Chapter Six
Days came and went, and the summer began drawing closer to its end. Spinel and I hung out pretty frequently, but I was beginning to bond a bit with other gems around Little Homeworld too. My neighbor to the left was this delightfully weird gem called Diopside. She was a little quiet, and never seemed to blink, but was nothing but friendly, even if she sometimes said things that had no bearing on the conversation (apparently, it was caused by a minor flaw in her gem- it scrambled her thoughts occasionally).
Then there was Bismuth, who's energy was infectious. Something about someone so enthusiastic made me feel raring to go as well. The dim light in her forge was also easy on my eyes, though with fall approaching that was less of an issue for me.
Pearl frequently swung by my classes, of course. She was perhaps just a little highly-strung, but apparently she used to be worse. Despite not really having anything in common, she's growing on me, bit by bit.
For the first few weeks after Bluebird Azurite first attacked, I almost always had at least one gem with me when I was outside, just in case. Usually, it was a pair of Jaspers- Biggs and Ocean Jasper. They seemed to be thick as thieves, and I have to admit I could see why they were so popular with the other gems around here. Always had something good to say, as if they were experts at reading the mood.
But, things had been pretty calm. No sign of Bluebird or her component gems, no scary confrontations with Jasper…
Still had a panic attack just about every time Spinel so much as smiled at me, but y'know, that's just my curse. Awkward, anxious, gay, and crushing really really hard like wow.
I was crushing way too much on her.
Luckily, I had my other idiots to distract me from my problems.
DownSouth: Hey Ying. You still practicin?
UselessLesbian: Yeah, when I get the time. What's up?
DownSouth: Almost got the van patched up again. Was thinkin about roundin up the gang and harassing you to play with us a little bit, just for fun.
TechWizard: Aw, he misses ya.
DownSouth: Well yeah, she's our lil friend.
Sunnysideup: I thought Zach was your lil friend.
DownSouth: I'm a giant, so technically you're all my lil friends.
Jezzz: Geez, how wholesome can you get?
byeBi: Isn't he the best? Giant teddy bear.
UselessLesbian: Well as long as you guys have time to make a road trip and can promise not to kill each other on the way here and back, I'm not against it!
DownSouth: Good, because we actually already packed up.
UselessLesbian: w h a t
byeBi: Surpriiiiiise…?
Jezzz: I mean we knew you'd say yes
UselessLesbian: But- But now? Jesus guys. I don't have a problem but a little more warning is nice.
Sunnysideup: Look it takes me forever to get my chair in and out of this van, okay? Once we got it in I was not gonna wait to get it back out again.
TechWizard: On the bright side, Sunny can actually stand on her own now!
Sunnysideup: Yeah! Not for long, but I can do it!
UselessLesbian: Omg now I HAVE to see you, seeing you stand up is gonna be so surreal
Sunnysideup: Wow that won you over
DownSouth: Well, that's settled. We'll be in Beach City in like… Six hours.
DownSouth: …This is gonna be a rough drive.
I put my phone away with a sigh. Okay, maybe instead of distracting me, my lovely idiots just gave me more problems. Still, six hours… They'd be showing up just after class, actually. Cool.
Class was a bit rough today- everyone's a little rowdier than usual. I had no idea why. Maybe it's the changing weather. Some of the newer gems had never seen seasons before, like the leaves changing or the weather cooling.
One panicky Zircon asked me about the changing colors and if it meant the trees were about to attack and I couldn't help but grin. "Just be sure not to freak out if we get a snowstorm later this year." I shake my head. "Change is natural on earth- not just to people, but to plants, animals… even the landscape changes, given enough time."
Well I didn't do much teaching about humans- more about the natural way things changed here. I talked about the angle and rotation of the planet around the sun causing seasons, about some changes they could expect to see here, and what to be aware of, if anything.
"If the earth is tilted, wouldn't that indicate that the opposite hemisphere is experiencing opposite symptoms of this "seasons"?" An inquisitive Peridot (not the one I knew especially well, this one still had her enhancers) called. I nodded, impressed.
"Yep. The southern hemisphere of earth is at the opposite season from the northern one. It's getting warmer, instead of colder."
Some more confused mumbles. As noisy as they're being today, I like how they're getting so engaged lately. Asking more questions, trying to learn new stuff. Still, not much about humanity today, huh?
Class draws to a close, and I sit back, a bit tired. "Right. Okay. That was a thing. And now, I gotta deal with my other friends in…" I check my phone. "Yikes, they just left Ocean Town, so… Soon. I better figure out where to meet them. If they drive here they're gonna get swarmed by curious gems…"
I sent Sunny a text, since she's the only one who can't drive, because with a road trip that long, even Tex wouldn't wanna be behind the wheel all six hours.
I was so focused on my phone that I bumped right into Garnet, who was standing right by the door.
