Kissing Booth Meltdown
By: Element of One
Prologue: Steven wants a brand new BMX trick bike, the only problem however, is that the cost of the bike is $200.00. He and Amethyst get the idea to set up a lemonade stand at this year's Beach City Parade, in order to pay for the cost of the bike. In doing so, Amethyst devises a plan to get even with Pearl for all of the constant criticisms and putdowns she has received from her throughout the years, and in the process she breaks her fellow teammate.
"Wow…It looks so cool!" Steven said, as he had his face pressed up against the window. "What's so cool about it? You already have a bike Steven," Amethyst said as she too was now peering through the window. Steven pushed himself away from the window and replied,
"This bike is so much more awesome than the one I have! It's a trick bike, it has pegs in the front and back, which allow you to do tricks!"
"Also, it's a mongoose! Lars has one and his is pretty cool!"
Amethyst was staring through the window when she said,
"Not to mention, it doesn't have one of those sissy bike bells like yours does Steven!"
Steven held his head down when he heard her words. Amethyst pushed herself off the glass and said,
"Aw come on Steven! I was just kidding!"
"Besides, who needs a trick bike when you can just do this!"
All of the sudden Amethyst shape shifted and turned herself into a "Harley." Her engine began roaring as she yelled at Steven and said,
"Get on Steven! We're going for a ride!"
Stevens's eyes lit up as he stared at the purple motorcycle that was now in front of him. He looked at Amethyst and said,
"Are you sure this is safe?"
The engine to the motorcycle began vrooming as Amethyst shouted,
"Have I ever steered you wrong Steven!?"
Steven thought for a minute, but then jumped on. And just as he did, the two began speeding down the road, heading in the direction of the temple.
As they were speeding, several commuters including Mr. Maheswaren, began shouting, telling them to slow down. Connie was riding in the car with her father when he turned to face her and said,
"That's that little friend of yours! Where did he get that motorcycle!? And who taught him how to drive!?"
"Does he even have a license!?"
Connie laughed nervously and said,
"That's not Steven, there's no way that could be him!"
While they were nearing the temple, Amethyst glanced up towards Steven and said,
"Look Steven it's Pearl"
"Why don't you waive at her! Maybe she needs a lift!?"
Steven looked over to his left and saw Pearl walking on the sidewalk with groceries in her hands. He waived to her and shouted,
"Hey Pearl!"
"We'll see you at the house!"
Amethyst laughed at Stevens remark and said,
"Yeah, I wasn't going to stop for her anyway!"
Pearl saw the two speed by her, and as she did, she dropped the groceries. She began to feel anger and rage brewing inside of her. She was completely blue in her face as she shouted from the top of her lungs,
"AAAMMMEETTTHYST!"
Steven laughed as he heard the screams in the background and said,
"I think somebodies mad at you Amethyst!"
Amethyst responded,
"Yeah, what else is new…."
Arrival at the Temple
Pearl came running up the steps to the house, and as she opened the door, she saw Steven sitting at the counter reading a magazine. Pearl dropped the groceries to the floor, she ran towards him and began frantically saying,
"Steven! Are you okay!? Are you hurt!?"
"Let me take a look at you!"
Before Steven could respond, she put her hands on his face, and began moving them all around to feel for any bumps or bruises. She checked the back of his neck, the top of his head, his arms, his legs, and then lifted up his shirt to see if his gem was damaged. Steven got uncomfortable as he pulled his shirt down and said,
"I'm fine Pearl….Really I'm fine!"
"What's for dinner?"
Pearl folded her arms, she looked down at Steven and said,
"Do you want to explain to me why you were riding on Amethyst's back? Why the two of you were speeding down the road? Why you weren't wearing any protective headgear?
"Specifically, what made you think it was okay to do that?"
Steven held his head down, as he stared at the counter. He was searching for the right words, but before he could say anything, the gem on Amethyst's door began to light up. Pearl looked down at him and said,
"We'll continue this conversation later Steven!"
Amethyst came out of her room and saw Pearl staring at her with a look of hate in her eyes. She smiled as she walked past Pearl and headed into the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator door, sighed heavily, then said to herself,
"Ah man, there's no more food!"
