𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐘 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓. || s.u. - 𝘗𝘓𝘈𝘕𝘚 𝘛𝘖 𝘙𝘌𝘞𝘙𝘐𝘛𝘌

t h r e e

Oof. Forgive me for not updating this book for so long. I got distracted with school work and projects. It's a lame excuse, I know. T-T

(Also, this chapter is going to be a little short. Once again: I apologize.)
**********

Steven was calling you a lot more frequently now, and you were both happy and worried about it at the same time.

It almost became a ritual of some sort: you would get home from school, text Steven to tell him that you were back, start preparing some small snack, and then not too long after that, your phone would start ringing.

You didn't think much of it at first. In fact, you were glad that he called you so much considering that you just loved to listen to him ramble on about what he did that day. But then again . . . there were some days where he would call you and his voice would be a bit hoarse; as if he was crying. You tried asking about it once, but all that got you was a (clearly) fake laugh from Steven; who told you that it wasn't a big deal and that he was fine.

Funny. People who say they are 'fine' when asked if they're okay is the first sign that they aren't.

You've been watching a lot of TV lately — mainly the commercials with Steven and his gem friends. You did your best to spot anything wrong with the boy, but you couldn't really find anything. He was always smiling his usual smile in them.

Currently, you were laying down in your bed and staring up at the ceiling boredly. Your parents had just gotten home and were now talking about whatever (most likely politics since they were lawyers), and Steven had ended his call with you a few minutes ago; saying that something came up.

"There's obviously something wrong . . ." you muttered to yourself, narrowing your eyes at your ceiling fan, "but what?"

DING!

Blinking, you turned your head over and saw that your phone had lit up. You hummed and pursed your lips before grabbing the cellular device. Someone had just sent you a message.

That someone was Steven.

Your eyes widened for a moment and you quickly sat up. "Didn't he just end our call a while ago? He said he was busy . . ." you muttered under your breath as you clicked on the message and opened it.

Steven: Hello.

You rose a brow. This . . . didn't sound like Steven. At all.

Steven: This isn't Steven. I'm just using his phone to contact you because he's...not available at the moment. And I also needed to speak with you.

Oh.

Yep. Totally chill is what you currently were. You weren't freaked out by this message! Ha! No, sir! Not. One. Bit.

. . . Okay, so maybe you were a little freaked out. But despite that, however, you still managed to build up the courage to reply.

You: Who is this? Why do you have Steven's phone? Why do you need to talk to me?

You recieved a response the moment you pressed send. It's almost as if whoever you were talking to already knew you were going to ask all three of those questions.

Steven: My name is Garnet, and I am a Crystal Gem and considered apart of Steven's family. I have Steven's phone because I didn't know any other way I would be able to contact you, and I need to talk to you because we believe you're the only chance we have against...him.

You furrowed your brows. What? Who's 'he'?

You frowned and quickly texted back:

You: What do you mean?

Once again, you recieved a response almost as soon as you sent your reply.

However, the message you got wasn't something you expected to get.

Steven: Come to Beach City.

Your eyes widened.

Steven: Steven and everyone else's lives depend on it.

You didn't even bother replying. You were already out the door and were beginning to get ready to head over to the bus stop.