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Chapter Text

Chapter 1

Dead Mouse

If there ever was a title for the biggest nerd in all of Beach City High School, not only did Peri owned it, but she also trampled anyone's chance to ever take that crown. Peri really was the biggest nerd this city had ever seen. Not only did she looked like one – with her unruly spiky blond hair, her forest green eyes hidden behind the biggest glasses there ever was, her skin so pale that it sometimes seemed greenish, and her way too large sweaters, on which a nerdy joke was always written – but she had adopted the secluded attitude of the perfect nerd. She usually avoided any crowded places, such as the cafeteria, only to spend her lunchtime hidden under the school's tiers, playing god knows what on a random portable device.

So, it would come to no surprise to say that you would never, ever find Peri at any sports event. Except one. Because, as weird as it may sound, Peri never missed a single competition of her school's female swimming team. Very often you could spot her passing time on her phone while the rest of the crowd cheered one, until one person walked up to the pool, all clad in her blue swimsuit and none caring attitude.

And this girl was Lazuli, Peri's insuppressible crush. Peri knew, deep in her heart, that there was absolutely no way Lazuli would ever know about that crush, not because she was a big coward when it came to human interaction – which she was – but because, for a start, she was convinced that Lazuli had no idea she even existed. That complicated things way too much for Peri, who was absolutely satisfied with watching her from afar, and cheering for her with the rest of the school every time she stood on the springboard.

Lazuli really was the most beautiful girl Peri ever saw. She had short blue dyed hair so that they were easy to tug underneath her swimming cap, deep ocean blue eyes, and she was, surprisingly for a swimmer, just as pale as Peri, so much so that the pool gave her skin a slight blue hue. But most interesting about Lazuli was her expression, or rather her lack of it. She always looked uninterested by what was going around her, whether it was a simple math class or her winning yet again a trophy, Lazuli never looked excited about it.

She was clouded in mystery, for everyone and especially for Peri, but the nerd liked it that way. It was better, she always told herself when she would gather the smallest amount of courage and ready herself to go and finally talk to Lazuli. It was better that way.

When Lazuli didn't occupy Peri's mind, it was usually fully devoted to video games, on which she usually spent her every night and every weekend. She didn't have any friends anyway, so video game was a perfect alternative. Actually, no, she had one friend, and the guy's name was Steven. This guy was crazy popular as if he knew the entire town and the entire town liked him. And most unbelievably, he was not even a jock. No, he was a nerd, just like her. But apparently, people liked him better. Apparently, Peri had an annoying voice and a displeasing behavior. She was just a bit too honest for normal people, is all.

Steven had actually come to see her this particular Saturday morning before he had to go to work. They played a few rounds of Lonely Blade together, in complete silence, so focus that they had no control over their fingers anymore. But alas, Steven had to go work at his small multimedia shop, by the beach, and she got back to her computer to play. First a few long hours of RPJing, grinding the same crystal bug for what felt like – and really was – hours. Then she moved on to a multi-player shooting game. And this was when things turned for the worst.

She kept on losing. Beautifully, admirably, yes, but losing anyway. She blamed it on anyone who dared to cross her mind. She blamed it on her teammates, on her opponent, on Steven, who had left her with only this stupid game to play. She blamed it on Lazuli, for some reason her mind couldn't quite make up. And most of all, she blamed it on her mouse, her stupid mouse and equally stupid mouse-pad who seemed to bug and made her play poorly.

Finally, after two hours of none stop losing, she'd had enough. In a streak of anger, she threw her mouse on the ground. It was too late when she realized what she had done. She instantly jumped from her chair to assess the damage, only to find her mouse shattered in so many pieces.

"No, no, no, not again!" she complained as she uselessly tried to reassemble the broken mouse. Then, she looked back up to her screen, only to notice that a new game was about to begin, but she was far from ready. She slammed the pieces together, in hope that it would work, but it was pointless. And as the new game started, she panicked and turned off her computer, before pacing around, her dead mouse in her hands.

"No, no, no, I need to... Oh god! What am I gonna do?"

