What is this, you ask? Well, simply put, my answer is: I don't know. This simply started off as a drabble of a telephone exchange between Amethyst and Peridot and turned into...well, this. I've been working on this fic for a month or so now, and I would be lying if I said I didn't have any fun doing it. My plan is for this to be a three-shot; the other two chapters are pretty much done, just some minor tweaking is required here and there. Anyways, thanks so much for the read! Hope you love these two dorks as much as I do.
Peridot jolted awake to a sharp pain in her left hand and a smell suspiciously resembling fried eggs.
"What the...shit," she mumbled, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. She moved the desk lamp that had fallen onto her hand, which now sported an angry, red blotch from its time under the hot light bulb. Sighing, she repositioned her glasses, scooted away from her desk, and got up, attempting to twist away the pain from her body cramps. Note to self: never sleep in swivel chairs, she thought. Her shoulders were in hopeless knots; her neck felt like it was on fire.
She checked the alarm clock near her bed, the only other source of light in the room other than the lamp. "3:35," she muttered to herself, wiping the drool from her mouth. Must've nodded off again while working.
Peridot huffed, mentally kicking herself as she settled back into her chair. One day, six hours, and forty minutes. That was all she had. She couldn't afford to keep dozing off in the middle.
She was usually so good at keeping up with due dates...three years of high school with straight A's and not a single all-nighter was nothing short of commendable. She had only started forcing herself to finish projects in the dead of night during senior year.
She was wondering just what had happened to her to put her off her stride when a bright green light emanated from her back pocket. She pulled out her phone and groaned when she looked at the screen.
Scratch that, Peridot knew exactly what had put her off her game.
"Amethyst."
Naturally, everyone would gravitate towards Peridot when it came to group projects; she didn't mind doing all the work. Better to have it done her way than only put in partial effort and receive a poor result. Everyone had had their turn with her, from jocks like Jasper to nerds like Pearl, and each were a uniquely aggravating experience for her. Jasper would just lean back in her chair and stick her clunky combat boots in Peridot's face, complaining the whole time Peridot made calculations and typed up abstracts; Pearl would bicker with Peridot about how her responses weren't accurate enough ("it's 5.800 milliliters, not 5.8. Use significant figures!") and threaten to take over the project entirely. But Peridot would persevere regardless, knowing that when the time came to turn in the assignment, she could finally part ways with her partner.
It was a win-win situation. Amethyst shouldn't have been any different, right?
How wrong Peridot was. It had been almost three months since she had given the strange girl her phone number; she had sidled up to her in class and claimed Peridot as her partner for their chemistry project.
Peridot had studied her the first time they met: short, chubby, muscular, with an unnaturally white mane of hair framing a roundish face. Her numerous golden ear piercings glimmered as she sauntered towards Peridot, her hands nonchalantly stuffed into the pockets of a faded, red baseball jacket. Peridot decided she was a mix between a jock and a hipster.
But that still didn't explain why her former lab partner kept Peridot's phone number stored on her phone long after the project had been done. Amethyst's calls had now become an almost weekly event; sometimes it was even more than once per week. Peridot would have at least understood if she called for homework help or any other educational purpose, and to be fair, sometimes Amethyst would ask questions about formulas and equations. But along with those also came questions about Peridot's favorite snack (mint chocolate chip cookies), what kind of music she listened to (ambient electronic), or if she had ever ridden on a rollercoaster (no). There was really no point in Amethyst's conversations; all they did was eat up her precious time. And yet Peridot would never learn from her mistakes, immediately sliding right to answer the phone every time Amethyst's name showed up on her lock screen.
...Shit. Perhaps her nasty habit of procrastination was actually her own fault.
She sighed and tossed her phone onto her bed. Her mellow synth pad ringtone eventually died out. If it really was important, Amethyst would call again. Peridot couldn't afford to waste any more time. She picked up a screwdriver with her good hand, resting the burnt one in her lap, and turned to face her science fair project.
"Phew. Alright, buddy. Just a few more adjustments and all I'll have to do is upload your software into you—" she paused, dropping her screwdriver and craning her neck towards the phone which was vibrating and humming incessantly on her bed. She really had to remember to silence it sometime soon.
Peridot grit her teeth and got up, advancing towards her bed. Perhaps she should answer it.
Just this one time.
Just to warn Amethyst not to disturb her anymore.
Peridot fell back onto her bed, the cushiony mattress and cool bedsheets soft and inviting to her after dozing off in her unforgivingly hard chair. She stifled a yawn as she pressed her phone against her ear.
"Hey."
"Hey, study buddy!"
Peridot rubbed her eyes. "I don't know why you keep calling me that. Our project was turned in three months ago."
"Heh, fair enough. So? Que pasa? What's shakin'?"
"Oh, you know. Just burned my hand falling asleep under a hot light bulb. The usual."
"Woah, dude, you okay?"