"Oof. Sorry."
"So am I. I literally saw you bumping into me before it happened, and yet I said nothing."
"Why?"
Garnet cracked a small smile. "Thought it might be funny."
"Har." I grinned at that, amused. "Fair enough. Is something up?"
Garnet paused, adjusting her glasses. "Just thought I should let you know two things."
"Okay." I stood, pocketing my phone, now serious. Future Vision warnings from Garnet were rare, but also very serious usually.
"First one is a "later" problem that we'll be ready for, but you should know, in almost every future I see, Bluebird Azurite comes back for you."
The gems had filled me in on what her problem was. I mostly was annoyed by how nasty they were being but also felt a twinge of pity. Both of her components, angry, hateful, spiteful and toxic as they were, were in a world that wasn't meant for them, and lost. All they had was each other.
"Okay." I nod, a bit warily. "We'll just have to be ready for her. I… Might have an idea. And the other one?"
Garnet hesitated, her mouth twisted into a weary frown.
"Tonight is going to be a weird one. And I'm… not sure what I should say. Because I see futures where it goes well, and futures where it goes so very badly."
I reeled silently for a moment, and Garnet continued.
"A lot of gems here have started caring about you, so if things do go bad, just remember, you're not alone." She smiled then, nudging her glasses down, three eyes with a hint of gentle reassurance. "We've got your back if you need it."
That made me feel a little better. "...Thanks Garnet." I smile earnestly. "Hopefully it won't come to that but I've got support if something bad does happen. Now I better run to meet my friends before they get a bunch of attention on themselves.
"They'll probably be at Greg's car wash to get directions." She grinned. "Spinel's out by the Warp Pad, she'll take you."
God, Future Vision was weird.
Also, Garnet was smiling very oddly at me and I had a prickly feeling she was reading my mind too because I had just been thinking about introducing Spinel.
Just like Garnet said, Spinel was by the warp pad.
"Hey!" I gave her a wave and a grin, and she blinked, looking up.
"Oh! Uh, hiya, Ying. Swell to see ya!" She grinned awkwardly. "Need a ride?"
"Yeah actually. Wanna come meet my weird human friends? They're a little… much but they don't bite." I rubbed the back of my head, standing on the pad.
"Oh, uh… Okay, sure! Ya know it's funny, Garnet said something about how you might need a hand with the warp stuff…"
"Of course." I mumbled, rolling my eyes with a smile. "Well, shall we? And if my friends are too much, don't feel like you gotta hang around, you can leave anytime."
"I'll be fine." She grinned, joining me on the pad, and activating it.
By now, I only felt a little nauseous when warping. No more reeling and almost fainting for me! I'd save that for the occasions that Spinel grabbed my hand. The Temple was quiet- Late afternoon usually meant everyone was out doing something. Or Amethyst was napping. Gems didn't need naps but they did feel nice apparently.
We made our way out, and down the steps of the little stilt house, and along the beachfront towards It's a Wash , slowing a bit.
"Oh sweet merciful goddesses what on earth did they do to that van?" I mumbled.
It had been painted with gaudy-looking flames. I was gonna laugh my ass off right in their faces.
I could see Greg walking up to them, greeting them. A head poking out of the van. A familiar head.
I sped up my walk speed a bit, adjusting my hat a bit, shouting.
"Texas, is that you?"
His head snapped around and I could make out a huge smile creeping across his face. He hopped out of the Driver's seat and oh dear lord he's as huge as I remember him. He might be as tall and broad as a Quartz was. Before I knew it, he had strode over and placed a hand right atop my head.
"Well, I'll be damned, ya ran right into us…!" He chortled, delivering a heavy-handed pat. He barely knew his own strength, and the light tap to the head nearly floored me. At least he didn't hug me, that'd be like getting into a death grip with a grizzly bear. About as hairy too. The other doors on the van were opening, and two more figures were rushing me.
Jezebelle and Jack. The twins of terror. Two mops of black hair, green eyes, wide and slightly crazy grins, and unlike Tex, knew nothing about restraint, because they both leapt in a flying tackle that sent me into the sand with a whump !
"God dammit!" I laughed as they pushed off me, cackling. "I got sand in my hair now!"
"Nice to see you too Ying!" Jack winked, tipping his dumb boater hat that I swore never left his head.
"Yeah, have you shrunk since we last saw you? What are you now, four six?" Jez grinned just as toothily.
"I'm five feet tall, you insufferable wench." I poked her nose, as I dragged myself back up to my feet. "It's not my fault I'm short."
"You got it better than the lovely couple."
"I'd run over and hug you too, but my legs don't work good!" That would be Sunny, and oh my lord she was standing.
Sunny was standing up!
I rushed over to her, beaming. "Holy shit! Holy shit, you're really really on your feet!"
