Sprawled on the couch, Connie succumbed to the groan that had been building inside of her. The sound rattled every part of her body, from her heels hooked over the back of the couch to the ends of her hair brushing at the floor, and seemed to fill every inch of the beach house at once.
"You said it," Amethyst said from the patch of floor where she basked in a sunbeam.
Steven sat right-side up next to Connie on the couch, rubbing his arm. A guilty look dragged at his features. "I'm sorry if it didn't go so great," he said again.
It was the eighth time he had apologized since Greg had herded her shell-shocked parents toward the city for a sit-down lunch. Grown-ups only, the old rock star had told her, answering her worried look with a wink. We'll bring you two back something. And then they'd all trudged up the beach together, leaving Connie behind to decide everything without her.
Pearl sighed as she lugged a stack of cardboard trees toward the door. "I'm sorry, Connie. I'm not sure I was very reassuring to your parents' concerns."
Poised at the door to take inventory of the cardboard Pearl was gathering, Peridot nodded in agreement. The motion threw beads of seawater from the soggy pink ball cap she still insisted on wearing. "I concur. Most of the failure is Pearl's fault," said Peridot, completely missing Pearl's glare. "But I can't help but feel some small responsibility nonetheless. My aspirations for the perfect summer camp overreached my current means to construct it on such short notice. But it's like they say: even Homeworld wasn't built in a day."
Connie pressed her lips together. It would be easy, and probably cathartic, to blame Peridot's enthusiasm for this disaster. But that wasn't the real problem. Nor was the problem Amethyst's shapeshifting, Pearl's snacks, or the life-changing amount of money Garnet had fished out of the ocean. The real problem was that her parents still refused to deal with this part of her life.
"They always do this to me!" The words burst out of Connie, exploding through the tight line of her mouth. She thumped her fists against the upholstery and snarled, "They always promise they'll listen, that I'll get to be part of the decision. Then they go off and do whatever they want on their own." She didn't want to, but she couldn't help looking to Steven and adding, "And now your dad is doing it too!"
"I'm sure my dad just…" Steven trailed off, looking down at his hands in his lap. Then he curled them into fists and thumped the couch as Connie had. "No, you're right. It's not fair! You should be part of the decision."
Kicking her legs, Connie rolled backwards off the couch, landing in a swirl of her own skirt. "I can't just sit back and let them decide this without me," she declared.
Steven leapt after her, pumping his arms. "Then let's do something about it!"
She grinned, feeling his enthusiasm spark her own back to life. "You have a plan?" she asked.
"Yeah." He rubbed at his chin, his brow furrowed. "They're gonna come back from their lunch not only fully nourished, but with lots of reasonable-sounding arguments, saying things like 'child endangerment' or 'twice the daily allotment of sodium.'"
"Boo!" jeered Amethyst.
"But if we know what their reasons will be, we can be prepared," Steven said.
Connie's eyes widened. "That's exactly what they do on my favorite cable family legal dramedy, Lawyer-In-Law. It's called 'opposition research.' Steven, that's brilliant! We can spy on them and take apart their argument before they even make it! Let's do it!"
Whirling to the door, his fist raised in triumph, Steven declared, "Then the time has come to reassemble the Secret Team!"
"No." The word thudded out of Garnet, who leaned in the corner of the room with her arms folded over her chest. She'd been so quiet for so long that Connie had forgotten about her entirely, and jumped at the sound of her voice. "No secret teams."
"Oh." Steven lowered his fist. "Well, can we be regular spies?"
Garnet shrugged one shoulder. "It won't go how you think it will," she warned, her visor glinting.
Ominous portents aside, Connie knew it was still her best chance. "We have to try," she said.
"Anyone else want to help?" asked Steven. "Pearl? Amethyst?"
Pearl shook her head as she hefted a bundle of cardboard trees. There were still a great deal of corrugated forest remaining in the house for her to disassemble. "I need to clean up all of this," she said.
"Here, Pearl. Let me help." Peridot shouldered the thick stack of cardboard from Pearl's arms, and then lugged it to the circle of stones in the middle of the floor. With a heave, she tossed the cardboard trees into the circle, crushing the cardboard flames and logs inside of it. "Maybe one day," the little engineer murmured, holding her hands out to bask in its imaginary heat as her imaginary trees vanished into imaginary smoke.
Pearl blinked owlishly at the pantomime. "Um, Peridot?" she said.
"Do you mind?" Peridot snarled over her shoulder, tears brimming behind her visor. "I'm saying goodbye to my dream, you insensitive clod!"
"Yeah, I'm good here too," Amethyst said, her cheek pressed to the floor as she idly slid across the room. She happened upon a pair of broken crackers next to a marshmallow, some chocolate, and a set of tongs. "Oh, sweet! Floor S'mores!" Her tongue lashed out and drew the entire lot into her mouth. The tongs crunched loudly while she chewed.