"It's a good thing you went to the store Pearl.."
Amethyst slammed the refrigerator door and began grinning at her. Pearl stood there, with her blood boiling, and quietly said to Amethyst,
"It's because Steven is in our presence right now, why I'm choosing not engage with you."
Pearl walked back towards the door, and began picking the groceries off the ground. As she was doing this, Amethyst continued to aggravate Pearl and said,
"Well, okay then."
"Hurry up with dinner because I'm starving."
With that final remark, Pearl, in an instant, turned around and threw one of her spears at Amethyst. Steven was in shock as he saw that Amethyst was now pined against the wall, with a spear underneath her left arm. Before he had time to react, his eyes saw several more spears fly by him. Steven turned back to look at Amethyst once more, and saw that she was now off the ground. She had spears in between her arms and legs, and was pinned against the wall. Amethyst's mouth dropped as tried to process what had just happened. But before she could process anything, Pearl was now in her presence with a spear pressed up against her throat. Pearl was staring down Amethyst and quietly said,
"Say something else Amethyst, I want you to..…"
Steven jumped off the stool and began shouting,
"Garnet! Help! They're fighting!"
"Do something!"….
Garnet to the Rescue
Garnet came running out of her room saying,
"Steven what is it?"
"What's wrong?"
Steven's eyes were watering as he jumped off the ground into her arms and said,
"They're fighting! Pearl's going to kill Amethyst!"
Garnet wiped the tears from Stevens's eyes, she stared at him through her visors and said softly,
"No one is going to kill anyone Steven."
Garnet held Steven in her arms and made her way into the kitchen. She looked down at Pearl and said,
"What do you think you're doing Pearl?"
Pearl saw Garnets shadow and turned around immediately to face her. She nervously said,
"Nothing! Garnet! Absolutely nothing!"
The spears in the wall disappeared, as Amethyst fell to the ground. Pearl hid the spear that she was holding behind her back, and it too disappeared. Amethyst got to her feet, pointed at Pearl and shouted,
"She started it!"
Pearl protested and said,
"I started it!? She was the one who kept nagging at me, trying her best to get underneath my skin!"
Amethyst smiled, then said,
"And it worked!"
Pearl in her frustration said,
"This whole thing started because I caught Amethyst and Steven joy riding, as they were speeding down the road!"
Garnet looked at Steven and said,
"What were you riding Steven?"
He pointed at Amethyst and said,
"A motorcycle."
Garnet looked back at Amethyst and shook her head. Then she looked back at Pearl and said,
"Look, I don't mind if the two of you tear each other apart. But when it comes to Steven, that's when I have a problem with it."
Garnet looked back at Amethyst and said,
"Amethyst what were you thinking by taking Steven on the road like that?"
"He could've been hurt or killed, then I would have to kill you…"
Amethyst's mouth dropped when she heard Garnets words, but then Garnet said,
"I was just kidding about that last part…"
"But I would've been seriously angry with you."
"Amethyst, you're a crystal gem. It's time you start acting like it."
Pearl's eyes lit up as she heard Garnets words. Garnet placed Steven in Pearls arms and said,
"Hurry up and start dinner, Steven's hungry…"
Then Garnet walked away. Amethyst laughed as she heard Garnets final statement and followed her. Pearl stood there, holding Steven, and began to cringe when she saw Amethyst blowing kisses at her and waving goodbye.
Then Steven nervously asked,
"Uh Pearl, could you please put me down?"
Pearl replied,
"Yes Steven, I'm sorry."
Steven sat at the counter and continued reading his magazine, while Pearl started dinner. She walked over towards the wall, observing the holes that were left from her spears, and said,
"I guess I'm going to have to patch these up."
"Oh well, I'll do it tomorrow."
"Do you want to come with me Steven?"
"I'm going into town tomorrow to get some supplies."
Steven looked up from his magazine and said,
"I don't know Pearl, I don't think that's such a good idea."
Pearl looked back at him, with her arms folded and said,
"Why not? Why wouldn't you want to come with me?"
Then Steven replied,
"Because you're mad at me."
Pearl placed her hands on the back of her neck, she looked up towards the ceiling and let out a heavy sigh, then looked back towards Steven and said,
"I'm not mad at you Steven. I'm just upset because you behave irresponsibly sometimes."
