This was a mistake. A really, really big mistake. I should never have let Jasper talk me into this. Peridot, a nineteen-year-old with wild blonde hair and intelligent green eyes, leaned back in her chair with her eyes closed and tried not to think about what might happen. A blind date? I'm such an idiot to have even considered it, not to mention actually come here. Maybe I should just leave now. She opened her eyes just a sliver and peeked at the door to the small donut shop, wondering who was going to come through the doors. The idea of leaving was out of the question if she wanted to preserve the little reputation she had at school; Jasper would make sure of that. And besides, it was just one evening, right? Nothing could go wrong.
At least let it be someone decent looking, Peridot pleaded – to whom, she knew not. Although, assuming that Jasper is the one who set it up, it'll probably be someone strange and completely unexpected. I wonder if the other person knows who I am? Or is this a blind date for her too? Oh crud, what if Jasper set me up with a boy as a joke? She knows I'm not someone who likes boys, though; she wouldn't do that. Would she? I can't be sure. Jaz sometimes takes jokes too far. Lost in her thoughts, Peridot didn't even notice the person approaching her table.
"Hey there cutie," someone said from right in front of Peridot. The words cut through the tangle of her thoughts like a knife and jolted her into the real world, where she was met with the sight of a azure-haired girl with tan skin and laughing blue eyes. Peridot almost fell off her seat in surprise – how could she have zoned out like that?! – but quickly gathered herself and collected her manners and dignity.
"Hello," she replied primly. After a moment her thoughts caught up to her and she realized, that girl called me a 'cutie'! NOBODY was ever allowed to call Peridot cute. That was one of the main rules of her existence. This girl had better get that straight right away and she wasn't going to unless Peridot said something. But somehow, when those sparkling blue eyes met hers, she couldn't say another word.
The blue-haired girl held her hand out. "I'm Lapis." She grinned, obviously amused by the expression on Peridot's face.
Peridot made an effort to neutralize her facial expression, then summoned up her manners and shook Lapis's hand. "Peridot." She struggled with herself for a moment, eventually deciding to let the 'cutie' thing slide for once.
"Peridot, huh? We both have gemstone names. Cool." Lapis took a seat across from Peridot and pulled her chair in close to the table, resting her arms on the table and holding her head in her hands. "So how'd I end up with a cute girl like you? Did Jasper get you to come here? Also, do you know why the waiters aren't bringing us menus? They usually are really prompt at that sort of thing here."
Cute. Cute, again. C'mon Peridot, say something about it! But she didn't. Instead, she shrugged and said, "Jasper apparently ordered the food for us. So we'll just hafta wait 'n' see, and hope she didn't order something totally weird – personally, I think she probably did." Lapis smirked and nodded in agreement. "And yes, Jasper did get me to come here," replied Peridot. She considered what she was supposed to do with her hands – with her eyes – what should she look at? She shouldn't stare, she shouldn't not look at her, what to do? Lapis obviously had no such qualms; she was looking right at Peridot most of the time. Peridot's eyes flickered around.
"Okay... hey, can I call you Peri?"
What? This girl was totally overstepping her boundaries. 'Cute', twice, was bad enough, but a nickname? Nobody had ever before complimented her using the word 'cute' without being grumbled at, but for some reason she couldn't get mad at the girl across from her. All the same, there were some things she wouldn't agree to. "No."
"Why not? 'S a cool nickname... Fits you, I think." Lapis was completely unabashed, but Peridot could feel her own cheeks grow warm despite herself.
"B...because I said so," Peridot replied at last, resting her hands in her lap. She decided to change the subject, composing herself. "What school do you go to?"
"Crystal High. And you go to... Diamond High?"
"Actually, I'm attending the open university," replied Peridot coolly. She was proud of her intelligence but had resolved to speak of it matter-of-factly because she figured that gushing about it would be rather prideful.
"Way cool," Lapis breathed, her eyes wide. Despite herself, Peridot lost the calm look and blushed again. Lapis went on with the conversation. "Have you lived in Beach City for long? I've lived here all my life, pretty much. For a real long time I was one of those quiet kids, y'know, but lately I've been talking to lots more people. So that's probably why I never met you before. I mean, we both obviously know Jasper, so yeah."
"I've lived here for only a year," Peridot said, looking at Lapis, then away again.
Lapis nodded. "So uh... do you have any siblings? Oh," as a waiter approached their table carrying a bowl of soup, "looks like the first course is here... Excuse me, sir? Did you bring only one bowl of soup on purpose?"
"Yes, that's what was ordered," the man replied as he placed the bowl in the center of the table. Peridot looked at it and gulped.
