Graciously, any evidence of Peridot's night spent drinking (outside the whisper of a headache) was gone by morning. She woke naturally and—once she'd determined that the slightest movement didn't set her stomach tumbling, and that the rays of sunlight streaming through the windows wouldn't scorch her retinas—lifted herself up to retrieve her glasses. Peridot's sleep had been dreamless and undisturbed by insomnia. So, based off that alone, the day was already shaping up to be a pretty good one.

Amethyst's day, however, would soon prove to not be going as well.

Pearl's wakeup call wouldn't sound for another half-hour, and none of the campers had yet begun to stir. So Peridot pulled out her tablet and had just opened a word document when she heard a groan from the top bunk across the cabin. Glancing up briefly, she watched as Amethyst's hand fell to hang limply off the side of her mattress. Peridot waited a moment before turning her eyes back to the screen on her lap.

"Log date 061815—"

"Oh, god."

Peridot looked up again, just in time to watch Amethyst jump down from her bed, barely stick the landing, and crash through the cabin door.

"Amethyst?" Peridot called after her (without regard to how loud she was speaking), throwing her legs over the side of her bed to attach her prosthetics.

As she stood up to follow the other girl, Steven drawled sleepily from his bed, "S'going on? You okay?" Other campers had begun to wake up as well, wiping the sleep from their eyes and leaning up on their elbows.

"I'm fine," Peridot stuttered as she ran out of the cabin. "Nothing's wrong, everything's fine. Go back to sleep."

Once she'd set foot on the porch, Peridot stopped and looked out over the campground. After a quick survey, she spotted the back of Amethyst's head from afar, whipping around the corner into the girl's bathroom. With a heaving sigh, Peridot walked slowly down the steps and past the fire pit in order to follow. She could hear the telltale sounds of retching as soon as she pushed the bathroom door open.

"Hey," she said, stepping forward and lifting herself up to take a seat on the counter in between sinks. "You okay in there?"

"Oh, yeah," she could hear Amethyst force out from beyond a closed stall door. "I'm swell." Then there were more sounds of gagging, and a splash.

"All right," Peridot shouted above the noise. But she didn't jump down from the counter. She stayed where she was, and she waited until—eventually—the stall unlocked with a click and Amethyst stumbled out.

"Whattup, nerd," Amethyst muttered, half-heartedly throwing her hand up into a peace sign.

Peridot didn't respond. Rather, she reached behind herself to tear a paper towel from a dispenser and to run it under a sink. She handed it off to Amethyst as she said, "Here. Put it on the back of your neck."

Amethyst grumbled a weak "thanks" before accepting it and doing as she was instructed. Then she leaned forward to rinse her mouth under a tap.

"Aren't you so glad you came out last night?" Peridot asked, trying to keep herself from grinning. She failed. But Amethyst smiled, too.

"Whatever, you're the irresponsible counselor who let me out last night."

"Because you made me! You're the one who was going to tattle."

Amethyst slowly stood up straight and—after taking a moment to close her eyes and adjust to the new position—said, "Listen. If you knew anything about me, you'd know that I ain't no narc."

Peridot cocked her head to the side. "What, are you saying that was an empty threat last night?"

Amethyst nodded, leaning her hip on the counter. "Snitches get stitches. That's my credo."

"Okay. I'll keep that in mind on Friday, when I make you stay here while the rest of us sneak out."

The other girl's eyes widened comically. "I can change my credo, home girl, don't test me."

Peridot chuckled in response. "We'll see. You feeling well enough to head back to the cabin?"

"Yep, tank's empty," Amethyst said, peeling the wet paper towel off of her neck to wad it up and throw it in a nearby trashcan. She grabbed Peridot's elbow to pull her towards the door. "Come on, Peri. The faster we get back, the sooner we get to breakfast. Mama's starving."

Pink Cabin got to breakfast first, so Peridot was pleasantly surprised to have a moment of peace to eat before everyone else arrived. That sense of peace was quickly shattered though—first of all, by Lapis's entrance on Jasper's arm, at which point Peridot began to choke on her juice. Then Jenny, Buck, and Sour Cream entered the Temple closely behind Lapis, and the four of them took their regular seats at the staff table. Jasper, meanwhile, sequestered herself next to Pearl at the table's opposite end.

Peridot, still coughing, made the mistake of reaching for her juice again and taking a sip when Jenny looked at her with a mischievous grin and asked, while drawing out every word (and clearly reveling in it), "So. Are you, like, gonna tell us what happened between you and Yellow Diamond? Or what?"

She choked again. Sour Cream thumped her on the back while she, with all of her effort, willed her eyes to not glance up at Lapis. This effort failed. Lapis's fork, which had evidently been en route to her mouth, stilled as her eyebrows shot upwards.

"Oh, yeah," Lapis drawled, a grin that rivalled Jenny's slowly spreading across her face. "Is that your old counselor?"

To make matters worse, Amethyst happened to be walking past their table at exactly that second. "Oh, shit, I completely forgot!" she said, shoving Peridot's food tray so as to make room for her own. "Scoot down, I want to hear this." Amethyst forced herself onto the bench, squeezing Peridot between her and Sour Cream.

Now five sets of eyes stared determinately at Peridot as she spluttered, still half-choking, "It's—It's not that big of—of a deal."

Jenny leaned further forward, dropping her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "When was it? Last year? How long did it go on for?"

