Chapter Text
Peridot gripped her binder against her chest, eyeing the clock in the center of the classroom. The last minute of the school day seemed to be the longest. She was on her toes, ready to spring up the second the bell went off.
And then it did- it finally did, and Peridot scrambled to her feet, nearly knocking her chair over. She quickly pushed it in, reminding herself that she's no animal.
Then with the speed of an antelope being preyed on in the wild, she zoomed out of the room, and straight to her locker in the next hall. Peridot hastily shoved her binder into her bookbag and slung one strap over her shoulder. She opted to lean against her locker for support, propping a foot against it, and crossing her arms. She stood in this cool and casual stance as she awaited the girls- her friends- to show up.
In the next few minutes, Amethyst had showed up and eagerly pushed into Peridot's shoulder, accidentally sending her off balance. Peridot stumbled to catch herself, so she wouldn't fall face first onto the floor.
Amethyst snickered watching the events quickly unfold. “Uh, hey, sorry.” she said.
Peridot adjusted her backpack lifting it back onto her shoulder. “Sup” she said, trying to regain her dignity.
“Come on, lets go catch up with Pearl and Garnet.” Amethyst suggested, nodding her head forward. Peridot followed after as Amethyst lead her to the others, whom were both standing at Pearl's locker.
Pearl was still gathering her books together, when she noticed the other two approaching.
“Oh, Peridot,” she greeted. “We'll be taking my car, do you need to drop your books off at your house or anything?”
“Uh- nah, no” Peridot cleared her throat.”I'm good, I'm cool.”
“Great” Pearl said, closing up her locker. “Shall we be on our way, then?
Garnet snickered at Pearl's cheesy choice of words.
“Yeah,” Peridot chimed in “Yeah let's do this!”
Out in the parking lot, everyone had gathered into Pearl's small truck. Peridot crawled. into the back with Amethyst, as Pearl and Garnet, the tallest, took up the front seats.
“Gonna get me some Fish Stew!” Amethyst shouted, excitedly jumping in her seat.
“I've been waiting for this all day, oh my god.” Amethyst moaned, basically at the point of salvation already.
Peridot, fidgeted, feeling left out of this excitement. “Um, I've actually never had the pizza here.”
“Whaaat?!” Amethyst dramatically dragged out. “How have you not had Fish Stew Pizza? Its only the best pizza restaurant in all of Beach City!”
Pearl piped in, commenting, “Its the only pizza restaurant in all of Beach City.”
“Well, frozen pizza from the Smiley Mart is a next best.” Amethyst argued.
“I uh, I don't know.” Peridot continued to defend herself. “I just haven't got around to it, I guess.” Peridot had only lived in the area four about a year, after-all. Much less than the three residents who seemed to be all too familiar with the small town.
Amethyst turned to Peridot, her hands flying in the air. “We've got to get you the BEST then, for you first try!”
Amethyst began to list off choices, counting off on her fingers.
“ Maybe a meat-lovers, or extra cheese with anchovies. We definitely need to get garlic knot crust.”
A soft voice interjected from the front seat, “If you'd like to pay for all that, be my guest.” Garnet said, turning to look behind her at the smaller passengers.
Peridot swallowed, noticing for the first time just how close she was to Garnet. Her eyes locked onto the signature frames she had on. She spied those beautiful, rich, dark eyes behind them, just as they suddenly flickered to look right back at her. Peridot quickly looked away, but she knew she was caught. She coughed into her fist, and looked back up to see Garnet smirking, before sitting back in her seat. Peridot nearly died right there.
“Fine fine, whatever.” Amethyst complained. “We'll just get a meat trio, how about that?”
“Ehh” Pearl groans, “Maybe just pepperoni?”
“Why do you hate me so much, Pearl?” Amethyst retort. Peridot wasn't sure if it was genuinely or not.
Pearls scoffed, as they finally pull into the parking lot of the pizzeria.
“You hush” Pearl bit back, playfully.
Everybody hopped out of the car, and Peridot followed them into this small local restaurant. As soon as she stepped in, a scent of both fish and pizza wafted towards her. The combination of smells actually wasn't as bad as she imagined.
She looked around at the décor, as the others talked with the girl at the counter. They seemed to be regulars, or maybe they're just this friendly with everyone in the town. They had approached a dork like Peridot, after-all. She looked down at her shoes, feeling a little out of place and uncomfortable.
“Hey, come on!” Amethyst suddenly grabbed her by the hand, shooting her heart rate right up.
“O-oh, yeah, okay.” Peridot complied, following her and the rest to a booth. She slid in next to Amethyst, as Pearl and Garnet opt for the other side.
Peridot placed her hands in her lap, looking off to the side. Silent chatter went on between Pearl and Amethyst. Possibly something about their opposing dietary choices. Peridot zoned out as she fixed her gaze on the table. Pearl had her hand laid on the table, as her other cupped her face. Peridot examined the pale blue tint to her nails, as they began to tap against the tabletop. Maybe its more of a teal color. Peridot almost couldn't tell if they were press-ons or not. The smooth surface of the color perfectly coated her medium length nails. She then spied a small yellow star at the end of her pinkie. Her eyes trailed upwards and she found that there was a matching star on her opposite pinkie as well.
