Chapter 9: Don't Tell Amber-Part 2
Bloodstone
My hands are shaking. I don't think it's from the cold, I think it's from the nerves. Although, this restaurant is incredibly cold. Who controls the heat around here?
I guess I should explain why I'm standing in the line for a restaurant that's way out of my price range, freezing my toes off.
Well it all started when Jet and I met up for ice cream. You see, we had been fighting over Amber which was so stupid because then she turned around and stabbed us in the backs, which doesn't make sense because Amy's the one with two daggers. We decided to have ice cream to smooth things over. We now shared a common enemy… OK, not enemy, but we share that feeling that neither of us feels anything for her anymore. How could we after such a childish display? All our feelings just evaporated and I'm so glad. We were talking about Moonstone and her crowd when Pearl walked in and we made her very uncomfortable. I felt bad about it and I had to apologize to her.
Pearl being pretty, and my hormones causing me to need to acquire a pretty girl as the target for my next crush, also probably helped me feel sympathetic.
"Wait!" I said once I made it outside. She turned around, surprised. "Pearl, I'm sorry if we made you uncomfortable."
"No, it's fine," she said, in that classic 'I say its fine but its really not fine but I'm not gonna say its not fine' way that girls do.
"Really though, don't listen to him. Don't listen to any of them. Amber hates you because you bullied Sapphire, Sapphire herself probably isn't thrilled about that either, Amy just hates cheerleaders because she isn't one and Jet… I don't actually know what his deal is but I think he has some sort of beef with Moonstone. I… I don't want to judge you based off the actions of you and your team. People act strangely in teams." I felt so awkward. Why couldn't I english today?
"Hey, I'm not one to judge either." Pearl surprises me. "Zircon hates you because he likes to be mean now that he has these powers, Ruby is super loyal, and Spinel just thinks whatever Moonstone does. I think she has something against Jet and Amber."
"What even are Zircon's powers?" I start to laugh and then realize what I've just said. "I mean…"
"No, no, I see your point. He's good at analyzing situations after the fact and giving feedback and advice in ways that don't anger others. He also discovered he has a jousting lance. I'm honestly not sure how it's helpful since he can barely carry the thing." We both laughed. Somehow I felt comfortable with her, which led me to make a huge mistake.
"Want to go to a french restaurant? With me, that is..." I surprised myself by saying.
"Sure. But don't tell Moonstone, she'd kill me." She said after very little hesitation. I was stunned. It took my a full minute to process what she had said.
"Great, meet you at 7?" I finally spoke.
"Sure. I have to go now though, my team's waiting on me. See you."
"Bye…" My voice trailed off and I stood there dumbfounded for awhile before heading back into the ice cream store.
Now I'm standing in line to be seated at this fancy french restaurant. It's so cold it feels like Sapphire is here and angry.
Wait, what if she stood me up? It feels colder as the chilling thought grips me. Finally I am soothed by the sight of a pale pretty girl entering the restaurant behind me. I notice her short pink dress. I should probably compliment it at some point.
"Hi," she breathes.
"Hi." An awkward moment sits before I come up with something to say. "Sorry about the line. I didn't know you had to make a reservation at these places. I think its a 45 minute wait."
"Well it better be worth it."
"To be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of French food. I just thought you would like it." I am relieved when my honesty pays off and I hear her laugh and she smiles.
"I don't love French food either, I'd much rather get takeout and go to a movie or an arcade."
"It's like fate or something! Well, what are we still doing here, Burger King is like 2 blocks away! Another perk of fast food is I'll have money left so we can go to a movie!" Pearl laughs again and I take her hand to lead her out of the restaurant. We head to the Burger King a few blocks down and chat naturally the whole time. I get a whopper and she gets one too.
We head into a movie theater and eat our burgers while we wait in line to buy tickets. She's the one who suggests an action movie, even though I was about to say the same thing. I begin to think she's the female version of me, that's how much we have in common. I order a large refillable popcorn for the two of us to share and it comes with only one soda. Pearl doesn't point this out or protest, in fact, after my first sip she takes a nice long one.
The movie is boring and doesn't deserve the title of action but I think Pearl enjoys it. Slowly I reach my arm up and wrap it around her shoulders. She looks up for a moment, then smiles and leans into me.
