a/n: lmao sorry for longer than usual wait but i had a load of tests to focus on
but i literally wrote and edited all of this today so i hope you guys enjoy it a lot!
"Do you wanna hang out this weekend?" Lapis asked as they made their way towards the Boardwalk. As their tradition was, if they walked to school along the beach, then they walked back along the Boardwalk, and vice versa. Lapis counted the spare change she had in her pocket, silver and copper glinting in the sunlight that was shining over Beach City. Although spring was still here, Peridot could feel summer approaching quickly.
She scrunched up her nose in response to Lapis. "I'm not very good at what constitutes as 'hanging out'," she says, "and besides, aren't we already hanging out this weekend? I'm still sleeping over tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah, of course, it's just tomorrow a few of us are meeting up at Fish Stew Pizza and then seeing where life takes us ... meaning we'll walk along the Boardwalk a bit and then end up chilling at the Big Donut, probably, but still. It'll be fun," Lapis pleaded.
Peridot narrowed her eyes. "And by a few of us, you mean ..."
"Me, Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, Buck, Jenny, and Sour Cream," Lapis listed, counting the number of people off on her fingers as she spoke. Peridot groaned inwardly as the amount of people going grew.
"So basically, it's happy couple land while us two single mooks sit there being jealous?" Peridot asked. She raised an eyebrow at Lapis, who suddenly seemed a bit uncomfortable. She brushed it off, though.
"It's not just us! Amethyst will be there too!" Lapis protested.
"My favourite person," she said sarcastically. "Sorry, but I'm gonna have to pass."
She could practically feel Lapis pouting at her back as she stalked ahead onto the Boardwalk.
She sighed, schooling her features into a more sympathetic expression. She couldn't resist her best friend for too long.
"Fine," she said, drawing out the 'i'. It was worth it, however, to feel Lapis' arms wrapping around her in a tight, quick hug. As her friend pulled away, she tried to control the blush spreading across her face and the rate of her heartbeat, which had suddenly decided to do its best impression of the drums at the beginning of Daft Punk's 'Robot Rock'.
"Great! Trust me, you won't regret it! I know you don't like Amethyst, but she can be so funny, and so is Garnet, and Pearl's really nice, and …"
Peridot smiled to herself, letting her friend ramble on as they walked together along the Boardwalk, arms linked. Just for this one moment, she could forget everything and just focus, feel what was important: the sun shining down on them, the crash of the waves in the background, the smell of junk food cooking, and the feel of Lapis' bare arm touching hers.
(True, there were two layers of clothing separating her bare skin from her friend's, but she'd take what she could get.)
She checked to see if Lapis was still talking before she spoke, "What do you wanna get, Fry Bits or donuts?"
Lapis thought for a moment. "How about ice cream?"
Peridot pulled a face, shivering instinctively. "Isn't it still a little cold for that?"
Lapis laughed. "It's never not the time for ice cream, Peridot! Now come on, what flavour do you want?"
She pulled Peridot towards Beth's Ice Cream, staring at the abundant amount of flavours the parlour had.
Peridot smiled and resigned herself to being dragged around by Lapis for the rest of her life.
"Do you even need to ask?" Peridot chuckled, taking a seat in one of the booths, sighing in satisfaction as she settled down on the pale pink material.
Lapis smiled at her, "Green tea it is then."
She walked up to the counter, and Peridot did her best not to watch her go. She shrugged her shoulders back, trying to relax, when something she spotted outside the window made her tense up all over again.
It was Jasper. She cursed inwardly and hoped the jock couldn't see her from her standpoint on the Boardwalk.
Jasper was standing with a few of her jock friends, football players by the looks of them, laughing at whatever it is athletes laugh about.
I bet one of them is her boyfriend.
Peridot froze. Where the fuck had that thought come from? She'd never thought about Jasper dating before. She just assumed it was one of those things that happened and that she didn't have to think about, like Calculus homework or detention.
"Peridot? Hey, Peridot!" Lapis' voice dragged her out of her mind, and when she looked up again, Jasper and her friends had gone.
"Are you okay?" Lapis asked, sitting down. "I ordered the sundaes, if you don't mind."
Peridot desperately tried to push all thoughts and images of Jasper to the back of her mind.
"Yeah, that's cool, you know they're my favourite," she said in an unusually quiet voice. She berated herself mentally; Lapis was bound to know something was up.