Peridot's face was burning. She dropped her head into her hands as she muttered, "It wasn't like that. It wasn't at camp." She glanced between her fingers down the table at Pearl—who was thankfully immersed in writing something on her clipboard and, subsequently, not paying attention to them. "Can we not talk about this right now?"

Lapis looked down the table as well, following Peridot's line of sight. "Come on, Per, no one else is going to hear you." Lapis reached across to pry Peridot's hands from her face. She held onto them once she'd succeeded, giving Peridot's fingers a squeeze between her own. Lapis smiled—a gesture of support that did nothing to calm Peridot's nerves. "We're all friends here, aren't we?"

Peridot (reluctantly) pulled her hands away and dropped them onto her lap. She resorted to staring down at them, meanwhile trying not to focus on how she could still feel Lapis's hands on hers if she thought hard enough about it. "It's not a big deal," she repeated.

Amethyst scoffed. "Prove it then."

There was a beat of silence that quivered with anticipation before Peridot sighed, tipped her head back to scowl at the ceiling, and said, "It wasn't at camp. It was at school, and only the one time."

As the other five shuffled forward in their seats to listen, Peridot suppressed a groan. Then she continued.

"Yellow Diamond is a grad student at Smith. I knew that before I got there. But she was never that friendly of a counselor, so I didn't think to look her up."

"I get that," Buck said quietly. "I'm glad she dipped."

"What, she quit?" Lapis asked. "And that's why there was a Yellow Counselor opening?"

"Not so much 'quit,'" said Jenny, punctuating the word with air quotation marks, "as it was 'strongly suggested for her to leave.' But basically. Peridot, go on!"

Peridot actually groaned this time. "I don't know! I ran into her at a party. My friend who's a senior took me. Yellow Diamond recognized me and was suddenly all warm and welcoming. It was very uncharacteristic of her. But she was also wasted. And she kept pouring me wine. So."

Another beat of silence. Amethyst was practically shaking with bottled-up excitement. "So?"

Peridot dropped her face into her hands again. "So she pinned me against the wall in a bathroom and we made out."

Delight erupted around her. Amethyst squealed and shook Peridot by her shoulders as Jenny slapped the table. Sour Cream started slow-clapping, and Buck joined him—shaking his head back and forth in a semi-solemn manner.

Lapis nodded once as her eyebrows shot impossibly higher, pursing her lips in a clear attempt not to smile. And there it was again—that weird look on her face that Peridot had seen the night before. It was an impressed expression mixed with something else. Again, Peridot immediately thought it might be jealousy. And, once more, she pushed away that idea just as swiftly.

She refused to let herself get her hopes up.

But then as they dispersed from the Temple to get to class, Peridot gave a second thought to the whole not-getting-her-hopes-up thing. Because, as they made their way down the path to the lake together, she could swear that Lapis kept taking covert glances at her.

Not that she had any concrete proof of this, of course. Every time Peridot would twist her head to look back at Lapis, after all, the other girl was staring straight ahead. But she felt it by the way the skin on her face would abruptly prickle, and how she could just pick up the slightest hint of movement out of the corner of her eye. Lapis kept looking at her. Not only that, but Lapis was looking at her and didn't want her to know.

Or Peridot was delusional.

Right. She shouldn't let herself get her hopes up. Good plan. Back to that.

She focused on the backs of the campers in front of her, which were Steven and Connie on either side of Amethyst. The two younger children had both turned into Amethyst and—by the expressions just visible on their profiles—looked concerned.

"Are you sure you're feeling all right?" Connie asked, gently patting Amethyst's shoulder. "I'm not sure how smart it was to eat all that food right after you got sick."

"Psh, I'm a garbage disposal. No biggie," Amethyst replied.

"Yeah, but," Steven cut in. "What if you get seasick?"

"It's a lake, little man."

"Yeah, but the boats are still gonna rock back and forth. Like this!" Stepping forward onto the dock that they'd only just reached, Steven turned to face the two girls with arms outstretched. He waved them up and down in tandem like a seesaw. "Baaack and fooorth. Baaack and fooorth! See?"

Amethyst swiveled to look back at Peridot and Lapis. Her face, though set into a normal expression, had paled a little. "Hey, guys," she groaned quietly. "Maybe it's not that bad of an idea for me to sit on the sidelines again, huh?"

Lapis shrugged. "Whatever you want. I don't want you ralphing in a canoe anyway. That's not in my job description. I'm sure Peridot agrees, right?"

Peridot mumbled out a "right" while she focused on keeping her eyes on Amethyst (rather than allowing them drift to Lapis, as they were desperate to do).

Amethyst chuckled, threw the two older girls a thumbs up, and settled herself belly down on the edge of the pier as kids madly tore past her to scramble into the boats. Peridot watched, stepping forward to join Amethyst before she felt a sensation—like tiny pins and needles—on the side of her face.

She stopped in her tracks and wheeled around to face Lapis. At first she was ecstatic to find the other girl staring back at her. Because Peridot knew it, she knew she wasn't crazy! Ha!

But then she realized that Lapis didn't look embarrassed at being caught at all. No blush, no shifty eyes, nothing. She just looked a little surprised, with her eyes slightly widened and one of her eyebrows cocked.

So maybe she hadn't been secretly gazing at Peridot. Maybe Lapis and Peridot just happened to glance at each other at the same time. Maybe Peridot was crazy.