She finally found her bed and let herself fall backward on it, spreading the pieces on her quilt. She couldn't spend more than a few minutes without her mouse because almost all of the good games, the one she wanted to play now, where on her computer. Finally, she jumped to her feet. She was so dumb sometimes. The video game shop was just around the block, she could run there, fix her mouse, and come back in no time. If only.

So she did. She carefully took all of the pieces, and threw them in her backpack, before leaving her basement room and running outside. Never in her life had she ran this fast. Just around the corner, she kept repeating herself, as her lungs ache for air. And as she finally stopped in front of the shop, she first bent in half, hands on her knees, taking in as much air as she needed. Then, she pushed the door. It didn't budge. She tried again, then tried to pull it, but nothing happened. Finally, she saw the sign on the door, stating that the staff was on a one-week break, from this day up to next Friday.

Peri thought she had a heart-attack when she noticed the sign. Of course, they were not here! And she knew it because the guys working the counter told her before. She wanted to yell out of pure rage, but only a low and annoyed growl came out of her mouth.

Steven was lightly bent over the counter of the shop, his head resting in his hand, his elbow on the wooden counter. It was a calm early afternoon, with only a few clients, and most of the staff working with him was acting just as normal as usual. Amy sat beside him, eating yet another strange sandwich – this one had a piece of pizza sticking out of it – Earl was her usual self, rearranging, again and again, the shelves after a client had passed. Only Ruby and Sophie were missing, but he knew fairly well that they were in the staff room, probably cuddling.

When the door burst open, Steven almost fell from his stool. Peri rushed to the counter, her face red from exhaustion. She was out of breath, and very sweaty.

"Peri? What are you doing here?"

"My... mouse.."

She threw her bag on the counter, and Steven looked inside, only to find the rest of a computer mouse, exploded into dozens of small pieces.

"Fix it, please. I need it."

Steven gave another look to the mouse than to Peri. He had no idea how his small blond friend had actually managed to break it so badly, but there was absolutely no way to fix it. Yet, when he saw Peri's desperate eyes, a pang of pain stung his heart. He could not, and would not let his friend mouse-less. He nodded and pulled out of the bag every single little piece of plastic and metal.

"I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, why don't you look around? We just had a batch of new old-games."

He walked around the counter, only to find Peri still as winded as she was when she arrived.

"You ran?"

She nodded.

"All the way from home. It's very urgent."

He froze from surprise, before nodding again.

"Alright, I'll take care of it."

Steven entered the storage room, and a very short-breathed Peri wondered the alleys, looking out for some games that might interest her. Soon enough she was very much absorbed in the titles, and covers of the plastic boxes, so much so that everything happening around her disappeared in a blur of nothingness.

She didn't hear the door open once again, and a calm voice ask Amy if they had a copy of The Spirit Morph Saga: The Game. She didn't notice a thin blue-haired girl walked up to the shelf in front of her. The only thing she saw, was the very interesting title of an open world game adapted from a series of books she had a mild remembrance of. But as she took out the game from the shelf, a cold presence came by her side and asked:

"Can I... see that game, please?"

Peri recognized the voice. Of course, she did. And she froze, her eyes so big they almost rivaled the lenses of her glasses. She pivoted to the left in one broken movement, only to find Lazuli, just as bored-looking as usual, looking straight at her, then to the game, then back to her. Peri's brain had probably exploded or had been turned to a gooey substance, which was going to flow right out of her nostrils. The only thing she could do was hold out the plastic box toward Lazuli with the shakiest hand every witnessed. Lazuli simply raised an eyebrow but took the game.

"Thank?"

The blond had her confuse. Who was that girl anyway? She seemed about her age, and she seemed familiar. Like she had already seen her a thousand times before, yet only really saw her now. Peri, that was her name. Lazuli gave her a small amused smile, efficiently freezing once again poor Peri. It made Lazuli laugh internally. Peri was actually quite cute.

"Peri? I fixed it!"

Steven's voice took her out of her daydream, and possible second heart-attack of the day. She practically ran to the counter, where Steven stood proudly, brandishing her grayish mouse, which truly looked good as new. She took the mouse quickly, chasing Lazuli away from her mind, but not enough. If Lazuli hadn't been here, she would have probably hugged her precious mouse. The blue-haired girl watched from afar, amused by the smaller girl. How come she had never noticed her?