She was surprised to find, however, that Lapis merely shrugged, and they settled into a comfortable silence as the waitress brought over their sundaes. She wasn't surprised though that Lapis had got the Blue Moon flavour. She smirked. They were both so predictable.
"So, I hope you stayed true to your promise and didn't try to kill Jasper," Lapis said, scooping up another huge helping of blue ice cream onto her spoon.
"What? Jasper? I haven't seen Jasper!" Peridot exclaimed, nearly dropping her own spoon of ice cream onto the pristine white table top.
Lapis stared at her, an unreadable yet unamused expression on her face.
Peridot sighed, deciding to ignore her outburst and hope that Lapis would do the same.
"Technically, I didn't promise anything."
Lapis raised an eyebrow in warning. Peridot sighed again, finding that she did that an awful lot around Lapis.
"And no, I didn't kill her," she completed her sentence, a pleased smile appearing on Lapis' face as she did.
"I knew you wouldn't do it!" she said gleefully. "Come on, deep down, she's actually a nice person."
Peridot snorted. "Yeah, deep down. Sure thing, Lapis. Whatever you say."
As she was teasing, she couldn't help but feel guilt rising in her as she thought of the way Jasper had acted when she thought she'd offended Peridot in history. Maybe there was some truth to what Lapis was saying after all.
"Peridot! That's like the fourth time you've zoned out on me! What is up with you?"
Peridot sighed in frustration, running a hand through her hair. It wasn't as if she wanted to ignore Lapis in favour of thinking about Jasper, it's just that her mind liked playing fucked up games with her.
"She's really getting to you, isn't she?" Lapis asked softly, as always knowing what Peridot was really thinking of.
Peridot couldn't deny it. She nodded her head, once, biting her lip.
"Yeah, she is."
Peridot huffed as she finally got the door to unlock, stuffing her keys back into the pocket of her bag. That damn door was seriously testing her patience. Too bad her dad was never home to fix it.
She was prepared to drag her stuff upstairs as she usually did on a Friday night before going downstairs to prepare dinner, but was shocked to hear a voice she wasn't expecting to hear, especially not at this time in the evening.
"Peridot?" her dad called from the kitchen. She froze as he wandered out into the hallway, sweeping her into a tight hug before staring at her expectantly.
"Aren't you supposed to be at work?" she finally said.
Open mouth; insert foot, Peri, a voice in her head that sounded suspiciously like Jasper sniggered. She desperately wished someone would just slap her right now and get rid of the embarrassment.
Her dad, however, paid no mind to her social awkwardness.
"They've decided to let me off early, so I thought I'd come home and spend some time with you, make you dinner, all that stuff dads are supposed to do."
Peridot smiled weakly. As much as she loved having her dad home, they never let him off work early unless there was some underlying motive. Usually her dad wasn't home until at least ten at night. Having him home around six was just baffling. She couldn't actually recall a time when this had happened before, except for when she was very young.
She let herself be led into the kitchen, inhaling deep the smells of her childhood.
"Yakitori and Tempura prawns?" she said gleefully, her foul mood from walking home dispelled at the thought of her childhood comfort food.
"I'm not totally useless," her dad said with a laugh. "Now, I have big news about the company: your job position in the technical department has been secured! You start in August."
Peridot grinned, letting herself be wrapped up in another hug. Working with computers had always been her dream, and her dad had always encouraged her. Plus, the company was highly reputable and paid good money. It felt like, slowly, things were starting to look up.
"Thank you," she whispered.
As she got the bottle of Metsuya Cider out the fridge, she cautiously asked, "So, does this mean you'll be here the entire weekend?"
She could feel her good mood slipping away as her dad shook his head. "I leave for a very big business conference in Tokyo on Sunday, and I won't be back until Wednesday. I'm sorry."
Peridot tried to cling on to her good mood, offering her dad a smile. "It's okay. We can spend Saturday evening together; watch a movie, just like we did when I was young."
She mentally apologised to Lapis, promising to call her after dinner and reschedule their sleepover for next week.
Peridot's dad grinned as he placed his hands on her shoulders looking her in the eye. She felt a bit like she was being scrutinised, but not in a bad way.
"Peridot Akiyama, you have grown into a fine young woman. Don't ever forget that I love you," her father said. Peridot squirmed under the attention and laughed, trying to pretend what she was feeling was discomfort and not joy.
"I love you too, dad, God," she complained jokingly as he kept hugging her.
Thankfully, she was saved by the smell of chicken and the sound of her dad swearing in Japanese.