And the way that she was now aggressively staring at Lapis without speaking a word to her? That sure didn't help her image at all.

Peridot stumbled to find her voice. "S—so."

Lapis narrowed her eyes. "So?"

Peridot cleared her throat before forcing out, "Well, have a good class!" And then she rushed to drop herself next to Amethyst—who was now accompanied by Sour Cream—at the edge of the dock. She could just hear Lapis chuckling, climbing into a canoe for herself as Peridot stared determinately at the water beneath them.

After the boats had glided away, Sour Cream laid back, throwing his arms over his face to block the sun. Soon after that, he began to snore softly. Immediately after that, Amethyst poked Peridot in her side.

Peridot shuddered and leaned away from Amethyst's touch. "Ack. Don't do that."

"Just trying to get your attention."

Granted, it had worked. But still. "Just say something next time, huh?"

Amethyst rolled her eyes. Then she dropped her voice to a whisper, quickly looking over at Sour Cream before settling her eyes on Peridot's. "Why have you been acting so weird?"

Peridot leaned her elbows onto her knees and stared at her hands. "What are you talking about? I'm not acting weird," she grumbled.

The other girl scoffed. "Yeah, you are. You've been acting weird for days. I just didn't realize it 'til, like, right now."

"Amethyst, I'm not—"

"Yes, you are! You're stumbling all over yourself all of a sudden, and when you're not doing that you're quiet. Even more so than usual. You were so—I don't know. You were cool earlier."

It was Peridot's turn to scoff. "What, you mean last night? I was drunk last night."

"No, I meant this morning in the bathroom. And last night before you got drunk. And the whole first week of camp and—now that I think about it—literally right here! But every once in a while you just get—" Amethyst gestured wildly in front of herself, as if she were grasping for something invisible. "I don't know! Stupid! So what's going on?"

Peridot could feel her heartbeat pulsing in her ears. That, to her, indicated the beginning of a panic attack. Unable to respond, she focused instead on evening out her breathing. Meanwhile, her brain dissolved into chaos.

Just keep cool for once in your pitiful life! She screamed at herself internally. Amethyst is on to you, that's undeniable. But, surely, she has no concrete idea as to what's actually going on. As long as she doesn't catch on to—

In spite of herself, Peridot's eyes flicked up to land on Lapis, already faraway at the center of the lake. She was only able to admire the soft wave in the other girl's hair for a moment before she forced her eyes back on Amethyst.

And that's when she realized she'd just committed the worst—the worst—possible error by glancing over at Lapis in the first place. Because Amethyst had caught onto this fleeting slipup and had turned her own head to seek out what Peridot had just been looking at. The other girl's eyebrows knitted together in concentration—soon intensifying from confusion—before suddenly and violently shooting up to disappear beneath Amethyst's bangs.

Panic had completely set in by this point. Unable to hear anything past the white noise that crackled in her eardrums, Peridot could only watch helplessly as Amethyst slowly—painfully, nauseatingly—swiveled her head to gape openmouthed at her.

The rest of the lesson was a blur. Really, the rest of the day was a blur. Peridot was only just aware of walking up the path, eating lunch, going to art class. She claimed to not feel well—which was not at all, even a little bit, a lie—in order to avoid dancing with Lapis again. She was even hopeful that the other girl would simply accept the refusal and make Sour Cream act as her dance partner instead. But unfortunately Peridot had only succeeded in worrying Lapis, who had insisted on staying seated as well in order to keep an eye on her. Lapis must have assumed that Peridot's hangover had caught up to her, based on the way she would periodically lean in and whisper in Peridot's ear, "How are you doing? Do you need to leave?"

Neither this demonstration of concern nor the way Lapis would tug on Peridot's bracelet every time she spoke to her provided any distraction, however. In any other circumstance, these actions would make Peridot's chest swell until she felt she was about to burst. But not now. Now, she could only pay attention to Amethyst, who was spinning around the room with a boy from Blue Cabin while shooting suspicious glances over her shoulder at Peridot and Lapis sitting together.

In hindsight, Peridot realized that she'd already done about as much damage as she could do, considering the way she had originally responded to Amethyst (i.e. freezing up and not responding at all). Given that, she figured it wouldn't do any more harm to completely ignore the other girl until it was absolutely necessary to do otherwise. Peridot was optimistic that she'd be able to make it until the end of camp.

But that plan was ripped forcefully out of her grasp once, at dinner that night, Amethyst had quietly sidled up to the staff table and asked Peridot in a low voice, "Yo. Can I talk to you outside?"

"What's up, Ame?" Jenny asked, tilting her head to the side. Buck and Sour Cream and Lapis all leaned in curiously. Peridot shrunk in her seat.

"Nothing," Amethyst said with a surprisingly convincing air of confidence. "It's a Pink Cabin thing. Don't worry about it."

As the rest bobbed their heads in understanding, Peridot reluctantly rose from her seat. Lapis brushed her hand across Peridot's own as she passed, the former whispering a "'Night, Per," as she did so.

The action didn't go unnoticed by Amethyst, who narrowed her eyes at the contact. But she didn't say anything until after Peridot was able to stutter back, "G-good night," and the two finally exited the Temple.

Amethyst beckoned Peridot to follow her down the steps, past the empty campfire area, and to Pink Cabin. Only once she had sat on the porch did Amethyst say anything. "So," she sighed, stretching her legs over the steps and looking pointedly at Peridot. "Dish."

