Chapter Text
A high-pitched beeping blared repetitively in her ear. Amethyst slowly blinked one eye opened and glared disapprovingly at the alarm clock that lay beneath scattered candy bar wrappers and balled up napkins on her nightstand. She groaned inwardly before rolling on her side so she could get a better reach and pound the dumb thing until the beeping came to an end.
Why do I even bother to set that piece of shit? She rolled onto her back and pulled her covers up to her neck, her bed making her feel warm and safe for just a moment before she knew she had to face the reality of her day. Staring up at the ceiling, she had to will herself not to fall back asleep. I have to go help out with set today at around... 8ish?... and it's already.... She looked back at the clock on her dresser 7:34, great.
She dragged herself from her cozy bed grudgingly and made her way to the closet, maneuvering around the piles of dirty cloths and various stray items littered precariously across her floor. She pried open the door and grabbed a flannel shirt from one of the hangers, tossing it back onto her bed before stretching to grab a pair of jeans from the closet floor.
She rummaged around the rest of her room until she came across an old band t-shirt. It was a little bit old and worn, but it was still wearable so she tucked it under her arm and picked out a clean pair of underwear.
By the time she finally got herself dressed the clock read 8:01 Shit, did set build start at 8:00 or does it start at 8:30 today? She couldn't remember, she just sighed, I guess I’ll get there when I get there, no point in rushing. She squeezed through her bedroom door and followed the tight, dimly lit hallway leading to the kitchen.
She grabbed a paper bag off the counter and collected an assortment of food items lying around the kitchen. She grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl, a pudding cup from the pantry and a can of soda before shoving it in the bag and rolling up the top, dropping it back on the sticky countertop.
Amethyst jogged back to her room to get her bag and phone before she remembered to check the time again. 8:16. She sighed and looked up the stairs, silently hoping someone in her family was awake.
"HEY MOM!" She called.
Silence.
"Mom!?"
At first there was nothing, but then she heard a loud groan and the creak of a mattress shortly followed by the sound of feet hitting hardwood floor.
The voice that called back wasn't her mother's. "WHAT DO YOU WANT AMETHYST YOUR MOTHER IS AT WORK, I WAS SLEEPING."
Amethyst walked back towards the kitchen to get her lunch, yelling behind her, "DAD CAN YOU DRIVE ME TO SET?"
A loud groan echoed through the house as she heard the door upstairs open. "Fine." The father mumbled as he stomped down the stairs. "Just give me a minute to eat something and get dressed."
Amethyst let out a loud exasperated groan, "I was supposed to be there, like, twenty minutes ago." Not saying a word, her father rubbed his eyes under his glasses and started setting up the coffee pot.
"Well at least just let me have one cup of coffee."
She crossed her arms. "Fine."
She grabbed her makeshift lunch and went to go sit on the couch to wait. She put the small bag lunch into her bag and pulled out her phone and tried to beat her high score on Ninjump before he was finally ready to go.
It was 8:55 when she heard the sound of him finally grabbed his keys saying, "Alright let's go."
--
The car ride was quiet aside from the smooth jazz station playing softly in the background. When they got to the school he pulled the car around by the back entrance closest to the theatre and stopped so Amethyst could get out.
"Thanks for the ride… Sorry I woke you up so early." She grabbed her bag and slid off her seat, standing just outside the car door for a moment.
"It's fine, I have some work to get done anyway… Do you need a ride home after?"
She shook her head, "Again, It's fine, I'll find one or just walk."
He nodded, "Call me if there's an emergency or something."
"Okay." She hesitated a moment, waiting for a potential ‘Goodbye’ or ‘Be safe’ but after a beat passed he remained stagnant, staring ahead at his steering wheel. She shut the door behind her and gave an awkward wave before he sped off. She let out a big sigh and walked into the building to find that everyone already had their jobs and tasks. She made her way to the theatre to see Ms. Diamond standing in the center looking over a clipboard of things that needed to be done.
She decided to stroll around the corner instead and head straight to the green room so she could drop off her bag before getting to work. When she opened the door to the small room she saw Sadie sitting on the dingy old couch, checking her phone.
Amethyst set her bag down on the table near Sadie, wondering if she should say anything. She didn’t have to for very long because shortly enough Sadie was putting down her phone and smiling up at her, she said a sweet "Hello, Amethyst!" The way Sadie greeted everyone was just so warm and made the entire morning seem a little bit brighter.
Sadie was that one senior that just made it her job to be friendly with everyone and make sure they felt included. Amethyst admired that.
She leaned her butt on the table next to her bag and decided to start up a conversation, stalling the inevitability that was explaining to Ms. Diamond why she was around an hour late. "What's up Sadie lady? Avoiding a job or something?"
