Chapter 1: You're New Here
Jewel let out a sigh. The sound of a moped engine could be heard revving up at the stop light. She was wearing a simple outfit, black biker shorts, white sneakers and an old white vintage band shirt that she had got from a garage sale three months ago. Towns people who were casually walking about looked at her, some whispering and others being kind enough to wave at the stranger. However, no one could see what she really looked like due to her black helmet that had a pale streak on each side. On the inside of her helmet Jewel took another sigh, this time it being more anxious. This light was taking forever. She was so excited, not only to be in a new town but to get to her new home. Once the light changed, she revved up her engine again and took off, hoping the crates strapped to her bike didn't fall off. As she turned the corner and continued to make her way in the direction of the beach, she couldn't help but grin! Not only was this her first time living away from her mother, but she hasn't felt this enthusiastic about living in a new place since she was eight. And now here she was, seventeen, living on her own….In a shack, on the beach. 'Okay,I guess this is the place.' she thought to herself as her moped slowed down when reaching the sandy beach. Turning off the bike, Jewel swung her leg over the seat and put the kick down so it wouldn't fall. Backing up she looked at the small place. Funny, she imagined it to be much better when the real estate agent was talking about it. But then again, she did block out most of what he said once he mentioned the low price, at that point she was already shoving her savings in her face.
Snickering to herself, Jewel reached up to take her helmet off. It was liking taking her first breath of air, it felt good to get that sweaty thing off. Shaking her semi wild hair, she made her way up to the door."Well I guess I did set myself up for this." She smiled as she reached into her pocket for the key. "All this place needs is a little TLC and it'll be perfect." She said walking in to check out her new place before she starts lugging in her stuff.
At The Gem Temple
"Gems! We seem to have a tiny bit of a problem" Garnet said as walked into the front room, summoning the others. Everyone gathered around to hear what the fusion had to say. "What is it Garnet? Did the foot return?!" Steven piped up. "No." "Steven how many times do I have to tell you there is no foot." Pearl retorted while Amethyst laughed hysterically. "It's not the foot, but we do have other problems. Look." Garnet said walking towards the window and pointing outside. The gems looked out the window and saw a girl moving into the old crummy shack on the beach. " I don't get it Garnet, what's the matter with that? Oh no! Do you think she might be an undercover gem, here to spy on us from the gem homeworld!?" Steven shouted, jumping to conclusions. "No, she's a human." Garnet said simply. " So, what's the big deal about that Garnet? There's like dozens of humans that live in Beach City." Amethyst said boredly. " The deal is , that having a human live so close to the temple may become dangerous. Think about it, Even though the other humans live near the beach, they're not exactly living near the shore, directly on the same plane as the Gem Temple. To put it simple, think about all that has happened, directly on this beach." She finished explaining with her arms crossed and her face neutral as usual. "Oooh, I see. But we can't just very well ask her to pack up and leave." Pearl said as she tried to think of a solution. "I'm gonna go out and say hello to our new neighbor!" "Wait, Steven!" Pearl said calling out to the eager boy. Garnet put her hand on pearl's shoulder, signaling that everything will be okay and steven knows what he's doing.
Steven ran out of the temple as fast as he could with excitement written all over his face. Not only does he have a new neighbor, but he could possibly be their very first friend in all of Beach City! 'Gotta get...there.. First!' He thought, as beads of sweat began to fall down his forehead. Once he got close enough he noticed the girl's back to him, she was unstrapping some stuff off her bike. When she turned around the young boy couldn't help but to stare wide eyed at her. She was beautiful. 'Not as pretty as Connie of course' He thought as he blushed. The girl lifting the box was pretty tall, maybe about an inch shorter than Jenny & Kiki, she had dark tanned skin, brown eyes, and brown hair with a pale streak of blue on the inside of her flipped hairstyle. 'Wow.' He thought.
Lugging the medium sized box, Jewel noticed a figure standing off to the side as she began to make her way to the house. " Oh, hey kid. Who are you?" She smiled trying to balance the box in her hands. The boy just stood there, kinda awestruck. Jewel raised her brow and crouched down to his eye level. "You okay kid? She asked. After a second the curly haired boy seemed to snap out of it. "Hi, I'm Steven Universe." He expressed happily. "Well, hi Steven, my names Julie but I prefer to go by Jewel." She reached out to shake his hand. Steven took her hand in his with a big grin on his face and shook it. " I live right across the beach from you, so we're neighbors. Welcome to Beach City!" Jewel laugh and stood up from her crouching position. 'I like this kid, he's got moxy. Not to mention he's completely adorable and has a cute little belly jewel. Wait..what?' She thought looking at it but then shook it off. "Say Steven, I know we just met and all but I can sure use a friend's help." "Sure, what is it? I'm more than happy to help a new friend in need." He looked up at her. "Well I could definitely use some help getting the rest of those crates on my moped in the house. And afterwards, I'll be more than happy to take you out to eat, anywhere you want. My treat. That way you can show me some of what Beach City has to offer, what'd ya say?" Jewel smiled and put her hands on her hips.
