It wasn't supposed to turn out like this.

I thought I had thought it out well enough to cover all the options. I thought I could improvise and act casual and have it work out just fine despite the fact that I hadn't actually planned anything, but it didn't turn out like that.

And now, watching my mysterious neighbor as she fled across the front porch of her ginormous house and pulled the door shut behind her, I wondered what had gone wrong. It had seemed so simple! I mean yeah, talking to someone for the first time was awkward – but it shouldn't be so awkward that the girl runs away after the first minute!

Just five days before, I had been awoken by the sound of a truck backing up nearby. The sight outside my window was a welcome one: finally, a family was moving into the long-empty house next door! I watched as the movers unloaded the furniture, crossing my fingers in the hopes that this would be a family with kids close to my age. Like, 16- or 17-year-olds would be nice. Although I wouldn't complain if they were just a little older or younger… My neighborhood was so boring, with almost all the kids having grown up and moved away. I guess that's just what happens when you live on the very edge of the richer part of the city where all the old rich people are – but really, I was tired of spending all my days alone. And summer vacation was the worst. Yeah, my parents TRIED to help me from being bored out of my mind, but they were busy almost all the time, and my friends all lived on the other side of the city, so most of the time I had nothing to do.

A little after lunchtime that same day, while I was splashing around in the pool in our front yard, I was overjoyed to see a medium-sized gray car pull up to the house next door and park in the driveway. A tall businesswoman stepped out of the driver's seat and two teens came out the back; one was tall and burly, tanned and longhaired, and I couldn't tell if it was a girl or boy, and the other was a really skinny pipsqueak with short, messy blonde hair, who looked female to me. None of them saw me as I treaded water thoughtfully and wondered if this was going to be as good as I hoped.

The family barely ever seemed to leave the house. I know, because I watched their house a lot of the time; every once in a while I would glance out the window and check what was going on. The prim businesswoman, who I assumed was the mother, seemed to be almost never at home, and her children pretty much did whatever.

On the second day after my new neighbors moved in, I had been hanging around on my front porch and reading some lame book that my mom had given me like three years ago when suddenly someone yelled something that made me look up. One of the teens from next door was standing in front of my house and calling out something that I couldn't understand. It was the big, strong-looking one, and since I was curious, I set the book aside and went up to my front gate.

"Hey," the kid had said, and up close I could tell that she was a girl. "I'm Jasper. Just moved in yesterday. You're from around here, right? There any cool places to hang, maybe find some kids?"

"I'm Lapis, and no, there aren't many cool places around here," I had replied. Jasper didn't seem too bad, but she didn't seem like anyone to mess with either; her tone was stern and slightly condescending. "There's a park, a pool, a donut shop, and the beach, although that's a little farther away. This is a pretty boring part of the city to be honest."

Jasper hadn't even thanked me for the information. "Right. Well, see you around!" She left me trying to puzzle out whether that girl would be a good one to befriend; I supposed not, since she hadn't even asked for my name or anything.

Her sister – or at least, I assumed the other girl was her sister – never approached me at all. I saw her a couple times, sitting on the front steps of her home, but I hadn't gone up and tried to talk to her – at least, not until today, I reminded myself. And today was rather a disaster, seeing how she literally ran away.

Now, hanging back wasn't normally my tactic. It wasn't like I was shy or anything. My friends, in fact, said I was the most extroverted of extroverts at our school – well, apart from maybe Amethyst. But there was something about the short girl sitting on the top step that made me pause. Maybe it was the way she never seemed to look up at anyone who walked by, never taking her eyes off whatever it was that she held in her hands. Or maybe it was how she always slunk out there when nobody else was around, looking as if she was trying not to be seen. Or maybe it was something else – but the point was, I had uncharacteristically avoided her for five days.

Not today, though. Today I had seen her out there as I practiced gymnastics out on the front lawn, and I had resolved to go see what was up with the girl who always sat there and never seemed to go anywhere else. She was rather strange looking too, which was another factor that made me curious. Nothing super odd, but her hair was almost triangular, and she was really pale, and had really big circular glasses with – I kid you not – greenish lenses… so the point was, I wanted to find out who this girl was.

Okay, chill, Lapis, I told myself as I ran my fingers through my hair in preparation. Make a good first impression. Just act cool. Casual. And as I walked across my front yard and hopped the gate (too lazy to bother to open it), I reminded myself that I should take it easy because that girl probably did have a reason for not running around talking to people. Then again, I could surely win her over easily enough. My friends always did say I was good with people.

As I walked down the sidewalk, trying to keep my walk casual without sauntering or looking too prideful and unapproachable, I got a closer look at the girl on the steps. She was tapping and swiping at an iPad that was on her lap, eyes darting around the screen – unusually green eyes. Also, she had loads and loads of freckles. Despite the warm sun, she wore a dark green hoodie with the words "I told you so" printed on it and long black pants. I wondered how she wasn't melting from heat; I myself was wearing a blue crop top and shorts.

"Hey," I had called out as I walked carefully up the path towards the girl's house. She had looked up, eyes wide, and clicked her iPad's off button. I slowed down once I was in comfortable speaking distance. "I'm Lapis. Lapis Lazuli. I live over there–" jerking my thumb towards my house– "and I couldn't help but see you hanging around here… what's your name?"

The girl blinked at me, looking rather scared, although I couldn't understand why. "I'm Peridot," she said at last. Her voice was high-pitched and slightly odd sounding.

I had been totally casual a moment ago, but I could feel the awkwardness growing in the air. "Um… so I was wondering, what are you always doing out here? I mean, like, you never seem to go anywhere or anything." Peridot shifted uncomfortably, pulling her iPad up against her stomach and hugging it nervously.

"Um, I just– do stuff…" Suddenly her cheeks flushed. "S-sorry, I– I gotta go!" And with that, she got to her feet and rushed into her house, leaving me staring after her and wondering, was it something I said?

Sighing, I turned and walked back towards my house. Well that didn't work. Maybe I was just destined to be alone all summer. At least there were only three weeks left…