"What were you and Amethyst doing out there by the way?"
"Why were you guys in town so late?"
Steven replied,
"Amethyst came with me to a bike shop. There's this really cool bike that I want buy, and we wanted to get there to see it before closing time."
"Here, look Pearl, its right here. This is the magazine from the bike shop. It has all of the different bikes listed, including the one that I want."
Pearl walked over towards the counter and gazed down upon the magazine. Steven pointed at the product as Pearl began reading,
"A Mongoose BMX pro sport, listed at $200.00!"
Then Pearl said,
"Steven that's a bit pricy for a bike! Besides, you have your other bike and it still functions properly."
Steven replied,
"I know, but this one is really cool! Lars has one and I want one too!"
Pearl raised her eyebrow and said,
"So if Lars jumps off of a cliff, are you going to do it too because it's cool!?"
Steven looked at her confused and said,
"Why would Lars jump off of a cliff?"
Pearl frowned and quietly said,
"Never mind Steven!"
"Analogy wasted….."
"Well, if you come with me tomorrow, maybe we can go look at it?"
Steven smiled and said,
"Yes, I'll go with you tomorrow Pearl!"
"Thanks for buying it for me!"
Pearl quickly responded,
"I never said we're going to buy it Steven!"
"We're going to look at it!"
Steven got out of the stool, and ran around the counter to embrace Pearl. But before he could grab her, she shouted,
"Steven!...Wait!...No!...I'm not ready!"
Steven disregarded her pleas. By now he had his arms wrapped around her waist, he lifted her up into the air, and began shaking her side to side. He set her down and said,
"You're so awesome Pearl!"
"I'm going to call my dad, to let him know that I'm getting an early birthday present!"
Pearl stood there, in shock, with her eyes wide open, and watched as Steven walked off. She gradually started to come back to reality and said to herself,
"Why does he think it's okay to just grab me like that!?"
She stared down Steven, as he headed up the stairs with the cordless phone in his hands. She took in a deep breath, turned to face the stove, and proceeded to finish preparing dinner.
On the phone with Greg
Steven came back into the kitchen with the cordless phone and said,
"Pearl, my dad wants to talk to you. It's about the bike."
Pearl looked down at him with a displeasing look in her eyes, and snatched the phone from his hands. She put a plate of food on top of the counter and said subtly,
"Here's your food Steven."
Pearl walked away from the kitchen, with the phone in her hand, and proceeded to stare back at Steven. As he was sitting down, eating his dinner, she put the phone to her ear and said,
"Hello Greg."
There was silence at first, but then Greg responded,
"Hey Pearl, how's it going?"
Pearl responded,
"I'm fine Greg, what is that you want?"
Then Greg said nervously,
"Well, Steven's been talking to me about this new bike that he wants and I….."
Pearl cut him off midway through his sentence and said,
"Yes, I know about the bike! Did he also tell you that it costs $200.00?"
Then Greg responded,
"See, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. How about we go half on it?"
Pearl responded,
"Greg, I'm not going to get him a bike just because he wants it!"
"We shouldn't spoil him!"
Then Greg said,
"Well his birthday is coming up, and I haven't gotten him anything yet."
"We could say that it's a gift from all of us, and that's it for his birthday."
"If you guys want to do something for him, you can, but for me that's it."
Pearl thought for a moment, then said,
"I guess we could do that, but I have to talk to Garnet about it first."
Greg responded,
"Okay, let me know what you guys decide. Bye *click*
Pearl heard a dial tone, she looked back towards the phone confused, and then turned her attention towards Steven.
Late Night Conversation
Pearl watched as Steven was sound asleep in his room, and waited till the gem on her door lit up. The door began to open, Pearl walked inside and said quietly,
"What are the two of you doing in my room?"
Garnet was staring back at Pearl with her arms folded, while Amethyst had her back towards Pearl and was looking upwards. Garnet tapped Amethyst on her shoulder and said,
"Turn around Amethyst."
Amethyst unwillingly turned around to face Pearl, and then Garnet said,
"We need to talk."