Sunny grinned ear to ear, tried to bounce on her toes, winced, and stopped doing that. God damn it all she was a few inches taller than me when standing. Still the same perky blonde I've always known, just one who can stand!
She shifted her skirt aside to reveal the braces on her legs.
"Just barely. Zach is getting my wheelchair out."
"How's it goin' over there?" I asked him dryly. "You sure you wanna do that, I can't imagine it works well in the sand?"
"I'm on the pavement." He rolled his eyes. "Er, sorry if we're blocking anything." He added to Greg, who looked baffled, but encouraged.
"Eh, don't worry about it." He shrugged. "I take it you kids know each other."
"Yeah! Um, god, I've known these idiots forever…" I admit. "I just kind of… collected them all in Grade school."
"We adopted her." Sunny hummed.
"Pretty much." Zach snorted. "Just think Sunny, we adopted a kid before we ever got married."
"Guess we were meant to be~" She sang.
"Cute." I rolled my eyes. "Speaking of, Iiiii need to introduce you."
I glanced over at Spinel, who had kept a slight distance the whole time, watching everything with a really uncertain look on her face. I gave her an encouraging little smile, and she approached slowly, a little nervously.
"Um, this is my friend, Spinel." I shot them a glare that said 'shut up shut up if you talk about my crush then i will destroy you all'.
Jez and Jack had mischievous grins and I subtly punched a fist into my palm.
Sadly, I forgot that the twins did not fear death.
"Sooooo… Are you like Ying's girlfriend or something?" Jack chirped. Spinel stiffened a bit, and that gave me a rush of worry. Oh god please don't let her be offended or repulsed by the idea, because that would really destroy me.
"Um, I mean I'm her friend and I'm a girl, so…?" Oh thank god she's just dense and a little nervous about the weird people with shark teeth.
"That is true, that is true, but are you simply that or more?" Jez tittered. Spinel looked at me uncertainly.
"They're trying to tease you." And me . "But it appears to not be working." Thank god because I was flustered alright.
"It's what we do~" They chorused in unison. I shuddered.
"God, how do you two do that? "
"Psychic Twin connection!"
"They rehearse." Sunny rolled her eyes. "Like dorks."
"So um… Yer all, uh, Ying's human friends?" Spinel managed a more earnest smile than the shy, nerve-wracked one before."
"Well, yeah. We're her family, basically." Tex shrugged. "All she had afore she came to yer Lil Homeworld."
"All you had?" Spinel glanced down at me, and I nodded.
"Yeah. It's um, not a great story but I… kinda ran away from home to them." I said a bit feebly.
Jez wisely moved in to dodge the subject. "But that was then, and this is now! Did you grab your guitar?"
I hold up the case with a grin. "Yep. Ready to just make some really weird noise?"
"Ooh, music?" Spinel perked.
"You guys are a band?" Greg also perked. Right, he was a musician, right? Of course he'd be interested.
"Well, uh not really!" I admitted with a laugh. "We just like unconventional music and I mean… Look at us, we're like the definition of unconventional."
Greg had a shimmer of mischief in his eyes, and I got the sense he was forming an idea.
"Well, if you guys want, there's a place you can play loud and long as you want, so long as you don't mind a crowd. Even if you're not doing a show, folks in Beach City tend to gather around music anyway…"
Zach perked his ears, clearly interested.
"Go on…"
Greg explained. It turned out, much to my shock, he was actually relatively well-off thanks to making a ton of money a few years ago thanks to one of his songs being reworked into a jingle- the royalties he got weren't "build a giant mansion and live above everyone" fuck-you money, but it was "not have to worry about my family's future or my own" fuck-you money.
Honestly, from what little I'd seen of him, I couldn't think of a nicer guy to strike it rich. Still, he had used a little of his extra earnings to more or less get a stage in town where people could either organize official shows, or, during downtime, just go and play for fun.
We weren't exactly what I'd call "do official shows" material, but hanging out, playing music, and maybe getting some strangers into a new genre sounded a lot of fun.
Spinel even offered to help carry some of our band stuff when she saw how much of it was crammed into that van. I'm amazed they even fit Sunny's wheelchair in there. I could see Tex's drumkit, Zach's synth, Sunny had a few different instruments, and Jez had her bass. Jack mostly just did this and that- playing smaller percussion, performative stuff, or just whatever fit what we were doing.
"Honestly, sounds like a lotta fun!" Jack tossed an arm around Tex's shoulder- or he tried to- and grinned. "Whatcha think big guy? Wanna rock?"
"Rock?" He raised a brow. "We do weird psychopop stuff."
"We do have the psychopop magician herself." Jez grinned, putting me in a headlock.