"I say, you got yourself a deal!" He shouted as he ran to the box she put down, picking it up with ease and running into the shack. "Whoa, that kid's strong." Jewel said in shock but soon smiled softly as she picked up one of her boxes and made her way into the shack. When she got in she saw Steven putting the box he had off to one of the corners. "I know it's pretty small, but I figured 'Hey, if it has a working plumbing, kitchen, and a place for me to lay my head, it'll work." She said putting down her box and watched as Steven took a look around. "Feel free to look around, while I put some of this stuff away." Steven smiled and nodded as Jewel began to take some stuff out of her boxes and put them in place. It was mostly just a bunch of pictures and random trinkets. It was a good thing she wasn't the type of girl to have a wide variety of clothes or else she wouldn't have been able to fit most of it in her small closet and one dresser. Hearing a small thud, Jewel turned around from what she was doing and looked over at Steven. "Oh uh, I'm sorry!" He said panicky. Smiling, the wild haired girl walked over to Steven and picked up the guitar he knocked over by accident. "No no, it's totally cool. I see you found Lucille." "Lucille?" Steven questioned. " Yea, that's what I named her, I picked her up at a garage sale two years back. Actually a lot of the stuff I have in here are from garage sales. One man's trash is another man's treasure, they say." She explained playing a couple of chords before sitting the instrument down. "Wow you play too? My dad plays the guitar, while I, myself am a bit of an enthusiast on the ukulele." Steven said with a proud tone. "Cool, maybe one day we could have ourselves a little jam session." Steven nodded excitedly. Jewel was thankful for the help that Steven had offered. If it wasn't for him It probably would have taken her up till tomorrow to get her shack organizes to a livable condition. By the time the two had finished, the sun was already beginning to set, adding a red tint to the ocean.
"Well I'd say we're done here. The place looks great, homey even. Thank Steven. So how about that meal I promised?" She said with her hands on her hip, looking down at Steven. "Yeah!" He said running out of the shack happily. "Hey Steven, wait! Ask your parents first I don't want anyone thinking I kidnapped you!" She called out, grabbing her jean jacket that she had kept on the kitchen stool and running outside to catch the boy. Hearing her shout that, made Steven come to a stop. She was right, he totally forgot about the conversation he and the Gems had earlier about Jewel. He didn't want them to think she was a kidnapper too. He thought recalling that time that he dressed as snerson and Ronaldo knocked him out with a potato. "Your right. Come on, let go tell the Gems!" He said running in the direction of the Gem temple, Jewel running after him. 'Gems?' Jewel thought confused. "Whoa wait, Steven slow down!" She called after him trying to catch up. When they finally got to the stairs of his house, Jewel was crouched down holding her knees panting, trying to catch her breath. When she looked up she noticed the giant woman shaped cliff. 'Whoa, h-how did I not notice this before.' She thought to herself and followed Steven up the wooden steps in awe. Opening the door to his house, Steven ran in.
"Garnet, Pearl Amethyst!" The small boy shouted while Jewel stood next to him looking around the house, intrigued. That's when she saw three strangely clothed people walk out of their rooms and into the front. "Steven you're back!" "Yea, where've you been you little fluffball?" The pale woman and purple one said. Jewel looked at them confused. "Welcome home, Steven." The tall one with the square shaped fro said calmly. "Guys this is our neighbor, Jewel. We're gonna go out and get some food and then I was going to introduce her to some of the other people in Beach City. Is that okay?" He asked with an innocent look. The one she assumed to be Garnet nodded her head at Steven and walked up to Jewel and extended her hand to the girl. " Hello Jewel, we are the Crystal Gems and we welcome you to Beach City. We hope you have a safe stay. Jewel took Garnet's hand and shook it. When she did, she felt a strange tingle up her spine as she looked up into the guardians weird shaped glasses. Shaking the strange feeling off, Jewel smiled. "Thanks. My names Julie by the way, but I prefer to be called Jewel." She let go of Garnet's hand slowly. "Steven has been a really big help to me today, so I wanted to pay him back with a meal of his choice. Don't worry, I'm a mildly responsible person. I'll make sure I return him the way he was when I took him." She joked slightly. Amethyst laughed, getting the joke. "What?" Pearl questioned worriedly. " It's fine. Go have fun." Garnet said. Steven grabbed Jewel's hand and ran out of the temple. Being dragged along by Steven, Jewel couldn't help but to rethink about the feeling she had when she shook Garnets hand. " Hey Steven, those weren't really your parent's right?" She asked. "Huh? Oh no. But they are family to me. My dad lives in his van at the carwash." He said nonchalantly. "Wait, what?" She said as they came to a stop in front of a building. Looking up at the sign it read, 'Fish Stew Pizza'. "Come on in." Steven who still was holding her hand walked into the establishment. In there, were a couple of other teenagers laughing and talking amongst themselves until they noticed them. "Hey Steven, who's the new girl you got with you?" The dark skinned girl with hoop earrings asked. Steven walked up to them with jewel in tow.
