Tick tock, tick tock; precious seconds went by as students scribbled their answers for the mid-term. The lecture hall had long tables stretching across the room, each row behind higher than the row in front, like an audience at a concert venue. The professor sat at the bottom on his laptop, only half paying attention to his class, who he trusted not to cheat.
A scantron, only half bubbled in, taunted Katie. She had been stuck on this one question for what felt like a millennium. Katie sat back against her chair; her head ached from thinking so hard. She brushed her long brown hair off her shoulders. Katie wore a bomber jacket with a ripped tank top underneath, ripped jeans, and Converse. The answer seemed just out of reach; she could picture it in her notebook, highlighted in yellow. But what is it!?
Katie scanned the students in the lecture hall, studying their faces and body language to see how others were reacting to the test. Everyone in front seemed to be doing ok. However, a frustrated groan and the sound of a scribbling eraser came from the boy next to her. His face was twisted and confused; Katie could not help but notice they were both on the same question.
The boy had curly hair and wore a pink jacket with a blue shirt featuring a star in the middle underneath, jeans, and pink flip-flops. She had seen him before in the classroom; only he usually sat in the front while she sat in the back. He swiped the eraser bits off his scantron and bit into his chewed-up pencil. The boy's eyes seemed to drift as Katie's did a second ago, scanning the students until his eyes met hers. The feeling of awkward eye contact turned their faces hot, and their eyes darted back onto the test in front of them.
"You guys have thirty minutes left!" The professor warned. Katie gulped and answered the question to the best of her ability. She moved on with the test, while the boy couldn't.
The rest of the test proved not to be complicated. Once Katie filled the last bubble, her professor said, "Pencils down!" Students shuffled about in their seats, packing their things and taking their tests to the front. Katie put her pencil away, but the boy beside her seemed frozen. She looked at his scantron and noticed he hadn't finished filling in all the bubbles. She grabbed her test and took it to the front, strategically aiming to be the last person to hand hers in.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you," the professor said as each student placed their test and scantron in front of him. Katie placed hers down.
"Thank you-"
"Excuse me, professor?"
"What's up?"
"The boy sitting up there," she slightly gestured to the top row, "I think he needs to talk to you." The professor glanced up at the top row. The boy sat there with sweat lining his forehead, a look of dread as the scantron seemed to transform into a black hole. The professor nodded.
"Thank you, I will go check on him. You can go now."
Katie sat in the hallway on a bench, waiting for the boy to exit the classroom—the hallway filled with students leaving their classes and heading to the next. The crowd dissipated as she waited. The door opened, and the boy exited the classroom. The professor called out to him.
"Don't forget to email me if you have any questions."
"I will! Thanks again; I won't let you down," he smiled, waving bye to the professor. The professor went back inside the classroom. The boy squeezed his backpack straps and began walking down the hallway.
"Hey! Wait up!" She said, pulling the other strap of her bag over her shoulder. The boy stopped with a look of surprise on his face.
"Oh, it's you," he said, nervous, "hi!"
"Hi!" Katie smiled, "I, uh, I'm Katie," Katie stuck out her hand, and the boy shook it.
"I'm Steven," he smiled, "nice to meet you."
"That was some test, huh?"
"Well," Steven scratched the back of his head, "I did not, exactly, finish my test." He laughed nervously, then frowned, "I got stuck on a question and couldn't move on from it. But the professor is letting me retake the test next week."
"I think I know what question you're talking about; I just guessed," Katie shrugged.
"You can do that?"
"Yeah, I usually just guess if I don't know the answer."
"Huh," Steven said, surprised, "I didn't know you could guess. I thought you had to give an honest answer."
"Who says it isn't honest? If you give an educated guess, it is still honest!"
"You sound like you understand this class. Maybe we could study together sometime?"
"Yeah, that sounds great! I also wouldn't mind helping you pass the mid-term. Disclaimer, I'm not a genius," Katie giggled, "I have pretty average grades."
"If your average, I must be below-below average," he giggled.
"Nah, 'below,'" Katie air-quoted, "below-average people don't try; they just fill in all the answers willy-nilly. You seem to care about getting the answer right; that deserves a star." Katie gestured to his shirt.
"Thanks," Steven gave an anxious smile, "when are you free?"
"Most days, I either am in class or martial arts. I do karate," Katie jokingly put up a hand chop. "But, let me give you my number," Katie whipped out her phone and opened her contacts. Steven did as well. "Do you live on campus?"
"I do. I live in the dorms."
"Me too! That'll make it easier for us to meet up. They have study rooms on every floor."
The two exchanged numbers. Katie noticed Steven's background. It appeared to be a "family" photo. Steven stood in front of three women and one older man behind him. Something seemed off; they didn't look like anyone she'd ever seen.
A text buzzed on her phone.
"There! It looks like I got the right number," Steven smiled.
"Oh, yeah! I got yours too." Katie looked at her phone and noticed the time. "Crap!"
"What is it?" Steven sounded slightly panicked.
"Oh, no, nothing too important. I have a martial arts lesson later today."
"Oh," Steven said, relieved, "it's cool that you take martial arts."
"Yeah, I've been doing it since I was a kid. I better get back to my dorm and change. I'll text you later!" Katie started down the hallway, "Bye!"