Peridot nervously glanced up at the Pink Cabin door. But before she could protest, Amethyst cut in.

"No one's here. The rest of the Pinks are still at dinner."

Following a beat of silence and a heavy sigh, Peridot climbed the steps to plant herself on the top one next to Amethyst. She faced out towards the Temple and didn't turn to meet the other girl's eye as she muttered, "What do you want?"

Amethyst gave a dry chuckle. "You know."

A quiet, unexpected defiance started to grow in Peridot's chest—in hindsight, it was a physiological last-ditch effort. She crossed her arms and twisted her upper body to face Amethyst head-on. "No, I don't think I do know. So why don't you enlighten me?"

"Okay. So how long have you and Lapis been fucking?"

Immediately, Peridot threw her hands to clutch at Amethyst's shoulders. Face burning, she hissed, "Shhh! Someone might hear you!"

Amethyst laughed again. "I'm telling you, Per, no one can hear us. Now tell me everything. How long?"

Releasing Amethyst's shoulder and dropping her hands dejectedly in her lap, Peridot whispered, "It's not like that. Nothing's happened." At Amethyst's incredulous stare, Peridot pressed on. "No, honestly. Nothing has happened. Lapis—" She couldn't help throwing her head around to look over both shoulders as she said the name. "She doesn't know that I—"

"Wanna bone her?" Amethyst supplemented with a crooked grin.

"Stop that!"

"What, you don't want to bone her? Because the way you act around her says something different."

"It's not that I—" Peridot stopped, momentarily distracted by the image of herself and Lapis in—well, an intimate position. She blushed harder than she already had been, and then pushed the picture from her mind. "Nothing is going to happen."

"Why not?"

Peridot spun her head to stare at Amethyst. "Why not?"

Amethyst shrugged. "Uh, yeah. Why not?"

Peridot barked out a laugh before she could stop herself. "Okay, for one—" She began to count animatedly on her fingers. "—because she's dating someone. Two, not only is she dating someone, but she's dating my best friend. Three—for the sake of argument, considering some far-off universe in which I'm willing to throw my friendship with her away completely—I don't feel like getting murdered by Jasper once she finds out. You saw her with Lars! And all he even did was talk to Lapis! And four, even if none of the aforementioned issues mattered at all, whatever I might or might not feel remains unreciprocated. Is that enough reason, for starters?"

Amethyst chewed on her lip, remaining silent for a minute. Then she cocked her head to the side and asked, "Are you sure about that last one? It sure doesn't look unreciprocated."

Ignoring the way her heart skipped a beat, Peridot shook her head back and forth. "She was just being nice. We're friends."

With a snort, Amethyst said, "Oh, yeah, real good friends."

"Stop," Peridot scolded, in spite of the smile that was creeping across her face. She squinted her eyes at Amethyst. "Why even do you care?"

Amethyst squinted her eyes back at her. "Because we're friends? And not the weird type of friend thing that you have with L, or the one you had with your counselor. Like, actual friends."

"Are we?"

"Aren't we?"

Peridot thought about it for a moment. "Yeah. I guess so."

The two girls exchanged a smile. Then after a minute, Amethyst sighed. "Okay, so what are you going to do about it, then?"

Peridot dropped her head into her hands. "No clue. Ignore it and hope it goes away, I guess."

Just then, the door of the Temple opened. Out spilled a variety of campers, heading back to their cabins or heading to the campfire with Garnet, who would soon light it. Peridot spotted Lapis immediately. Steven and Connie were pulling her by her hands down the stairs. She was laughing.

Boom. Bag of bricks, meet Peridot's chest.

Amethyst sighed again. "That's rough, buddy."

"Log date 061815. Amethyst knows. I'm humiliated—and yet, simultaneously relieved. Evidently, I can't effectively keep this thing to myself on my own. Maybe it won't hurt to have someone helping me out, firstly to keep my visible pining in check and secondly to whom I can vent. Maybe then I'll no longer feel like my body is eating itself alive anytime I'm in proximity to Lapis. And since Amethyst already figured it out on her own—and also since she's reassured me that (in her own words) 'she ain't no narc'—well. She seems as good a choice as anyone.

"Stay tuned to my series of unfortunate events. More tomorrow."

The next day, a consistent buzz of anticipation was thick in the air. Breakfast, then sports class, then lunch, then nature class. The tension grew throughout the day—and once Ronaldo checked his watch and announced that the lesson was over, it was as if a dam had broken. The boys of both cabins sprinted away, hollering for Sour Cream to follow. The girls split off in a different direction, and Peridot grudgingly followed them at her own pace back to Pink Cabin.

Where, once she'd arrived, all hell had already broken loose. The cabin was a madhouse of chattering voices and hairspray fog. With a sigh, Peridot stumbled past a pair of teenagers—Orange Cabin girls who were arguing over the use of a curling iron—to collapse onto her own mattress, where Jenny already sat.

"My and Jasper's girls somehow convinced Pearl to let us out of art a couple minutes early," Jenny explained with a smile. "So we let ourselves in. Hope that's okay."

Peridot shrugged and leaned back on her hands. "That's okay. Where's Jasper?"

"Temple duty. She's gotta set up. Her girls went to meet the Reds at Green Cabin with Sadie."

"Right."