"Shit! My chicken!" He exclaimed letting go of Peridot and rushing over to attend to the grill.
Peridot chuckled and smiled, going back to pouring her drink and making the most of her time with her dad.
"I think you need to have a more positive outlook on these kinds of social situations," Lapis casually yelled from further along the stretch of sand.
"I think you need to fuck off," Peridot grumpily replied, sifting through the large pile of shells Lapis had recently deposited on her towel.
It was midday, and they were at the beach, collecting shells (Lapis' decision of course). Peridot thought it was way too early for this – after all, they weren't due to meet up with their friends (though Peridot wouldn't really call them her friends, merely acquaintances) until quarter past one. Still, Lapis had insisted that this was the best time for collecting shells, though Peridot had no idea where she'd got that idea.
Probably pulled it out her ass, Peridot thought with a smirk.
"There's no need to get rude, is there?" Lapis said snootily, making her way back over to where they'd set up camp. Her long brown hair was in a French braid and she was wearing a blue crop top and black bikini bottoms. Peridot swallowed nervously and tried to stare anywhere but up at her friend.
Lapis threw herself down with a sigh, picking up a scallop shell and tossing it back into the water when she discovered it was cracked.
Lapis breathed in the salty air, stretching. "See, this is what you need in your life, Peridot: a lot more fresh air and exercise."
"You sound like your mother," Peridot commented.
"And what's wrong with that?" Lapis smirked, tugging gently at the black bows adorned at the sides of Peridot's green leaf-patterned bikini bottoms.
Peridot slapped her hand away. "Nothing, your mother is a very lovely lady," she said, trying to hold in her laughter.
"And don't you forget it," Lapis said, brushing a stray lock of hair away from her face. "Anyway, just relax, be yourself, and try not to murder Amethyst."
"I can't make any promises," Peridot said in a monotone, adjusting her black tank top before going back to looking at whatever else Lapis had picked up from her beach crawl.
She thought as she worked. Although she wasn't really that anxious about hanging out, there was a part of her that considered Lapis' words a comfort. After all, although she was in the same year as most of the people going, she had never really talked to them outside of any classes. They all seemed to stick to their own circles. And Peridot had done too – after all, it was her and Lapis against the world. But now, as they grew older, Lapis was starting to breach into other social circles. Peridot didn't really mind, she just wanted to make sure Lapis still cared about her.
"Hey." She got her best friend's attention, holding up a smooth, round, large piece of limestone for her to see. It glinted in the sunlight, obscuring her view of Lapis slightly.
"Best friends, right?" she asked lightly, though the unspoken words that came after the sentence were visible in her eyes. Lapis took the limestone from her.
"Of course you nerd," she said, chucking a can of Pepsi to Peridot, who only just caught it before it hit her face.
"You have terrible taste in drinks," she said as she opened it and took a large gulp.
"At least I'm not - " Whatever insult Lapis had creatively come up with was lost as a shout interrupted them.
"Yo, Lapis, Peridot!" Jenny yelled from the Boardwalk, as Sour Cream and Buck tried to push each other off into the sand below. As Lapis waved at her, Peridot watched as Buck succeeded at unbalancing his boyfriend; however at the last minute Sour Cream managed to get a grip on him and pull both of them down, as Jenny shook her head at their antics.
"You coming?" Lapis asked. She'd pulled on denim shorts and was holding her silver sandals in one hand and her beach bag in the other.
Peridot gathered up her own stuff, pulling on her khaki-patterned shorts and squaring her shoulders.
"It's show time," she muttered to herself, as they began their walk towards the triad, Peridot's heart practically leaping into her throat.
Lapis liked these people; she didn't want to make a bad impression, though that was exactly what she was most likely to do.
However, all her worry faded away when she saw the logo on Jenny's beach bag.
"Is that the 4minute logo?" she asked, trying to contain her excitement, while pointing to the bag.
"Hmm?" Jenny looked down, before laughing slightly. "This is Sour Cream's bag. I'm just borrowing it."
"Wait, you're the one who took my 4minute bag?" Sour Cream asked, briefly distracted from trying to push Buck back into the sand while simultaneously brushing the sand off his own body. He shook his head one final time and stood up. "I thought that was lost somewhere in my room!"
Jenny giggled. "Okay, borrowed without asking then."
"You like them?" Peridot asked hopefully, turning to Sour Cream.
