The five of them had returned to the skating rink, but instead of skating, they sat down at a table at the food court. Peridot was too anxiety-ridden and occupied to eat anything. Amethyst did not feel likewise, instead amassing a large pile of food before her.
"So where exactly have you been?" Steven asked.
"Um," she answered. "I've been… you know… at home?" She could not believe that was her answer for years of excommunication.
"Where would home happen to be?" Connie followed up with. "You probably moved far away, that's why we couldn't see you."
Tugging at the collar of her tank-top nervously, Peridot replied, "Not really, I uh… live on Waterman Street now." There was an uncomfortable silence.
"Peridot, " Amethyst said. "I really want to slap you right now. Half a decade of nothing, and you were a block and a half away?" Her look of frustration was shared by everyone except Connie. Peridot blanched, trying to think of the words that would try and excuse her actions. However, she knew it was a futile gesture. There was simply no excuse for shutting out the world, her friends along with it. She suddenly realized coming here was a terrible idea. At home with Sal was the obvious place for her.
"Guys, it's been a hard five years for me." Peridot's subconscious acted without consulting her higher functions first, pushing the words from behind her lips. "Situations occured that I could have never anticipated. My dad died, remember? A-and Mom got put in the psychiatric ward. I had my entire life completely obliterated, and only just recently have I picked up the pieces. I'm sorry it took me this long to reconnect, but I had to reconnect with myself first." Inconceivable that she could display this much honesty about her feelings. A gut reaction against a 166 IQ. Peridot wanted to rip her lungs out and toss them into a paper shredder lest they fuck things up even more for her.
The reaction she received was not what she expected.
Amethyst flushed, suddenly embarrassed. Pearl displayed the same visage and Steven looked nervously at his girlfriend. Amethyst put down the slice of barbecue chicken piece she was inhaling and bear-hugged Peridot, who nearly recoiled.
"Dude, I'm sorry. I had no idea half that shit happened to you." Amethyst admitted, her voice cracked with emotion. One of Steven and Connie's hands found each others and held on, and Pearl began to accumulate moisture in her eyes, as did Peridot when Amethyst let her breathe. She wiped her eyes and resettled her glasses, looking around at the people at the circular table.
"If you didn't have your mother or father to take care of you," Pearl said. "Where did you go?"
"I got adopted," Peridot replied. "Vidalia adopted me."
Half the table let out a gasp of surprise. "You lucky motherfucker, " Amethyst exclaimed. "Vidalia never told us! She like the coolest chick I know…"
Peridot channelled her inner foster mother's energy and smirked. "Oh, I've heard about that. About your little talk with her." She wiggled her fingers at her for effect.
"She told you about that?" Amethyst queried. "Not that I'm mad, you probably knew I was gay for years, but why did she say?"
"First off, I had no idea about your sexuality. Secondly…" Peridot's voice regained its timid nature and she almost tried to backpedal. "…coming here is sort of my coming-out party."
The group took a moment to let these words sink in. After that, the effect was instantaneous. Pearl cheered, throwing her balled fists in the air above her. Amethyst laughed victoriously and put her newly-gay best friend into a headlock. Steven, smiling wildly but trying to look fearful, huddled up to Connie like a scared infant and said, "Oh God, it's too late. Connie, we're outnumbered." Several passersby gave the gang an odd look, but there had might as well be nobody there. They revelled in their little microcosm of homosexuality, shouting and laughing and cheering for their friend. Peridot felt an odd sense of nostalgia, and for a fleeting instant she could have been back with them, all those years ago, playing and exploring and loving life. And just like back then, Peridot noticed the straggler. On the the other side of the rink, leaned up against a wall, was Lapis. She was looking the other way, but if she could just turn her head and glance at Peridot, the day would be utterly perfect.
"...okay so I was standing there, right? A scarf was wrapped around my eyes, my bra hanging from my hip, and all I could smell were the burgers cooking. Susan, who I assume was trying not to laugh her ass off, says to me, 'Amy, do you know what you're doing?' 'Trust me babe,' I said, and I tried to lean onto the table to try and look all cool and stuff, but instead I slam my hand down right onto the open grill."
