Lake Gem~A Lapidot Story

Chapter 14: Snacks

Lapis POV: First Person

Peridot rolled her eyes as Garnet went up the spiral stairs, leaving the two of us alone.

"Those two," Peridot growled. "By the end of the night they're either gonna be making out, racking up a fine or playing music full blast." Peridot put her hand to her forehead, shaking her head anxiously.

I felt like I should comfort her, tell her it was all going to be alright, but considering this was Amethyst, I would be lying. I instead put my arm around her shoulders.

"Hey, you'll be fine," I said reassuringly. "We'll make sure they don't get into anything they're not supposed to, I guess."

Peridot looked up at me and smiled. At this point as I had my arm around her, I again remembered how short she was. And how cute that was.

I blushed madly. I quickly took my arm away from Peridot and leaned back on the table, trying to cool off. I saw Peridot give me a slightly hurt expression, but shrug it off and lean back as well. My mind wandered.

How did this small, dorito-hair nerd make me feel these twinges and aches in my stomach? Why did I feel like I was melting when she smiled at me? And why, oh why, did I want to get so close to her?

"Hey, Lapis, everything okay?" Peridot asked, concerned.

I came back to reality and realized my face was twisted in a weird way, giving off a "I'm going to explode, evacuate the area" vibe. "Oh, oh, yeah, I'm fine," I said, waving my hands in front of me. "Just... thinking."

Peridot mouthed an "oh", but otherwise didn't say anything else.

My mind unreasonably flashed back to the swimming competition that took place only a few hours prior. I smirked at the satisfying thought of winning - but I couldn't help thinking about a comment Jasper said before the competition.

Peridot stood next to me and patted me on the back. "You've got this, Lapis. Don't let her get to you," she reassured me. I smiled.

Pearl looked over Peridot and rolled her eyes. "Ready to lose all of your money again, Peridot?" she chimed.

Peridot raised an eyebrow and smirked. Behind her, Jasper rolled her eyes and shouted, "Are you and Peridot gonna make out or are Lapis and you gonna swim?"

Both Peridot and Pearl blushed. Something inside my chest twinged, causing me to wince and frown.

I don't know why it annoyed me so much, but it did. And I wasn't going to get answers if I didn't ask.

"Hey, Peridot," I asked nervously, twiddling my thumbs together, not making direct eye contact.

Peridot turned to me with a curious expression. "Yeah?"

"Are you and Pearl, like," I gulped. I made odd hand motions in an attempt to bring out the words I was going to say. However, they never came out.

Peridot suddenly shifted herself so that she was sitting towards me with her legs crossed. Cute. "Me and Pearl? What about her?" she asked.

I sighed. There was no way I was going to get this out without saying the actual words. "Are you and Pearl, like, a thing?"

Peridot froze. She uncrossed her legs, swinging each over a side of her stool. "What makes," she stopped to take a breath, "what makes you think that?"

My heart ached. She didn't say 'yes', but her reaction wasn't the one I hoped for. "Well, I mean, the way you reacted when Jasper said that thing about you guys," I grabbed my left arm with my opposite hand, rubbing it defensively, "you both kinda blushed, I guess."