He smiled at her. "I like all kinds of music."
"It's true. It's hard to find a band he doesn't like," Buck chimed in.
"Makes buying him presents a hell of a lot easier," Jenny commented, and the group laughed, Peridot starting to feel more relaxed. Lapis throwing her a quick wink and a smile didn't hinder her much either.
She'd seen the so-called "Cool Kids" around school before, and even worked on a couple of projects with Buck, but she didn't really know much about the other than that they were dating. If she'd known Sour Cream liked the same music as her, she probably would have made an effort a lot sooner.
"See, this is why you have a more positive view like I said," Lapis muttered to her as they finished cleaning the sand off of themselves and started to make their way towards Fish Stew Pizza.
"Didn't I say something about fucking off?" Peridot teased, as the door chimed open and they made their way in. As Lapis went over to say hello to Kiki, she felt a tug on her arm. It was Jenny.
"I know you're a music fan, so come see the latest thing they've done to the place. I think you're gonna love it."
She pulled her over to the corner of the shop, where a colourful, obnoxious machine stood proudly.
Her jaw practically dropped. "Is that a jukebox?"
"That was my reaction too," Sour Cream commented, leaning up against it, before Jenny swatted him away.
"Hands off, mister! I didn't spend three months begging my dad to get this only for some lanky teenager to break it!"
Sour Cream pouted. "Your words bruise me, sweetheart."
Buck swung an arm around his shoulders and pecked Jenny on the cheek. "I'll buy half your pizza to make up for it."
"That doesn't mean you get to eat half my pizza, Buck."
"That was one time, dude."
Peridot tuned out their banter just as the bell above the door chimed again, signalling the arrival of more people.
Garnet, with her sunglasses still on (much like Buck) and her arm slung around Pearl, who looked like a ballerina as usual. Amethyst slouched along beside them, already drinking from a can of Coke.
Peridot sniffed. At least her taste in drink was better than Lapis'.
"Amethyst, you can't drink externally produced products in here!" Jenny exclaimed, swiping the can out of the shorter girl's hands and taking a sip of it herself.
"Oh yeah, and you can?"
"I work here!" Jenny said gleefully, as she and Amethyst continued to argue.
Peridot stood still awkwardly, wondering where Lapis had got to and what the earliest time she could convince her to leave at was. Suddenly the appearance of more people had made the situation infinitely worse for her.
"Oh, Peridot, I didn't know you were going to be here," Pearl's voice said, and Peridot felt glad to be dragged into a conversation, even if it was with someone she didn't know very well.
"Yeah, Lapis invited me, and then she dragged me along despite whatever I had to say about it," Peridot said with a slight chuckle as they sat down in the booth Buck and Sour Cream had chosen, trusting Jenny, Amethyst, and Lapis to order for them.
"I know that feeling," Garnet said softly, gazing at Pearl, and even with the sunglasses, Peridot could see how much they adored each other.
She blushed, saying, "Oh no, it's not like that, um, we're not dating like you guys – uh, at least I think you're dating?" She scrambled for words, and Pearl giggled.
"It's fine, and yes, we are dating."
"Almost a year now," Garnet commented, and Pearl nodded.
Peridot sneaks a furtive look at Lapis, and turns back, surprised to find Garnet staring as well.
"You should go for it," Garnet said, and Peridot gaped.
"I don't - "
"I don't know …" Pearl said sceptically.
"What do you remember?" Sour Cream asked.
"What?" Peridot said.
"Oh yeah, I forgot the two of you were a thing!" Buck said.
"Wait, what? Lapis never told me about this," Peridot exclaimed, feeling hurt that her best friend had kept something from her.
"It was for six months during Freshman year. Not many people knew," Pearl says, and from the slightly bitter tone laced in her voice Peridot can gather that their relationship didn't end well.
She was still hung up on the fact that Lapis never told her.
"But some people did know," she said in a small voice, and Sour Cream placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"It's rough," he commented.
"It's not like that," she protested, and then paused. "But yes, it's rough."
"You should ask her about it, at least," Garnet says.
"Ask who about what?" Amethyst asks, bounding over with Lapis following slightly behind, a smile on her face. Peridot swears you could hear a pin drop in the brief but encompassing silence that overcomes the group.
"Ask Lapis why she thinks Pepsi is even remotely good when Coke exists," Peridot quickly says.
"Aw hell yeah!" Amethyst replies, holding out her hand for a high five. Peridot complies cautiously, a bemused smile on her face. "Coke forever."