"Keeping the team small will probably be stealthier anyway," Connie said. "Okay, Steven. It's your plan. Where do we start?"
"Dad will want to impress your parents, so he'll take them to the nicest restaurant in town," Steven mused aloud, his eyes narrowing in thought.
After nearly a minute of Steven's uninterrupted knocking, the door opened, and Jenny Pizza peered down at the two expectant spies. "Steven? And you're…Connie, right? Pineapple anchovies? What are you two doing back here?" the pretty teen asked, opening the back door of Fish Stew Pizza wider.
Steven stood with Connie, pressed close to the building to use the restaurant's dumpster as cover from all the prying eyes that they hadn't seen on their way to the restaurant. "Jenny, is my Dad in there?"
"Yeah, he sat down with some other couple and ordered already," said Jenny. Her gaze lingered on Connie, and realization sparked in her eyes.
"Great! We're here on super-serious business," Steven announced.
The Pizza twin cocked a fist on her hip. "C'mon, Steven. Your 'pizza inspector' gag was funny the first six times, but Daddy said we're not allowed to give you any more free slices."
Even the thought of food made Connie's stomach rattle. She shook her head and insisted, "We're not here for that, I promise. We need to spy on my parents and Mister Universe while they come up with reasons to keep me at home this summer because they're worried about me even though I'm worried about bringing the house down on top of them because I don't know what I'm doing!"
Jenny blinked and tilted her head. "Mm'kay, I missed most of that, but I'm getting a general vibe of teenage rebellion here. Yeah?" When Connie and Steven nodded emphatically, she stepped back and motioned for them to follow her. "Cool. Stay low and don't touch anything edible. We still got a health code rating to maintain."
Steven quickly wiped the grin off his face, looking stern as he turned to Connie and intoned, "We're in."
Crouching, Connie slunk after Steven, following Jenny through the too-tiny kitchen of the restaurant. Kiki was switching pies in the wall of pizza ovens, and gave them all a quizzical look, but said nothing when Jenny offered her a thumbs-up as explanation. Connie wondered if it was some kind of silent sibling communication, a twintuition, or if they had simply snuck any number of people into the kitchen before.
At Jenny's unspoken direction, Connie and Steven took up positions behind a shelf of dry goods that blocked them from view of the front of the restaurant. By standing on tiptoe and carefully, gingerly separating a pair of large cans of industrial-grade tomato paste, Connie was able to peer over the front counter, past the register, to the checkered tables of the dining area. A stray glance made her accidentally and permanently memorize the ingredients of that tomato paste, which gave her even less of an appetite than before.
Straining all of the nascent spycraft she had gleaned from television and movies, Connie was able to locate their targets, who happened to be seated at the one occupied table in the entire restaurant. Greg sat with his back to the kitchen, his expression a mystery but his voice loud and clear. "—the best pizza from here to Empire City!"
Filling out the rest of the table, Connie's parents were in clear view. Her mother sipped reluctantly at a glass of cloudy water as she raised an eyebrow at Greg. "Better than Original Famous Original Ray's?" she said, sounding unconvinced.
Greg lifted his hands and laughed. "Hey, I said 'to' Empire City, not 'in' Empire City. But you didn't hear that from me. The staff here can get pretty vindictive," he said loudly enough for the entire kitchen to hear him.
Jenny and Kiki offered perfunctory glares from the kitchen. Connie watched her parents offer equally perfunctory smiles, but she recognized the worry hidden behind the expressions. Already she could see the shape of the argument they would levy against her in the fight to come. It lit an anger inside of her, seeing them ready to conspire against her, but she tamped down on the flames. She had to remain objective, and dispassionate, and logical. Any signs of a tantrum would be grounds for them to disqualify anything she said.
Evidently Greg could see what Connie saw, because his posture eased back in his chair. He let the uncomfortable silence simmer as Jenny ran a steaming pizza out to the table. Once the twin had retreated back to the kitchen, the old rocker dished out slices for his guests first.
"You know," Greg said, dishing out his own slices last, "all that stuff you saw today, that's not even close to what it's normally like. The Gems just have a natural flair for putting on a show. I think they got a little too excited, that's all."
"They definitely seem excitable." Connie watched her father collect a fork and knife for his pizza, and she cringed in secret as he began to cut a slice into bite sizes.
Her mother, at least, had the decency to eat the pizza with her hands. "I have to warn you, Greg," she said, poised at her slice's tip, "if you're looking to wine and dine us, I have some experience with that tactic. Pharma companies try it all the time. Granted, they never thought to try pizza." She took a bite, and after a few thoughtful chews, she nodded in satisfaction.
