Unveiling
Lapis' P.O.V.
Peridot has a brilliant idea. The problem is, that Prince Charming's ideas are as brilliant as they are stupid and risky.
It's April. I feel like March and April are the rainy months. Yet even between so much rain, there always has to be days that's pure sun and rainbows and all the fucking reasons I don't like going outside. Honestly, I don't even like people that much. But the streets are full of them so that's just my luck. What am I going to do? I can't just tell bomb on the street, have everyone run out screaming, and then just walk down the street like nothing happened.
That is endangering National Security you could say because though there isn't a real bomb, people become afraid and there is chaos because everyone wants to get away. This leads to people knocking each other over because why not? Perhaps they just want to practice their Social Darwinism while fleeing from a nonexistent bomb.
But I'm not going to do that. Especially on the beach, with like ten other people. Specifically, people I interact with on a daily basis, including Jane. And Steven's large and adorable cat, Lion.
Another barbeque, why not?
Because Peridot is stubborn as fuck and I have nothing better to do with my life.
It's another Sunday where I'm just supposed to be at home. Instead I'm on a beach.
As Peridot and I walk down the beach carrying the juice and the sodas, the sweat runs down my face and my neck. The rays of the sun cook my alive under my sweater as Jane looks around. Her pacing is fast and her tail sways from side to side swiftly. All while I must squint my eyes to be able to see. Prince Charming isn't wearing his sweater, so he's not as sweaty as me, but I know all the well he still is.
I can't believe I was talked into coming here again.
Though I don't dread to be with my friends, I'm reluctant to spend time with them, our of school much. Except for Luke, really. But I didn't know him that much either.
"Aren't you sweating, Lazuli?" Peridot questions my life choices.
"No, " I lie trying to keep my sight in front of me.
"You are. Just have it off, " he says. That was a really stupid comment. I get to dress however the fuck it is I want and no on gets to fucking question me.
Of course I also do dress depending on occasions. I never go out without my sweater, so I can wear anything I want under my sweater. I can wear a crop top, a dress, a regular shirt, or nothing at all. The only thing that really varies is my pants. I'm just a girl in a thick sweater on a hot spring day.
"No. I'm fine. I'm used to it, " I justify.
The truth is, I wear a sweater every summer. When it's fucking a hundred degrees outside, I put my thick sweater on and get my sweat on. And though I have a lot of experience with sweating the shit out if myself, I have never actually gotten used to it. So no, I'm not fine. I'm in a cloth oven with a fucking star heating me up.
When I am right in front of the beach, it feels slightly cooler once we out the beverages down. The fresh salt water moves moves up my nostrils as my diaphragm expands. The heat releases me from it's chains of sweat for a brief moment as I gladly welcome the cool breeze coming from open ocean.
"Why are you wearing a sweater?" Amethyst asks me.
"Because I can, " I respond. She wear ripped denim shorts and a white shirt that she ties at her waist along with a cap on on top of a small messy pony tail.
"Chill, " she says as she outs a part of dark shades on.
I simply wear a pair of leggings that stop above my ankle, my white sneakers, and my sweater with a green short sleeve under. I am starting to realize white sneakers we're perhaps not the best idea to wear to the beach.
Everyone else wears shorts or leggings like me. Only Sapphire wears a skirt with a short-sleeved blue crop top. She has her hair tied up in a ponytail. Connie wears a braid, blue shorts, and a purple shirt. Scarlett has her red hair tied up into two buns at either side of her hair and wears white ripped jeans and an orange shirt. Steven wears his usual red shirt and sandals, except he wears shirts now.
It's funny how there are about nine of us, excluding Jane and Lion. Without Steven and Connie we are seven. There are seven of us and Steven, the second youngest one is the cook. It's very ironic.
While Steven gets the grill going, Peridot, Luke, Connie, and I try to put up the net and set everything up so it doesn't fall and kill us.
It's much harder than I remember. The sun beats down on me with whips of sunlight and punches of heat. Rivers of sweat flow down my face, neck, and arms. My shoes become humid from the heat causing my feet to also sweat a little. My bangs don't do much to shield my face.