Pearl began to walk towards them, with her arms folded and said,
"About what?"
Garnet started by saying,
"I don't like what I saw this evening."
There was silence as Garnet said her words, then she continued,
"The two of you don't have to like each other, but you will respect each other in front of Steven."
"Now shake hands please."
"I'm only going to ask once…"
Pearl and Amethyst immediately started shaking hands, and then there was silence again between them. Then Pearl said,
"Well, now that that's settled, I need to talk to both of you about something."
"Steven wants some type of BMX bike and I told him we would go look at it tomorrow."
Garnet looked at Pearl and responded,
"Yes, I know about the bike."
Pearl looked back at her and said,
"What? How did you know?"
Garnet looked down at Amethyst, and Amethyst said,
"Yeah, he wants that stupid bike!"
"I told him who needs a bike when you have a motorcycle!"
"And that's when I decided to shapeshift into a Harley!"
Pearl looked at her and said,
"You mean that's when you decided to risk his life, and almost get into an accident?"
Amethyst responded,
"Whatever Pearl! He's fine isn't he?"
Then Pearl responded,
"You're unbelievable! You're just so childish and immature!"
"Do you care about anyone but yourself!? You could've killed Steven today, and you have no remorse for doing so!"
The two of them began arguing and then Garnet chimed in and said,
"That's enough!"
"I'm not here to babysit the two of you!"
"Now back to the bike."
"I think Steven can have it, so long as he works for it."
Amethyst looked at Garnet and said,
"Work for it? You mean like a job? If Steven were to actually get a job and pay for it?"
Garnet nodded her head and said,
"Yes."
Then Pearl jumped into the conversation and said,
"I was on the phone with Greg earlier, and he said that he wants to go half on it with us."
"He said it could be Stevens early birthday present from all of us."
Garnet nodded her head, as she thought for a moment and said,
"It's not really considered a birthday present if Steven buys it, so tomorrow tell Greg that we'd prefer if Steven works for it. Tell him to hold off on that idea, and we'll all celebrate Stevens's birthday at the correct date."
Pearl responded,
"Alright. I'll call Greg tomorrow and let him know.
As soon as Pearl finished talking, Amethyst said,
"So what kind of job is Steven going to get? He's never worked a day in his life!"
Garnet looked down at Amethyst and said,
"That, I leave up to you."
"You're going to take Steven out tomorrow, and help him find a job."
Amethyst protested,
"Why do I have to be the one to take him!?
Garnet responded,
"Because I said so."
"And because you were the one who decided to go speeding with him."
Amethyst mumbled underneath her breath, as she headed towards the waterfall and jumped in. As she was sliding down the waterfall, she heard Pearl's voice in the background,
"You should have never taken him joy riding Amethyst!"
Amethyst thought in the back of her mind,
"Keep talking Pearl, just wait and see what I have planned for you…."
The Next Day
Steven woke up with Amethyst standing over him, and when he focused his eyes, he saw that she was holding something in front of him.
"This is how we're going to get that bike Steven!" She said as she held a poster advertising the upcoming Beach City Parade. Steven looked at her and said,
"Wait a minute! Pearl said she was going to buy it for me! We're going in town today to look at it."
"I said no such thing Steven," Pearl said as she too was standing over him, to the side of his bed.
She continued and said,
"We decided that you can have the bike, but you're going to have to work for it."
"Amethyst is going to accompany you in town today, and you're going to look for a job."
Steven sighed heavily, then said,
"Ah man! Why do I have to get a job!? You guys should buy me things out of the kindness of your heart!"
Amethyst giggled at Steven's statement, while Pearl raised her eyebrow at him and said,
"We wouldn't be teaching you anything, if we just bought it for you Steven."
Steven protested and said,
"But none of you guys have jobs! Why do I have to get one!?"
Amethyst laughed and said,
"Uh hello Steven! We're defenders of earth! We protect Beach City!"
"That's our job!"
"Besides, I have an idea that's going to make this easy!"
"Trust me, we'll have all the money that we need by the end of today!"
Pearl looked over at Amethyst and said,
"What's your plan Amethyst? If it involves putting Steven in danger or at risk, then I don't approve of it."
