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Pearl inhaled slowly, staring at the beige desk in front of her as she unpacked her books. Her desk was always nice and tidy, French binder in the middle, pencil case in her lap, and plain travel coffee mug on the upper right corner of the desk. She checked her phone for the time; 7:16. Grabbing her mug and taking a sniff right before a small sip. It was just bitter enough, with the milk and sugar tying it together wonderfully at the end. Her chest seeped with warmth that trickled down her torso, this was exactly why she drank coffee in the morning.
The next thing Pearl heard were the thuds of tennis shoes as they ran up the stairs, which meant Amethyst was here. Her eyes were wide open and her breath was heavy, but everything else about her read as tired. Her hair was unbrushed and thrown under a beanie- likely to hide the dark brown roots atop Amethyst’s fading lavender locks. She was still wearing pajama pants and slippers, while her half zipped sweatshirt showed a stained white tank top underneath. What Pearl noticed most were the bags under her eyes, and her chapped and peeling lips.
While not surprised by Amethyst’s fashionably late arrival, Pearl still had to feel bad for her. The anxiety caused by the thought of being late terrified Pearl- she always left 15 minutes early for whatever she was headed to. Pearl took another sip of her coffee as Amethyst took her seat, diagonally across from Pearl on the right. The first bell of the day rang, and their teacher stood, ready to begin.
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The next morning, the routine tardiness continued. Amethyst sat in her chair, resting her head in one hand while focusing all her energy just on keeping her eyes open. Pearl, once again, felt bad for her but thought there wasn’t anything she could do. As she took her next sip of coffee, an idea struck.
Pearl showed up the morning after with two mugs in hand, one shiny and new and matching hers perfectly. Before setting her bag down she moved to the desk diagonal to her, and put down the coffee made just the way Pearl liked it.
When Amethyst showed up right at 7:20, her breath stopped as she reached her desk and saw a stainless steel travel mug waiting for her. She eagerly hopped into her seat and took a big whiff of the coffee, practically intoxicated by the smell alone. Amethyst took a big gulp of her coffee, and Pearl could practically feel the warmth radiating through Amethyst’s body as she drank. Amethyst slammed down the mug with a satisfyingly hollow clink.
Class went on as usual, but Amethyst looked much more alert. She even had the energy to take notes! Of course, she had to borrow a pen and paper from her neighbor, but Amethyst took notes! Nothing excited Pearl more, and she couldn’t even wipe the smile off her face for the whole 45 minutes they sat in class being lectured on proper verb conjugation.
With the ring of the bell that ended first period, Amethyst swiveled around to face Pearl, who was hurriedly packing to get to her next class. “Hey Pearl?” Amethyst said, not even waiting for a response. “Thanks,” she put the coffee mug down on Pearl’s desk before standing and flinging her backpack over her shoulder. “Tomorrow could you make mine with two sugars and no cream?”