Rising Tides (Human!lapidot)

Chapter 15

Peridot slipped on her dark green hoodie and sighed. She ran a hand through her hair and checked her phone one last time before walking out the door. Today she was actually going to be sociable. She still couldn't get over that fact. The fact that Lapis lazuli, the popular actress and social butterfly, would want to be friends with her, Peridot, the social outcast. Pushing those thoughts out of her head, she walked down the concrete path that lead to the large park in the middle of beach city. It was strange to have such a green park in the middle of a town called beach city but it was always pretty nonetheless.

The blonde had decided not to take her car as said park was only a short walk from where she lived. Plus, it was a surprisingly hot day considering it was autumn -almost winter. The sun was shining bright in the clear sky and Peridot soon regretted wearing her dark hoodie. She sighed and leant forward slightly, stepping on the leaf and listening to that satisfying crunching sound. She'd always loved that sound. It was the highlight of autumn.

Once arriving at the park, she sat down on one of the benches lining the tiny playground, accompanied by a sandpit and fountain. Peridot took out her phone, scrolling up the chat to confirm times and if anyone had arrived yet. Nope. She was the first one. A wave of anxiety hit and she stood up, suddenly very paranoid. What if this was some sort of joke? What if no one was actually coming and she'd be sitting on this bench for hours. Her heart beat loudly in her chest and she decided to walk around to kill time. And to check if anyone was actually coming...

Looking around, she saw no one. She contemplated calling Lapis but shook her head, instead sitting down under a large tree and checking though her tumblr. More notes on her dumb textposts. Nice.

Something blue shot out from behind the tree and into Peridots arms, startling the blonde and making her drop her phone into her lap. She looked up to see a head of blue hair and tanned skin. A small smile played at her lips as Lapis pulled back from the surprise hug and grinned at her.

"I totally scared you" she bragged, shuffling so that she sat cross- legged beside Peridot, who was now trying to hide her blush.

"I wasn't! You just... Startled me" Peridot bit her lip as she gazed into Lapis' blue eyes.

Lapis let out a loud snort and ruffled Peridots hair.

"Sure, nerd".

Peridot rolled her eyed and picked up her phone again, happy to see that it wasn't stained, damaged and still had her tumblr dash loaded up. She continued to scroll until she felt something, press against her shoulder, making her cheeks light up again.

"What'cha looking at?" Lapis asked, stared at the screen with curiosity.

"Tumblr" Peridot deadpanned.

Lapis sighed. It wasn't an angry or irritated sigh. Just a regular sigh. The blue haired girl turned to stare at two small children playing on the swings.

Suddenly she shot up, running out from the shade and up to a group of people walking up the path. Lapis greeted them with high-fives and hugs and began to make her way back towards the tree with them.

Peridots eyesight wasn't very good, even though she was wearing a new pair of glasses. But, even from there she could make out the red headband that belonged to none other than Ruby and Pearl's strawberry blonde hair. Another wave of anxiety hit her as they finally arrived at her tree. She managed to push it down and stood up with as big a smile as she could do.

"yo p-dot" Amethyst smirked up at the blonde, looking at her with her knowing brown eyes.

Behind her was Pearl, wearing a light blue flannel shirt and shorts. Her hair was messier than usual but that was probably because it was the weekend.

Then there was Ruby and Sapphire, walking together hands intertwined and behind them, Steven and a girl Peridot had never seen before.

She had black hair and dark skin and brown eyes covered with light red glasses. She was wearing a simple shorts and shirt. Steven was sporting his usual outfit. Not surprising at all. That was when Peridot noticed someone missing from the small group of friends.

"Where's Garnet?"

Pearl was the first to answer "she's working" was all she said then dropped the subject.

"What, now?" Asked Lapis, now standing beside the flustered blonde.

Amethyst piped up, holding two backpacks in her hands with an ear to ear grin on her face.

"I brought food, we can just sit here and talk" Amethyst glanced over to Peridot then up to the tree they were standing over "you picked a nice tree, 'dot".

Peridot was about to scold her but looked up instead. Amethyst was right, it was a nice tree. It was massive with most of its leaves still holding onto the branches. Some golden coloured leaves were scattered around the base, making good seats to avoid sitting on the damp grass. Yup, it was damp alright. Peridot had already made the mistake of sitting before checking.

Everyone sat down in a circle whilst Amethyst took out her loot. Lapis sat to Peridot's left and on her right was Steven. Next to him was Connie and then Pearl, Amethyst and finally, Ruby and Sapphire.

"Anyone up for truth or dare?" By now Amethyst has passed around a couple bags or doritos and some cans of sprite.

The group nodded but Peridot's heart dropped. Truth or dare with people she hardly knew??? This was going to end really badly, she could already tell...

(Edited)