Amethyst responded,
"That's none of your business, Garnet gave me a task, and I'm going to do it the best way I see fit."
"Now go stick your nose elsewhere!"
Then she turned her attention to Steven and said,
"Come on Steven, get up and get dressed!"
"The parade is going to start in a few hours, so we have to get moving."
Pearl stood there, watching, as Steven jumped out of bed and headed down stairs with Amethyst in tow. Pearl could feel her anger coming on as she thought to herself,
"She's the reason why he thinks it's okay to disrespect me!"
Pearl headed down stairs, she called Greg, and informed him of their decision. He agreed and felt that Steven should try to earn the money, but Greg also stated that whatever money his son earned, he would match it to help pay for the cost of the bike.
Meeting with Mr. Smiley
Amethyst and Steven came running up the boardwalk, towards Fun Land, and saw Mr. Smiley decorating for the afternoon's festivities. Steven spoke in a low tone, as he quietly said,
"Uh, hello Mr. Smiley."
Mr. Smiley turned around to look at Steven and said,
"Good morning Steven…and Stevens's friend."
"What can I do for you guys?"
Steven nervously responded,
"Uh, we were wondering if we could…"
But Mr. Smiley quickly said,
"Oh no Steven! Whatever it is the answer is No!"
"You've been banned from all of the rides, and the arcade is not open yet!"
Then Steven responded,
"It's not that sir."
"We were just wondering if we could setup a venue at funland."
"We wanted to setup a lemonade stand to try to make some money."
Mr. Smiley thought for a minute, then said,
"That's fine. I don't have a problem with that Steven."
"But I want 10 percent of your profit."
Steven and amethyst looked at each other confused, then Mr. Smiley said,
"What that means Steven, is, if you sell $100 dollars' worth of lemonade, then I collect 10 percent of it; which is $10 for allowing you to setup at funland."
Then Steven replied,
"Wow Mr. Smiley! That seems pretty cheap! You drive a hard bargain, but we'll take it!"
Mr. Smiley stared at him, with a puzzled look on his face, and said,
"Right…..a hard bargain…"
"Well, let me know if you guys need anything."
"I have an extra table, and few chairs available, if you need to use them."
Steven turned to Amethyst and said,
"That's great! Now all we need is some Lemons!"
Amethyst responded,
"I'll go and get the Lemons, you stay here and setup the table!"
Amethyst shape shifted into a bird, and began flying back towards the Temple. As she was doing so, she gazed down upon the city and could see several lemon trees in her presence. She flew down, she quickly shapeshifted into a kangaroo, and began kicking the base of each tree. She watched as she saw dozens of lemons fall from the tree, and on to the ground. She quickly scooped them up, placed them in her pouch, and began hopping towards the temple. Mr. Mehaswaren was out on the road again, as he glanced over and saw a purple kangaroo hopping on the sidewalk. He turned his attention to his daughter, who was sitting in the passenger seat, and said,
"I think you need to find some new friends Connie!"
Arrival at the temple
Amethyst kicked in the door to see Garnet sitting at the sofa, reading the newspaper, and Pearl in the kitchen, repairing the holes in the wall that she made the day prior. Pearl stared at Amethyst and said,
"Oh god! What are you up to now!?"
Amethyst ignored her, as she made her way into the kitchen, and began grabbing items from the cabinets. Pearl watched as she grabbed a pitcher, a cutting board, some kitchen knives, a bag of sugar, and more lemons from the refrigerator. While Amethyst was moving around, she swiped her tail in an attempt to knock Pearl off her feet and Pearl shouted,
"Watch it!"
"Where's Steven!?"
Amethyst ignored her again, as she hopped her way outside of the house, and leaped from the stairs onto the beach.
Garnet saw this and quietly said to Pearl,
"Follow her, find out what she's up to."
Lemonade Stand
Amethyst made her way back to Steven, and could see that he already had the table and chairs setup, as well as a table cloth that Mr. Smiley had loaned him. Steven smiled at her, as he saw that her pouch was completely full, and said,
"Do you think you have enough stuff there Amethyst!?"
Amethyst looked around and said,
"Where are we going to put all of this stuff Steven?"
He turned his head towards the ground and said,
"Here, we can put it in the ice chest."