Peridot examined her hand. "It's kind of blackish-red, but I'll live."
"Go put some ice on it or something!"
"Nah. Mom's sleeping. Don't wanna wake her up. She'd butcher me if she found out I've been staying up this late. I'll just run it over cold water later."
"Mmm. Gotcha. So, uh, Peridot..."
Peridot lay there, waiting for Amethyst to change the subject to food or movies or whatever it was that was going on in that whimsical, inconsistent mind of hers, but the line remained eerily silent. Peridot glanced at her phone to check the call time; nearly two whole minutes had elapsed without a single word from Amethyst. She had a nasty, tight feeling in her chest; anyone would have in a situation like this. Usually, Amethyst would never shut up.
"Um...Amethyst?" she said uncertainly.
"Oh! Sorry there, Per, I was just, uh...gettin' a snack! Cheezy Chaaaps. Heh." The distant pop of a plastic bag could be heard in the background.
"Oh, uh...okay." Amethyst still sounded...different on the line to Peridot. Nervous, almost. It was unlike her. It made Peridot feel uneasy.
"Amethyst. Are you okay?" The words escaped her mouth before she could do anything about them. She grimaced. See, this is why you never have any time left. You keep wasting it on her.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah! Doin' just dandy." Peridot's shoulders relaxed as she heard Amethyst crunching on her chips. "By the way...d'you think long hair looks better tied up or loose?"
"I—What? Why do you keep doing this? It makes no sense!"
"Mmm, you're right. I do wear it down all the time. Maybe I should tie it or something. Whaddya think? Bun? Ponytail? Braid?"
"No! I mean..." Peridot sighed. "Why do you keep asking me all these random things? Why do you care about what I eat or what I wear or watch or listen to? Or my preferences in hairstyle? How is any of that useful to you?"
"Well...you ever wanna know someone, Peri? Like, know-know?" Her voice seemed oddly quiet. Peridot shrugged it off; perhaps her receiver was dirty.
"I don't understand what you mean."
"I mean, like—like knowing everything about a person. Not just their name and stuff. What they like, what they're scared of, what makes 'em tick—it's just so boring to know someone's name and face but never what makes them different, what makes them a person, y'know? It's like being surrounded by robots. Who are you, Peri?"
"Hmm, who am I...I'm a student trying to finish her robotics project," Peridot decided. "And you're getting in the way of it, so if you'll excuse me—"
Amethyst huffed. "Oh, come on, Per. I'm trying to be deep. Thought you loved that kind of intellectual junk."
Peridot rolled her eyes, doing her best to ignore the smile tugging at the corners of her face. "Not at three in the morning. What are you doing up so late, anyways?"
"I think you mean what am I doing up so early. I conked out soon as I got home from school." She snorted.
"What? What about your babysitting job?"
Amethyst snorted. "Ah, Steven's in like, eighth grade. He can take care of himself. Greg's just an old worrywart."
Peridot couldn't help but let out a small laugh in disbelief, shaking her head. "So you just slept for eleven hours straight? That's crazy."
"Ha! Well, I'm known for doing the impossible. Like dragging you someplace that isn't home or school for once."
Peridot blinked. "What?"
"You heard me! That's why I called. Saturday. Funland. 1:00. You game?"
"What?" Peridot shot up. "No! No games! I don't have time for this!"
"But—!"
"Two words, Amethyst," Peridot hissed into the receiver. "Science fair."
"Yeah? Well, three words, Peri: you're a square."
Peridot scoffed. "Actually, that's four words. You're is a contraction of you and are."
"Whatever, wondernerd. What are you even doing for science fair, anyway?"
"I'm utilizing an artificial neural network based off my own coding to create a robot that adapts to its current situation based on its prior experiences."
"Uh, English, please?"
"I'm programming a robot so that it learns from its mistakes instead of following the same set of rules over and over."
"And you couldn't've told me that the first time?"
Peridot sniggered. "I could have. I just wanted to show off."
"Pfft!" Amethyst let out that strange, long laugh of hers; wheezy yet loud, peppered with snorts. It was also regrettably infectious, draining away any of the remaining hostility Peridot had had towards her.
"'Kay, but seriously, Peridot," Amethyst said, suddenly sounding stern. "You never go out anywhere. You really wanna be cooped up in that room all day with Mister Bolts-For-Brains?"
"It's a robot. It doesn't have a gender."
"Not my point. Look, I've asked you out sooo many times—"
Peridot nearly dropped her phone. "Asked me out?"
"What—? No! Oh nonono—that's not what I meant, I—" Peridot could practically see Amethyst fumbling with her phone on the other side as she spoke. "I meant asking you to come out with me to places! Like the fry shack or the beach! Jeez, Peridot!"
"Whatever," Peridot snapped, her face growing hot. She fiddled with a loose thread on her socks.