"You're all just rude."" Lapis huffs squeezing in next to Peridot; their skin brushes each other's. When Lapis isn't looking, Buck gives her a covert thumbs up.
She scowls. This booth isn't big enough for nine people.
Jenny brings the pizzas over and they eat, the conversation flowing easily, even for Peridot. Someone puts on the jukebox, and it plays a mixture of old and modern songs, Bon Jovi followed by Nicki Minaj, and they jokingly sing along to the words that they know.
Customers come and go, but their group stays for at least two hours, drinking and eating and laughing and arguing about whether they want to go to the Big Donut or stay here for dessert. Peridot sighs, her stomach full and satisfied by pizza and the three lemonades she's drunk. The atmosphere is light and Peridot found that she actually enjoyed spending time with these people.
Even Amethyst wasn't as bad as she thought, and they got into a heated debate against Pearl and Jenny on the subject of onion rings versus mozzarella sticks. She only realised after about an hour of hanging out that Amethyst was actually held back a year and was supposed to be a Senior, not a Junior, like Jenny's sister Kiki, though she knew that was because of illness. She didn't want to seem rude and ask about it, so she just ignored it, choosing instead to talk to Sour Cream about the music he made.
The bell chimed once again, and though she usually ignored whoever came in, Garnet's reaction of slamming her glass of juice down on the table made her jump, and she turned round, a lump in her throat forming as she realised who it was. No one else in Beach City had that much blonde hair.
"Jasper," Garnet growled under her breath darkly.
Pearl placed a comforting hand over Garnet's.
"Do you want me to go over there, darling?" she asked, keeping her voice low. The other conversations going on in the group trailed to a stop as they chose to instead listen to Garnet and Pearl. Peridot tried desperately to keep her head down while not looking suspicious, and to avoid Lapis' insistent stare.
"Just leave her, she's not worth it, Garnet," Amethyst said casually, and Peridot could tell she didn't really care that much about whatever internalised drama Garnet and Pearl were having.
Peridot realised this was the second time she'd seen Jasper in less than 24 hours, and it was really getting on her nerves. For some reason, she couldn't keep the blonde athlete off her mind, even when she was with other people, and now she was fucking following her. Just perfect.
"She'll listen to Peridot," Lapis said suddenly, interrupting the hushed debate/argument Garnet and Pearl appeared to be having. Everyone swivelled round to stare at Peridot and she avoided their stares, choosing instead to glare at Lapis.
"She can tell her to leave?" Pearl asked.
Lapis nodded. Peridot bunched her hands into fists.
"I have had enough of this," she murmured.
"What?" Lapis said.
"Move out my way, Lapis," Peridot said, shifting over and trying to hurry up the process.
"I hope you know what you're doing," she said even as she moved to let Peridot out the booth.
She straightened her top, making sure her bikini top wasn't showing, adjusted her shorts, and, eyes narrowing determinedly, made her way over to where Jasper was leaning against the counter, clearly waiting for a takeout order as she sipped from a bottle of Pepsi. Peridot scoffed at the drink choice.
"Oh hey, shortbus," Jasper said casually, pushing her sunglasses to the top of her head and grinning at her. Peridot scowled at her and tried to ignore the feeling that everyone back at the booth was watching her.
"Why are you doing this, Jasper?" she asked, one hand on her hip, the other resting on the counter. She tried to ignore the very pressing reality of the way Jasper's hand was so, so close to her own.
"What do you mean? I'm just getting my pizza," Jasper said, every word she spoke making Peridot want to punch something (preferably Jasper's face).
Jasper turned and looked at the jukebox. "Sweet," she said, wandering over and flicking through the song choices.
"You know what I mean! Yesterday at the Boardwalk, and now today in the restaurant! You're following me!" Peridot said, throwing her arms up in the air and hoping her voice wasn't loud enough to carry back to the booth her friends were in at the other end of Fish Stew Pizza.
"I didn't even see you yesterday at the Boardwalk!" Jasper protested. Finally, she chose a song, and Peridot groaned as she heard the familiar guitar opening. She heard Sour Cream yell in joy.
She massaged her temple with two fingers. He brain really couldn't handle this.
"'One Way or Another'? Really, Jasper?" she said.
Jasper shrugged, allowing a small grin to escape past her cool persona.
"It's a good song. I love Blondie. And besides, I thought it was kinda fitting. You seem pretty paranoid."