Sadie laughed and shook her head, "Nah, actually I'm just waiting for Lars to get out of the bathroom so we can start working on some platforms. We need to figure out which of the older ones are stable enough to reuse and which ones need to be fixed up."
She sighed, pressing her elbow against the arm wrest and leaning her hand on her cheek, "But I have no idea what's taking him so long he's been in there for about," she looked at her phone before groaning,"7 minutes already."
Poor Sadie, she was always stuck working with that slacker. He was in Amethyst's grade so she was decently aquatinted with him and they got along pretty well, but when it came to set builds he was just lazy and didn't ever do the work that was expected of him. "You need to whip that scrawny boy's ass into shape."
Sadie smiled and scratched the back of her head, "Nah, he's actually a pretty good kid once you get to know him. He'll come around and start pulling his own weight eventually, I mean he's going to have to learn how before I'm gone next year."
Amethyst laughed, "You're one of a kind Sadie, but just know I'll kick his ass for you any time just give the word."
Sadie leaned forward putting her elbows on her knees. "I probably won't, but thank you anyway Amethyst. Shouldn't you probably go talk to Diamond about getting a job before she yells at you for being even more late?"
Amethyst groaned, "Yeah, I probably should go do that. You make sure to punch Donut Ears in the dick if he makes you wait any longer though, 'kay?"
"I'll consider it." Sadie responded playfully.
"I'll catcha later then!" And with that Amethyst was out the door to the green room.
She walked over to where the supervisor was standing so she could see what was on today's agenda.
"Hey Ms. D, what's the plan?"
Barely glancing up from her clipboard with a stoic exhausted expression, Ms. Diamond replied, "Well if you were actually here an hour ago like you were expected to be you would know that wouldn't you?"
Amethyst just shrugged, "Overslept."
Ms. Diamond glared down at her.
"As expected. Well most of the big jobs are already taken by other crew members, but there was this actor girl who showed up to help, I just told her to organize the tool room so she would stay out of the way of any heavy lifting or building for the time being. "
"Actor girl?" Diamond just shrugged.
"Why don't you go help her since everything else is covered for now."
Amethyst straightened her back and gave a cheesy salute "Aye aye, Captain!"
This resulted in a blank stare and an unamused "Not today, Amethyst." She turned around and headed towards stage left.
Yikes, who peed in her cereal today? Amethyst yawned and turned around to go find this "actor girl" in the tool room.
When she got there she pulled opened the door to see a tall shadow illuminated by the dim light of the small room. The door let out a creek, and the figure spun around, startled.
When her eyes adjusted to the dimmer light and noticed who it was she laughed.
"...Pearl?"
Pearl blinked in surprise, but before she could say anything Amethyst smirked and said, "Ah, it figures you'd be the weird actor chick who shows up the the first set build."
Scrunching up her nose, arching an eyebrow "Weird actor chick? Is that what they're calling me?"
"I wouldn't worry about it if I were you." She brushed it off. "So apparently I'm supposed to help you or whatever."
Pearl put a hand to her forehead "Oh, right. So I have no idea what I'm doing, this place is a disaster!" She groaned. "I've done building before and organizing is usually my kind of thing but this is chaos."
Amethyst couldn't help but notice the little upset noises Pearl made in-between sentences. Cute. "Yeah, it's a mess, but you get used to it after a while..."
Pearl gestures to a wall with unlabeled boxes of tools in a huff "How are you supposed to find ANYTHING in this?"
"Heh," Amethyst blew the bangs out of her eyes. "It's not that hard, it might be a mess but it has a system."
"Oh?" Pearl arched an eyebrow, "Like what?" She crossed her arms.
"Like..... Okay name a tool."
"...Uh, wrench?"
Without more than a moment to think Amethyst pointed to the second shelf from the top. "Take down that wooden box there."
Looking at the shelf full of nearly identical boxes Pearl compiled, picking out the one that Amethyst had gestured to. She held the box out in front of her with a questioning look and opened the top before out a socket wrench.
"See?" Amethyst smirked, fairly satisfied with herself. Pearl just looked at the box of various wrenches in a state of shock.
"But... It's not even labeled, how did you know which box?"
Shrugging, Amethyst responded. "That's usually the shelf we put wrenches and pliers on so I figured that box probably had the wrenches in it." Pearl gave her a skeptical look. "Listen I know it's a mess and you were told to organize, but most of the people in the crew have this room down by memory so you can't just go cleaning this whole place up."
"I beg to differ," she kicked a loose screw at her feet, "but I guess if you guys have a system that works it can't be tampered with, but the least we could do is at least label some of these drawers and containers."
"That sounds like a plan!" Amethyst shrugged the flannel off her shoulders and tied it around her waist.