I don't expect them to, but it would be nice to know I did thirty fucking dollars when I got them done for them to be a nuisance and not help at anything. They don't even help with covering up acne because for some reason when my acne punched me mercilessly in the face, I had acne all over the visible places of my face. All except on my forehead, under my bangs. My mom had told me that getting bangs would only increase acne. I wish I could rub it in her face that she's a fucking liar and that I did what I wanted and nothing happened. But if course, I can't do that unless I wish to be annihilated painfully and slowly.
Connie deciphers the instructions. Apparently, the reason I don't remember the setting up of the net being so hard is because Amethyst decided to get a new fucking net. What was wrong with the last one?
She doesn't event help is in setting up. She sits in a chair, talking with Steven, and Scarlett while Steven outs the patties and sausages on the grill. Ruby and Sapphire walk by the shore if the beach. Sapphire stands for a moment before walking into the water. Ruby follies after her. Sapphire bends down and grabs something and holds it out for Ruby to see. All while Connie tries to tell us how to set the net.
We actually have to attach the net to the poles in some complicated and shitty way. After that, Luke and I hold the poles and walk backward. We keep going until neither of us can go any farther. The bottom end of the pulse is shaped in an upside-down cone which Connie tells us is so it can really grab into the sand and all that shit that I don't really care about.
Peridot nails down Luke's pole first. My fingers behind to hurt and I am out of breath when Peridot finally has the decency to hurry the fuck up and come relieve me from my burden. As I hold the pole up straight, he nails it down.
"That should be it, " Connie says, her eyes glued to the manual as if it were something of major importance.
"Should be?" I ask her as my hands leave the pole. She nods and looks up at me.
"You should take your sweater off. It will cause the heat to be trapped inside making you hotter than you should be. Dehydration and heat exhaustion can sometimes cause vomiting and can even cause a stroke," she says. I do the normal thing. I listen to the smart girl. Well, that's not really a normal thing for me. I have a lot of pride.
Of course, there is a lot of hesitation. I don't want to take my sweater off with them here. It will only serve to make things weird for me. But is that really worse than being cooked alive? That's debatable.
"This is going to be uncomfortable, " I say to no one in particular.
"You're actually going to take it off?" Prince Charming asks me.
"Yeah, " I respond as I very hesitantly take the hem of my sweater.
"It's going to be fine, " he assures me.
"That's the best you can do?" I ask him. He shrugs his shoulder.
Instead of taking a sweater off like a normal person, taking it by the hem, and just lifting up, I decide to go sleeve by sleeve first. Once both my arms are no longer in my sleeves, I take the hem of my sweater and pull it up. When the sweater is finally off my body, I am able to cool off, but it still feels uncomfortable to not wear my sweater outside of my house.
"You want me to take it?" he asks me. I nod and hand him my sweater as I put my arms around myself in discomfort.
"You'll be okay, " his words of assurance falls cold.
"When did it get so cold?" I ask.
"When did it get so hot?" he asks me with that sly smile of his. I smack his head.
"Shut the fuck up, " I whisper sharply to him.
"Yo, you guys want to go play a game while Steven cooked the food up?" Amethyst asks us as she takes the volleyball from under her chair.
She didn't help with setting up the net she just recently bought even though the last time I saw the last one it was perfectly fine.
"Sure, " Peridot responds for both of us. He goes to put my sweater in a chair while I make my way to the net.
Instead of whipping me with rays of sunlight, the sun caresses me with warm energy as the ocean cools the heat with a soft breeze making the warmth and the coolness balanced and delightful to be under.
"You actually have arms?" Amethyst asks me. I'm not personally offended my her joke because that's all it is, a joke. Yet it still is rude, nonetheless. I don't, however, say anything on the matter.
"Yes, I do, " I say as I roll my eyes.
"Good to know, " she says.
We split up into teams of four. Sapphire, Ruby, Luke, and Amethyst are in one group. Peridot, Scarlett, and I are in another. Even though they outnumber us by one, Scarlett cheers for us. Her proud boasts of pride make me smile at her naive confidence though I myself know that Peridot is very good at volleyball. I'm not an expert, but I can move around a little. Keyword, little.
