Hope looked on in amazement. Little Homeschool was a lot different than she could imagine. It looked like a futuristic theme park if they took the time to make it green. Small houses dotted the land. Gems were moving left and right. Some were carrying books and others were talking about their lessons. They all had gems in different places on their bodies. Some on their foreheads. Some on their arms. "Wow," She breathed. Then, she noticed a few humans were here as well.

"Welcome to Little Homeschool," Volleyball said. She smiled at Hope's look of amazement. She reached for her hand. "Come on. Let's introduce you to the teachers." She led Hope to a gem that had a round gem on her forehead. Not only that, but looked very similar to her except she was wearing a jacket and pants and her white coloration is different. "Pearl! Pearl!"

Pearl looked up from her cell phone and waved at them. "Hi, Volleyball! Hi, Larimar! How was your excursion?" She noticed Hope. "Oh! Who's this?"

"My name's Hope." Hope extended a hand. "It's nice to meet you." She looked between Volleyball and Pearl. "I'm sorry, but are you two sisters?"

Pearl looked at Volleyball. A quizzical look on her face. "She just moved into town today." Volleyball explained. "She doesn't know anything about gems."

"Well, that's all right. I guess I can tell you some things about gems and our culture." Pearl immediately went into detail about gems. Pearls such as herself were basically designed to be entertainers and servants during Eras 1 and 2. They were all designed with similarities but the gem placements help identify which gem is who. Other gems were previously designed for certain jobs and one job only. "That all changed when we reached Era 3. The Crystal Gems fought the Diamond Authority and brought peace throughout the galaxy." Pearl took a deep breath. A single tear trickled down her cheek. "At least with Steven's help." She turned to face them. "Let's begin the tour."

They began walking from place to place. A forge where a gem with rainbow hair known as Bismuth was making some sort of weapon. A yoga class with a deep red gem named Garnet along with a purple rockstar Amyphest. Hope was surprised to see a green house where a small green gem by the name of Peridot was teaching a pink gem with yellow spots which soil to use for sunflowers. Finally, she saw an art studio much like the one back at her house. A blue gem going by the name Lapis Lazuli.

As they were arriving at the town square, Hope noticed a strange crystal like platform in the middle of the cobble street. One black gem was standing on it, waiting for a friend. "What's that?" Hope asked.

"That's a warp pad." Pearl answered, matter-of-factly. "It can take you to anywhere as long as another warp pad is present. Also, it only works if you have a gem nearby."

"How do you turn it on?"

"Simply think of where you want to go and...Poof! You're there!" Larimar giggled. "It's really fun!"

"Put it can be dangerous for a human," Pearl said. "If you stick out of the stream, you could find yourself in the empty vacuum of space. And it's extremely cold."

"Yikes!" Hope said. "Then I better make sure I don't step on one by accident." She cringed at the thought of actually stepping on one and teleported at random. As far as she could tell, she needed to be extremely careful around the gems. Suddenly, she bumped into something sturdy. She nearly fell backward only to be supported by Volleyball and Larimar. Hope looked up at an orange gem with white hair. She also noticed that she was encased in the gem's shadow.

"Hey. Watch where you're going." The orange gem grumbled. She had white hair while she had red stripes up and down her body. A few spots of green and pink dotted her arms. She had two horns on her head. One of them was broken. Her gem replaced the nose she was supposed to have. She looked to be in a horrible mood.

"What is it this time, Jasper?" Pearl sighed.

"Just wanted to go over the armors and weapons with Bismuth, but she won't let me."

Pearl looked aggravated. "That's because you would try to pick a fight with everyone here or you would simply sulk."

Hope tried to suppress a giggle. She sounds like a real Tsundere. That's so cute, she thought. Hope enjoyed anime and to her japanese terminologies are her specialty. She looked away from Jasper as she felt the orange warrior stare at her like an orange cat.

"I've got nothing better to do. I can't be with Lapis Lazuli in this 'mee-morp' class and Peridot's plants are so annoying to handle. Your human tech class is-"

"That's enough, Jasper." Garnet walked over to them. Hope looked on in surprise. "We get it. All your life you've been a warrior and you're trying hard to figure out what to do with yourself. But asking other gems to fight won't help make your problem go away."

Hope stepped in. "Do you guys have a library? Maybe there's something in the books that Jasper can do."

Jasper looked away. "I'm not interested in reading old earth books thank you very much. Just forget it. I'm going to the beach." Jasper trudged away before looking back at Hope. She inspected her from head to toe. "I'm no expert but it's summer. You shouldn't be wearing a scarf. Especially one that old." She walked over to the warp pad and vanished.

Garnet sighed. "Guess we may need someone to be her tutor. She'll be like this for a week. She won't be a bother down there." She looked at Hope and said, "I have the power of future vision. It lets me see several possible outcomes in the future.I happened to have a vision of Jasper arguing with Pearl and getting into another fight." She removed her star-shaped sunglasses. Three eyes beaming at Hope. One red, the other blue and one purple. "I also had a vision of you asking me that question." She laughed when Hope blushed. "Welcome to Beach City. Nevermind Jasper. We've had a bit of history with her. She's having trouble finding something to do with her life. So far, she hasn't done well with the other classes and we're avoiding Lapis's class because they have a 'troubling' relationship."

"Oh." Hope said. "I see." She can understand that feeling all too well. Math and physics don't go very well with her. She's decent when it comes to english and history. Swimming and Marine Biology seem to click with her. She enjoyed stargazing as a child, but it only stops there. Drawing is her true passion, but she needed money in order to get by. If only people don't get hung up about her scarf. Then, she realized that she needed to be home soon and pick up the newspaper to start looking for jobs. "Thank you for your hospitality, but I have to head home soon. I might as well get some lunch in town before I head home." She walked away. "Bye."

Before she got any farther, Garnet stopped her. "Wait." She handed her some money. Fifty dollars at least. "You might need this and for some dinner you're preparing. It would help to avoid eating just fries for the next couple of weeks." She leaned closer to Hope and whispered, "I know you're hiding your gem under your scarf. Not clearly, but I'll let you choose when you want to show it to the others. Don't be ashamed by what you have."

To Hope's embarrassment, she took the money and made her way home. Garnet is going to be the scary one of the group, she thought. She looked back to see Larimar, Pearl and Volleyball waving her goodbye. She smiled and waved back at them. She knew these sort of things didn't last, but at least one thing was true: She was not alon