Beach City Community Theater
Chapter 2

Pearl was absolutely terrifying when she was angry.

It wasn't as if Pearl's fury was unjust. Amethyst knew that whatever Pearl did, she deserved it. She had known the risks of going into Pearl's room. The pale gem had told her multiple times to keep out. Normally, Amethyst listened. They may not have always gotten along, but Amethyst could at least respect Pearl's privacy. However, Pearl was acting stranger by the day. When they weren't on a mission, the pale gem would retreat into her room. She wouldn't come out until exactly 6:30, where she would leave to go...somewhere. She never told them where. She would never return until exactly 12:15. It was odd. Amethyst wanted answers.

When when Amethyst went in Pearl's room, the pale gem was walking around the top of her fountain. She was saying something, but Amethyst couldn't hear what it was. Everything was drowned out by the roar of the waterfalls. Amethyst tried to get a little closer, but Pearl spotted her.

"What have I told you about coming in here?" Pearl shrieked. Amethyst rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Privacy and respect, blah-blah-blah," she said. Pearl disappeared under the water, and reappeared next to Amethyst. She grabbed the purple gem firmly by the shoulder, and started to walk her to the door.

"Come on, P," Amethyst objected, "You've been acting weird lately. What are you even doing in here?"

"What I do in my room is none of your business," she said. They got to the entrance, where the doors opened. Pearl pushed Amethyst out, and the doors slammed in the purple gem's face. Amethyst scowled.

"What's your problem?" Amethyst yelled, pounding on the door. She felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Garnet.

"Maybe you shouldn't be in her room."

At exactly 6:30, Pearl came running out of her room. Amethyst asked where she was going, but Pearl simply scowled at her, and left without a word.

Amethyst took a bite out of her donut, as she leaned against the wall. She noticed that Garnet was staring at her, "What?" she asked, her mouth full of food.

"Don't worry about Pearl," Garnet said. Amethyst scowled, swallowing the donut in her mouth.

"I'm not worried about stupid Pearl," she said, shoving the rest of her donut in her mouth, "She can get eaten by a centipeedle for all I care."

Garnet's look didn't change. Amethyst simply looked away, not wanting to deal with it. However, even though she couldn't see the red gem's gaze, she could still feel it burning into her soul. She couldn't stand it anymore.

"Alright!" she exclaimed, standing up, "I'm worried about Pearl."

"You're worried about Pearl?" Amethyst turned around, to see Steven standing at the door. She let out an exasperated sigh. Of course Steven would walk in at that very moment.

"We don't need to worry about Pearl," Garnet repeated, a little more force to her voice.

"Come on, G," Amethyst said, "You've gotta admit...she's been acting weird lately."

"Maybe there's something in the air..." Steven said. The two gems turned to look at him, a bit confused by his statement.

"What makes you say that?" Amethyst asked. Steven shrugged.

"I dunno. My dad's been acting weird lately too."

Amethyst sighed, giving Steven a small smile, "I'm sure it's not related."

"Unless…" Garnet said, stopping mid thought. Amethyst and Steven's heads looked to her, confused. Garnet shook her head, "Nah." She said. She turned around, and walked into her room.

It wasn't a secret that Pearl didn't understand a lot about human culture. She didn't understand the concept of arcades, video games left her confused, and she felt movies were a waste of time.

Yet, here she was. At one of the oldest staples of human culture. The theater. On top of that, she was with Greg Universe. If someone was to tell her three weeks ago that she'd be willingly spending most of her nights with Steven's father, she'd think they were crazy. Yet, that was exactly what was happening.

The theater's interior was a very colorful play. The lobby was painted it a deep maroon color. Paintings and photographs of local artists sat displaced on the walls. However, they weren't there to look at art.

"Hey, Pearl," Greg said, "You haven't...um, told anyone, have you?"

Pearl shook her head, "Of course not." she replied, "...Have you?"

Greg shook his head. The two both let out a sigh of relief. With that, they walked out of the lobby, and into the main corridors of the theater.

Buck Dewey had snuck out of his house, and was wondering around the streets of Beach City. He wasn't doing it to be rebellious, or anything. No, he simply liked the way Beach City was at night. He loved how quiet everything was. He loved how cool and crisp the air was. Most of all, he loved the soft glow that came from the streetlights. It was truly beautiful.

He saw on a bench overlooking the ocean, and smiled. In his mind, this is was paradise was. If nothing else, it was the perfect setting to write his poetry. He pulled out a notebook, and flipped to a page. He began to write.

His friends didn't know of his poetic life style. He never told them. As much as he loved it...he was a bit embarrassed by it. He knew that if his friends ever found out, they would tease him relentlessly. He smiled. Maybe he would write a poem about that. A poem about writing poems in secret.

He checked his clock, and smiled. It was exactly midnight. The best poems were written at midnight.

As his pen hit the page, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. It was a soft, purple glow.

He turned his head, and saw a small ball of light.

"Woah," he said. He got off of the bench and approached it. In all of his life, he had never seen anything like this. Was he dreaming? As he approached it, he slowly reached his hand out to it.

All of the sudden, the light flashed.

A notebook and pen fell to the ground, as Buck Dewey disappeared.

Thank you SpaceWonder368 and guest for reviewing! I appreciate it, as always. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter!
Also, for whatever reason, I have been having a bit of problems with the section breaks. You know, the gray lines that divide up the parts of the chapters? For whatever reason, some of them have been weird about showing up. I think I figured it out, but if you all could do me a favor, if you see a section that looks like it needs a divider between the parts, could you tell me? I just need to know if I got the issue fixed.
Either way, thanks for reading!