"Jenny?" Connie had approached, clasping her hands in front of herself and worrying her lip between her teeth. "Would you mind helping me do my hair like how you showed me in that magazine?"

"Sure thing, sweets," Jenny said, patting the stretch of mattress next to her. "Hop on up."

As Jenny braided and twisted Connie's hair, Peridot reluctantly rose to dress. She wasn't able to appraise her appearance in the mirror since a handful of Pink and Blue Cabin girls were swarmed around it, but she felt she didn't need to anyway. This year's dance would be the exact same as all the others she'd attended before it. She might as well wear the same outfit.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door that preceded its creaking open. Once she noticed the head of blue hair that entered, Peridot averted her eyes down to her shoes—hoping not to look like the desperate mess that she all of a sudden felt.

Lapis found her soon enough anyway, saying, "Hey, Per," as she brushed past her to dump a bag of makeup on what was usually Steven's bed. She turned, hands on her hips, to face Peridot directly. At this point, Peridot could no longer avoid meeting her eye and looked up hesitantly.

And Lapis was so tragically gorgeous that Peridot felt her heart ricochet inside her ribcage.

Her hair was pulled up, framing her face with the wisps of bangs that fell loose. The bottom half of her head was shaved in an undercut, which Peridot simultaneously realized that she'd never noticed before and that she found ridiculously attractive. Simple, high-necked, black dress that clung and hung in all the right places. Lipstick so light that it almost looked like she wasn't wearing any.

But the thing that really set Peridot over the edge was Lapis flashing a brilliant smile and gushing, "You look great, Per," as she reached forward to tug on her bracelet.

Before she could stop herself, Peridot looked down in disbelief at her own outfit: a white button-up tucked into khaki slacks. She snorted and said, with a wild gesticulation in Lapis's direction, "I look great? Look at you!"

Lapis looked down at her feet, whispering a "thank you" before she glanced back up at Peridot from beneath her eyelashes. Peridot would have sworn that Lapis was blushing, but then she figured that the girl had probably just rouged her cheeks for the occasion.

"Wait," Lapis said, tipping her chin back up and stretching her hand to pet Peridot's hair. Not expecting the movement, Peridot instantly tried to back away—but Lapis used her free hand to grab Peridot's shoulder, holding her in place. "Keep still, spaz, I'm just fixing your hair. You've got a couple flyaways."

Peridot obeyed—whether this was by her own volition or by a natural reaction to Lapis's touch (i.e. freezing up), it didn't matter. She just tried to focus her attention on not leaning her head into Lapis's hand. So she looked past Lapis's shoulder instead for a source of distraction.

It worked. She could see Amethyst sitting on another camper's bottom bunk, pulling a chunky, heeled boot onto her foot. Most startling was that Amethyst was already staring back, frozen mid-action, eyes wide and grin wider. Her hand, meanwhile, was on its way to giving Peridot an animated thumbs up.

Peridot felt heat crawling up her neck and face. She checked to make sure that Lapis's eyes were on the top of her head before she grimaced at Amethyst, hopeful that the other girl would take the hint (the hint being, of course, to knock it off). Amethyst either didn't pick up on the subtlety, or she did and ignored it anyway. She lifted her fist to bump it in the air above her.

As soon as Lapis said, "Okay, all good," Peridot quickly stepped away without a word. Lapis, whose hand was still in the air where Peridot's head had just been, looked a little taken aback. Then her lips set into a thin line and she dropped her hand next to her. Peridot felt a pang of guilt that perhaps she'd hurt Lapis's feelings. But before she could say anything, an Orange Cabin girl grasped Lapis's elbow to ask if she'd help with her makeup. Lapis agreed, and Peridot resigned herself to retaking her spot next to Jenny on her bed.

The sun was almost completely set when Peridot, Jenny, and Lapis lead the way out of Pink Cabin and up the steps of the Temple. The girls from Pink, Blue, and Orange stumbled behind them. They stepped through the doors together, and the group collectively let out a sigh. The tables and chairs were pushed to the edges of the room, which was dark save for strings of fairy lights. There were streamers, balloons, and confetti spread throughout.

A girl from Blue Cabin let out a little gasp and whispered, "It's beautiful."

Peridot rolled her eyes—it was the Temple—and was met with a gentle elbow to her side. Swiveling her head to look beside her, she found Lapis shaking her head. But her lips were pursed in that way that meant she was trying really hard not to smile. Peridot grinned apologetically at her, unable to concentrate on anything but how pretty Lapis looked in the semi-dark.

The Temple was nothing compared to her.

"Oh, my god," Jenny wheezed over the music, grasping tightly onto Peridot's shoulder to make her stop walking. She apparently did the same to Lapis, given the way she paused mid-stride as well. "Look at Jasper with Gunga. That is hysterical."

Peridot's eyes roamed the room and soon landed on Jasper. She stood in the far back behind a table that was clothed and lined with food and drink. She looked bored and—admittedly—handsome in her jacket and slacks. But past that, Peridot couldn't tell what else she was supposed to be looking for until the slightest movement occurred at the side of Jasper's hip.

Standing next to her was the little old woman who manned the kitchen. She, too, looked bored. But Peridot suddenly realized what Jenny was guffawing at: the height difference. The extraordinarily tall paired with the extraordinarily short. It looked like a circus sideshow.

"Gunga?" Lapis asked, also scanning the crowd. Her eyes widened in delight as soon as they landed on the scene. "Oh, you mean Nanefua? I love her."