When we were younger and we lived next to each other, with a fence keeping us from seeing each other, Peridot was a nerd. There is no other way to say it. He loved to read, he had a thing for the arts too. He was the intellectual, the scholar, the real sensitive guy. The vivid descriptions of being bested in sports during gym class we're enough to tell me he did not understand what the word ball meant though he understood a bunch of other complex words that to this day I still do not manage to comprehend.
Instead of asking me on a play date, or on an actual date(I was like six) he enjoyed reading to me aloud. The cruel thing would be when he ended our reading sessions at the end or middle of a chapter where there was a cliffhanger. He wouldn't tell me more. Peri would make me be anxious all day not knowing who was betraying who or who was dying or living. Our reading sessions were every single day at around the same hour, but only if I was interested in the book he was reading. If not, then I wouldn't really give a fuck. The point is that he compelled me wait and come back to him as early as I could to get the ending or whatever happened next. It was cruel. Pure evil. You simply don't do that to a reader, or a friend, much less if you have an interest in them. Though I must admit it was start now that I think about it.
Instead of giving me what was going to happen, he would make me anxious to know what comes next. Therefore my anxiousness would make me come crawling go him, begging for the next scene. It's really smart. I never thought that his reasons for keeping me hanging were because he had an actual interest in me. Had I known, I would have torn down that fence. I knew where my dad kept him construction materials. Though the wall would keep us from seeing each other, it did not keep us from seeing eye to eye.
Amethyst tries to make bets with Scarlett. Luke reddens when one if Amethyst's says that if we were to lose, Scarlett has to make out with Luke right here in the beach.
The redheads' eyebrows furrow down but her grin grows. Clearly, she isn't taken back by her losses involved in the bet. Luke, on the other hand, doesn't seem to like the idea of showing us how much he loves his girlfriend.
"Hey!" Steven yells from the grill, "Leave the bets for later!"
"And no making out!" Connie yells after. Amethyst's head hangs while she groans loudly.
"Fine! You're all so boring!" she says. With that being said, we toss a coin.
I am about to call tails in midair when Sapphire yells it before me, "Tails!"
It lands in tails. Surely it must have been her futuristic psychic medium powers that told her to yells tails. They rotate and Luke serves. We play for around ten minutes before Steven calls us to eat. Jane and Lion go running towards him. Jane stands up and Steven tried to get her to stand down with such fragility and care it makes me smile.
Though I did already eat, the smell of the food causes my stomach to grumble.
Amethyst tries to eat everyone's food while it is still in the grill and poor Steven is trying to get her away from it since he has to serve it.
I call Jane over so she leaves Steven alone therefore he only has Amethyst to deal with. Even if Amethyst were a dog, she would never follow directions like Jane.
Connie helps Steven out and we all sit on a chair. This time, there is no table. Only enough chairs for all of us. Jane sits on the warm sand right under me.
We all talk. The musical comes up, like always, but it died pretty quickly. Everyone is nervous about the performance. They say its the fact that this is a very well known musical and it's one of the hardest musicals they've ever done. They forget that this is my hardest musical because this my first fucking musical. At least they have the experience. I have nerves and social anxiety out of my circle of friends. The friends around me right now are basically the only friends I have. Apart from Marcy and Blue.
They joke around and stuff and Amethyst eats a lot of food. I don't think she will be able to play more volleyball after eating so much. Which I am actually happy about when I think it through. She won't make bets and she won't be so competitive or call the losing side losers. Sadly, this is Amethyst, and her digestive system is like a bottomless pit. Nothing needs time, it doesn't need to be edible, and there are no limits.
After eating, we just sit there for about half an hour talking about school and college next year. I hadn't really thought about college. I had barely processed the fact that I am a senior and I'm graduating in about less than four months. Amethyst, Sapphire, Ruby, Peridot, and I are graduating this year, and we will all be in college next year.
Steven still has a few more years to go before he catches up to us. Luke and Scarlett graduate next year, and Connie is still in middle school. She graduates this year and she decides to go to a different high school than ours. Apparently, she is too smart for us commoners. Prince Charming is smart too, but he still goes to my school. Well, I go to his. And if he didn't go to the school he goes to, we would have never met. Or reunited or whatever.
"What do you think is worse, college or high school?" Scarlett asks us.