"Oh hush you!" I scoffed, squirming in her grip. Spinel looked… odd. Her expression had been interested when we were babbling about playing music and her helping out, but there was a weird look as Jez grabbed me playfully.
Greg even offered to help set up. He really did love music. Before long, he was leading us to the little stage, driving his own van just ahead of ours. I saw posters of all the bands that once played here.
"Oh damn!" Sunny squealed, looking at one of them. "Sadie Killer and the Suspects came from this town, huh? Of course they'd have a poster here!"
"Yeah, funny how the world turns huh?" Zach chuckled. "Your favorite band comes from this town, breaks up in this town, and then our friend gets a job in this town."
"And meets a charming nice gem in this town." Jack grinned. I hate him so much.
The others head in, but I pause outside, taking Spinel's hand lightly. "...You okay? You seem kinda tensed up?"
"Yeah, I'm fine!" She promised me, a little odd. "It just… Felt weird. Seeing you with all those friends. It's unfair but it just… made me not feel important."
Oh geez. Given Spinel's history and her abandonment issues she'd told me about…
"I'm sorry. But I'm not gonna abandon you, just because my other friends are around." I smile at her. She nods.
"I know! It's just, It's hard to convince my brain that." She mumbled anxiously.
"I know." I smile a little. "You're no less important, though, even if I've known you less."
Spinel giggled a little, giving me a push. "You're givin' me way too much there. You don't see these guys as often anymore and you've known em all your life! Don't worry about me. I'll grab ya for a hug if I feel panicky or abandoned."
"Deal." I give her a thumbs up.
We weren't planning on having amps, but Greg was willing to loan us a couple. It almost felt like a real show except the seats were empty. I strum a few experimental chords, grinning as the thrum vibrates through the stage. Spinel is helping Tex move the drums, Zach is getting Sunny situated with her sound machine, Jack and Jez are bickering…
It was all just so... nice. And plus, Spinel seemed to actually kind of like my friends, now that she's relaxing a bit and got her issues off her chest.
Is it weird to say I'm proud of her? Because I was. She really had made some enormous strides in her life, and I'm kind of proud to be her friend?
That might be because my crush is steadily worsening, and Spinel keeps accidentally doing little things that make me fall in love more. Her smiles, her little laughs and cackles when my friends manage to say something dumb or funny, the way her eyes catch mine occasionally…
God, I have it bad.
We begin to play.
Tex's drums give a dense, heavy beat that fades into the background as Zach's synth begins humming in. A low, eerie song. It pulses and thrums with an arrhythmic tune that has a deep, unsettling sensation to it. I begin to strum on my drum cue, fingers a bit awkward at first- I need to get back into practice- but soon warming to the strings.
Then Jack comes in, striking a bongo. Tum. Ta-tum, tum. Ta-tum. Steady, smooth. Balancing out the discord of the drums and synth.
Jez's bass rattled the bowels of the earth, Sunny's sound control letting her use the amps to boost its power a bit, and it felt like a beast was rumbling from Jez's arms.
God, I missed this.
Surprisingly, Greg was right that people would poke around. It's chaotic, discordant, weird and odd, but deliberate. Psychedelic, but with an upbeat hint behind it that begins creeping into the synth as Zach ups his game.
God, we sound mediocre but I do not care .
The crowd- if you can call it that- comes and goes. We're less of a stage concert and more of a street performance, only without the "asking for money" bit. Still, some people are definitely looking intrigued. I slow on a few chords, as another song begins drawing to a close.
And then my eyes flit up into the crowd and I nearly choke.
I didn't just see what I thought I did right?
No, no way. I closed my eyes and my strumming gets a bit out of wack. Shit, I'm freaking out. Of course I am. God damn it.
Suddenly the music cut to quiet, the amps turning off. Wha…?
"Break time! Back in a bit!" Sunny shouted. God she's got some lungs on her. Before I knew what was happening, I was being pulled along, off the stage to a side room.
"Fuck!" Jez blurted, eyes wild and frantic.
Oh no.
"What the fuck is she doing here?!" Jack hissed, darting towards the door, peeking out into the crowd.
"No no no no no…" I mumbled, sinking into a folding chair.
"What's going on? Who's here?" Spinel quickly moved to me, protectively placing hands on my shoulders, alert and dangerous. Thank god she's here or I'd have had a meltdown already.
"We sure it's her?" Tex hissed.
Sunny waited for Jack, hand wrapped around one of Zach's, the other tapping the armrest of her wheelchair urgently. "...Well? Jack?"
"Definitely her." He groaned, sliding inside, shutting the door. "God. Damn it."
"Who? How bad is this?" Spinel begged urgently.
Zach looked me in the eye. "Can I…?" I nodded, unable to answer verbally just yet, and he straightened.
"Peony. Ying's ex-girlfriend." He said flatly. "And she's a really really bad and scary person."