Jenny shrugged, beginning to walk forward again. She was heading to the refreshment table. "'Gunga' to me. That's my grandma!"

Lapis started to follow, and Peridot pursued. But soon they were stopped again—this time by Steven skidding directly into their path.

"Hi, guys!" he greeted enthusiastically. He wore a pink necktie that looked unnaturally large on him; Peridot assumed it must belong to his father. Steven's face took on an uncharacteristically serious expression as he cleared his throat and swept forward into a deep bow. "Madame Lazuli, would you honor me with a dance?"

Peridot could have swallowed her tongue in her effort to not burst out laughing. Lapis glared over her shoulder at her before turning back to Steven and curtsying. "Monsieur Quartz Universe, I would be honored," said Lapis, and she took his hand. At Peridot's continued snickering, she turned around and half-whispered, "Shush, you. You're just jealous."

If only you knew the half of it, Peridot thought. But she kept that to herself.

Steven leaned forward to say, "Don't be jealous, Peridot! I'm going to ask you next!" And then he took Lapis's hand and dragged her into the crowd. As Peridot watched her go, she noticed that Lapis's dress was backless, which showcased her tattoo nicely.

Wrenching herself away from admiring Lapis's skin, Peridot weaved her way between throngs of campers to catch up with Jenny, who had reached her grandmother (with whom she was already deep in conversation) and Jasper. As soon as she got there, Peridot grabbed a soda bottle and opened it with a hiss. After taking a drink, she nodded up at Jasper. "Hey."

Jasper grinned down at her, arms crossed. "Hey, Per. Long time no see."

Peridot smiled sheepishly. "I saw you at lunch."

"You know what I mean," Jasper chuckled. "That was from across the staff table. Am I wrong, or have we not hung just you and me in a while?"

In lieu of responding immediately, Peridot took another sip. Jasper was right, after all. The most recently that they'd spent any substantial period of time together was on Wednesday night on the dock. But even then, that had been in a group. The last time they'd seen each other one-on-one must have been the night after last Beach Day, when Peridot helped Jasper get a plan together to make up with Lapis. That may have only been five days before but, for the two of them, five days was a long while to be apart.

Peridot knew, of course, that this was all her own fault. She could have sought Jasper out any night after dinner, for example. But instead, she'd been actively avoiding her. First of all, because the gut-wrenching guilt that Peridot felt made interacting with her friend severely uncomfortable. Second of all, because she feared blowing her cover, hurting Jasper, and then subsequently getting beaten to a pulp.

It was impossible to put off responding after a while (Peridot would eventually run out of soda, after all). So Peridot rubbed the back of her hand over her mouth and gulped before saying the only thing that she felt was appropriate to say: "I'm sorry."

Jasper just grinned again, and uncrossed her arms. "S'not your fault. I know I've been pretty distracted with Lapis since camp started, so I get why you wouldn't want to stick around just to act as a third wheel.

Peridot forced a laugh and grumbled, "You have no idea," under her breath.

"Hang out with me now, then," Jasper said, shifting to the side to make room on the other side of the refreshment table. "Like old times. Did you bring your game thing?"

Like old times. Peridot, despite herself, was suddenly overcome with a rush of nostalgia. She really did miss Jasper, she realized. And if anything was going to keep her obsession with Lapis under control, it would be that. Imagine how much you'll miss her, she thought, if she ever finds out and kicks you to the curb for good.

"No," Peridot answered, hurriedly stepping around the table to settle next to Jasper on a stool. "I didn't, actually. I'm kind of out of the habit of bringing it everywhere."

Jasper looked proud. "My little nerd is growing up," she said, wiping a false tear from her eye. Peridot responded by landing a halfhearted punch to Jasper's bicep, to which Jasper responded by laughing.

They stayed there together for a while, with Jasper sporadically insulting the kids who passed them by (quietly, so that they wouldn't hear), and with Peridot snickering and adding a mean-spirited comment every now and then. It was fun.

Until, that is, Peridot felt Jasper stiffen next to her. "What?" Peridot asked, furrowing her eyebrows and looking up at her best friend. "What's wrong?"

Jasper merely thrust her chin towards the dance floor, her eyes unmoving as she stared straight ahead. Peridot followed her line of sight. She was confused as to what she was supposed to be looking for until she saw Lapis's hair moving towards the center of the room. Figuring that there was a good chance that whatever was upsetting Jasper had to do with Lapis, Peridot strained her eyes to see what the other girl was doing—and, moreover, who she might be with.

The answer was obvious soon enough. Even from where she stood, Peridot could tell that Lapis was wearing a tight smile and wild eyes. Right at Lapis's arm, in hot pursuit, was Ronaldo. Given the circumstances, Peridot realized that the expression on Lapis's face was one of desperation.

Jasper started to roughly brush past Peridot—more than likely in order to scare off Ronaldo—but a sharp voice cut through the air.

"You! You don't leave!" scolded Jenny's grandmother from the other end of the refreshments table. Jenny had apparently wandered off without Peridot's noticing, so the little woman was now alone and keeping a close eye on Jasper. "You stay here!"

Jasper turned on her heel, upper lip lifted in a snarl, and planted herself again behind the table. "Per, I can't leave, Pearl's got this old bitty watching my every move."

"What?" Peridot asked, eyes flicking between Jasper and Lapis, who was still trapped on the dance floor by Ronaldo. "Why?"