Amethyst was right; she was an utter social recluse. Whenever Pearl tried to invite her to the next chemistry club meeting, she would hurriedly wave her off. If her neighbor Garnet attempted to strike up conversation with Peridot when she saw her on the sidewalk, Peridot would pick up her pace and answer in terse monosyllables. Lapis and Jamie had handed out flyers to come see the school's upcoming art and poetry exhibition. Peridot had tossed hers into the trash. Sour Cream, of all people, had tried to talk to Peridot once after stealing a glance at the playlist she was listening to; he was promptly tuned out with a few quick jabs of the volume button on her phone.
People were just far too...complicated. You couldn't program them like robots. They were unpredictable, potentially volatile, and passionate to the point where it could prove disastrous; quirks that Peridot could admire, but only from a distance. For seventeen years, she had settled with finding happiness in the more reliable things in life: her books, her machines, and a stable Wi-Fi connection.
And yet it stung. It stung whenever she glanced over at Amethyst's table at lunch, occupied by Pearl and Garnet and filled with noisy shrieks and laughter. As she sat at her usual table at the opposite end of the cafeteria, she'd pull out her laptop and wonder exactly what it was those three were talking about to yell so vehemently. She'd smile to herself, thinking it was probably mostly due to Amethyst, who yelled everything regardless and infected the entire table with her enthusiasm. She was probably saying something much more interesting than whatever Ronaldo, the only other occupant of Peridot's lunch table, had to offer (at this point, anything was better than his tall tales of shapeshifting, mineral-based aliens. He probably only sat with Peridot because of her name).
And now, she thought, violently tugging at the loose thread in her sock, she had the audacity to think Amethyst had asked her out on a date, of all things, when Peridot couldn't even hold a conversation with the cashier at the local bakery (but perhaps that wasn't her fault. Lars didn't seem to want to talk with anyone).
Everyone in Beach City seemed to know one another. Everyone except for her.
What was wrong with her?
"Yo, Earth to Peri!"
Peridot snapped to attention. "Huh?"
"Dude, you coming or not? I mean, I'm not gonna force you or anything, but—"
"Yes," Peridot said, leaping off her bed and glancing at her alarm clock. 3:50. One day, six hours, and twenty five minutes. Perhaps an hour or two with Amethyst couldn't hurt. "I'm coming."
"Oh." The line remained silent for a few seconds before Amethyst spoke again. "Wow, I, uh, wasn't expecting that."
"What, so you don't want me to come?"
"No, no! I do! You just...never come out much. Just surprised me is all."
"Yeah? Well, I'm full of surprises...Ams."
A series of wheezes and snorts emanated from Peridot's phone once again. She frowned. "What? What did I say wrong? You come up with weird nicknames all the time!"
"I don't know!" Amethyst exclaimed after her laughter had subsided. "I don't know. That was just...really cute."
"Oh! Uh—" It was official; Peridot's face was now on fire. Amethyst's cackling in the background certainly wasn't helping. "Well, uh, gotta go now," she said finally, her cheeks still burning.
Amethyst chuckled. "Alright. Catch you tomorrow, Per-Bear."
"Right! Seeyoutomorrowbye!" She jabbed the end button and fell back onto her bed with a sigh.
People were definitely complicated. But Amethyst...she was something else entirely.
What was she going to wear? What was she going to say?
Why did she care so much?
Perhaps her decision was poorly made, fueled by sleep-deprivation and the espresso she had ingested roughly two hours ago. But it was too late now. She couldn't imagine what would happen if she just decided not to show up tomorrow.
Peri, you totally stood me up back there! Amethyst would say when she saw her at school on Monday, pouting. Or perhaps she would just not talk to Peridot at all. No more phone calls, nicknames, or late-night quips and weird questions.
She bit her lip, trying to imagine what it would be like without any of those. It made her feel...strangely empty. Perhaps it was because she was a person of routine; three months of Amethyst being a part of her daily schedule made the thought of her suddenly disappearing just seem...a bit unsettling. Just the thought of lying to Amethyst made her feel guilty, like she was a disappointment. She couldn't afford to ditch her.
She sighed and got up, deciding to put her things away and call it a night. Or a morning, considering it was 4:02. One day, six hours, thirteen minutes. She walked to the bathroom, nursing her burnt hand with her good one as she thought about what tomorrow held. There was no turning back now.
"Catch you later, study buddy," she muttered, turning on the sink to run her burn over the cold water.
Mint chocolate chip cookies are very much an actual thing and I highly recommend you try them.
Also, yes, Amethyst is Hispanic! I headcanon her as Puerto Rican, to be precise. Peridot's black with Zimbabwean immigrant parents, but more on that later (it's not super-relevant to the story but hints are sprinkled here and there).
Anyways, thanks so much for reading! Up next is their trip to Funland together, which was honestly one of my favorite chapters to write. Until next time! :)