"Well, we're not there yet, but I'd say high school. I can't wait to get away from my parents!" She says. Me too. But I'm not going to boarding school and I'm not sure she is either.
"I would be happy to get away from them too, " Peridot says, "But I'm staying here."
Here. We're both staying here and we're staying together. We're not kids anymore, we don't have to do every single thing our parents say anymore. And they can't keep us away from each other. Neither his mom nor my mom knows.
"We're all staying, " Sapphire chimes in.
"Someone needs to keep all of you out of your boring ass lives, " Peridot adds.
"Which we all know is me, " Scarlett says.
"Nah. That's me, " Amethyst refutes.
"You wish!" Scarlett retorts.
"You're not-not even going to...college yet, " Luke tells Scarlett.
"Sweet Luke, it's a way of speech, " she says, speaking to him so sweetly yet firmly. He doesn't contradict her. It's easy to see how much he loves her. I sincerely do not know how Scarlett did not know Luke liked her.
"Let's play volleyball, " Sapphire says, getting up. Ruby follows her. We are all in a state of processing her abrupt invitation like decapitated chicken, but we eventually get up and follow her.
We play the first game. My team is composed of Sapphire, Ruby, Connie, and me. On the other team is Peridot, Luke, Amethyst, and Scarlett. Steven sits to the sidelines, patiently and happily waiting for his turn. He watches and cheers both of our teams on.
Obviously, I feel constricted. All of my teammates are smaller than I am. If I get lucky, which I won't, Sapphire will bust out her psychic ass powers and become the witch bitch I need her to be right now. She stands there, ever so calmly while I have an existential crisis about my height.
Sadly, my team fucking loses my a point. A fucking ass point. All because of Amethyst.
Even though I feel like kicking Amethyst's ass, my feet kill me. I decide to sit in the sidelines with Steven.
Further down, the waves crash against each other as the breeze of salt and droplets of ocean fall upon us. The seagulls swim in the air up high, their call as soothing as reading perhaps. Unless they're too close. Then they just alarming.
I hear the gentle strum of strings, and turn to see Steven holding a tiny ass guitar which I am guessing is his ukelele.
It's smaller than I thought it would be. It's orange and red. Steven plays like a fifteen-second song before put putting his fingers on the strings over the soundhole, stopping any kind of vibration from escaping the metal strings. He smiles and turns to me.
"What do you think?" he asks.
"It sounds nice, " I tell him. I really don't know that much about music just basic stuff and a few advanced things that make no sense which Scarlett and Luke rant about sometimes.
"I told you I would bring it last time, but I didn't. So I brought it today. Better late than never, " he says. I nod.
He continues to strum his strings to form a soothing melody combining to create a harmony with the waves and birds.
As he play, I tale my shoes off. Playing with white speakers on the hot hand, under the blazing sun, was not a good idea to begin with. I take them off, along with my socks, and put with my sweater on Peridot's chair.
I get back next to Steven as he continues to play. The sand crushes under my toes as I leave footprints behind me.
Jane puts her head on my lap, panting. Lion goes over to Steven and lays down next to him.
"How old is Lion?" I ask him.
"Uh, I don't know. I found him, " he says. Though he looks at me, he can still perfectly change his fingers on the fingerboard and pluck different strings. It is something extraordinary, "What about Jane?"
"She's seven, " I tell.
"Cool. Do you play anything?" he asks me.
"I play volleyball, "
"An instrument, "
"Oh no!" I shake my head.
"Why not? It would be cool. We would be and do form a band!" he claims excitedly.
"Umm, I don't know. I just, I, I'll, " I can't say no. Not to Steven. But I can't do something I don't want.
"I'll think about it, " is all I say.
I turn my gaze and watch the others play. After their game ends, Steven and I join. We are both on the same team, but our team only has four player. The other team has an advantage of one more player than us.
Once again, I am with short people. Apart from Steven, I am also with Connie and Amethyst. I'm the only tall person which makes me the perfect target. Great.
The worst part is that I don't even have Peridot to throw in front of me. Because he's on the other fucking team! It just had to be my luck. My shitty ass luck.