Clenching her fists, Jasper practically growled, "I'm still in trouble from Beach Day! If I move, I'm fired. Please, for me, go get that freak away from Lapis."

After one last glance back at Lapis—at which moment Ronaldo had the audacity to actually grab the girl's hand—Peridot didn't need to be asked twice. She pushed herself off the stool and around the table, making a beeline towards the pair. Her face became hotter and tighter every step she took until she finally reached her target.

"Hey," Peridot said pointedly as she came up behind Lapis's shoulder. She stared directly into Ronaldo's face—who looked startled. He dropped Lapis's hand immediately, which then shot back to grab Peridot's.

"There you are!" Lapis sighed, spinning around to give Peridot a dazzling smile. "I was just telling Ronaldo that I promised you my next dance. I've been trying to find you!"

Peridot caught on quickly. "Right, well, shall we?" she asked, giving Lapis's hand an extra squeeze as she willed her face to relax.

"Then, might I have the next dance, m'lady?" Ronaldo said, dipping into a bow as he did so. Peridot could've gagged.

By the tightness in Lapis's voice, Peridot suspected the other girl felt the same way. "No, thank you, I think I should check on my girlfriend after that."

"You could ask later, I suppose," Peridot added, feeling a wicked grin take over her features. "We'll be at the refreshment table probably all night. With Jasper."

Ronaldo visibly gulped. He gave a faltering smile as his eyes roamed to the far end of the room. Jasper must have still been watching, because he only gulped again before choking out a weak, "Okay," and slinking away.

After he had disappeared into the crowd, Peridot saw Lapis's shoulders fall. "Thank you," Lapis sighed, looking back at Peridot again. "As soon as Steven and I were done dancing, he found me and wouldn't leave me alone. I swear, he must have been stalking the room, lying in wait until my guard was down."

Peridot half-laughed, half-grunted. "Good thing big, strong Peridot showed up, huh?"

Lapis's face cracked into another smile, a softer one. "Really. God, you should've seen your face. You were doing a mighty imitation of Jasper there for a minute."

"Well, she did send me," Peridot explained, bringing up her free hand to rub at the back of her neck. Only then did she notice that Lapis hadn't removed her hold on Peridot's other one.

"You would've come regardless, I'm sure," said Lapis. Then she stepped away, pulling on Peridot's hand to follow. "Come on, I owe you a dance."

As she was tugged along, Peridot threw a look over her shoulder at the refreshment table. She could no longer see it through the crowd of dancing campers, but still. Jasper was back there somewhere. Guilt clutched at her chest. "Lazuli—"

"I know, you hate dancing." Lapis smirked. "Then come outside with me for a minute. I could use some fresh air."

That sounds innocent enough, right? Peridot mused internally. After a moment, she muttered, "Yeah, okay. That's fine."

Lapis kept a tight hold on Peridot's hand as they bobbed along, sidestepping other people until—finally, and most unfortunately—Lapis dropped Peridot's hand to pull open the Temple door. The night was a bit chilly, but otherwise nice. The patio was dark, largely due to the lack of light shining through the windows from inside. The ground itself was dark too. Only the slim, crescent moon that hung in the sky offered any visibility.

Lapis sat on a step, pulled her pack of cigarettes and a lighter from a pocket in her dress, and lit up.

Peridot sat next to her, wrapping her arms around her knees and tugging them close. "Some fresh air, huh?" she chuckled. "That's pretty ballsy of you, with Pearl right inside and all."

After a drag of her cigarette, Lapis exhaled a stream of smoke and said, "Obviously you didn't see her in there. She's too busy policing the distance between dancers to notice anything outside of that room."

"Well, if you're sure."

Lapis held the cigarette in front of Peridot's face. "You want some?"

"Uh, I-I don't think so," Peridot stuttered. "I've never had one before."

Lapis shrugged, keeping the cigarette held up. "I thought tonight was about crossing off never-have-I-evers?" She smirked; her teeth shone white in the darkness. "Although—despite how it looks, obviously—I'm not trying to peer pressure you into it. Just offering."

After a minute, Peridot accepted the cigarette between her own fore- and middle fingers. She hesitated, then brought it to her lips and sucked in. Her mouth suddenly went stale. Then she blew it out. The smoke came out in an undiluted clump.

Lapis laughed. "No, you've gotta inhale it. Here—" She adjusted Peridot's fingers on the cigarette, shifting them so that they rested further down the filter. "—Suck it in like you'd suck on a straw, then breathe it in."

Peridot obeyed. Suck it in like a straw—the staleness in her mouth intensified. Then, inhale. The smoke burned the back of her throat and, despite her best efforts, Peridot began to hack up a lung.

Lapis gingerly took the cigarette back. "So, not for you?"

Between wheezing gasps of breath, Peridot replied, "No. I don't think so."

Smiling, Lapis took another drag. "Well, at least you tried something new tonight." She blew smoke out from between her lips. It made a ribbon that slowly dissolved into the air. "No harm, no foul."

"'No harm,'" Peridot gruffed, still coughing. "Tell that to my lungs." She wiped briefly at her eyes under her glasses; they had teared up from her coughing so hard. Anxiously, she then shot a glance over at Lapis, hopeful that she hadn't noticed.