"Oh thank you, thank you, Steven!"

She gently placed the mouse inside her bag, then asked:

"Do I owe you something?"

He shook his head.

"No, don't worry about it."

"Thank you again! I really thought I was done for this time! You saved me! It really is my lucky day today!"

She stopped her unstoppable flow of words. Her lucky day? If she really was that lucky, then she should ask Lazuli out. After all, it was her lucky day, so why not? She suddenly heard the door of the shop closing, and spin around, only to noticed that Lazuli was, indeed, gone. She bolted outside, without another word for Steven, and almost tripped twice. Lazuli was heading toward the beach, but Peri cached up with her rather quickly.

"Lazuli! Wait!"

She was close to trip yet again and was almost tempted to finish on all four, but she stopped herself. Lazuli turned to face her, still just as bored-looking as usual.

"What is it, Peri?"

Peri was first very shocked to find out that Lazuli knew her name, and it didn't once brush her mind that maybe she had learned it when Steven called her.

"Wait, you know my name? No, wait... I mean..."

Peri quickly turned red. It was way too late to turn her back on the situation. She had dared to talk to Lazuli, now was not the time to back down. So she asked the first thing that came to her mind:

"Do you want to come to my place and watch some Camp Pining Hearts?"

She knew she should never have asked that. This TV show sucked and she only watched it to mock the main characters for their incomprehensible decisions. In fact, she had planned to watch a few episodes this very afternoon. This was probably why she had just asked her crush to come and watch it with her.

"Which season?"

Peri's mind was blank.

"I don't know... Three?"

Lazuli had once again a small smile full of amusement, and Peri's heart jolted. Of course, Lazuli was going to say no and it would break her heart and she would spend the rest of the day rolled up in a ball on her bed instead of rejoicing because of her now fixed mouse and it would suck and she may never get over it and...

"Sure, why not."

Chapter Text

Chapter 2

Dead shorty

Peri had absolutely no idea how everything had escalated so quickly. One second they were both seated on each side of her couch, leaving a big empty gap of cousins between them, and the next she was seated on Lazuli's lap, kissing her oh so delicately, afraid to break the moment. It felt like such a long time since she had opened her eyes, only focused on the other girl's lips. Lazuli's lips were far softer than she had imagined, and they also tasted like salt water, as if she had just got out of the sea.

Peri's hands, first frozen when Lazuli had kissed her, had later found Lazuli's shoulders, her fingers lightly playing with a few strands of blue hair. Lazuli's hands first rested on the small of her back, before moving to her shoulders. As she lightly pushed the smaller girl away, Peri felt her arms falling back on her sides. Only when she opened her eyes did she understand why Lazuli's lips tasted like the ocean.

Lazuli was profusely crying and had been for a few minutes already. She tried to hide it behind her hand, hiding her eyes with her fingers and her mouth with her palm. Peri had absolutely no clue as to what had happened the previous five minutes or so, and squeaked the first thing that came to her mind:

"Please, don't cry! You did nothing wrong... I! I may have done something wrong?! But you! I like you... I mean, I liked it! I like kissing you! Please don't cry."

Lazuli let out a strangled chuckle, which quickly turned into a sob. Finally, after swallowing, she replied:

"No, I did something wrong. It's my fault... I... I can't get her out of my head and..."

Peri looked at her, not really sure what to do. She could hug her, but she was afraid Lazuli would push her away. She could sit back down on the couch, instead of Lazuli's lap, but she liked to be on Lazuli's lap. Tentatively, she placed her small hand on Lazuli's shoulder.

"I don't understand a damn word you're saying. But it's okay."

Lazuli looked at her through blurry eyes. Her small smile was back, enough to assure Peri that she had done nothing wrong, on the contrary. But then, Lazuli started crying once more, her head dipped down to hide her face.

"Of course I had to go for you! Of course, I had to be just like her! Break hearts like the monster she made me!"