They all bust out into laughter, Steven holding his sides while Connie and Pearl beat their fists onto the table. Peridot had doubled over and was crying tears of amusement. She had missed this.
"And I start screaming. I couldn't see, my tits were exposed, and to top it all off Susan is laughing over in the distance. You couldn't imagine what I had to say at the ER an hour later."
She had missed this a lot. As the laughter subsided, Peridot found herself being tapped on the shoulder. She turned around, and Sour Cream stood there, twirling his car keys.
"Hey SC," Amethyst said to the tall man.
"What's happening, Amy?" He replied, fist-bumping her. He turned his attention back to Peridot. "C'mon Peri, my shift's over. Last call for a ride home." Peridot looked around, noticing that everybody, save a few other employees, had long since departed. She was disappointed that the time with her friends had come to an end, and stood up, sighing.
"Sorry, guys. I gotta go." She said, rubbing the back of her head. Amethyst made sure she received a final bone-crushing hug, saying, "See you later, P-dot. Don't disappear again." This was followed by another hug from Pearl, a high-five from Steven, and a third hug from Connie.
"Bye," Peridot repeated, walking with her brother through the back door. It was completely pitch-black outside, and she checked her phone, finding the time to be 1:37 PM. She must have been in there for hours, but it only felt like a handful of minutes. She climbed into the Moth's passenger seat, Sour Cream revving the engine, and they were off. Peridot watched the streetlights float by in the darkness as they drove down the interstate back into Beach City. The day's events replayed in her mind, little snapshots of laughter, falling down, and… Lapis. The thought of Lapis brought a red tinge to Peridot's face, and she couldn't stop the growing smile that claimed her face.
"Did you have a good time?" Sour Cream brought Peridot back to reality, her blush barely noticeable.
"Yeah," She sighed. "It was… fulfilling." She shared a grin with him.
"I'm happy for you, sis. I know life's been hard on you, and it's good to see you getting back out there." He said this with the utmost sincerity, and offered a high-five to his triangular-haired sister. She took it gladly.
The car pulled into the driveway, and as silently as possible the two crept through the front door and into their respective rooms. Peridot switched on the light, bathing the basement in a soft white glow. The walls were plastered with different posters, either depicting anime or some witty joke about technology or science, and the floor was completely carpeted in the color of, you guessed it, green. Her bed was a simple boxspring-mattress duo, with a large novelty nametag sticker stuck above the head of it. Printed on it both in machined print and black marker was, 'Hello, my name is… (Mg, Fe)2SiO4.' Peridot began to dress out of her 'bad girl' clothes and into her regular sleepwear: an oversized t-shirt and panties. Anything else was too much clothing for her to sleep in. She pulled a small prescription bottle from a desk drawer and poured out two white pills, popping them into her mouth and washing it down with a swig of Mountain Dew. Finally, she switched off the lights.
Though the day was fun, Peridot could not help but enjoy the feeling of plopping down in her full-size bed. Her limbs were noodles, sore and useless from activity, even though she had done very little skating. Still, it was more than she was used to. She pulled the bright green comforter around her body, her head laid on a fluffy pillow. Sleep nearly overtook her when she remembered something. Across the dark room was a tiny blue light, blinking at an even pace. Peridot flung herself out of bed and approached Sal, lighting her way with her phone. Sal's case was warm, and Peridot could feel the little vibrations of her moving parts ticking back and forth, could hear the nearly inaudible beeps that issued from her speaker. She was in sleep mode, and to Peridot watching her sleep was one of the most precious things in the world. Sal had been through trouble today, and needed her rest. Peridot smoothed a hand over her top and kissed it gently. A strange gesture to anyone else, but something as natural as breathing to her. Peridot climbed back into bed.
"Goodnight, girl. Sleep well." She whispered to the computer. It beeped back at her.