I manage to not mess anything up. Though in all honesty, as much this is fun, it's a fucking burning battlefield. I don't know how soldiers fight during summer with such heavy stuff on. It's a massacre.
My wrists turn red, and the sweat accumulates under my dark blue bangs. My bun is not as strong enough as I had thought it to be. I have to take it down and tie it over again, which is not very convenient for playing volleyball. My bun is messy, but by doing it over again, it's tighter than before.
When it is my turn to serve once again, I could not be any more stupid and weak. I hit it right into the fucking net. Like, who as told the fucking net to be there? I, as sure as hell, did not.
Steven and Connie tell that it's okay, we can still win. Amethyst, on the other hand, she's something completely different. Apparently, she bet something with Peridot which sounds very much like them. What worries me is what the fuck they bet. I have no idea, but I have a feeling I probably don't want to know. Besides, the sand and the hot ass sun make me lazy as fuck. I can do no more than survive a flying ball that can break my bones. Oh no wait, that's a basketball.
We keep serving and rotating and losing and winning and shit. I am surprised how Connie can keep track of everything and isn't fazed by how confusing keeping score of points is. Especially when Amethyst keeps calling out random numbers to make it seem like we're winning.
We actually end up winning. It surprises me. For a bunch of small asses and one tall ass, we weren't bad. Except for me. I was shit.
Amethyst laughs, "Suck my ass!"
"Amethyst, " Steven calls her out.
"Aww. Come on Ste-man. I'm just enjoying our history!" she shoots her fists in the air and lets herself fall on the hot sand while laughing. People stare. I smile nervously at them hoping they don't call the cops or the asylum. Jane and Lion huddle around Amethyst. Jane sniffs her while Lion lays on top of her stomach.
"Jane, " she lifts her head to look at me. She wags her tail and runs, her tongue out and panting.
As Amethyst struggles to get Lion off of her, everyone begins to talk. Jane walks towards the shoreline, where the hot sand becomes cold and wet like a type of cold and salty play-do mud. I follow my canine sister and baby.
Whereas the sand gets between my toes in the hot sand, when I reach the shoreline, I only leave footprints that don't last long. My footprints are not heavy. They fill up with saltwater until my mark is lost amongst millions of grains of sand and saltwater.
I try to avoid the actual ocean water. I don't want the sand to stick to my feet. Besides, even though the day proves to be hot, the large body of open ocean must be cold nonetheless.
I watch Jane jump around. She runs to the water as the waves are called into itself before the retreat is second-guessed and floods the already saturated sand. Some seagulls soar through the air and land on the oceans' surface gracefully, floating atop of the water as a beach ball would. Conches, small and broken, and sea shells decorate the wet sand.
I pick up a small faded blue conch which can be no bigger than the space between two knuckles on my finger. It's not broken, on the other hand, it's beautiful. Small, yet beautiful.
The beach is not a place I've frequented often in the last seven years. I believed there was far too much sun and people. It's a nice place now that I look at it. Even when the sun slaps me with tans on my face, I like it.
As Jane runs back and forth, chasing and then being chased by the crashing waves, I walk along the shore, trying to find more conches. My grandma told me that it was very rare to find a big and unbroken conch. Especially on a touristic beach. But I know she would be thrilled to have even found such a tiny one that was in good condition.
My friends and the net are never out of sight. Less than a minute of walking and I would be back with them, but I don't rush. I have until seven-thirty.
When I finally decide to go back and end my search, for now, I find everyone staring at something. Prince Charming nowhere in sight.
"What's going on?" I ask.
Scarlett answers without looking, "Peridot and Amethyst bet. Now Peridot has to go through with it."
Ah shit.
"What is he doing?" I ask her.
"Here he comes, " Sapphire says.
A split second later, Prince Charming runs towards us. He wears a pair of sunglasses, a cap, a hoodie, and a pair of flip flops. He runs past us and crouches and hides behind us. Amethyst laughs, so do Scarlett and Ruby.
"What did you do?" I ask him.
He puts a finger on his lips, "He'll find me."
When I look up again in the direction from where he came from, a lifeguard looks around, confused. He looks around many times.
I crouch down to rub Jane's ears. She begins to sniff the small conch.
"I thought you said you faced the consequences of your actions, " I discreetly tell him.