Her bitterness turned to full anger, and if not for the small girl still seated on her lap she would have jumped to her feet and ran as far away from Peri as possible. She wanted to ask the blond to stand up, but her entire being screamed to her that it was worse than a bad idea. Suddenly, a frowning Peri tilted her head to the side.

"Are you talking about Jasper?"

This froze completely Lazuli. Jasper was this behemoth of a woman, taller than any man on campus, wider than most of them. She was the reason there was a girl football team in their high school. Peri better remembered her as the girl who pushed her and locked her up in lockers for most of her junior high, simply because Peri, in pure honesty, had called her a boy, which, to be frank, she kind of looked like. It was only because she was too small for Jasper to even notice her that she no longer spent most of her life in a locker. But of course, she had noticed, when observing Lazuli from time to time, that Jasper was never far. Except since a couple of weeks ago, Peri also noticed that Lazuli pushed away Jasper every time she got too close for comfort.

"It doesn't matter" finally answered Lazuli, as she rubbed the tears out of her eyes.

Peri simply shrugged.

"It could. If you were my girlfriend I would protect you from her."

Lazuli stared at her for the longest of times, before dissolving into laughter. Peri's serious face turned bright red, and still, Lazuli kept on laughing. Finally, she lightly stroked the blond's hair before smiling brightly to her, a smile which Peri had never seen before, and which made Lazuli ever prettier than before.

"How come no one has ever noticed how cute you are?"

Peri said nothing, and let Lazuli pat her head as if she were a cat.

"But I don't think we can be together. Not until Jasper actually finds another girl to annoy."

"But when she does?"

"If she does then... I don't know... Maybe."

Peri caught Lazuli's hand in her hair and squeezed it reassuringly.

"Even if you don't let me, I'll protect you."

Lazuli's only answer was yet another small smile before she lightly moved Peri on the couch beside her. The small blond was about to beg her not to go, but Lazuli hugged her closer, and they focused on Camp Pining Hearts once again.

Monday came quickly, and for the first time in her life, Peri wanted to go to school. Better, she felt like she was needed at school. She arrived so early that the doors weren't even opened, and once they were she rushed to Lazuli's locker then looked for the best place from which she could observe the blue-haired girl. She placed herself in perfect diagonal from Lazuli's locker, arms crossed and determination painted on her face. But waiting became harder as minutes passed by. And so, when Amy came to her locker this morning, she found Peri drooling on it. She lightly shook the blond, who awoke with a start.

"Not the locker!"

She looked around her, only to find Amy looking at her with complete confusion.

"Yo, P-dot, why were you sleeping on my locker?"

"That is strictly confidential."

She quickly looked toward Lazuli's locker, and her eyes grew wide. There was Jasper, long platinum hair and tan skin, in her sport's jacket. She had one hand in her pocket, and the other on Lazuli's locker, on which she casually leaned. She was way too close to Lazuli for comfort, that much was sure.

"Time to show this clod what I'm made of!"

Amy watched Peri walk toward the arguing pair, and when she understood what was going on she yelled:

"Yeah! Go get her Peri!"

Peri had never been more determined in her entire life. She had her hands clenched into fists, ready to give her best uppercut to the brute. She was even wearing her lucky sweater, the one with the big green alien's head on it. Today was the day she would claim Lazuli as her own, and take down the mighty Jasper, in front of the entire school. Or at least the few people in this corridor.

She came into earshot and noticed how Lazuli kept pushing Jasper away.

"I missed you at my pool Saturday."

"I had better things to do than swim in your stupid pool."

Peri filled her lungs like balloons, and yelled far stronger than what she had expected:

"Yeah, she had better things to do!"

Everyone seemed to freeze in the corridor, except Lazuli who looked at Peri with a scarred and worried look, and Jasper, who looked at her as she was an ant.

"Who the heck are you?"

Peri pushed up her glasses with a finger.

"I am Peri, and you will leave Lazuli alone, you clod!"

Jasper frowned, not because she was actually bothered by the short blond, but rather because she tried to remember where she had seen her before. Finally, it came back to her.

"Oh my god, you're the super shorty I used to throw in a locker! So what, you miss being locked up?"