Lapis was—just her luck—staring back at her already. She had definitely noticed. But any teasing comment or otherwise was absent from her face. It was soft, quite nearly affectionate. More than anything else, it was beautiful. She quickly diverted her gaze down at her shoes, praying that it was just dark enough to hide her blush.

"So," Peridot forced, standing up abruptly. "We should go back inside."

Lapis sighed, then took one last inhale of her cigarette before putting it out on the bottom of her sandal. "You're probably right," she said. Then she lifted up her hands, reaching towards Peridot.

Peridot accepted them and helped her to stand. Then she dropped them immediately, eager to avoid the temptation to never let go again.

Stepping toward the door, Lapis spoke again. "We don't want to tip Pearl off about anything suspicious, anyway. Not before we're about to sneak off for the night."

Peridot stopped in her tracks. She had almost forgotten about that. Sour Cream's DJ thing at some warehouse outside of town.

Lapis turned around to look at Peridot as she held open the door. "You're still coming, right?"

Peridot really didn't want to. And yet, Lapis would be there.

"Wouldn't miss it," she said, suppressing a groan as she stepped back into the Temple, with Lapis following at her heel.

Peridot wouldn't admit this out loud to anyone—anyone—but the rest of the evening at the dance was actually pretty fun. As she and Lapis were on route to join Jasper at the refreshments table, Steven caught up with them. He dragged Peridot by her hand into the middle of the dance floor where Connie was already waiting, and began to dance. It was haphazard and wild and, unfortunately, infectious. So, it wasn't long until Peridot found herself bouncing along to the music, however reluctantly.

Amethyst joined them not too long after that, and singlehandedly bumped the rating for the evening from G to PG-13. She shook her hips and tossed her hair in a way that Peridot could only describe as lewd. Peridot told her as much, too—not expecting Amethyst to respond by grabbing Peridot's hips and pulling her in.

"That is wildly inappropriate, I think!" Peridot scolded, escaping from Amethyst's grasp and backing away.

Amethyst just kept grinding, her face split into a falsely lascivious grin. "Just giving you a preview, Wondernerd!" she yelled over the music.

Leaning in so that she could drop her voice and still be heard, Peridot said, "If I even let you go tonight, you mean."

At Amethyst's exaggerated frown, Peridot burst out laughing. Amethyst's frown broke, and she began laughing too. Then Steven pulled the two of them back to where he and Connie stood, beginning to dance like a robot once properly situated. Peridot and Amethyst couldn't help but join.

After a few more minutes, Peridot—exhausted—retired to the refreshment table, Amethyst in tow. Jasper was still sequestered behind the table, but now she sat on the stool with Lapis pulled onto her lap. She was whispering something into Lapis's ear, and the other girl was smiling shyly.

Seeing this, Peridot felt her chest twist itself into little knots. But she found it untwisted a little after Amethyst bumped shoulders with her. "You okay, Peri?"

Peridot nodded weakly. "Yep. Getting used to it."

Amethyst looked at her rather sadly, but didn't say anything. Together, they joined Lapis and Jasper behind the table, where they picked up their game of bullying others from afar.

At ten o'clock on the nose, Pearl—with dress and hair disheveled—stood on a chair and brought the megaphone to her mouth. In a tired-sounding voice, she announced, "That concludes this year's Camp H.G. Welcome Back Gala. Thank you for coming, now go to bed. Please."

There was a light groan that resounded across the room, but slowly the crowd began to make its way out the door, with Pearl gently ushering them out. Fighting against it, however, was Jenny—pulling Sour Cream and Buck behind her by their hands. As soon as she arrived at the table, she placed her hands upon it, checked to make sure her grandmother wasn't listening (she wasn't; she had already fallen asleep sitting up), and said, "So. Here's the plan."

It was simple enough. Do what needed to be done to complete counselor duties for the evening: namely, make sure the campers were accounted for and in bed. Lapis would make sure the same went for Pearl by following her to the office and watching for the lights to go out. Wait a couple of minutes to make sure everyone was in bed for good. Then they'd meet up under the sign at the entrance of the campground.

"Hey, and don't change your clothes," Jenny added as she twirled one of her big earrings in between her fingers. "We all look smoking right now." Then with another glance around the room—presumably to ensure that no one was eavesdropping—she whispered, "See you guys on the other side. Thirty minutes. And, break!"

The group separated. Jasper took one look around the room and sighed. "I'm supposed to be on cleanup duty." Then after a moment, she shrugged. "I'll do it tomorrow morning."

"Oh, there goes Pearl. Got to go," Lapis hissed, slipping away stealthily across the room.

Jasper followed, but not before looking back and pointing at Peridot. "You're still gonna come meet us?"

Peridot nodded. "Will do."

Lapis had turned back too, giving Peridot a final wave and a wink before she and Jasper slid through the Temple door. This left Amethyst and Peridot alone in the room (minus Gunga, who was still snoozing).

Amethyst elbowed Peridot in the ribs. "That wink?"

With a groan, Peridot said, "Drop it. Let's go."

"'Let's go' as in let's go back to the cabin where you'll abandon me to act as babysitter for the night?" Amethyst asked as they stepped forward together. Her voice sounded tight, nearly nervous. "Or was that 'let's go' as in 'let's go raise hell?'"

After a pregnant pause, Peridot grinned. "The latter."

Amethyst let out a whoop, grabbed Peridot by the wrist, and pulled her to the exit in a run. "All right, Peri! Coolest counselor in the world! Let's go!"