"When I get caught, Lazuli. Only if I get caught, " he whispers.
A girl lifeguard comes up to the lifeguard guy. They begin to speak to each other. The girl shrugs her shoulders. Peridot begins to take everything off. I wonder where he got that hoodie from. That cap is definitely Amethyst's but those sunglasses are not. They're pink whereas Amethyst's are black and light purple.
"Are they gone yet?" Peridot asks.
"They're le-leaving, " Luke discreetly looks towards the lifeguards.
"I would like my sunglasses back, " Scarlett reaches her hand out.
"Really? I really liked them, I was thinking of keeping them, " he answers.
"Maybe I'll get the lifeguards to help me, " she raises her hand.
"No, no, no! Here!" He snatches the sunglasses off of his face and holds them out of her. Scarlett takes her hot pink shades with black from Peridot's hand and places them on her nose.
"It's always a pleasure doing business with my boyfriend's brother, " she says.
Amethyst continues to laugh at Peridot's struggling. His blond hair sticks to his neck as rivers of salty sweat stream down his partly red face.
As I continue to rub Jane's head, I crouch closer and whisper, "Help me find more?"
I gesture to the small conch in my hand. Yet even though I phrase it as a question, it isn't really one. I'm his girlfriend. Almost everything I say to him is a law. Except when I say dumb shit. Oh no, wait. I'm still right then.
"Sure, " he takes his flip flops off and stands up.
"We will be right back, " Peridot tells them.
"Are you telling us or would you want us to deliver your message to the lifeguards?" Scarlett asks.
"I am only a bystander. You, on the other hand, have the glasses of the crime scene, " Peridot retorts. She crosses her arms but only grins before turning to the others.
Prince Charming and I walk slowly neat the shoreline, Jane at our heels. Many children crowd the shoreline and the shallow part of the water. Some run when the waves come crashing down while others laugh. Adults and teenagers swim in the deeper parts. The air is salty and the smell is the unmistakable smell of the ocean. The sand beneath me feet leaves footprints. The only difference is that it lasts in one, but quickly fades in the other.
"What did Amethyst make you do?" I ask him. He crouches down and
"She wanted me to scare the shit out of the lifeguard, " he respond. I raise an eyebrow.
"It's hard to explain. Let's just say that he got visited by the intergalactic stellar army. Patrol station 009, unit 6," he says.
"An alien?" I question. Where the fuck does he get these ideas?
"I guess you could say, " he says.
"So you're an alien police?" I ask him.
"But I've settled down on this world. Seemed calm, "
"World War two seemed calm?"
"Calmer that Guardians of the Galaxy, " he says as he stretches his and our with a small conch. It is small, but it is shiny, unbroken, and looks perfect.
I admire it in my hands. Prince Charming puts a hand around my waist, "As beautiful as you?"
"Shut up, " I tell him. He stands up and takes the conch from my hands, turning it and looking at it.
"You know, Lazuli. When I can't kiss you, it's when I want to do it a lot more, "
"I've said not in public, " I half-whisper and half scream.
"But these are strangers. And I don't think our friends have so amazing vision that they can see all the way here, " he gestures to our group of friends who have grown tinier as we've walked away.
"No, " I continue on my way.
"Just a tiny little peck?" he pleads, "No one has to know, "
"I said no, "
"Please?"
"I said no, " I repeat once more.
"Nobody is going to know, "
"Yes because there are many blue-haired girls with tall blond guys on this beach, " I retort.
"You think I'm tall?"
"Than what the fuck are you? Tiny?" I ask him.
He steps in front of me. The salty ocean of sweat dripping down his face causes his usually beautiful and silky smooth blond princess hair to look as if he's been soaked in a shower. Even though it's disgusting regardless of it being a normal thing, I have to admit, he does look fucking sexy when he's sweaty. Especially with those arms. The good thing is he's my boyfriend. The bad thing is he's my fucking boyfriend.
I sweat too. But I doubt I look a tenth as good as he does. But hey, I wasn't born with princess hair.
"Hopefully I'm not, " he whispered into my mouth.
I don't know when I got so stupid. But it must have been sometime from the day I was born to the day I was born.