The two of them got to work on making sure everything was in its specific container before they pulled out the duct tape and sharpies to put a fresh label and all of them. It took around an hour and a half to get through the entire tool closet but it went by quickly. Occasionally a student would walk in to find a tool and say a quick hello, but most of the time was spent just the two of them, sitting on the cement floor of the cramped room surrounded by boxes and tape and chatting while they worked.
From time to time when things got too quite Amethyst would ask Pearl a question about her life, or how she got into theatre. At one point when Pearl mentioned that she had done actually building for the shows before Amethyst laughed and asked her if she for real.
Tilting her head the side Pearl responded bluntly, "...Well, yeah."
"Seriously?"
"Why do you sound so surprised?"
Amethyst shrugged, leaning back on a stack of boxes. "You don't look the type? You've got this whole, giddy actor thing going for you, you just seem like someone who belongs in the spot light."
"Oh, and what's that supposed to mean?" Pearl looked up from label she was writing.
Amethyst looked to the side and mumbled, "I dunno... You look like you could be above it all and not have to lift a finger, and," she faced Pearl and puffed out her cheek, continuing in a lower silly voice, "You don't have that RAW SET BUILDING MUSCLE." She furrowed her brown and put her hands on her hips until she couldn't keep a straight face any longer.
They both laughed, "Oh, so you have this 'Raw set building muscle'?" Pearl emphasized herself with air quotes.
"You bet I do!" Amethyst flexed her left arm, and winked at Pearl, "Check out my guns!"
Covering her mouth Pearl let out a snort and looked at the ground, "Alright then."
About two and a half hours passed before they were actually done labeling everything and putting it in the right spots and (at Pearl's request) sweeping up the spare screws and dust on the floor.
Their arms brushed as they slipped out of the dingy dimly lit room. Pearl rubber her eyes as they adjusted to the light inside the actual workshop. Amethyst stretched her arms uo over her head, lips stretching opened to yawn.
"Man, what time is it?"
Rubbing her neck with one arm, Pearl looked at the watch on her other. "About 11:45ish."
Who even wears a watch anymore? Amethyst smirked. "Well we usually break for lunch at like 12 so I don't know if there are any more jobs to do until then."
As the rounded the corner to the theatre a booming voice called from inside, "Alright, listen up kids!" A small group of students where collecting to stand around Ms. Diamond as she continued, "Frankly there isn't a lot of work left to do today because we don't start any actual building until next weekend, and I also really want to go home. So we're going to end today as soon as everyone finishes the tasks they're currently working on and cleaning everything up. You got that?"
Half the group nodded, the other half gave an unenthusiastic "yeah."
Amethyst spoke up, "Heyyy, Ms. D, what if we're already finished with our job and we've already cleaned up?"
She sighed in response, "Then you're dismissed," but she quickly snapped her he'd forward and she stared down her nose at Amethyst, tapping her foot aggressively. "But if I find out you didn't actually do any clean up like last time, Amethyst I swear, you are going to be on brush washing duty from the moment we get to painting all the way up until the final build."
Amethyst threw her hands up defensively "Hey, last time was not my fault, Jasper knocked all that saw dust off the table after I left I would bet my life on it." Diamond looked down at her with a dark glare before-
"I can assure you that the tool room is very clean due to myself and the help of Amethyst!" Pearl interjected, "Although she could have spent a bit more time actually sweeping up screws rather than screwing around, but it is done nonetheless."
The Technical Director sighed, "Fine, I'll take your word for it. But mostly because I'm just tired and want to get home just as fast as any of you kids do."
Pearl nodded, "Thank you." And with that she turned on her heels and headed back in the direction of the green room to collect her things.
Amethyst followed closely behind but not without yelling back over her shoulder, "Catch ya later, D! Keep it real." To which an exasperated sigh came shortly after.
When they were back in the green room Pearl stopped to take a drink at the water fountain and Amethyst sat down on the couch near her bag and pulled out her phone. When Pearl lifted her head from the water fountain she whipped her mouth and turned to ask:
“So we’re really just allowed to walk out?”
Amethyst didn’t look up from her phone, “Yep.”
Taking on awkward step away from the wall, “So I’m guessing you’re waiting for ride then?”
She looked up at Pearl uncertainty, “Well sort of… I mean I was probably going to wait and see if Sadie has extra room in her car if she isn’t taking Lars… Or I might ask Jasper.” Although, the thought of being in a car with Jasper behind the wheel was just a little bit terrifying and Amethyst didn’t know if today was the best day to have a near death experience. “That or I was probably going to just walk.” She shrugged.
Pearl looked at her wide-eyed for a moment before saying “I mean, I could always give you a ride you know?”
