To Dance or not to Dance (Lapidot Dancer AU)

Part 1

"And ah, five, six, seven, eight!"

Lapis had been practicing her lyrical solo for months on end. Every single Wednesday after ballet, she would stay at the studio and practice with the head instructor of the studio, Rose Quartz. She had every step imprinted in her brain. She had memorized every lyric of the song King by Lauren Aquilina (the song she was dancing to). By now, she could practically do the dance in her sleep.

On this day, she was 5 minutes away from the end of her practice. Rose was standing on the side calling out moves, saying thing like, "Make that turn sharp!" and "Point your toes!", but mostly, "Yes! That was perfect!"

Lapis couldn't help but notice her rival, Peridot, was outside in the waiting room. She was sort of just lingering around the studio, occasionally watching through the window. Peridot hated Lapis. Lapis didn't know why, but during class, Peridot would always avoid taking a spot at the same barre as her and she would give her an annoyed glare from across the room. Lapis was always confused by this. As far as she was concerned, she was a very likable person (despite her strong competitive streak). But the fact that Peridot didn't like her, unfortunately, made Lapis not like Peridot either.

By the end of the song, Lapis was breathing heavily, completely exhausted. She grabbed her water bottle and took a long sip.

"That was beautiful, Lapis!" Rose smiled. "Best run-through yet. Now, if you can do it like that at the competition, that trophy is as good as yours."

"Thank youuuu!" Lapis grinned, running her hand through her sweaty blue hair.

"Just make sure that you keep your turnout on those triple pirouettes. You don't want to fall, do you?"

"I'd lose if I fell, so no." Lapis replied with a laugh. She picked up her bag and shoved her water bottle inside.

"Okay cutie, keep it up! See you tomorrow for jazz." Rose waved as Lapis left the room.

"Bye!" Lapis waved back.

When she walked out of the studio, she noticed that Peridot was talking to someone on her phone. This caught her attention, so she listened in on her conversation.

"What do you mean you can't pick me up?" Peridot said, sounding angry. "Mom, it's almost nine thirty. I'm stranded at the studio-" There was a pause. "No, I can't walk home! The house is miles away from here. And I don't have money so I can't take a cab or the bus." Another pause. "Well, there's that, but who could drive me? There's nobody here."

Lapis rolled her eyes. "Wow..." She muttered under her breath. She saw Peridot shoot her a look.

"Wait a second, I think I found myself a ride." She said, hanging up. "Hey, Lapis!" Peridot called.

"Yeah?" Lapis turned to look at the blonde girl. She made sure to put an intimidating look on her face.

"So, uh, do you have a car?"

"Yes... Why?" Lapis said as if she had no clue what she was talking about.

"Do you think maybe you could give me a ride home?" Peridot asked.

"Why should I do that?" Lapis retorted. "All you've ever done for me is give me the stink eye and constantly avoid me."

"Well, yes, but I promise you that if you drive me home, I'll repay you in a donut of your choice from The Big Donut." Peridot gave her a grin.

'She found my weak spot...' Lapis thought to herself. She couldn't pass this up, she loved donuts.

"Mmm... You know what? Fine." Lapis gave in.

"Thank you." Peridot said. "By the way, this doesn't make us friends, right?"

"No." Lapis replied firmly.

They left the studio and walked to Lapis' light blue Mini Cooper. Lapis got into the driver's seat and Peridot hopped in the passenger side.

"I just live at 1152 Pine Street." Peridot told her.

"Ok..." Lapis said, pulling out of the parking lot.

It was a pretty awkward silence for most of the drive, but Lapis decided to be friendly and break the silence.

"So, I hear you're doing a tap solo for the competition?" She asked.

"Yeah."

"Who choreographed it?"

"Garnet."

"Nice. She's really cool."

"Yeah, she is."

Garnet was another student at the studio, but she was in the higher level of competition, which meant that she could choreograph dances. There were two groups at the studio. The Gems (the younger dancers) and the Crystal Gems (the more elite level).

The Crystal Gems were made up of four dancers, Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl and Steven. Even though Steven was only ten, he was part of the Crystal Gems because his mother was Rose Quartz (that, and the fact that he was a very impressive dancer for his age).

They finally reached Peridot's house. She stepped out of the car.

"Thanks, Lapis." She said. "Remind me that I owe you that donut."

"No problem." Lapis replied. She watched her walk up the path to her house. But, when she went to open the door, it was locked.

She ran back to Lapis' car and flung open the door.

"Lemme guess, it's locked?"

"Yup."

"You could stay at my place, I guess." Lapis suggested.

"Really?"

"Sure." Lapis shrugged. "My mom won't care."

"Great!" Peridot said, a bit too enthusiastically. "Uh, I guess I owe you two donuts now." She smirked.

"I guess you do." Lapis smirked back. "Get in."