"Do you like the movie?" She whispers.
"It's so boring." I whisper. Crap, what if I just ruined the moment?
"I can make it more interesting," she says, chuckling. Before I have the chance to say anything back, she kisses me. All I can think about is how perfect she is, not about this being my first kiss, that's lame.
The movie finally ends a painful hour later. Well, it would have been painful if we had paid any attention to it. I have zero clue what the plot was. I offer to walk her home, but she refuses.
"My house is too close to Moonstone's, if she saw us we would be dead. Well, I'd be dead, and then she'd probably go after you and your team just because she can."
"Ok then, let me at least walk you to the park," I say, trying to hide how disturbed I am by the way she talks about Moonstone.
She smiles, "I'd love that."
In the park we linger, not wanting to say goodbye.
"Can I have your number?" I ask.
"Of course." she writes it down on a slip of paper and hands it to me. " Well, I guess this is goodbye for now." She kisses me before turning to walk away.
"Goodnight." I whisper, and I know she hears me.
After leaving her as I walk home alone I think about what she said. She would be dead if Moonstone knew about us. I would be dead if Amber or Jet ever found out. I text her to ask if she's ok with being discreet. She says she will if I will and I agree. I want to beat myself up for having to hide this. I really like her. Still I know it will be okay if we don't tell. Amber especially can never know.
I wonder if I should tell Jet. I don't think he would understand either, he was very weirded out by me even talking to her earlier. I don't think it would go well. Amy would tell the others and I just don't know Sapphire that well. I wish I had someone to talk to.
There's always my older brother.
Jackson is three years older than me and going to college next year. Even with the age difference we've always been able to tell each other anything. He always told me before he snuck out of the house in case anyone got worried. I told him about our group of hybrids. He told me when his girlfriend got pregnant and he wasn't the father.
The point is, I can talk to Jackson. Hopefully he will be in his room.
"Jackson?" I ask, knocking on the door, "can we talk?"
"Uhh, yeah sure I guess. But promise me you aren't going to act like a girl again and tell me all about your feelings. Unless it's about that bitch Amber and what she did to you and Jet. I still can't believe she did that!" Oh yeah, I told Jackson about Amber after calling Jet.
"Neither can I, but I'm over her. In fact that's what I wanted to tell you about. I got a girlfriend! I think..." My brother cheers,
"Took you long enough! Finally my little bro has a girlfriend!"
"Shh! Don't shout, mom and dad might hear!"
"Sorry little dude, I'm just so happy for you!" He ruffles my hair.
"That's the thing though, I'm not completely sure were official but she made out with me and she seemed to really like me. There's just one problem…"
"What is it little bro?"
"Her name is Pearl."
"And?"
"She's on Moonstone's team."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"Well you can't tell Amber."
"Of course not, I know that. But it's not like I'm going to break up with her. That is if we're even dating. She's perfect for me Jackson, way better than Amber."
"Just be careful. Amber will be hurt when she finds out, so you better want to marry Pearl before you tell Amber."
"Amber will not know unless there is a wedding she needs to attend." My brother smiles. I know that despite his doubt, he is happy for me.
"Are you sure Pearl isn't a rebound?"
"Seeing as Amber and I never really had a relationship, yes."
"Ok. Just be careful."
"I will."
Sapphire
I'm getting the feeling that you will be hearing all of my thoughts for awhile. Hope you enjoy the show. I anticipate many amusing outcomes as well as many boring ones. For example, there's a chance that once I knock on this door and Amber lets me in, we will talk about cheese for an hour. Then there's a more interesting possibility where Watermelon Tourmaline appears because Amber wants to cheat at battleship and needs my help anticipating how Amy would place her ships. She should know by now that there are too many combinations of placements for me to know which is accurate. Besides, I would never help her cheat.
I'm also getting the feeling that you've been hearing too many stories of love. You don't have to worry about that from me, I'm perpetually single.
Unfortunately for you, however, I do not see anything more interesting than the battleship thing in the near future. Unless something incredibly strange happens it will be a normal day. Well, as normal as days that include sleepovers can be.