Greg chuckled, and pulled at his slice, drawing a long string of mozzarella back to his plate. "I was never much of a salesman anyway. You can ask the boxes and boxes of Mister Universe merch I still have if you don't believe me." His head tilted, and an apologetic note entered his voice as he added, "And to be honest, I don't really need to make any sales pitch here. Connie needs help, and the Gems are the one to give it to her."
The stunned silence from Connie's parents boomed, swallowing the ambient noise of the restaurant.
Lifting his hands, Greg said quickly, "Hey, sorry. That sounded way less harsh in my head. Like I said, I'm bad at this. But…the fact is, Connie has a Gem inside of her, and there's only one bunch I know to go to for something like that."
Connie's father set his knife and fork aside. His face hardened in a way Connie had rarely seen. "When you put it like that, it sounds pretty grim," he admitted.
"It's not like that at all!" Greg said quickly. "The Gems think the world of Connie. We all do! And we want to do whatever we can to help her get a handle on her new situation."
A heavy look passed between Connie's parents. Then, in a quiet voice, her mother said, "We haven't completely given up hope that the gemstone can be removed. And now, with Jade…gone…"
Connie felt her eyes burn. Looking down, she found her hand at her chest, her fingers curled around the square stone under her dress. Steven gave her a look of concern, but she tightened her mouth and shook her head.
"Well, the Gems might be able to help with that too. Whatever you decide, we'll all be there to help you and Connie through this. And even if you don't think Connie should stay here, that's okay. Look how far she's come just from visiting on weekends. Pearl says she's a natural with that sword!"
The shelf in front of Connie began to tremble. As her palms began to ache, she realized that she was clutching the metal shelving, her skin blanching at the hard, sharp edges. She was more than furious, barely able to keep herself from leaping across the counter and exploding at the table of grown-ups. Her parents were acting exactly as she feared, exactly as they had promised they wouldn't: they were making decisions for her, without her. And now Greg was chiming in with the same tune. She could feel her grip on herself slipping as her whole body coiled to act.
"But…" Greg continued.
Connie's breath caught in her throat, and she froze.
Twisting a napkin in his hands, Greg looked down and said, "Gem stuff is messy. Like, 'rebuilding your house' messy, even when there isn't something stirring up trouble. Which, from what Steven tells me, there is. That's why the Gems live so far away from everyone else. Well, one of the reasons."
Her father tapped his fork against his plate nervously, eyes distant with memory. "We already had a bit of an incident," he admitted.
Windcident, Connie corrected him in silence.
"Those will happen," Greg agreed, nodding. "They should happen. It means she's figuring it all out. But that's gonna happen again, and if Steven's any indication, it could take a long time before Connie has a good handle on what she can do. Being somewhere where she doesn't have to be afraid of hurting anyone or anything can help a lot with that."
"Connie would never…" her mother started to snap, but then bit down on her words. Deep creases lined her forehead as her gaze fell, her eyes flickering in thought.
"To be honest, though, it's not safety or elbow room that I'm thinking about. And I'm sorry if I'm stepping over the line for saying so, but…" Greg paused, and sighed. "I think kids need space to figure out the big stuff. I needed it for my music. Steven needed it for his Gem stuff. Maybe Connie needs that too. Because nobody else can figure this out for her. Not the Gems. Not us. Not Steven, either, and he's been there. Or at least some version of 'there.' That's why I think some time away could be really good for her."
It was a long, silent moment before her father said, "I think so too."
Her mother's eyes snapped back into focus, widening in horror at his words. Panic threaded her tone as she said, "Doug, no! You cannot make me the bad guy this time. Not for this."
Connie rocked backwards in shock, and watched her father doing the same. "Priyanka!" he started.
But her mother shook her head, cutting him off. Panic consumed any remaining authority in her tone. "You know how much this means to her. After the attack, after Jade… I can't be the bad guy! It isn't fair, Doug!" Her palms slapped the tabletop, making the plates jump.
Her father cupped his hand over her mother's. "Hey," he said quietly, and squeezed. "Hey, that isn't going to happen. We're together on this: if both of us don't agree, then it doesn't happen, and we both tell her."
None of the tension left her mother's body, but her eyes lost some of their wild, white panic.
Squeezing again, he continued, "Priyanka, she was eating back there. She was laughing."
"I…didn't notice that," her mother said in a small voice. "But Connie is going to need structure, and direction, and…"
"Love of my life," her father murmured, using a featherlight voice Connie had only ever heard from him a handful of times, "you are the smartest person I have ever met. But our daughter summoned a tornado in our living room. We have no idea what she needs right now."
Her mother's mouth hardened into a thin line.
"Maybe that stone in her falls off tomorrow. Maybe she becomes a wind goddess who conquers the world with storm and sword. Maybe she becomes a doctor who runs a lucrative kite rental business on the weekend." Her father smiled gently, leaning closer to his wife. "Right now, Connie misses Jade, and she's hurting. So maybe she just needs some time away on a beach to have fun with her best friend." His smile straining, he added, "Even if that best friend has a worrying lack of spare bedrooms available for her."