I was born a stupid ass. Let's face it. Kissing my boyfriend on the beach when our friends are so close and our relationship is supposed to be a secret is probably one of the stupidest things I'll ever do in my fucking existence.
My heart beats faster inside of my chest. I'm not sure if it is from the fear of getting caught or from how hot things have been getting regardless of their constraints.
"You just need to relax, " he whispers between our kiss.
He puts his right arm on my waist and his left arm under my ass on my legs, picking my up. I'm surprised that after playing volleyball, losing, and screwing with the lifeguard he still has strength left. I'd be dead.
With one arm around his neck and my hand on the ide of his face, I hold on to him for dear life because if I fall, I'll probably be too lazy to get back up. Sand has that effect on me, that I don't want to do anything.
I know very well my friends are so close, but freely showing the world that Peridot is mine feels freeing and amazing. An adrenaline and ecstasy that cannot be out into words. A rapture everything inside me long to hold forever, no matter the cost. Yet they say all good things must come to an end.
Giggling interrupts the constant and blended harmony between the crashing waves of the ocean and the seagulls overhead.
"Oh, shit. Did you get it?"
I only know one girl with a British accent.
Oh fucking shit!
Peridot let's go of me as we both turn to see Scarlett and Amethyst recording us with their phones. Their smirks are plastered like medals over their faces.
"Holy shit! Sapphire was right!" Amethyst exclaims.
"It's not what you think!" I say.
"So you weren't kissing?" Amethyst asks.
"It was an accident!" my mind flies through a million different lame excuses but all of them are shit.
"It was an accident that he was picking you up and that his tongue was so coincidentally in the same place as your mouth. Because that totally happens like, all the time, " the redhead says raising an eyebrow.
Every part of ms goes cold before it gets hotter and hotter. I don't know if I'm red, or how I look. But I plead for the sand to open up and for the sea god to swallow me whole and have mercy on my small and insignificant pitiful mortal soul.
"Hurry up!" Amethyst grabs Scarlett's hand and both of them run off. I turn to Prince Charming.
"No one was going to see?" I rub in his face.
"I said a simple peck, " the prince defends himself.
"You picked me up!"
"Are we gonna stand here or ate we going to go?" he asks me. Angry and embarrassed with him and me, I start to quickly walk in the direction of our friends. Peridot quickly follows behind me.
The heat becomes unbearable. I can get skin cancer or something from so much sun due to an unhealthy tan or I can burn my skin. The seagulls can attack me, as can crabs, and a jelly fish or a shark can wash up on shore. I can drown in the ocean or become dehydrated due to the salt in the water. Everything on this beach is a fucking danger.
When we get back to everyone, literally everyone turns to us. Every inch of me boils and I'm afraid I may be blushing.
"Since when are you two together?" Steven asks. His ever so enthusiastic voice causes me to smile, but not from happiness.
Peridot isn't fazed. He is a little worried, but not like me. The guy is chill as fuck.
"We're not together, " I stand my ground.
"They were making out," Amethyst whispers.
"We were not!" I almost yell.
"But you admit you two got a thing going on there, " Scarlett says in her British accent.
"How long?" Steven asks again.
"Over a month, " Peridot responds. I turn to look at him.
"You're not helping!" I raise my voice hoping it will knock some sense into his stupid ass brain.
Every starts speaking at once.
"It's true!" Steven throws his hands into the air. The curly haired kid has a smiles painted on his face which reaches his eyes. Connie next to him laughs with him before everyone starts massacring me with question I don't want to answer.
"Why were you keeping it a secret?"Connie asks.
"I-" I barely have enough time to begin.
"Have you guys gotten naughty?" Amethyst grins, raising both eyebrows. My face gets hotter and her insinuations, but again, I don't get to contradict or answer her.
"Fate has been sealed, " Sapphire mumbles. I don't get to ask her.
"How did you two start?" Scarlett asks.
"What else have you been hiding?" Ruby squint's her eyes and Peridot and me as if we were under suspicion of doing something wrong.
Before my head explodes I speak up, "Calm the fuck down!"
They all stop speaking. I feel as though I have all the confidence necessary to expose my private and romantic life with these people. But then I look at Amethyst and all of my confidence disappears into thin air.
