"Oh.."
Amethyst didn't really react. After a few seconds of just silence, the prostitute looked over all the gifts that Peridot helped her buy.
She first walked over to Vidalia, handing her the bag that contained her dildo.
"Don't open it in here.. if you catch my drift." Vidalia took the bag without a word.
Amethyst then walked to Rose, handing her the toy airplane.
"Make sure Steven knows it's from me, okay? He's being babysitted by Buck, right?"
"Jenny tonight, actually.." Rose replied, holding the airplane as if it were her own child. "And yes.. I'll let him know his Aunty Amethyst got this for him."
Amethyst smiled and walked back to Peridot, taking the guitar and the book from her. Peridot gave up the gifts without resistance.
"Here ya go, Greg.." She handed the guitar to the musician. He had tears in his eyes, though he took the present gratefully.
"I love it.. thank you."
"No problem.." Amethyst then turned to Pearl, holding the book out for her to take. "Here.. It's that cleaning book you wanted."
"Thank you, Amethyst.." Pearl took the book slowly, her eyes never leaving her friend.
"Welp.." Amethyst backed away, turning to look at all of her friends in turn. "Merry Christmas.."
Then she left the building.
Peridot stood there, her mouth agape. Was this really happening?
The rich girl looked around, watching as all of the people around her averted their eyes. Everyone was just.. going to stand here and not do anything about it?
Peridot bolted out of the room, immediately locking onto Amethyst. The prostitute was already half way down the road, her hands in her pockets.
"What the fuck are you doing?!" Peridot yelled. Amethyst stopped walking, looking back at Peridot with a smile.
"I'm going to the police station. Whatsit look like?"
"Y-you mean you're just giving up?"
"Not much you can do against the police, Peri.." Amethyst shrugged. "Besides, with good behavior, I'll be out in a couple months, at least. Not like I killed somebody."
"But.." Peridot had walked forward, now standing just a few yards from the silver haired girl.
"Oh, right.." Amethyst dug in her pockets, pulling out a few, crumpled hundred dollar bills. She held the money out for Peridot. "Here's the rest of the money you lent me.. I'm not gonna need it."
Peridot knew that Amethyst was right.. she took the money slowly, her breath hitching in her throat. It was so hard to breathe.. The tears came running, her face covered in freezing water. It felt so cold on Peridot's face..
"Hey, don't cry, Peri.." Amethyst gently wiped the tears away with her thumbs. "I'm just a whore."
Three years passed since Peridot was enrolled into the orphanage.
Ruby, Sapphire, and Amethyst were the only other girls that Peridot originally met that haven't been adopted yet.
Sugilite, Sardonyx, and Opal just left.. one by one, they were picked up. Goodbyes were heartfelt. Tears were shed..
But Peridot was happy.. because she would remember her friends. They were still with her.
The rest of the girls were sitting in a circle. Ruby and Sapphire are nine years old now, and were practically inseparable.
"I swear you guys are gonna end up getting married.." Amethyst teased the girls, who both blushed. Of course, they also stole sideways glances at each other. They were children.. they were allowed to dream.
"Well what about you?" Peridot defended Ruby and Sapphire. "Do you have your future planned out, Amethyst?"
"Peri, we're eleven.. I don't have my next dinner planned out."
"Where's your sense of wonder?"
The group laughed together. This was the life, really..
When the laughter died down, Amethyst let out a deep sigh.
"I guess I just wanna travel.. You know, go around the world."
"Sounds like it'll be hard to do when you're adopted."
"Pfft.. I'm not getting adopted."
"What makes you think that?" Ruby asked, a sad tone to her voice. It was her dream to be taken in by a family.. with Sapphire, of course.
"I've been here longer than all of you." Amethyst said, leaning backwards to prop herself up with her hands. "You'd think I would have been taken up by now."
"Come on, someone will get you eventually.." Peridot tried to reassure her friend.
"Nah.. I'd rather not get hopeful."
"Whatever.." Peridot gave up quickly.. but she still wanted to make her friend feel better somehow. She sat closer to her, wrapping her arms around Amethyst's shoulders. "You still have us."
Amethyst chuckled, holding onto Peridot's arm.
"For now.."
Another year passed. Amethyst and Peridot are twelve while Ruby and Sapphire are ten. More friends came and went.. A girl named Judith, nicknamed Malachite, showed up and was adopted almost immediately. Peridot thought that the girl was lucky..
"You ever think about what having a family will feel like?" Peridot asked the Amethyst and Ruby. These three were in her room, and the blonde was laying on her bed, staring at the ceiling.