"As I said, I am here to make sure you leave Lazuli alone. So leave her alone!"

Jasper started to laugh so loud it probably echoed all the way to the other side of the school. But her throaty laugh was cut short when she felt a small and weak fist in her belly. She looked stunned for a good minute. While she had barely felt the hit, it was still the first time that someone dared to touch her.

Peri, her brain pumped with adrenaline, quickly jumped away from Jasper and noticed the fire extinguisher on the wall. She instantly thought that if she could use it as a weapon, there was no way Jasper would win. She caught the metal container with both hands and pulled. The container barely budge. She pulled as much as her skinny arm allowed her, even going as far as placing her feet on the wall for better leverage.

A large hand caught her and pulled her away from the wall, and the fire extinguisher. She yelped, and her arms and legs convulsed frantically as if she were swimming in air. But the hand caught her collar and she was brought face to face with Jasper.

"You have no idea how much you are going to suffer!"

All color drained from Peri's face, but as Jasper threw her against the lockers there was only one thought on her mind. At least, she tried.

"Peri? Peri?"

Her lids fluttered once more, before she finally opened her eyes, to meet the bluest ones she had ever seen. Her brain was knocking against her skull, and she could feel dry blood under her nose. The nurse was tending to her right hand, making sure that nothing was broken. It all felt so fussy. How had she handed up at the infirmary when she clearly remembered passing out inside a locker? The answer probably came from the angel beside her.

For a second, when Peri looked back at Lazuli, she thought the girl had angel wings behind her. Then she noticed it simply was a trick of the light, but a nice enough trick.

"Don't move, you probably have a commotion or something."

Peri did as she was ordered, and Lazuli pushed back a few strands of blond hair away from her face.

"Did I win?" she asked suddenly with a feeble voice.

Lazuli gave her her biggest smile.

"You probably did the stupidest thing anyone could do. But yes, you won."

With all the care and softness of the world, Lazuli placed a kiss on Peri's forehead, which instantly seemed to ease Peri's headache. She gave a lopsided smile, and never before had she felt this happy.

"I'm sorry she beat you up like she did. But the good news is, she's probably going to be expelled, at least for a few days."

Peri's eyes wondered quickly around the room, to the clock on the wall and back to Lazuli.

"Am I missing math?"

"I think you are probably going to miss a bit more than math, today. Once you feel better I'll bring you home, so you can rest."

Peri stayed silent a while longer until the nurse was done with her hand and gave her a wet cloth to wash the blood off her face. Lazuli did it for her.

"Is there blood on my sweater too?" asked Peri.

Lazuli looked as best as she could, but the black color of the garment made it quite impossible to see.

"I don't know. Probably not, but I can buy you a new one. I owe you that."

Peri tried to shook her head as best as the painful throbbing of her brain let her.

"Nah, no need. This one is unique. But you can buy me a plush if you really want to thank me."

Again, Lazuli smiled fully, a bright and amused smile.

"Oh I'll buy you a plush alright, but I also had another thank you gift in mind."

"Does it involve kissing? Because I really like kissing, you in particular."

Lazuli could only laugh, and gently stroke her hair. How had she not notice how cute she was before that?

"Oh, also, your glasses are broken. Like, super busted."

"What?!"

Chapter Text

Chapter 3

Shorty in Rubber Ring

The week went by, and Saturday came again, precisely seven days since Peri had first kissed Lazuli, and promised herself to protect the taller girl from anything. Even if it meant a serious two-days-long headache, a lightly sprained wrist and a few blood stains on her favorite sweater – which her mother thankfully took care of. But besides that, it had been a fantastic week for Peri. Lazuli came to hang out with her after school the three days she spent recovering, mostly kissing the pain away with a magic only she knew. And cuddling. A lot of cuddling, more than Peri had ever imagined.

Only on Wednesday afternoon did the blond dared to ask Lazuli if she wanted to be her girlfriend. The blue haired girl seemed almost offended, not that Peri had asked but that she hadn't asked sooner. Peri pouted and told her that she could have asked earlier herself. Lazuli agreed, and so, to make amend from this terrible tragedy, she invited Peri on their first date. She said nothing, besides "my place, 11 a. m., bring your swimsuit", which made Peri even more worried. Did she even own a swimsuit?