Her eyes widened, “Nonono, you don’t have to do that, honestly it should be fine. I’m super okay with just walking.”
Tilting her head to the side Pearl asked, “How far away do you live?”
“Uh…” she gave an award shrug, “like three miles? And a half? Maybe?”
“You’re going to walk three and a half miles?” Her face was in total shock.
“…Yes?”
Pearl shook her head, “Nope, I’m giving you a ride, that’s it.”
Holding her hands up in front of her Amethyst stammered, “You don’t have to do that, it’s alright, I’m totally cool with it, I do it all the time.” She leaned back on the couch, putting her feet up on the armrest trying to act indifferent.
Pearl let out a huff and said, “You might be fine with it, but if I just leave now I’ll have to walk around all day with a guilty conscious knowing I could have driven you.”
Amethyst fiddled with the tips of her hair, “Well, I mean, if you insist I guess.” She couldn’t help but feel a little happy that this girl she barely knew seemed to care enough that she got home safe.
She pulled the keys out of her pocket and smiled, “Let’s go then!”
Getting up and following Pearl out the door, Amethyst tried to hold back a smile. They took the long way around the school to get to the parking lot. Pearl clicked the button on her keys to unlock the car door. When she walked up the van Amethyst couldn’t help but laugh.
“HA, you have a mom car.”
Pearl stood holding the driver’s door open in shock, “Mom car?”
“Yeah! Like it looks like what a soccer mom would drive or somethin’.” She said walking around to the passenger side.
Getting in slowly Pearl said quietly under her breath, “Well I think it’s pretty cool.”
Amethyst set her bag down on the floor and hopped into the seat, “I mean it’s not a bad thing. It’s just kind of a mom car.”
Putting her keys into the ignition Peal sighed, “Well I guess it is, but I like it.” She smiled, starting the van and backing out of the parking space.
The ride was fairly quiet for the most part; Amethyst occasionally gave Pearl directions on how to get to her house, but aside from that she just looked out the window silently. Usually she had trouble keeping her mouth shut, but all she could do was stare at the trees that rolled by and listen to the hum of the car.
Something about Pearl drew her in and just interested her. It completely threw her off her game, she felt like pretending to be cool and carefree just didn’t cut it, she was just compelled to keep talking to her but she couldn’t even find the right words.
At one point Pearl reached over and turned on her music, playing a CD that was already a few tracks in. It was just some soft piano and instrumentals, “This is the kind of stuff you listen to?” Amethyst said with a chuckle.
“It’s… Relaxing. I like it a lot better than the radio.” She said, keeping her eyes forward on the road. “I used to do Ballet a lot as a kid and it really got me interested in classical music, my love for it just never went away, I guess.”
“Makes sense. Do you still do ballet?”
Pearl sighed, “No, unfortunately. I did a whole variety of dance classes as a kid because I would switch them around every few years. I never stuck with it but it was by far my favorite. Tap was pretty fun to I guess. But most of all I just really liked dancing to the music.”
Amethyst thought about adding something but she just nodded along instead. Eventually they were turning into her driveway so she unbuckled her seat belt and grabbed her bag, “Thanks for the ride, P.”
“No problem, any time.” she smiled back sweetly.
“Hey can I get your number?” the words came out of Amethyst’s mouth faster than she could process them, “Ya’ know! So that if there are any days that we really need some extra hands for set builds I can let you know. So you don’t show up during slow days like this… or something.”
Pearl smiled, “Yes, that’s a great idea!”
Amethyst pulled her phone from her pocket and opened up a new contact page, holding it out to her. “Here, just fill in all your junk and I’ll send you a message so you know who it is and whatnot.”
Nodding, Pearl took the phone from her and hummed quietly while she typed in her name and number. She handed the phone back to Amethyst, “There you have it. Now I won’t show up when I’m not wanted.”
Amethyst took her phone back, “No! It’s not that you’re not wanted! It’s just, you shouldn’t come all the way to help out and not actually get to do much because we don’t have a lot planned.” She paused and took a breath, “I mean, I know sometimes the techies can be a bit… skeptical about actors doing crew stuff sometimes, but I’m sure they’re all just as glad that we have an extra set of hands to get the job done.”
“…Even if I don’t have that raw set building muscle?” A joking tone in her voice, she smiled.
Throwing her head back Amethyst laughed, “Sure, even regardless of that.” She picked up her bag and opened the car door, “Anyway, I’ll talk to you later then. Thank you again, for the ride.”
Pearl smiled. “Anytime Amethyst.”
She shut the car door behind her and walked up the brick path to her front door. Pearl didn’t start backing out of the driveway until Amethyst was safely inside. So she’s one of those, Amethyst thought with a smile as she closed the door behind her with a click.