There was a lull in conversation, and Peridot used it to jump in and give Pearl her thoughts.
“Uh, hey Pearl.” she started nervously, “I like your nails.”
“Oh!” Pearl lifted her hand, putting the colorful nails on display. “Thank you, Amethyst did them actually.”
Amethyst shrugged, “Why not? Any excuse to hold your hand for 30 minutes or so is fine by me.”
Pearl snorted, and quickly covered her mouth.
“Nah,” Amethyst continued, “But I do love doing your makeup, you should let me try it more often.”
“You know I'm not much for the makeup scene,” Pearl told Amethyst. “But the nails really are nice, maybe I should let you do them more often.”
“Oh, she's done my eyes too.” Garnet said, lowering her shades, to show off those perfectly long lashes. “The work of a true artist.”
Amethyst scoffed, ”Guys, c'mon, stop it.” She looked down sheepishly, a grin on her face. It made Peridot smile too. Amethyst was just too incredibly cute.
Amethyst shrugged, and explained to Garnet, “You know no one can resist those naturally full lashes of yours though, G. Who wouldn't want to make those up?”
“Well, I like to paint my nails black sometimes.” Peridot said. They all look in her direction, and she felt her face immediately heat up. She was suddenly having second thoughts about her outburst. “Uh, with- with little green...alien head..designs” she trailed off into a mumble.
“Ahah, that's sweet!” Amethyst grinned at Peridot, “I need to check that out, sometime.”
“Yeah?” Peridot asked, smiling. “Yeah definitely, it is pretty cool I think.”
“You're like obsessed with aliens or something right?” Amethyst asked curiously. “You've got that design on your backpack, you have that alien shirt you wear like, all the time.” Amethyst gestured under the table, taking a peek herself, “You have those galaxy themed shoes, and I swear that alien face graffiti in the girls' bathroom was done by you.
“Wh-what?” Peridot stuttered, smiling nervously. “Who would- who has the audacity to taint a bathroom stall with an alien cartoon done in sharpie? The janitors have to use effort to clean that stuff off you know, and well, I have to say- the immaturity of this modern day Banksy is just-”
“You're not in trouble, Peridot” Garnet said, trying to calm her down.
Peridot paused, and gave a weak forced laugh. She shrugged, looking up at them. “What gave it away?”
“Like I said, it's your thing” Amethyst replied.
“Yeah well, I mean, the theory of aliens? Life beyond our galaxy and- just space and such in general!” Peridot leaned both arms on the table. “You have to admit, it is all pretty cool. I mean, its a vast and undiscovered- unknown universe. That kind of thing is amazing, its incredible really. I think its a fantastic journey scientists have yet to set off on.”
Peridot, at this point, was on the edge of her seat. “And not only can I have that deep interest of science, but I can show it off with these fun little alien guys too? Its a great aesthetic really, space, combined with that iconic green faced alien buddy and--” she slowed down, “and uh... I'm rambling.”
“No no!” Pearl leaned forward with interest. “Believe me, space is one of the most interesting topics you could start on--”
“Oh here she goes” Amethyst said, rolling her eyes.
“Amethyst” Garnet warned.
“I'm just joking, okay its actually kinda cute when you nerds go on about your science stuff.”
“Uhh.” Period chuckled. “Y-yeah, I guess. Thanks.”
She rubbed her warm neck. Was thanking Amethyst the right way to respond in this situation? She never had been called cute before.
“So!” Pearl clasped her hands together, “Really now, please lets continue with this, we have time before the pizza comes out.”
And they did just that, indulging themselves in a partially intellectual conversation surrounding the science of space. Half of the conversation just consisted of Peridot fangirling at the very idea of space itself, while Amethyst failed at hiding her laughter.
Eventually, a waitress came out, serving them the large pizza they had long awaited.
“Boo-yeah!” Amethyst cheered, using both hands to gather four pieces at once. Garnet followed, grabbing one with each hand. Pearl grabbed just one. Peridot anxiously picked up one slice of this fish scented pizza. Should it be able to smell like that without any actual fish on it? She went to try it as Amethyst looked at her in anticipation. She swallowed and hummed, “Its- Wow that's really good.”
Amethyst cheered, earning a chuckle from Garnet and Pearl.
“I knew you'd love it!” She said, clapping Peridot on the back
“Mhm.” Peridot agreed, digging right into the pizza again.
As she sat there enjoying the pizza, she took a look around at the table. She looked at these happy friends, all enjoying themselves on this after-school outing. Peridot could definitely say she was glad this opportunity arose, she was glad she came, and could confidently say it was one of the best times she's had.
If she thought she liked these three before, she could now say she was smitten, by these pizza stained, science loving, beautiful dorks.