Sometimes I used to wonder what's the point in doing anything if you already know how it might play out. I decided a long time ago that the answer is because you get to choose which outcomes you want to occur. Still, it can be hard to get up in the morning, especially if things are bad and you know for a fact they won't get better. Some things aren't possible, that's just life.
But believing they can happen is what makes it different. And it's so hard for me to do that.
You see I'm different from the others. And I don't mean different from the kids at school because I have a gem on my chest, there are many others with gems. I don't even mean because mine is a sapphire, a gem I haven't seen on anyone else. I guess that makes sense, sapphires are pretty rare. But again, that's not what I mean. For all the other gem hybrids their powers are new. They never tried to tap into their gems before because they didn't understand them.
Mine isn't new. I've always been able to see possible futures. It's like a maze of rivers made of decisions that flow into lakes of outcomes. I've always known I was different. It still doesn't explain… never mind.
I knock on the door to shake away the thoughts of school that almost occurred, and a moment later Amber opens it.
"Hi," I smile.
"Come on in," Amber says.
"I got us a movie to watch," Amy says, holding up a little bag. "Have you heard of the Princess Bride?" We all laugh.
"It's my favorite movie," I assure her, though that technically isn't true, but it's what she needed to hear. We eat popcorn while we watch until the pizza arrives. Amber ordered two large pizzas and we all pretend we aren't really hungry and take long pauses in between each slice. We finish the first box and then laugh when Amy reaches for a 6th slice from the second and there is none.
"Who had a sixth slice of pizza?" She asks, all detective like. Slowly Amber raises her hand, and Amy throws a pillow at her. After a brief pillow fight which we will all forever deny actually happened I say,
"Now we have to rewind, anyone remember where we left off?" I laugh. Unfortunately, seeing the future does not mean I have perfect recollection of the past. We give up on the movie and play Pandemic. It's fun to save the world, even if it is fictional. Amy somehow manages to draw two pandemics in a row, but fortunately it's towards the end of the game and we survive.
"Do you still enjoy games like that?" Amy asks me.
"What do you mean?"
"With your future vision don't you know what we'll draw?"
"No, I close my eyes when you shuffle so any knowledge I had disappeared. There are too many possible arrangements after that."
"Could you cheat at battleship if you wanted to though?" Amber asks. I sigh and shake my head.
After failing to save the world, and then saving it again to make up for that, Amber's mom declares it, "way, way past bedtime." We head up to Amber's room with no intention of going to sleep anytime soon. We change into our pajamas and sneak down to the basement, closing the door above the stairs. We head into the game room where we played Pandemic.
"Let's dance!" Amber squeals, the doors block out the sound.
"What is it with you and dancing?" I ask.
"Come, on, it'll be fun! We can have competitions," Amber says. "Plus, it's like, a sleepover classic!"
"I'll be the first judge," Amy is quick to volunteer. I am forced to go first. Amy deems me the winner but Amber demands a rematch. During our rematch Amber falls and hits her knee.
I tried to warn her.
Amber is ready to retire after that, so we sneak back up to her room and she gets into her bed. Amy and I sit on the blow-up mattress.
"Let's play truth or dare again," Amber suggests, unable yet to fall asleep. Amy rolls her eyes.
"Fine," I say for Amy and I both, "but we did play it last time."
"It's not a sleepover if you don't play truth or dare. Now Amy…"
"Don't make me first!"
"Too bad. Amy," Amber smirks, "truth or dare?"
"Dare."
"You have to… send Lisa a text saying, 'hey baby whassup?'" Amber grins.
"No!" Amy gasps.
"Who's Lisa?"
"Amy's ex-girlfriend!" Amber taunts.
"Very ex. We dated in 8th grade." Amy says.
"That's only last year." I say.
"We got together just before Halloween and broke up the day after the winter dance. It didn't mean anything." For some reason Amy looks guilty.
"But she was Amy's first kiss so it's important." Amber adds.
"One peck during the dance. It was really just for show." Amy grinds her teeth. I can tell she's not really saying everything, but it's understandable.
"Whatever, text her!" Amber says.
"Don't make me," Amy whines.
"Fine but then you have to choose truth."
"Ok, truth."