"Didn't you already have a family?" Ruby asked. Peridot smiled, almost sadly as she closed her eyes.
"Yeah.. yeah, I did."
"Girls.." Alex came through the room, a calm, but serious expression on her face. Amethyst was the first to pick up on the mood.
"What happened..?"
"Sapphire's had.. a little accident. She's in the hospital."
Ruby was on her feet in an instant. She grabbed the front of Alex's shirt, tears already stinging her eyes.
"Take me to her!"
Sapphire is bedridden in the hospital, a white bandage across her right eye like an eye patch. She was sitting up, a smile on her face as Ruby cried at her side. Peridot and Amethyst stood in the doorway, smiling.
"I'm fine, Ruby.."
"B-but.." Ruby sobbed, looking up at Sapphire. "Y-you tried getting my kite from the tree and, and.."
"It's not your fault.." Sapphire was calm and collected. Having a near death experience kinda opened her mind to the reality that anything could happen, at any given moment. Might as well make the best of life. "At least my eye patch is cool, right?" Ruby nodded vigorously.
"The coolest.."
"They're totally gonna get married." Amethyst whispered to Peridot.
"Oh yeah.. no doubt about that."
A few months passed. Ruby and Sapphire are adopted.
"It's been a wild ride.." Amethyst said to Ruby, who had her arms wrapped around the other girl.
"I'm gonna miss you.." Ruby whispered, then she looked to Peridot, who was hugging Sapphire.
Ruby dragged Amethyst to the other two girls, initiating a group hug. The group laughed, and said their goodbyes. Another girl, about sixteen years old was standing with her back to the wall. Her hair was incredibly thick, and she wore sunglasses, even indoors.
Another woman was talking to Alex, getting all of the paperwork done. She was nice, bubbly even. She was the woman adopting Ruby and Sapphire.
"They're lovely girls.. I'm sure you're not going to regret this decision." Alex assured the woman.
"I never make a decision I regret, dear." The woman replied. She looked back to her daughter, who was being bombarded with questions by Ruby. "My baby girl needs some company."
"So what's your name?" Ruby asked, obviously excited.
The stoic girl couldn't help but form a small smile of her own..
"Garnet."
A few days later.. It's just Amethyst and Peridot now. They had their own rooms, but they decided to share one. It was less lonely this way.
"It's so weird without everyone here, don't you think?" Peridot asked Amethyst. The blonde was sitting on her bed, her back to the wall. Amethyst was laying on a separate bed, having moved it in from another room. With permission from Alex, of course.
"You get used to it." Amethyst is staring at the ceiling, her expression.. well, expressionless. Peridot didn't talk further.. Amethyst has been gaining and losing friends for her entire life. The blonde wasn't in her place to talk about being alone.
"You're not just a whore.." Peridot argued, face scrunched up in anger. "You're much more than that."
"Like what?" Amethyst asked in disbelief.
"I-I dunno! You just are!" Peridot pulled away from the silver haired girl, wiping her own tears.. at least, the ones Amethyst didn't get.
Amethyst pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing.
"Look, it's not like I wanna go to jail."
"I know, I know, but.." The girl in green paused, taking a shaky breath. "It just amazes me that you can be so calm about it."
"Yeah, I guess I understand. But it's not like we'll never see each other again.."
"Heh, yeah.." Peridot whispered under her breath. "Just like last time, right..?"
"You could even visit me, you know?" Amethyst suggested, not hearing the blonde's whispering. "Not like I'm gonna be put in maximum security."
Peridot perked up at the thought of being able to visit Amethyst.. if just a little.
"Yeah.. you still gotta pop my cherry, right?" Amethyst let out a low whistle.
"Damn, girl.. didn't think you would use that phrase."
"I told you once already.. you'll be surprised at what I can say when I'm comfortable around someone."
The pair laughed together, and Peridot actually seemed to calm down. Amethyst was right.. as usual. She wouldn't be imprisoned forever. Like Amethyst said, just a couple months, at least.
"I gotta go.." Amethyst finally said, and Peridot's laughter died quickly. She knew this was the truth.
"Yeah.. you'd better get going. Don't want your cold cell to be kept waiting."
"You bitch." Amethyst teased, punching Peridot's arm.
But.. Amethyst didn't move from her spot. She averted her eyes from Peridot, tucking her hair behind her ear. Then, she suddenly moved forward, gently pushing her lips to Peridot's in a light kiss.
Amethyst pulled away, and before Peridot could actually realize what had just happened, the silver haired girl was walking away. Peridot chose not to go after her.
Instead, she brought her fingers to her lips. That was probably her favorite kiss so far.