"Mr. Smiley loaned it to us."
Amethyst looked down at the ground, she saw a large ice chest, filled with ice and a few gallons of water sitting on top. Steven looked back at Amethyst and said,
"I think we should give him a little more than just 10 percent."
"Look at how much stuff he gave us!"
Amethyst smiled as she pulled the lemons from her pouch, and began throwing them in the ice chest. She started setting the rest of the items on the table, and while doing so, she saw Pearl racing up the board walk towards them. Amethyst had a large grin on her face, as she turned to face Steven and said,
"Don't worry, 10 percent will be just fine Steven."
Then she shapeshifted back to her normal self. With her arms folded, and a smile on her face, she stared towards Pearl and said,
"We can offer Mr. Smiley a nice glass of sweet lemonade…."
Pearl takes over
Steven looked up and said,
"Pearl's coming! What's she doing here!?"
Pearl made it to the lemonade stand, she stopped, and began to catch her breath. She looked up at Amethyst and Steven, then said,
"What are you guys doing?"
"Amethyst, is this your idea of taking him out to look for a job?"
Then Amethyst responded,
"Hey its work, isn't it!?"
"Besides, what's wrong with letting him have a little fun at the parade, while he's serving lemonade?"
Pearl looked at the table, then looked down at the ice chest and said,
"Do the two of you even know how to make Lemonade?"
Amethyst sarcastically responded,
"No Pearl! We're complete idiots!"
"We have no idea how to make lemonade!"
Pearl smiled and said,
"Then I'm glad I'm here!"
Amethyst just rolled her eyes when she heard Pearls comment, then Pearl said,
"There's a science to it. You have to make sure that you mix the right amount of water, lemon, and sugar; in order to produce a positive result."
Steven looked at her confused and said,
"What's a positive result?"
Pearl sighed as she said,
"A delicious drink Steven, that's all that I meant."
Then Steven responded,
"Oh, okay. We'll let's get busy making some delicious Lemonade!"
"Thanks for helping us out Pearl!"
Pearl smiled and said,
"Alright you two, listen to me and we'll get through this in no time!"
"Steven, start cutting as many lemons as you can. Amethyst, start setting out cups for our customers and I'll prepare the lemonade."
In no time, the three of them started working and it didn't take long for them to finish. Steven looked down at the ice chest and saw that the previous gallons of water were now filled with lemonade. He looked at the table and saw that the pitcher was full of lemonade, and all of the cups stacked on the table were full as well. He looked back at Pearl and said,
"Do you think we have enough Lemonade?"
She smiled at him, then responded,
"I think we'll be fine Steven."
"Would you like to try some?"
She handed over a cup to Steven and watched as he began chugging it. When he was finished, he wiped his face with his T-shirt and said,
"Wow Pearl! That was delicious!"
"Thank you! I think our customers are going to love it!"
Pearl smiled at Steven and said,
"You're welcome!"
Then Steven looked at both of them and said,
"I think I need to go to the restroom, I'll be back in a minute."
"Can one of you guys watch the lemonade stand?"
Amethyst responded,
"Wait Steven. I'll come with you."
"Pearl can stay here and watch the stand. I'm sure she doesn't want me to mess anything up."
Pearl looked at both of them, then responded,
"Hurry up you two, I don't want to be here all alone when we get a rush of customers."
Steven and Amethyst both nodded their heads, and proceeded to walk off towards the restrooms. They could see that a crowd of people started to gather on the board walk, so they knew that they needed to be back soon. Before they left, Amethyst ran back towards the table, she pulled out a marker, and began writing on the front of the cloth.
Pearl looked down at her and said,
"What are you doing?"
Amethyst smiled and said,
"I'm just writing down how much the price is for a cup of lemonade."
Pearl looked at her and said,
"How much are we asking for?"
Amethyst responded,
"$5 dollars"
Then Pearl said,
"$5 dollars? That seems a bit pricy for a cup of lemonade."
"Bring it down a little more."
Amethyst smiled at Pearl once more and said,
"Well I think it's worth $5 dollars, since you made it!"
"I know you made it with love!"
Pearl began to blush and said,
"You know you're not so bad Amethyst. In fact you're easy to get along with, when you're not behaving irresponsibly."