"Look, Jasper, my friends want you to leave," Peridot says bluntly, and Jasper stares at her. It's one of the only times she's seen the jock lost for words.
"I'm just getting my pizza, God. Can't I catch a fucking break?" she exclaims, glancing over to the booth Peridot's friends are sat in. Her expressions clouds over when she sees who is sat there.
"You mean Garnet and Pearl want me to leave." She guesses correctly.
Peridot blinks. "Yes, actually - "
"Well, fuck them," Jasper says extra loudly, to make sure they can hear her at the back, "I am not doing anything wrong!"
"Shh!" Peridot says, placing her hand on Jasper's arm.
"Well, I mean, you are drinking Pepsi," Peridot adds before she can stop herself.
"Actually, I drink both Pepsi and Coke, so fuck you," Jasper says with a laugh, and Peridot finds herself laughing along. Afterwards, they are left in silence, Peridot still immensely aware of her hand of Jasper's arm, and the way they seem to kind of fit together. It's not like touching Lapis, when she gets butterflies in her stomach and knots in her tongue. It just feels sort of … right.
"Careful, Peri," Jasper says in a low voice, that Peridot finds slightly enticing, "I don't think your girlfriend will be too happy with you."
"She's not my girlfriend, for fuck's sake!" she exclaims, glaring at Jasper, who almost steps back warily.
"Seems like I've blown a fuse," she comments gently.
"Anyway," Peridot tries to swiftly move the conversation along. "They want you to leave and - "
"Hey Peridot!" Jenny calls, and Peridot turns around, quickly removing her hand from Jasper's arm like she was touching burning hot coals.
Jenny raises an eyebrow but doesn't comment. Peridot notices that everyone else is stood outside, Garnet somewhat moodily.
"We're going to the Big Donut, you comin'?"
Peridot turns again to glance at Jasper; she has no idea why. It's just there's something in the blonde's eyes that she can't decipher.
Kiki emerges carrying Jasper's takeaway box just then, and Peridot's never felt so relieved. She knows that Jasper can see it too, as she turns around angrily, ignoring Peridot's glances.
"Here's your pizza, Jasper. Oh hey, Peridot, you want something else too?" Kiki asks. Peridot sighs.
"No thanks, I was just leaving," she says with a pointed glance at Jasper, who pretends not to notice and instead grabs her pizza.
"Yeah, me too," she says, before stalking out the door before Jenny and Peridot, ignoring the looks Pearl and Garnet are giving her.
Peridot sighs.
"You okay, honey?" Jenny asks.
"Mmhmm."
"Okay then," Jenny says in a way that suggests she doesn't quite believe Peridot, but chooses not to press the subject further.
Peridot follows her friends to the Big Donut, choosing not to contribute to the current conversations taking place.
She's not hungry anyway.
They exit the Big Donut around six, bidding a cheerful goodbye to Lars and Sadie, whose shift doesn't end until half past seven, with promises to catch up with them later on.
Peridot's mood has been improved slightly, although she's still not very happy with Lapis, and has resolved to question her about Pearl at a later date. Also, Jasper is still on her mind, and she can't erase the image of the look on Jasper's face as she stormed out Fish Stew Pizza. She looked angry, mostly, but Peridot almost thought she saw a flash of hurt on her face.
The group walked along the Boardwalk, enjoying the still warm evening air and making their way, inevitably, to behind Fish Stew Pizza, where Jenny's obnoxious car was parked. Peridot secretly thought it looked hideous, but the Cool Kids seemed to like it a lot, going on about all their memories in the car to Lapis and Peridot. Some of those memories were definitely not what she wanted to imagine her new friends getting up to, and Jenny squealed, slapping her hands over her boyfriends' mouths whenever they got to a particularly risqué part.
Peridot sighed as the Cool Kids tried to figure out a seating arrangement that would allow the nine of them to fit into a five-seater car. She stared at the view she had of the beach showers, not too far away, noticing what seemed like a group of people staring down at the beach before quickly moving on.
"Okay everyone! We're going to go up to the warehouse, see if anything cool is going on," Jenny said.
Peridot had heard tales of the warehouse, everyone in their school had, though few had actually been there. Apparently some of the best parties were held there, with Sour Cream, among others, creating the best music. She'd never been, though.
She checked the time on her phone, and realises she still has time, although he won't be able to stay for long. She needs to get back to her dad soon. Tonight, he was making sashimi.
