Disclaimer in chapter one.

Her eyes opened, slowly but surely, and she awoke, into a warm, soft blanket. She had to get up now without waking Garnet, she had to get dressed and leave the dorm. She took care to step over the shape on the floor that was her friend, so as not to wake her. She would arrive at her first class early, but it was okay. She couldn't remember her actions from a few hours ago, but she had an idea of what had happened, and she knew that if Garnet caught her she would be forced to stay in the dormitory all day. She couldn't do that.

She moved slowly, making quiet progress across the floor. She was dizzy upon standing up, but nothing she couldn't handle. Taking careful steps over to her side of the room, she got dressed, and was making her way over to the door when Garnet stirred. Pearl froze in her tracks, hoping with all her might that maybe, Garnet wouldn't-

"Pearl?" Garnet's voice rang throughout the darkened room. Shoot. Pearl was lucky the sun hadn't come up yet. It was around 4:30 in the morning, and she knew Garnet was no morning person, unlike her. Garnet definitely couldn't see her.

"Pearl? Did you go back to your bed?" Garnet asked.

Pearl hoped the pillow she put under her cover would fool Garnet's bleary eyes. She did her best to sound sleepy in hopes of convincing her best friend. "Yes, go back to sleep." It wasn't actually that hard considering how early it was, and how tired she felt. Which was odd, considering she was quite the morning person.

"Mmkay, but Pearl? Don't go to class today, kay? 'M worried about you." Garnet mumbled before rolling over.

Pearl breathed a sigh of relief as she heard Garnet's heavy breathing return to her ears. "I'm so sorry Garnet." She whispered, opening the door as quietly as she could and creeping out.

"Okay. I have, two and a half hours to kill before breakfast, and then I have a half hour till my classes start." She said softly, so as not to wake anyone who might hear her voice from in their sleepy bedrooms. "So what should I do for two and a half hours? Is there anyone who would be awake?" She couldn't think of anyone that would be, but Peridot had given her a spare key to the cafe, which doesn't open until 9:00. She could easily be in and out before it opened, and grab breakfast on her way to class.

She unlocked the door to Peridot's cafe and walked inside, taking her familiar seat to the left of the center of the counter. She sat quietly and pulled out her phone. 5:00 am. Garnet wouldn't

wake up for another hour and a half. "Well," She said to the empty room. "I suppose I can afford to sleep for an hour, but if I do, I don't think I'll be able to wake up in time." She pulled her laptop out of her bag and began to work on an assignment for her A.P. classes that was due in a month.

After she'd been sitting for around an hour, she decided to get up. The sun was creeping over the horizon, and while she couldn't go walk around, she stood up and walked a few laps around the cafe. She sat back down and worked until she completed her assignment at 6:26 am. At 6:30, her phone went off like crazy. She picked it up and saw that Garnet was texting her.

-Pearl, where are you?

-You didn't go to class, did you?

6:31

-If I see you in class, I won't be happy.

-Pearl come back to the dorm right now.

6:36

-Please?

-Do you even have your phone with you?

6:37

I'm sorry Garnet-

-What do you mean you're sorry?!

6:38

-Pearl?!

-Pearl!

Pearl set down her phone and sighed. She felt bad for worrying Garnet, but there wasn't much else she could do at this point. She knew it would take her around ten minutes to get back to campus for classes, and that Garnet would likely call Peridot to tell her about what was going on, then Peridot would come early and check her cafe. That meant Pearl had around ten minutes to grab breakfast.

She stood up, and had to grab the counter as waves of dizziness crashed over her. She waited a minute until she was able to stand back up, and she packed her laptop back into her bag and left the cafe, locking it behind her, not leaving a trace. Her phone was going off as Garnet repeatedly tried to get ahold of her, and she had no choice but to turn her ringer off. She stopped by the cafe that sold some of her favorite cinnamon rolls, grabbed one, and headed for her campus.

She got to her class at seven, a half hour early. To her dismay, her plan to stand outside the door was foiled by her ever-increasing dizziness, and she was forced to sit down and lean on the wall. She didn't realize how much time had passed when she heard footsteps coming down the hallway. She stood up immediately, and put a hand on the wall for support, hopefully her professor wouldn't notice. She turned around, ready to greet her professor. Only it wasn't her professor.

"Pearl? What are you doing here so early? I know you're a morning person but this is insane." The sharp voice of her younger sister cut through her ears. Pearl smiled happily.

"Hi Yellow, how are you this morning?" She asked happily.

"Fine." Yellow Responded.

"You know, aren't your classes in a different part of the building?" Pearl realized.

Yellow blushed furiously, turning her nose in the air. "Yeah well, I wanted to make sure you were alive. Mother and Father would be furious with me if you weren't."

Pearl smiled. "Thank you for your concern."

Yellow let her facade break for just a moment, and smiled at her older sister. "Well, I'll see you around." She said finally, continuing her walk down the hall.

As soon as Yellow had turned the corner Pearl slid back down the wall. Her sister's visit was sweet, but standing had drained her of the little energy sitting had gotten her. She stood back up shakily at the sound of more footsteps, faster, more desperate ones. She had a bad feeling about this.

"Pearl!" Shouted a very familiar voice.

Dread filled Pearl's mind at the sound, as Garnet rounded the corner. She was exhausted, and if she was being honest with herself, she would really like to just go with Garnet up to the sweet confines of her bed. But the reasonable part of her knew she couldn't, because she needed an education.

That's why, at 7:15 in the morning, before even the first classes began, two students were sprinting around the halls of Beach City University, one chasing the other.

Pearl didn't know how she was running. She was so tired, and she could barely see where she was going, but she just kept running. She never stopped. Garnet had much more strength than she did, but she was faster. She sprinted past students, ignoring the surprise on their faces as the top student sprinted past them.

"Pearl! Stop running! You can't run forever!" Garnet's voice sounded from behind her. Garnet wasn't wrong, but Pearl could run for a very long time. She wouldn't pass out until she stopped.

She turned a corner, and ended up in a dead end, Garnet right behind her. "Pearl. Why did you
leave? I told you not to."

Pearl sighed, her vision blurring. "I need to go to school. I need to get an education. I can't skip class." Dark spots were taking over the blurs, she felt especially dizzy. She didn't know she had passed out until she woke up.

A/N I'm sorry this took so long! I'm proud of it though. I'm working on updating everything else I have as well, so if you're waiting for a particular story, don't worry, it's on its way!