"Guys, this is Jewel. She just moved here. Jewel this is Jenny, her twin sister Kiki is the one working the counter, Sour Cream, and Buck Dewey." Steven introduced all in one breath. The one named Buck Dewey nodded at her, while the one named Sour Cream nodded at her with a tint of blush at her. "Oh yea, I think I might have seen you earlier. You were the one riding the moped weren't you?" Jenny asked. Jewel laughed nervously and ran her hand through wild hair. "You guys get to know each other a little better, while I go order the pizza." Jewel nodded at Steven and turned her attention back to the group. "Yea that was me. I just moved into that old shack on the beach." "Nice you live by yourself? Wish I was that lucky. How old are you anyway?" Jenny said with a smile crossing her arms. " Seventeen. I wouldn't say I'm that lucky, buying that small place really emptied my pockets, I'm probably gonna have to look for a job soon." She said pulling up a seat. "Ugh, I hear you." Sour Cream chimed in. "Working's the worse." Buck included. "Wait a minute, did you just say you moved into that old shack on the beach!?" Some guy who she didn't even know was there sprung into their conversation. Making everyone jump slightly. "Uh, yea." Jewel answered looking at the big guy who was wearing glasses and a red button up tourist shirt. His hair looked like big, thick curly fries. "You know, they say that place is haunted." He said sternly. Jewel raised her brow, curiously. "Oh come on Ronaldo no one has ever said that." Jenny said. "But it's true. I mean come on, think about it. That shack has been there for over fifty years, survived storms and high tides, they say it's protected by some kind of magic entity. You can read all about it on my blog. 'Keep Beach City Weird.'" He said showing his phone. "Pizza's here!" Steven came back placing the pizza on the table. They decided to share it amongst the entire group as they continued to talk and get to know each other further. So far, Jewel found herself becoming good friends with the group. When they were done she decided it was getting late and decided that she needed to get Steven back home. Before they took their separate ways, Jewel heard someone calling her name. Turning, she saw that it was Sour Cream. "Hey, uh there's gonna rave at the warehouse tomorrow night. I'm gonna be DJing. Why don't you uh, stop by if you're not too busy tomorrow, or uh whatever." The pale boy said, handing her a flyer with directions on. Looking up at him, she noticed he didn't make eye contact and was blushing. Jewel smiled at him, she thought his nervousness was in a way, adorable. "Sweet, I'd love to go and check it out. See you guys there tomorrow." She said. "Cool, night." He said. Jewel nodded and turned back to Steven who looked exhausted from today's activities.
Smiling down at Steven, Jewel crouched down to meet his eye level. "Come on Steven, how about a piggyback. I owe you for showing me such a great time." "No no. I can…" He yawned. "Okay maybe just a little lift." He was to tired to argue and agreed to the piggyback ride, resting his head in her fluffy hair. It felt like a pillow. It wasn't long before Steven fell asleep completely. Jewel chuckled as she made her way back to the temple. She was grateful that he accepted her offer, she didn't think she could handle another spontaneous beach run. Once she made it to the Gem Temple she was met at the door by the one named Garnet, as if she knew they would be there at that exact moment. Garnet took the sleeping boy and nodded at Jewel in appreciation.
Jewel made her way down the stairs, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath as she looked up at the stars. The Stars were beautiful tonight. She hasn't seen a sky like this since she was eight. Back in Empire City, they didn't have a night sky like this due to the light pollution.
Garnets POV
Garnet held on to steven as he slept, watching the girl known as Jewel make her way back to her home. Studying the girl intently, the fusion noticed how the pale streak of blue in her hair seemed to glow in the moonlight. "Hmm." Once she saw the girl walk into her house, Garnet closed the door and placed Steven in his bed before making her way into the inner sanctums of the temple.
Sighing tiredly as she got into the shack, Jewel kicked her shoes off and took off her jean jacket, hanging it on a nail sticking out on the left side of the door. She began to take off her clothes and headed into her small bathroom to wash up before she put her pajamas on. When she was done cleaning, she slipped on a pair of boxer shorts and a white crop top. It was to hot for long pajamas. Laying down on her small twin sized bed, Jewel stared up at the ceiling registering the day's event. Smiling to herself, she felt her eyes getting heavy before she finally fell asleep, waiting for the next day's events. Beach City was an interesting little place after all.
Authors Note: There it is, hope you all like it. I know it's a slow start, but don't worry Kevin will come in on the next Chapter. I plan to have things escalate as I get further into this. I haven't written a fanfiction since Quizilla. Tell me what you guys think, feel free to offer any ideas. Anyway, hope to hear from you all soon. Happy reading. -Queenlala