Lapis turned to flash a grin at her, and Peridot smiled back, trying to look natural.
"So, the seating arrangement is: I'm driving, Sour Cream sits on Buck's lap, Pearl sits on Garnet's lap, Peridot sits on Lapis' lap, and Amethyst … we don't really trust you with anyone. You're sitting by yourself."
Amethyst shrugged. "I'm cool with that."
"Isn't this exciting?" Lapis whispers to her as they try to execute Sour Cream's apparently 'fool proof' plan. "I've always wanted to go to the warehouse."
"Yeah," Peridot whispers back, once again distracted by the wall by the beach. She sees a masculine-looking figure striding up, seemingly arguing although his voice doesn't carry enough, followed by a familiar person.
"Jasper," Peridot whispers so quietly she might as well not have spoken. Guilt rises once again, pooling in her heart like a grenade about to go off, when she thinks about Jasper.
She watches as Jasper yells something at the boy before he stomps off. Jasper is left alone, sitting on the wall with her head in her hands, looking defeated for a brief moment. Then, she stands up and kicks over a nearby trashcan. Thankfully, it's empty.
"Peridot!" Lapis calls to her, already seated in the car and waiting expectantly for her. Everyone is staring at her.
She chances one last look at Jasper, who looks desolate, the setting sun framing her blonde hair like a halo.
How ironic, she thinks, lost in the image of Jasper sitting by herself.
She looks back at the car, at Lapis, staring at her with wide eyes, blue and innocent and beautiful, nothing like Jasper's hazel eyes which sparkle with playfulness.
She hesitantly places one hand on the edge of the car door, before she finally closes her eyes, breathes in once, and then opens them.
"Sorry, Lapis," she mutters, before turning around and running, away from her friends and towards Jasper, ignoring the yells of Amethyst and Pearl, and focusing instead on the way Jasper looks up as she approaches, and the way her bag hits the side of her leg every stride or so she makes, a constant twinge of pain.
"Why hello there Roadrunner," Jasper says, though her usual tough voice is slightly quieter and more melancholy, and with a start, as Peridot looks into those same hazel eyes she realises they are rimmed with red. Jasper's been crying.
(That, or smoking a lot of weed, which Peridot honestly wouldn't put past her.)
"Hey," Peridot says quietly, taking a seat on the wall next to Jasper.
They are silent for a moment, until Jasper speaks.
"Why are you doing this, Peridot?" she asks, repeating the other girl's own words from earlier.
Peridot smiles weakly. "I'm just … getting my pizza."
"So you think of me as pizza?" Jasper said, and they laughed together, Peridot subconsciously slightly leaning into Jasper's side. She drew away quickly, however.
"Was that guy - "
"It doesn't matter," Jasper said swiftly, which meant, of course, that it did matter, very much. "He was just saying shit about my mom. Nothing new."
"Do you want to come over tonight," Peridot blurted out quickly, not even making it a question. Jasper stared at her for a second.
"Sorry, I just thought - " Peridot's murmurs were cut off by Jasper's (surprisingly gentle) voice.
"No, it's okay. Go on."
"My dad is flying out to Tokyo tomorrow, and we're watching a movie, and he's making sashimi, which is raw fish and meat, and we're having miso soup and rice and …" Peridot trails off after a bit, noticing the way Jasper is staring at her – partly amused, partly something else.
"And you just seemed lonely," she finished, staring at Jasper bashfully.
"Sure," Jasper replies nonchalantly, and Peridot's jaw nearly drops to the floor. That was not the response she was expecting.
"My mom's working tonight, so I'd be home alone with baked beans on toast to keep me company. Your house sounds way better," Jasper explains, Peridot still staring at her with an expression of half-delight, half-surprise on her face.
"Okay," Peridot says when she can figure out how to speak once again.
"Okay." Jasper smirks.
"Okay!" Peridot stand sup abruptly, and Jasper follows her at a much more leisurely pace.
"I still think you're a dickhead," Peridot mumbles as Jasper walks by her side along the Boardwalk and towards the direction of Peridot's house.
"Yeah, the feeling is mutual, Mike Wazowski."
"That doesn't even make sense!"
"Yeah it does! You're both small and green!"
"That makes you Sully then!"
"I hate you."
"I hate you too."
As they continued to bicker as they walked, deep inside, they both knew that they were lying.
a/n: i have so much to say about this chapter it's actually unreal, but you guys should totally review and tell me about what you think :)