Rising Tides (Human!lapidot)

Chapter 5

Peridot fidgeted in her seat. When Lapis said she could hang with her group for lunch, she didn't realise how big it was. In fact, they had to sit outside because it was too big for a table inside. But that was fine because most of them brought their own lunches and Peridot had picked up some pasta covered with tomato sauce on the way to their meeting place. She picked at the pasta with her plastic fork as she looked up to find some familiar faces. She couldn't remember who they were but she'd probably yelled at them before.

"Guys, you all know Peridot, right?" Lapis said a little too cheerily.

A chorus as nods and groans could be heard from the group and suddenly, Peridot didn't feel as welcome as she had before. Her heart started beating faster and she felt more self conscious. She could feel eyes on her, which made her fidget more. Clearing her throat awkwardly, she stood up.

"I should...go" some of the group seemed to smile at her but Lapis frowned, looking up at the blonde with sad blue eyes. Peridot almost sat back down but didn't. Instead, she started walking away, regretting everything.

She could still feel eyes on her and she looked back to see everyone was back to normal, chatting and eating. Except for Lapis, who was staring at her feet. She looked pretty upset but peridot knew she'd forget about it. Maybe soon enough, this would be laughed at. A nerd joining a popular group?? No.

Peridot made her way inside the school, finishing the last of her pasta, throwing the rest in the bin, then making her way up to the library. She sat down by a computer, hoping to get in some research before last period. A sharp throb came from her leg but she ignored it, she was used to random leg pains, it happened too often for her not to care. She rubbed her leg slightly and clicked onto Google chrome.

Someone tapped her shoulder and she spun around on her chair, hand still massaging her leg. Her eyes widened when she saw who it was. "Lapis?"

"Yeah...hi" she stood over the smaller girl, hands in her jeans pockets. "Sorry about earlier, apparently you have history with Ruby, who doesn't want you anywhere near her" she shrugged but still looked upset.

"Its fine" Peridot tried to be tough, bit seeing Lapis upset over her was breaking her. "Just... Leave me alone".

Lapis smirked slightly, glancing over to her leg " you okay?" She asked, actual concern lacing her voice. Man, this girl was weird.

Peridot nodded "it just hurts" she grunted as another throb hit her. Her hand automatically went back go her leg to rub around the sore area.

"Let me see" Lapis said "I've had training" she added proudly, making Peridot roll her eyes.

"No" Peridot tried to keep calm but she could once again feel her heart beating faster. She wrapped both hands protectively around her leg and the throbbing got worse. Dammit, could this get any worse??

Lapis tilted her head to the side, like a confused puppy. Peridot felt weird. It was really cute. Wait. No.

"Is this why you hardly ever participate in P.E?" Lapis asked quietly, sitting on the seat next to her and logging onto the computer so she wouldn't get yelled at for taking up a chair.

Peridot nodded, her cheeks growing red. "That and I'm just really lazy".

Lapis snorted loudly, making people turn towards them. Peridot tried to hide her face with her hoodie sleeve.

"Okay, but seriously, what's wrong with it?" Lapis tapped her leg but drew back after a seconds, her eyes wide. "Wait...".

Peridot wanted to yell at her. She wanted to throw a tantrum but that would not solve anything at the moment. Instead she quickly logged off and stood up, running out the door and down the stairs. She almost tripped on the last one but managed to save herself. Looking back, she didn't see Lapis following her. She slowed down, turning down a corridor and walking up more steps. She had history last. Deciding to wait outside the room until the bell sent, she sat down against the wall and tried her best not to freak out over the chain of things that had happened. She just wanted to be alone, get through school with good grades, go to college, graduate and get a good job. Friends weren't needed in that plan.

- - -

Peridot stepped into the auditorium, and glanced up at the massive stage to her right. Today was the day before the first rehearsal, the head of drama was still choosing her cast after all. All the technicians were here, only around 5 including Peridot. She only recognised one, the sound guy. He was in the corner, a pair of thick black headphones covering his ears. There were a couple of people messing around with the piano, which had been moved from the stage to the other end of the room and just overall, everything was a mess. Peridot realised there was no teachers nearby, the one supposed to be supervising probably in one of the drama rooms doing something.

Someone stepped out from behind this stage. Their hair looked familiar, a dark brown gradually turning into a light blonde at the tips. It looked dyed but pretty much the same time.

"Oh, hey 'dot" Amethyst waved at her then went back to carrying equipment.

Peridot sighed, angry at the nickname and sat down in a corner to play games on her phone until the teacher came back. It wasn't long until a teacher reappeared into the room, calling everyone into the middle of the room. Amethyst walked out from backstage along with Ruby and Jasper. Peridots heart sank. She sat as far away from them as she could and listened in on the lecture about safety and whatnot.

This was going to be awful.

(Edited)