Steven raised his hand and waved, "Bye."
Steven closed the door to his dorm room and locked it behind him. He sighed; his roommate had class until late, so Steven would be alone for a while. The dorms all had the same layout and furniture throughout the building. The long rooms came with two beds on opposite sides of one another, and with two beds came two of everything else. Two desks, two closets, two dressers, but there was only one sink and one bathroom.
Steven's side had various posters on the wall, a cookie cat alarm clock, and pictures of him and the gems. Steven had kept his side of the room clean, while his roommate's side looked like a bomb went off with several "trippy" posters hanging up and a closet full of shaggy clothes.
He removed his backpack and placed it in his closet where it belonged. His closet seemed barren, with only about a week and a half's worth of clothes inside. Steven had the same jackets and shirts hanging up in different shades of pink, blue, and black.
Steven plopped into bed and pulled out his phone. A new notification caught his eye; he had set up his phone to give him reports whenever the news covered anything Gem related. It alerted him to an article written by a relatively popular tabloid "news" website that broadcasts hateful rhetoric. The article's title churned Steven's stomach, "Homeworld is Where They Should Stay: How Alien Life Living on Earth is a Threat to Humanity." The article had details about the gems that scared him, not just information but pictures.
"What!?" He exclaimed, sitting up in his bed. Pictures of Pearl and her human friends out enjoying the day, pictures of Garnet lifting giant objects, Amethyst too, the photographer caught her shapeshifting into a lion. The article used these photos and twisted the truth. They used the "Spinel Incident" as an example of how "these aliens" will ruin the planet and all its recourses.
"'These 'people' walk among us; they aim to take our world for their own. Even shapeshift into you and steal your place?' This has to be a joke; they have no idea what they are talking about!" Steven yelled. "Sure, when they first tried to colonize Earth, taking it over was the plan, but not anymore!" A pink glow came from his Gem and illuminated his whole body. Steven looked at his hands in horror, making it worse.
Steven quickly closed the article on his phone, his heart started pounding, and his breathing quickened. Whenever Steven got angry or anxious, his body would glow pink as a defense mechanism. To make it go away, he had to calm himself down before anybody found out that he's a Crystal Gem.
"It's ok; it's ok; I just got to calm down." Steven closed his eyes and started the breathing technique his therapist had taught him. He breathed in for four seconds, held it for seven, breathed out for a count of eight, and repeated. As Steven got his breathing under control, his heart followed, and his glow dissipated.
"That's much better," Steven said, relieved his powers were finally back under his control. Glowing pink, growing big, and making bubbles and shields were helpful when he had to fight or if his life was in danger. But sitting in his bed reading a dumb article a couple of even dumber people wrote? He didn't need them for that.
However, Steven couldn't shake the anxious feeling in his gut. This is the first time the rest of the world has started to learn of Gem activity on Earth; it's not just isolated to Beach City anymore. He couldn't help but feel like something bad was about to happen. Steven unlocked his phone and called his dad. The phone rang twice before his dad's voice finally came through.
"Hey, Schtooball!"
"Hey, Dad. I thought I told you to stop calling me that!" Steven said jokingly.
"I know you love it, Schtooball!"
"Ok, ok, you got me," Steven laughed, "how are things going? Did you read that article?"
"Yeah, I read it," Greg gritted his teeth, "I know people tend to fear what they don't understand. But that article, there is a lot of hate."
"It's got me worried, are you guys gonna be ok?"
"Well, we had to chase off some news crews," Greg said, "luckily, they didn't have time to take their cameras out, and the Beach City residents did most of the shooing."
"I should come home over break just to make sure things are still running smoothly. I might have to make a statement," Steven said reluctantly, "But the last thing I need is to have my face plastered over every screen on Earth just like it is on Homeworld."
"Hey! Don't worry about us, Schtooball; the Gems can handle a couple of pigheaded humans with an entitlement problem. It's not something that you should worry about."
"That's not what I am worried about! There were some things in that article that are too specific. I think you guys are being watched."
"Yeah, I saw that too. The gems and I are taking extra precautions, and Garnet is on high alert. So don't worry about it. Anyway, enough about that, Steven; how are your tests going?"
"Great!" Steven lied; everything is great! I got a new study buddy. She knows karate."
"Karate, huh? That's cool!"
"I'm also still thinking about what I am going to major in; I don't know what it will be."
"Whatever you pick will be perfect, Steven. I gotta go, Steven," Greg said, disappointed, "But don't forget I'm here if you need me!"
"Ok, Dad, thanks! I'll talk to you later!"
"Can't wait, Schtooball. Love you!"
"Love you too! Say hi to the gems for me!"
Steven flopped onto his back and stared at the ceiling. A high-pitched ringing took over as Steven went numb. The thought of playing diplomat for the immigrant Gems on planet Earth overwhelmed him. Though his dad and the Gems would say, he doesn't have to speak for all Gems on Earth. Steven knows that those are lies. Who is better for the job than a Crystal Gem who is half-human? Let alone a royal. Steven took a deep breath and let it out; it was like he just came back from space. A faint smile appeared as he came to accept this possible future. After all, he will never have a happily ever after or a normal life; he felt foolish for ever thinking it attainable. Steven will always have more work to do, and that will never change.