Amethyst stood up, she taped Pearl on the shoulder and said,
"You're right my friend! You're absolutely right about me!"
"I wish I could be more like you Pearl!"
Then Pearl responded,
"Well, why don't you give it a try!? People might like you more!"
Amethyst smiled as she walked off. Steven saw the grin on her face and said,
"What are you smiling about?"
Amethyst replied,
"Nothing Steven! Let's go to the restroom!"
The Meltdown
Pearl stood there, waiting for customers. But no sooner did she start waiting, she began to see a massive group of people line up in front of the stand. She looked around for Amethyst or Steven, then quietly said to herself,
"Oh well, I guess I'm on my own for the next few minutes."
"Hopefully they'll be back soon."
She stood there, and watched, as her first customer "Ronaldo" came up to the stand. She started by saying,
"Hi, can I interest you in a glass of Lemonade? It's only 5 dollars."
Ronaldo nodded his head and began typing on his phone. Pearl handed him a cup of lemonade, she watched as he chugged it, then said,
"That'll be $5 dollars please."
Ronaldo pulled out a stack of money, he handed a $5 dollar bill to her, and then walked around the stand towards her. He was standing next to Pearl, when he put his arm around her and said,
"Make sure you smile! I've never kissed an alien before! This is totally going on my blog post!"
He held his cellphone in the air and prepared to take a selfie with her, when Pearl screamed,
"Wait!...What are you doing!?...Get away from….."
But before she could finish, Ronaldo pressed his lips up against hers and began kissing her. Pearl stood there, frozen, and in shock, as she could feel his tongue pressing down her throat. He released her and then said,
"That wasn't like I expected. I thought you aliens would have two tongues or something like that."
As Ronaldo began to walk off, he stopped and felt a cold blade pressed up against his neck. Then he heard Pearl whisper angrily into his ear.
"What would make you think you could do that!?"
He turned around to face her, and was now looking straight down at her Spear, when Pearl said,
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you!"
He was staring at her, observing the tears in her eyes and flared nostrils, when he nervously said,
"Your sign!"
"It says free kiss with the purchase of lemonade!"
"I'm sorry! Please don't kill me!"
Pearl gasped as she turned to face the table, and saw what Amethyst had written. Her face was completely blue, as she felt her anger and rage brewing inside of her. But before she could do anything, Ronaldo shouted at the top of his lungs,
"Everybody! The alien lady is trying to attack!"
Pearl turned around to face him and shouted,
"Oh shut up! I'm not going to attack anybody! And I'm not an alien!"
Her spear began to disappear, as she heard Ronaldo shout again and say,
"Then that's false advertising!"
Pearl ignored him as she marched to the front of the table, and proceeded to rip off the part of the table cloth that contained the advertisement. As she was doing so, she heard a voice behind her say,
"Just what do you think you're doing to my table cloth!?"
She turned to face the voice, and saw that "Mr. Smiley" was the next customer in line. Pearl's heart sank as she quietly said to herself,
"Oh my god!"
"This isn't happening right now!"
"This has to be a dream!"
Pearl looked up at Mr. Smiley and said,
"I'm sorry but this advertisement is false! I'm not giving out free kisses!"
Mr. Smiley looked back at her and said,
"Well, it doesn't bother me none. I just wanted a glass of lemonade."
"But the mayor over there, he along with the Beach City Police, might have a problem with it."
Pearl looked down the line of customers, and could see the mayor standing with police officers by his side. Pearl watched as Mayor Dewey began rubbing Chap Stick on his lips, and winked at her. Pearl's eyes grew wide as she looked back at Mr. Smiley and asked,
"You can't really go to jail for false advertisement, can you!?"
Mr. Smiley finished his lemonade and said,
"I don't know, but I wouldn't chance it."
"This lemonade is delicious by the way!"
"Tell Steven that he doesn't owe me the 10 percent."
"If I can take a few gallons of this delicious lemonade, then we're square."
Pearl ran back towards the ice chest and proceeded to hand the gallons to Mr. Smiley. She frantically said,
"Take as many as you like!"
"Take them all PLEASE!"