So there she was, standing on the step of Lazuli's front door, her desperately shaky hand pressing insistingly on the doorbell. She had bought a swimsuit after school the previous day, and she very much wished she wouldn't need to use it. But who was she kidding? Lazuli, her school's swimming's champion, probably had a pool in her garden, and it was way too hot to pretend it wasn't a good day for a swim. She finally decided to let go of the doorbell and played with the straps of her backpack. She let out an agitated breath, just as a pair of arms snaked their way around Peri's waist. The blond jumped lightly in surprise, before recognizing her girlfriend's light laugh. She calmed herself and lightly tapped Lazuli's joined hands.

"Hey, you," said the blue-haired girl. "You're just on time."

"Good."

Peri thought they were going to move, but Lazuli simply cuddled her closer, and while the blond could only admit it was enjoyable, she felt it was a bit strange to cuddle on the doorstep.

"Hum... So... How long are we going to stay like this?"

"Not until you tell me something nice" answered Lazuli, who seemed to have adopted Peri's untamed hair as a pillow. The blond grimaced, deep in thoughts, before she decided on an answer:

"I cannot say 'you look nice' because I haven't seen you as of yet, but I can say 'you sound nice'. So, hey Lazuli, you sound nice today."

This made the blue haired girl giggle lightly before she finally let go of Peri to delicately turn her around. Lazuli was wearing denim shorts and a top tank, not unlike those she had been wearing that faithful afternoon, a week ago. A large pair of sunglasses was perched on her nose, and she pushed them to rest on her hair when she moved in to peck Peri's lips.

Because of the Monday morning incident, Peri's glasses had been completely busted, and she had to use her old ones, which were not to her taste, or her sight. It always felt like there was a blurry veil in front of her eyes, and the fact that those glasses were thin and rectangular did not help. But she had no other choice, besides becoming blind until her new glasses arrived, which could take a while. And Peri very much wanted – no, needed – to see Lazuli beside her, not just a vaguely blue and beige shape.

Lazuli took Peri's hand and led her around the house and to her back garden. They walked on neatly cut grass until they reach the garden, which had been covered with very big stone slabs, squared and of a light sandy color. There rested a few blueish deck chairs, a large glass table with four chairs and a big barbecue. And of course, just as Peri had guessed, a long pool with the clearest water she had ever seen.

"So, what do you think?" asked Lazuli as she let go of the blond's hand.

"It's... big. And deep. It looks deep."

Lazuli looked confusingly at her girlfriend, whose eyes were strangely focused on the pool. She shrugged it off and placed a hand on Peri's shoulder, taking her away from her pool and toward the house. It was rather modern, with big tainted French-windows all around the first floor, and the living room inside looked very large. But the house seemed empty, and Peri frowned to better see through the window. No, there was no sign of inhabitance in this house, as of this hour.

"Where are your parents?"

"They left us the house for the day. I told them about Monday morning, you know."

"They probably laughed."

Lazuli shrugged.

"Oh yeah, they did. But they also told me how lucky I was to have my very own knight."

Lazuli sat on one of the deck-chair, and Peri quickly sat on the one next to it. They were facing each other, but while Peri tried to detail Lazuli as much as her glasses let her, Lazuli was staring at her feet.

"You know, they never really liked Jasper. It took me so long to understand why, but when I did it was too late. But you, they already like you!"

"Wait until they meet me and it'll probably change."

Lazuli's look shot to Peri's face, and she quickly shook her head.

"Of course not, why would you say that?"

Lazuli didn't let a second for Peri to answer, she kept on talking:

"I know you're an awkward geek, but that doesn't mean people can't like you. And the people who find you annoying are just stupid."

Lazuli took Peri's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, and Peri's smile came back to her face. The taller girl, happy to have lifted her girlfriend's moral, stood up and asked with a cheeky grin:

"So, how about we go for a swim?"

Peri's eyes grew big in an instant. She desperately needed an excuse, and she needed it now.