"Who did you like better, Lisa or Ginger?"
"Who's Ginger?" I ask.
"Amy's other ex!"
"From 5th grade! That doesn't count!" Amy looks mortified.
"Well who is it?" I ask. For some reason I'm upset about her having had two girlfriends in the past. Why does that bother me so much?
"I guess now it would be Ginger. I'm really mad at Lisa. Our breakup was bad. Although I have to admit I was relieved after. I hadn't liked her for a few weeks at that point. Still, she ended the relationship by posting a picture of her making out with Laura on her Snapchat story.
"That's awful…" I say.
"I'm over it," she says dismissively. "Now your turn, Amber, truth or dare?"
"Dare…"
"Call Jonathan and tell him you love him and want his baby!"
"Eww! That's disgusting."
"Yeah I knew you'd say that." Amy says, chuckling. I did too but I can't talk from laughing so hard.
"Just tell him, 'hey sunshine,' in a deep voice and I'll take it." Amy says.
"Fine. But it's late so he probably won't pick up anyway." Sure enough, he doesn't. "I wonder what he's doing tonight." Amber says after leaving him a voicemail after leaving him a voicemail.
"Probably missing you." Amy says. I stop myself from saying probably thinking about video games.
"Your turn Sapphire, truth or dare?" Amber asks me. I close my eyes and block out my future vision.
"Dare."
"You have to wear Amy's 4½ inch heels all day tomorrow!"
"I've never worn heels before!"
"You chose dare!"
"Fine." I know they'll forget about it anyway, so it doesn't matter. Amber smiles, proud of herself. I can see she's growing tired, I better get my questions out fast if I want answers. I know Amy is going to pick truth again after the dare Amber gave her. I don't need powers to know that.
"Amy, truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"How many girlfriends have you had and for how long?" I don't know why I needed to ask it but I did.
"Easy, Just Ginger, 2 weeks, and Lisa, you already know how that happened." She seems confident to say it was only the two. I feel relieved for some reason.
"What about you Sapphire? How many boy or girlfriends have you ever had." Amy looks hopeful and the question catches me off guard. I think she's trying to take the embarrassment off herself.
"None." The word slips out unconsciously. Amy smiles.
"Which would you have?" Amy presses on.
"Hey that first question was my turn!" I exclaim.
"Just tell us," Amber says, although she's already falling asleep. I decide, why not just tell them. It's not like they'll judge me.
"I think I would have a girlfriend. I can't stand boys." Another thing school can never know about. I say it like I'm just now thinking it for the first time, but in reality, I've known for years. In the sixth grade I even had a crush on Amber for awhile… that was bad. I was over it by seventh though, and that was one of the best days of my life, waking up and realizing I had a crush on Lydia instead of Amber. Of course I'm long over that too but the point was I no longer had to dream about something that I not only knew I could never have, but also didn't want. I'd never ruin my friendship with Amber.
Amy's grin widens, and my blush deepens, until suddenly we hear a loud and classic Amber snore. We both groan and roll our eyes. Well, she's out for the night. Suddenly, I feel courageous.
"Hey Amy," I whisper, "are you tired?"
"Not even slightly."
"I never got to see you dance."
"I'm bad at dancing."
"Can't be worse than me."
"You won!"
"Amber blew it on purpose. Come with me." Without consulting her any further I sneak out of the room. I hear a gentle, "Wait, Sapphire!" and then she follows me. Amy closes the door behind us and I turn on the light in the game room.
"Come on, show me what you can do!" I turn on the music player. All Of Me starts to play.
"Only if you dance with me." Amy says.
"Fine." I get up and do a little twirl. She does the same. We gently glide around the room until something goes off in my future vision, I barely catch her as she falls. Suddenly a glow surrounds us…
I take in this strange new form. My skin is dark and tinted purple. Two plump dark purple gemstones shine, one on my chest, the other on my stomach. I wear a halter with a flowy skirt. My hair cascades around me. I am calm even though I know each part of me is screaming, but for different reasons. I know I will split soon so I enjoy the time I have before I am ripped apart by the bluer half of me.
This is amazing! Amy ignores all but one of Sapphire's memories that try to talk to her.