Mr. Smiley stared at her and said,
"I only want two, I don't need them all."
Pearl stared down into the ice chest and saw that she still had "5, 1 gallon jugs" remaining. Her eyes began to tear as she looked up at Mr. Smiley and said,
"Please don't leave me!"
Mr. Smiley looked back at her and said,
"Lady, what do you want me to do?"
"I can't help you."
"Besides, $5 dollars for a cup of lemonade seems mighty expensive."
"Maybe you should throw in a little bit of extra sugar…"
Pearl looked at him confused and said,
"What!? The lemonade has just the right amount of sugar in it!"
"If I add more it will be too sweet!"
Mr. Smiley looked back at her and said,
"I'm not talking about sweetening the lemonade, Lady."
"Extra Sugar…"
Pearl still was confused, then said,
"Extra Sugar?"
"Is that a metaphor for something?"
Then as Pearl was staring back at him, she gradually started to figure it out and said,
"Oh, Extra Sugar, I know what you're trying to say…."
As she caught herself, she protested, then said,
"Absolutely not! I refuse to compromise myself over something so minuscule as a glass of lemonade!"
Then Mr. Smiley said,
"Then good luck fighting off the crowd, lady."
"Have a nice day, thanks for the lemonade."
Pearl turned her attention towards the line of people and began to Panic, as she could see "Lars, Onion, Mayor Dewey, among others, and Ronaldo" in the back of the line waiving at her. Lars was the next customer in line, when he shouted,
"Let's go Pearl, I don't have all day!"
She walked back towards the table, with her hands clinched into fists and said to herself,
"Amethyst I'm going to kill you!"
As she made it to the table, she saw Lars giving high fives to all of his buddies saying,
"This is so awesome! I'm totally going to make out with my first chick!"
Then Lars friend chimed in and said,
"Yeah, and you only have to pay $5 bucks to do it!..."
Lost in the Parade
Amethyst and Steven were lost in the crowd, as they could hear the sound of music, and they aroma of food fill the board walk. Steven was smiling, while eating his cotton candy, then said,
"Amethyst this is so awesome!"
"Do you think Pearl's okay?"
"I hope she's not mad at us for checking out the parade!"
Amethyst replied, while eating her cotton candy, and said,
"Dude, Pearl's fine."
"We can bring her something back if you want?"
Then Steven said,
"What are we going to bring her? She doesn't like to eat anything."
Amethyst smiled and said,
"How about we get her a nice big tube of lip balm?"
Then Steven asked,
"Why would she need Lip Balm? It's not cold outside, no one's lips are chapped."
Amethyst replied,
"Never mind Steven, let's just continue to have fun!"
"Pearl's fine, trust me…"
And with that, the two began walking further and further down the board walk, and became lost in the crowd.
Lemonade Stand
It had been several hours since Pearl last saw Steven and Amethyst. She stood there, with her eyes wide open, and was staring blankly ahead of herself. She had tears in her eyes, her hair was a mess, and she was completely blue in the face. Her hands were shaking as she tried to reach up to touch her face, and while doing so, she found that her entire jaw was numb. She watched as a "heavy set man" stood off into the distance and called out to her,
"Pearl? Is that you?"
She was numb to his words, and watched as he began walking towards her. Once he got closer, she could see that it was Greg, and she gradually started to come back to reality. Greg stood before and said,
"Pearl? Is everything okay?"
Pearl snapped as she fell to the floor and began shouting at him,
"No!...Please!...Not you Greg!"
Greg saw that she was out of it, so he kneeled down beside her and tried to calm her down. As he was reaching his arm out, she began to push herself away from him and started screaming,
"Get away from me!"
"Don't touch me!"
Greg had tears in his eyes, as he softly said,
"Pearl? What the hell happened?"
Pearl looked back at him and saw that his eyes were glossy, so she threw herself into his arms, and began sobbing uncontrollably. He got to his feet, with Pearl in his arms, and said,
"Let's get you home Pearl!"
"Garnet will know what to do!"
As he was walking past the table, he looked down and saw that there was a "jar" filled with money, sitting on top of it. He was holding Pearl in his arms, when she whispered in a broken voice,
"Now Steven can get his bike!"