Peridot sighed as she trundled through the hallways. She held her books closely to her chest, muscles rippling with anxiety. Her blonde hair stuck out in three different directions, unkempt. Her glasses were balanced precariously across the bridge of her nose, steadied only by the plastic tips that stamped her dark under eyes.
She shifted her green eyes nervously across the hallway.
It was their first day back at school. She could sense the tension in the air. People thought a new year was an opportunity for a fresh beginning, to become something they weren't. They took advantage of the shuffled classmates and the vulnerable adjustment period and tried to assert themselves as popular.
They tried but were almost never successful. There was a reason they still had the same niches after five long years.
Peridot knew where she stood with others and she was comfortable with that. She belonged right in the middle of an invisible social hierarchy, not low enough to be a target for bullying and not high enough to be popular.
Foreign students saw her as a nerd solely due to her appearance. However she had an obnoxious personality with dry humor to boot which some people found endearing, luckily.
She had friends, she had a life and that was enough.
The bell wailed like an air raid siren, breaking her from her thought.
Although Peridot had heard it many times before, she still jumped. There was a spike in the atmosphere, sharp and present like a needle. Peridot looked around as students filled the hallways, hurrying to their assigned classes.
Peridot inhaled and then joined the masses, hoping that she would have some friends in her class.
She knew the school like the back of her hands so finding room sixty-seven wasn't a problem. It was located in the West Wing where most of the English courses were taken. Each building in her school had a different design. The English block's were warm and insulated with an ugly but soft carpet. Also most of the classrooms were equipped with heaters.
Peridot was grateful that on this cold day, when her plaid scarf and stussy jacket weren't enough to fend from the temperature, that she had English first.
Peridot bust the double doors, watching with a smirk as a few younger students bustled past her, hissing at each other in anger. She remembered being that naive and worried. Although .. she was a little nervous (as she had disclosed) her pace was still leisurely.
Peridot turned a corner and found the door labelled sixty-seven. She sighed and grabbed the handle, pushing gently against the door which groaned as its hinges swung, revealing an open classroom. It was warm, just as she predicted. Peridot welcomed the heat and stepped inside, removing her scarf in the process. She could see Steven and Amethyst on the table next to her, with a vacant seat.
"Hi guys!" Peridot said, rushing over to their table and putting her stuff down. /p
"Hey there," Steven replied with parallel enthusiasm, making Peridot smile. She'd forgotten how much she missed him. The female leaned over and pinched his rosy cheeks, making some baby noises./p
"I've missed you Steven. You too Amethyst!" Peridot exclaimed, releasing Steven from her grasp.
Steven laughed and rubbed his cheeks.
Peridot turned to Amethyst and they locked eye contact. The other girl had long, beautiful hair. She looked like a well-tempered young lady for a second. There was a moment of silence and then they all started laughing. Amethyst most obnoxiously with an accompanying snort.
"I've missed you too, shortie!" Amethyst teased, rubbing Peridot's already messy hair with her knuckles. Peridot scowled then ducked out of the way.
"We're the same height!" Peridot protested, looking to Steven for help. He shrugged. Peridot scowled.
She wasn't actually offended, of course. It was just the kind of humor and mannerisms Amethyst and Steven seemed to enjoy. The kind that ... kept them all together. Steven acted as a mediator. A glue under stress. Amethyst was humorous and knew no social boundaries whilst Peridot was a contending personality but they still all fit together like some fucked up jigsaw puzzle.
Peridot listened to them both gripe about the cold and then a woman entered the classroom, one with the stature and grace much suggestive of an authority figure. Although, as Peridot observed, she seemed quite young. It was almost refreshing seeing a young teacher. All they ever got was old batty gasbags.
Peridot watched as the woman slammed a pile of sheets in a clear file on a desk. The resounding noise caught the attention of the students who hadn't yet noticed her entry and soon all the eyes were on the young, short blue-haired woman. She moved around the front of the classroom in her heels in total silence. She scrawled her name on the board with a whiteboard pen. Peridot heard the pen screech as she flicked the 'L' in her name.
"Mrs. Lazuli. I will be your English teacher for the year. I hope I can get to know all of you and I hope to see you all off to university on a positive note." She introduced in a sturdy tone.
Peridot felt her mouth go dry. She could already tell English was going to be her favourite subject. Whilst the others seemed afraid of Mrs. Lazuli, Peridot found herself conflicted in feelings. She liked the new teacher, but not in any way that should be considered appropriate. For one, they were both females and two, she was a teacher. A teacher. At the school.
"Alright class, lets begin."
Peridot didn't spend much of that class time listening. She was paying attention but not in a way that could be seen as educational. Mrs. Lazuli was briefing the class on future assignments, class behavior, expectations, externals and all that boring stuff but Peridot couldn't seem to zero in on the content of her words.
Steven and Amethyst would prod her in the shoulder and draw her back into their conversation. Peridot blinked her eyes and realized she should be paying attention to them as well.
"Sorry," Peridot said, rolling her eyes. That elicited a small chuckle from Amethyst. Steven just narrowed his eyes, suspicion peering through the black. Peridot pretended she hadn't noticed and put her head down, focusing on the worksheet which was more of 'get-to-know-you' activity.
Mrs. Lazuli had heard the laugh and her head snapped up. She sighed, dramatically flipping the pages of the teaching book she had been reading before bee-lining for their table.
Peridot watched the teacher come closer and fumbled with her pen, pretending to look busy and knowledgeable. She knew Amethyst would cop most of the blame as she was responsible for the laugh but she couldn't help but feel nervous and the blue-haired teacher entered her vicinity.
Amethyst finally realized what was happening and tried to follow suit and pick a pen, feigning a studious look. Mrs. Lazuli was fooled and arched an eyebrow, resting a hand on Peridot's chair whilst looking disapprovingly at Amethyst.
"Are you the problem student?" Mrs. Lazuli asked with a lethargic sigh, looking at Amethyst.
"She is, Miss," Peridot testified boldly, shooting a devilish smirk at Amethyst. The other girl smacked a fist against her palm, an action that suggested a beating was coming later. Steven continued scrawling onto his paper. It was all in good jest of course, as Peridot knew. Maybe she'll be impressed by my incredible wit and humor.
Mrs. Lazuli leaned down towards Peridot, unimpressed with the exchange.
"Or ... are you all problem students?" Mrs. Lazuli said with a fiendish smile.
Peridot felt her heart quicken as the teacher leaned near her face. Her stomach flip-flopped and she shook, the pen quivering in her sweaty palms. She shrugged. It was the only response that could possibly make her look somewhat aloof and uncaring even though she was struggling to breathe right.
Then, like a miracle from the gods, Mrs. Lazuli leaned away and Peridot felt safe again.
"Okay, well, you don't have to be problem students. I hope I can see an improvement in behavior by next class," Mrs. Lazuli said sarcastically as she addressed the entire group now, flicking her hair over her shoulders as she pranced away.
Most of the class went by in a blur and Peridot was just a shell of herself. She was too shy to deal with that level of intimacy. She knew that the sexual tension between them was only one-sided but it was still super intense and she didn't want to do anything that would warrant another visit from Mrs. Lazuli. Needless to say she was uncomfortably silent the rest of the class.
As the bell rang, adjourning the session, Peridot was the first to scamper out the door. She gave no excuse to her friends but Mrs. Lazuli watched as the blonde haired girl scampered out the door and narrowed her eyes.
As soon as Peridot was out the door she exclaimed a loud, resounding 'Fuck'. This year was going to be hard.
