The World As We Know It

Chapter 13: Party Favors

Art credit: starlight.sketch on Instagram

Her alarm sounded off at five, per usual; Pearl bleary eyed as she reached for the alarm clock, the dark of her room trying to lure her back to sleep.

She gave herself a second, sitting up on her bed; as the weight of her reality flooded back to her. There was school to worry about, and Diamonds to wait on— all these thoughts coming together, and forcing Pearl to get up for the day

Across the hallway, Pearl had entered the bathroom and changed her pajamas for her school uniform; brushing teeth and styling her hair, as she cleaned up her appearance.

Even if she didn't have the luxury to be frivolous, Pearl still put pride into being neat; especially when it came to the matter of attending Prince Academy. But at fifteen, it seemed like she had developed permanent dark circles under her eyes; probably from sleepless nights of studying— her job working for the Diamonds, also an added factor.

Since she was nine, Pearl had been helping around like an hired employee; though the Diamonds only had started paying her, when she officially became a teen— avoiding any child labor laws.

Surely, they still had to be violating some sort of rule; as Pearl would be working by the time the sun would rise, resuming right after she came home from school.

On that same technicality, she had no breaks or days off either; but if Pearl had learnt one from working with the Diamonds, it was that rich people could get away with anything. All they needed was a good lawyer— someone who could write a threatening enough cease and desist.

But with her morning routine now finished, Pearl met with her sisters in the living room; up, awake and chatting— somehow more used to this than Pearl could ever be. They didn't stay around lounging for long; waiting for Pearl to grab her backpack and jacket, before starting the trek over to the Diamonds house.

April mornings were still freezing; Pearl noting this as she zipped up the hoodie of her school branded jacket— their breaths leaving small puffs of smoke in the air.

The three of them quickly entered inside, starting the routine as normal; flicking on the lights of the kitchen and surrounding areas, breakfast needing to be ready and served by six o'clock.

Pearl specifically dealt with the chore of packing the Diamonds lunch boxes; her sisters letting her go easy with the chores in the morning, as they didn't want her to go to school more exhausted than necessary.

As she had done this routine almost everyday for the last couple years, Pearl could practically do this in her sleep— good, considering that she had stayed up late last night completing her trigonometry homework. She packed yogurt for Blair, an orange for Yelena; each into their individual, monogrammed lunch bags.

Pink's lunch out of all of them, was far more complicated; preferring an actual meal, as Pearl slathered a fair amount of peanut butter and jelly on whole wheat bread. Most days, it was assumed that they would trade; Pink preferring the school lunches that Pearl was given money for.

Obviously, Pearl didn't mind that much, as she was picking out snacks that she (Italic) preferred to eat: some cashews, and a granola bar— deciding to be nice, and throwing in a pack of fruit snacks for Pink.

As per Blair Diamond, sugary foods were usually banned in the house; but if Pearl tagged along with her sisters for the grocery shopping, she would usually smuggle in something small for Pink.

Continuing to pull from the pantry, Pearl added a few more snacks into the Diamonds bags; along with napkins and plastic utensils. She was finished when she zipped up all three bags; as since it was still early, Pearl decided to spend the rest of her time studying for a chemistry test she had later on today— at least until the Diamonds came down for breakfast.