"Can we have another bowl, then?" Lapis was, thankfully, not going along with Jasper's obvious plan. Peridot couldn't help but sigh in relief; seriously, eating from the same bowl? That wasn't going to happen. Not right away. Plus, geez, that was so unhygienic. The waiter just nodded and left. Lapis turned to Peridot. "Looks like Jasper's plans are weird. But I'm kinda glad I came here, regardless of the weird soup... is this potato soup? Anyway, I'm glad to get to know you, even if it's just as a friend. You know?"
"Yes, I know what you mean," Peridot replied honestly. Although I wouldn't mind too much if we could try being girlfriends, I guess. I'd like to try it out someday and this... this might be my only chance, honestly. Just then the waiter came back, so they could serve the soup out among both the bowls instead of eating from the same one. "So... uh. How did you meet Jasper?"
"Oh," Lapis ate a spoonful of soup and then set her spoon aside. "Okay, you've got to hear this, it's a hilarious story..."
Throughout most of their meal, Peridot asked questions and let Lapis talk and tell stories. Some of them, she had to admit, were pretty funny. So too were Lapis's reactions and facial expressions when she tasted the food. Practically every time a dish was brought to the table, it turned out that Jasper had ordered only one for both of them. Peridot would have gotten annoyed if it wasn't for Lapis.
First after the soup came a salad. After requesting another plate so they could share without eating from the same dish, Lapis whispered to Peridot, "figures that for once, we would be expected to eat healthily! If just to make a good impression, you know." After that, each of them got a glass of what looked like wine, but when Lapis tasted it, she snickered and told Peridot that it was "grape juice. You know, because we're underage, but apparently Jasper wanted it to look like wine, like a fancy date." Peridot smiled slightly, amused by the expression on Lapis's face. Really, the more she thought about it, the more she realized that Lapis was really pretty. And part of her wanted to thank Jasper, although she was still annoyed that she was forced to do this.
When the main meal arrived – spaghetti – Lapis actually facepalmed and sank back in her seat, groaning. "Oh gosh, not a Lady and the Tramp reference," she groaned. "Jasper is so annoying sometimes." Peridot just smirked and split the dish onto two plates, passing half over to Lapis. And finally, dessert arrived.
"Dessert!" Lapis beamed at the sight of the slices of chocolate cake (for once, there were two instead of just one). "And... fortune cookies? Weird, but okay." After eating her cake, Peridot was definitely full, and decided to keep the fortune cookie for later. When she said as much, though, Lapis looked at her beseechingly. "Please open it?"
"Fine," Peridot sighed as she broke her fortune cookie open. Then she read aloud the message. "'Stop searching forever, happiness is right next to you.'" She felt her cheeks grow warm, but just smiled. Lapis laughed.
"Why do I get the feeling Jasper tampered with these? Okay, here's mine. 'Don't give up. The beginning is always the hardest...' Jasper definitely rigged this. Maybe. I think."
Peridot's smile widened. "If she did, then she's probably expecting us to thank her for it."
"You know what? I think I will. It was really nice spending time with you, even if we don't end up dating or anything. Maybe we should keep in touch."
"That's... probably a good idea," agreed Peridot. Lapis pulled out a pen and scribbled something down on a napkin – her phone number – and gave the pen to Peridot to do the same. The blonde looked at the pen, then up at Lapis, amused. "You know you could just put it on your phone, right?"
"Oh... oh yeah," Lapis grinned. "I knew that!"
"Mmhm," Peridot hummed skeptically, pulling out her phone with its lime green case. Lapis's case was sky-blue. Green and blue, Peridot thought to herself. It's not a bad fit.
After paying – half half, for fairness sakes – the two of them left the restaurant. "Are you walking home?" Peridot asked hesitantly.
"Uh– that's the plan, yes," Lapis replied. "That way."
"Oh. Well, I'm going the other way. So um... I guess I'll talk to you later?"
"Yeah," Lapis nodded. "Talk to you later. And maybe we can try going on another date someday soon."
"Yeah. Maybe." Peridot smiled, waving. This hadn't been even half as bad as she thought.
Later that night
Lapis: hey is this peridot
?: Of course it is. Lapis, I gave you my phone number. Do you think I would trick you?
Lapis: nah i guess not. you wanna meet me at the park tomorrow?
Peri: Okay, I'll meet you. When?
Lapis: like, 11 am? then we can go for lunch if you want to
Peri: Sure. I'll be there. Now, it's almost midnight, so... good night!
Lapis: night peri
Peri: I told you not to call me that!
Lapis: yeah yeah okay. night dot!
Peri: ...
Peri: Seriously?
Lapis: what you, dont like that either?
Peri: Isn't it, uh, a little early in our acquaintance to be thinking of nicknames?
Lapis: psh lookit you using fancy words like acquaintance
Lapis: and nah its not, but if you dont like it i can wait until we know each other better
Lapis: just you wait...