A snorting laugh cracked her mother's façade. She looked away, pretending to be annoyed so she could hide her smile, like she always did. The familiar tic turned her face toward where Connie was hidden, and Connie went completely still. Tears glistened in her mother's eyes, refusing to fall, but real all the same.
"You're right," her mother said, pretending to massage her eyelids so she could dry them in secret. "Of course you're right. I just… I thought we would have more time before all of 'this' became her life. I didn't think… I didn't think she'd be gone so soon."
Greg, who had been trying to somehow eat pizza and not exist near the conversation, gave up on doing both, and set his plate aside. "I don't know if this will help—probably the opposite—but it's okay to not be okay with it." His rough red knuckles worried against the tablecloth as his head tilted down. "Steven needed the Gems too. He needed that space and closeness with them. But letting him go to live with them is the hardest thing I've ever done. It's still hard some days, even with him just down the street. And knowing it was right doesn't stop me from missing the way it used to be."
A sniffle beside her made Connie glance at Steven. His hand covered his mouth, and tears streamed from his eyes.
"And hey," Greg continued, brightening, "none of this is set in stone. It's just for the summer, and if you don't think it's working out…"
Her mother nodded. "Thank you, Greg. That actually does make me feel better."
But she didn't look like she felt better to Connie. She looked like she was on the verge of tears, and clung to her husband's hand lest the edge overtake her. Connie stared through the canned marinara at her mother's glistening eyes. Her chest tightened as she tried to reconcile what she was seeing of the most unyielding, most stubborn person she had ever known looking frightened at the idea of Connie leaving. How could her mother be afraid of Connie's disappointment? Of being the bad guy? Mothers were supposed to say no to everything. Mothers reveled in the power to say no! At least, that's how it had always seemed to Connie.
Maybe saying no wasn't as fun as her mother had always made it look. But it didn't make her a bad guy. Her mother had to know that. Didn't she?
Stray hairs drifted across Connie's face. She smelled a melody of fresh pizza in the warm breeze, and saw Steven's curly nest of hair buffeting atop his head as he cried silent tears.
Kiki had to slap her hand onto a stack of napkins to keep them from sweeping away in the sudden draft. "Jenny!" she snapped, "You can't keep leaving the back door open!"
Jenny motioned to the back door, which was still closed, and then answered her sister with a rude gesture. Guiltily, Connie bit down on her lip and closed her eyes. She summoned a litany of her father's worst jokes from memory and concentrated on their terribleness until the wind died down again.
By the time Connie had subdued the breeze, Steven had dried his eyes, and their parents had settled the table, letting Jenny box most of the pizza for them to take. While Connie's parents left to wait outside, Greg took the box to the counter to settle the bill he had gently wrestled away from the Maheswarans. He'd only won the battle after promising to let them treat him after they'd found enough historical collectors and museums to help them convert Connie's scholarship booty into a more modern currency.
Connie and Steven both stood perfectly still in their hiding spots as Greg paid. "And the calzones?" Greg asked, laying a handful of bills on the counter.
Jenny added two cardboard packages on top of the pizza box as Kiki collected the cash. "One Supreme, and one pepperoni with mushrooms, hot and ready," the twin promised.
Greg grinned and added a pair of twenties to the counter separate from the bill. Neither teen was shy about taking the proffered tip. "You two saving for anything good?"
"College," Kiki answered.
"Guitar strings," Jenny answered.
He nodded to both. As the old rocker collected his food, Connie allowed herself the tiniest sigh in relief.
Then he stopped and added to the twins, "I'm going to take these two the long way around the block, give them time to decompress from all of that. Please tell the kids they can still beat us home, but they'll have to run if they don't want to get spotted."
Connie's sigh turned into a hiccup.
Jenny didn't miss a beat, blinking in confusion at him. "Sorry, who are you talking about?" she asked.
Greg grinned and winked. "Good for you. Don't trust anyone over thirty." Then, boxes in hand, he left to join the other parents. True to his word, he led them in the wrong direction across the window, taking the Maheswarans further down the boardwalk.
Connie stared through the shelf, watching them go. In a minute, she and Steven would need to leave through the back. They would sprint down the beach to avoid being seen, and would have to pretend to be delighted and surprised by the adults' decision, and she would force down a calzone with her favorite ingredients just to make sure her parents worried a little less about her.
But for now, for just one moment, Connie let her heart ache at the melancholy she saw through the window in her mother's features. Of all the reasons for her to say no, Connie never thought that the one reason to come closest to winning would be that her mother would miss her over the summer.
And now that she realized how much she would miss her parents as well, she nearly wished they had won. Not quite, but almost.