stevens pov
i wake up with the sun, it's blaring light disrupting my already uncomfortable rest.
after getting over the initial few seconds of confusion undergone when first waking up, i reach out to my phone, disappointed to realise i forgot to charge it the night prior
12:30
sheesh i slept in..
i think as a tired sigh escapes my lips.
my phones screen glows an uncharged battery to signify its percentage as i plug it into my damaged, exposed wire charger.
before leaving my room, i throw on my jacket and scruff up my hair for slight refreshment,
rolling my eyes as soon as i see charlie downstairs, sitting alone at the table on his phone
i do my best to ignore him, but it was hard when neither soda nor his sister were around to distract us from one another's glares
despite not wanting to talk to him, an urge to say something about what i saw last night creeped up and almost took over, but instead i simply asked
"wheres soda and eliza"
he shrugged with a brief explanation, barely pulling his eyes from the screen
"in town"
i don't respond, not even with a nod.
in order to escape the horrible tension and raging urge to kick him out, i decide to visit little homeschool careless of my appearance
as the bright blue light settles and the new, expected surrounding sets in place i notice how crowded it had gotten
through the thick mob of diverse gems i could see pearl and garnet in the distance by a tall standing structure
"oh, steven!" pearl greets with a smile
"hey pearl"
"did you forget to uh.. shower?" she questions, doing her best not to judge my unkept appearance
"i didn't forget, i couldn't be bothered"
your pov
"my feet hurttt" eliza whined in a huff
"come on, we haven't even been walking for that long"
"can't we sit down for a bit?"
after a bit more nagging, i finally cave in to her demands and sit besides the small girl on a long bench overlooking the swimmer packed ocean
eliza sat joyfully in the middle of the wooden bench, me to the right of her and a stranger to the far left, trying to mind his own business.
the boy looked similar in age to me, but extremely uncomfortable
after warming up to beach city and it's accepting residents, i felt comfortable having my gem out in the open
sometimes i'd cover it with my normal hand after catching people staring, but other than that i felt more contempt than ever
now was one of those times i felt the need to hide it, catching the boys uncomfortably long glare at my stone more than twice
eliza takes a long slurp through the straw of her almost finished slushie i got her earlier, creating a loud and bothering noise
"ah" she sighs after swallowing "did you rip those pants or did you buy them like that?"
she shuffles over more and sparks up an innocent conversation with the boy, surprising him a bit
"i-uh i ripped them..?"
"how?"
"they just got old?" his tone completely exposes how uncomfortable he felt
"hmmm" she observes the single tear by his knee.
feeling awkward, i subtly ask eliza if she was ready to keep walking, trying my absolute best to let the boy sit in peace
she shook her head before continuing to talk with the green eyed boy
"i know someone who can heal that"
"heal?"
"yeah, he does it for everything, even clothes!"
"you mean, sewing?" he chuckles
eliza shakes her head, finding his assumption stupid
"nope, he's pink"
the straight haired stranger gazed down at her in confusion, half chalking it up to be a child's imagination, but still curious for more
"what? he's real!" she sees straight through his fake believing reply
"eliza, lets go" i once again try exclude ourselves from the exchange but to no avail
"he uses his rock"
the boy can't help but grin at the absurd sentence, frustrating the impatient child
"his rock?"
"mhm! like this"
eliza yanks my hand and pulls it into view, which i immediently pull back
the dark blonde stranger takes one glance at the gem, realisation painted across his face
"she does water stuff, it's super cool, but she nearly killed us" yesterdays incident gets played off like it was nothing more than an entertaining side story
