down when she stood still.

The game ended, the Geodes winning by 12 points. The crowd began to filter through the door, but Sapphire was obviously waiting for her girlfriend to finish so she could give her a personal congratulations.

"Do you want to wait with me?" Sapphire asked Pearl, since she knew Pearl didn't like being pushed in a crowd like the one at the door, "Ruby loves being the center of attention, she'll be happy if you do."

"If it's okay with you, I'd love to." Pearl nodded in relief.

So the two waited until the coach had finished giving her speech to the team, then the girls all picked up their bags and started to head out themselves. Garnet and Ruby walked over to the bleachers, where Sapphire clapped quietly. Pearl noticed all too quickly how Garnet's sweat stuck to her clothes, keeping them tight. Also, Garnet was wearing her glasses again. Man, she really was attached to those.

"You two were great!" She smiled, but her eyes were focused on Ruby.

"Yeah, you seemed super serious." Pearl nodded, smiling. She wasn't competitive when it came to sports, so it was interesting to see it.

"Yeah, Garnet and I are in it to win!" Ruby announced, elbowing Garnet. Garnet smiled slightly, nodding in agreement.

"I can tell," Pearl chuckled.

"Well, I think it's time to go home, you two need your rest." Sapphire pointed out, standing up.

The four of them walked to the door, and Pearl noticed the smell that radiated off of Garnet. Normally, Pearl hated the smell of even one drop of sweat, but Garnet seemed to have a natural smell that made even her smelly sweat decent.

As Pearl drove home, she thought about Garnet. Why was she thinking about her so much suddenly? But at every red light, she thought of her tough muscles and panting breathes, and her small smiles and curly afro.

Pearl was a reasonable person, she wasn't a misguided air head. She knew the signs of a crush. She would be fine with acknowledging said crush, she wasn't in denial at all. It was the surprise that temporarily clouded her vision. All of her crushes were on people with soft hearts, good grades, and people that were emotionally accessible. As far as she knew, Garnet was nothing like that. Well, probably the grade part, but the other two.

She drove up the driveway to her house slowly, and stepped out of the car, her mind full of thoughts of her heart's choice.

What to do… What to do…..