"Peridot, you explain, " I say. He stares at me for a brief second before opening his mouth.
Oh, shit. That was probably not the best idea.
"There's not much to way. We're dating, it was a secret, but now you know, " he says.
"But why was it a secret?" Connie asks.
"Because Lazuli wanted it that way and I must serve, " he says ever so modestly.
"You're making me sound like a tyrant, " I point out.
"You're my queen, " he says.
"Shut the fuck up, " I respond as my eyes keep wandering to the others who just stare at us.
"And I must do as my love desires, " Prince Charming adds.
"Okay. Can you not help me?" I almost beg.
"Aww. Their first fight, " Scarlett says as if she were looking at a dog almost as adorable as Jane.
"Fight! Fight! Fight!" Amethyst cheers.
"It's not the first time we've fought, " I point out.
"Even before she could tolerate me, " Peridot adds.
"Okay, " Steven stands and comes between us, "Let's calm down and take it easy."
There could have been no worse way to let the entire world know than Prince Charming and I are dating. Like what the fuck? It seems like fate and destiny simply don't like me.
"Let's sit down and you guys can tell us about everything," Steven says.
That's exactly what we do. We sit down and Peridot and I have to explain everything. We've been hanging out a lot, we first kissed the day of the carnival, we didn't make it official until the next day, he met my dad, and stuff. Of course, we leave our anything having to do with my personal stuff including my rape and my condition.
We also explain how we'd actually met before. Ten years ago. We were best friends and we talked every day across the fence without ever seeing each other before Peridot had to move away due to his mom's new marriage. He briefly touches the subject before trying to change the topic. Ruby and Connie ask how the baby is doing, referring to Peridot's younger half-sibling. He doesn't say anything but tries to play it cool by smiling. Luke answers.
"Wait, Luke, did you know?" Scarlett asks her boyfriend. He smiles sheepishly.
"Your supposed to tell me these things, " she argues.
"It wasss a...secret, " Luke defends.
"We'll as long that thick ass isn't a secret, " she literally slaps his fucking ass. Luke reddens deeply as the sweat trickles down his blond hair. Amethyst laughs.
"But how come you didn't recognize each other?" Connie asks.
I turn to Prince Charming, "Would you like to explain this one?"
Grinning and unfazed, he accepts my challenge.
"I knew exactly who she was. Her voice hasn't really changed and well I just had an instinct, " he starts.
"Love!" Amethyst says in a sing-song voice.
"But I didn't know who he was, " I interject.
"Exactly, "
"Because he didn't fucking tell me!" I accuse.
"It's so romantic, " Steven smiles.
"It was weird," I say, "This guy was just following me around everywhere and I was like, what the fuck?"
"But you love him!" Steven exclaims. I scoff.
"Very bold claim, " I say, crossing my arms.
"So you're lying to me?" Peridot asks smirking.
"No. I never said it wasn't true I just said it was a very bold claim, " I correct my poor needless boyfriend.
"It's actually very ironic, " Scarlett says. We turn to her.
"Think about it. They got roles in the musical where they are married and it turns out they are actually dating, " she explains shrugging her shoulder. Everyone nods.
"He had this fucking planned, " I say.
Them finding out Peridot and I are dating isn't as bad as I thought. Our relationship doesn't actually last as the main focus. But that's fine by me. Jane sits at my feet, looking around and perking her ears us every time she hears a whistle or a ball falls close to us.
Peridot has me home before eight. I'm ready for bed at around ten after finishing homework, eating, and taking a shower.
I wish he had stayed. But we have school tomorrow and everyone will definitely notice that he's coincidentally wearing the same clothes two days on a row, and we also happen to be dating. Of course I don't want Peridot sleeping in my bed when he's fucking sweating oceans.
Instead, I put his small conch on the drawer next to my bed as I fall asleep.
Hello! How is everyone?
So, I am very sorry for how late this chapter was posted. I'm not going to excuse myself, but I will let you know, I am working on this other project and I'm using the time I have right now to finish it. Hopefully, I'll be able to get the next chapter done quickly.
Anyway, what did you guys think?
I hope everyone is safe and healthy, and I hope everyone has a wonderful night/day, you all know the drill!