What is this! Sapphire screams as one large memory is shoved into her brain. No!
There it is. Now I will be ripped apart. These 20 seconds have been fun.
I am shoved across the floor and can barely breathe. I look over at a confused Amy and tears spring to my eyes. She rushes towards me and I push her away. The first time I merged I learned to stop certain memories from being transferred. Amy hasn't had the chance to learn that power yet.
"Sapphire what…"
"You don't really love me," I snap.
"No, I do! I have since…"
"Since I saved you!"
"Well ye…"
"It's called Florence Nightingale Syndrome!"
"What is…"
"Thinking you love someone because they saved your life. It will pass and I will not be heartbroken because you realized I'm right!"
"You like me too!"
"Of course I do, you idiot! But, I refuse to be crushed by you when you realize you only thought you liked me!"
"No, no it's not like that, I swear!"
"It's exactly like…"
"Let me finish a sentence!" I am speechless, shocked by her outburst. She continues, "yes, at first it was Flora What's her name syndrome or whatever you called it but it's not like that anymore!" I let her come closer to me, too shocked to really do anything. "I realized that was why I liked you so I tried to stop but then I couldn't. I just started to notice the little things. Like how honest you are, and yet still kind. And how you put yourself in danger on a regular basis just to help us. And how no one in the group appreciates you since you don't fight, but you put up with it anyway. I realize how much you do, how much you mean to us. To me. Please, Sapphire you have to believe me." For awhile you can hear the crickets chirp.
"I can't see what will happen based off my next response." I finally tell her honestly. "I don't know if you're telling the truth. I've never been in a relationship before. You have." She seems hurt by my last words.
"Please give me a chance. Here, I'll prove it." She gets her bag from the couch and takes from it a box. A beautiful box.
"I made this for you." I take the box. Carefully I open it. Inside, perfectly placed, are a dark purple rose that matches the color of our merger's gems, a little glass bottle with shells and sand and a piece of paper inside. A gorgeous pair of earrings, the only difference is one is made of sapphires and the other amethysts. And little chocolates. But it's the heart that captivates me. A delicate wooden heart with engravings of us in front of a tree. I can tell she cared. I can tell she has for awhile. A part of me recognizes that Florence Nightingale Syndrome shouldn't last this long or be this deep. I turn the heart over to see our names carved in the trunk of the tree, and I can't help but get a bit emotional at the sight.
"Do you believe me now?"
I hesitate. I never take chances. I never have. All my life I've used my power to make decisions and when I couldn't see clearly down either path I've chosen neither. I don't like chances, I don't like risks. I don't want to take them.
But, maybe it's time to start. To let go of that fear and be normal for once.
I start the song over and pull her up to dance with me. A slow dance. I know there's no chance of us merging again. At the end of the song I kiss her cheek.
"Ok," I tell her and rest my head on her shoulder. "Just one thing."
"Anything, Sapphire."
"Don't tell Amber that you're my girlfriend now. That's what this is, right?"
"Of course, on both accounts."
"Why did you lie about Lisa?"
"I was exaggerating so as not to scare you. I was planning…"
"To give me the box when Amber fell asleep. You'll learn how to stop memory transmit during merging eventually."
We stay up talking for another two hours, getting to know each other without Amber. I watch and grow more confident with my decision. Eventually we go to bed and face opposite directions so Amber won't suspect anything. But, secretly, beneath the covers, she holds my hand.
"Hey Sapphire." She whispers.
"What?"
"What should we name who we are when we merge?"
"You know the answer to that."
"Ok, but just in case say it on three. One… two… three,"
"Tanzanite." We say together.
I don't know what the future holds. I have to trust it will all be ok.
Author's Note: Well… what do you think? I know its a lot, Jonathan cheating on Amber with Jet, Bloodstone and the enemy, Amy and Sapphire, but I hope you're enjoying the story. There will be more Tanzanite but not for awhile since Amber doesn't know. Like promised, the next chapter, called Volleyball, won't be about romance. Let us know if you would like to see more chapters from other people's point of views and whose perspectives you want to see most.
Oh, and yes, the writing in Bloodstone part isn't the best. It's on purpose, we want his awkwardness to shine through.