"Hum... hum... hum... Can't we... hum... Can't we eat first? I'm famished!"

Lazuli shot her a strange, confused look, but shrugged once again.

"Sure, why not."

Mealtime came and went. Lazuli showed off her barbecue skills, and Peri very loudly enjoyed the juicy piece of meat Lazuli placed in her plate. And while the blue-haired girl was not very hungry, they both made quick work of everything Lazuli had cooked. As soon as dessert was over – a nice chocolate cake – and the table was clean, Lazuli took off her shirt, revealing the top of a blue two-piece, with waves drawn on it. Of course, Peri had to stare at her girlfriend's thin but muscular stomach, so pale it looked blue as she got close to the pool.

"So, ready for that little swim?"

Peri's panic level grew exponentially, and she shook her head vigorously, desperately trying to find yet another excuse.

"But... but we shouldn't swim right after eating! It's not good... It might kill us!"

Lazuli crossed her arms and gave her a deadpan look.

"Peri, that's not true. Are you afraid to show me what you look like in a swimsuit? Is that why you don't want to swim?"

"What? No, of course not! I just want to make sure I survive this day so that I can enjoy many others with you. So I'll just..."

She delicately sat next to the pool, carefully not to lose her balance, took off her sandals and put her feet in the water. It first felt cold, and Peri couldn't help but shiver. But she relaxed and gave a bright genuine smile to Lazuli.

"See? I'll stay here while you swim. For now, I mean. And in... thir...forty minutes I'll put on my swimsuit and go in there headfirst with you."

Of course, her voice had to quiver at the end. And Peri really hoped Lazuli hadn't noticed. This arrangement seemed to suit the taller girl, who took off her short and plunged gracefully into the pool. Peri watched her do with a certain admiration. Lazuli swam to her and rested her arms on the now wet stone.

"Are you sure you don't want to come in?"

"I'm good, thank you."

Lazuli swam about fifteen minutes on her own before she started to get bored. She had imagined swimming with Peri would be far more interesting than this, but every time she asked to the blond if she wanted to join her, Peri answered with the same friendly smiled that she was good. So Lazuli decided to exit the pool for now.

"Can you give me my towel? It's right behind you."

Peri nodded, still with that same nice, almost stupid smile on her face, and she stood up and turned around. Unfortunately, Peri's balance was less than stellar with wet feet. Her first step slipped on the stone and send her tumbling backward, straight into the cold and deep water of Lazuli's pool. And it made Lazuli laugh so hard, for the first twenty seconds that is. Until she noticed Peri was not surfacing.

Peri had been resigned to die in this pool the moment Lazuli invited her. And so, as she felt her back hit the water, she made a silent prayer to the god who would gladly listen to her dying wish. Please, please let there be a good Internet connection in the afterlife.

When Peri decided she had pretended to be dead enough, she opened her eyes, only to hear a sigh. She was completely drenched like she had been under a really bad downpour. The lenses of her glasses were prickled with small droplets of water, and she felt her clothes sticking to her skin. She lightly turned her head to the right, where Lazuli was still kneeling beside her. Thank goodness the blue-haired girl had had her lifeguard diploma the previous summer.

Peri tried to speak, but her throat and lungs were on fire, it was even worse than on Monday morning. She shivered, and as she was about to speak Lazuli shouted to her:

"Why didn't you tell me you couldn't swim?!"

Even through Peri's blurry vision, she could see Lazuli was crying, letting out the sudden fear she had felt when Peri hadn't surfaced. Peri held up her hand to brush the tears off of Lazuli's cheek with her thumb.

"I'm sorry." was all she could say with her burning throat.

Lazuli helped her to stand up and led her to a deck-chair where they both sat. She rolled them up in her towel, before looking into Peri's bag to find her girlfriend's towel. At least she had brought one. All rolled up in both towels, Peri placed her head on Lazuli's shoulder. She gulped multiple times before finding it in herself to tell Lazuli the truth.

"I was afraid to tell you I couldn't swim. How stupid does it sound? The school's swimming champion's girlfriend can't swim?"

"You should have told me anyway, even if it sounds stupid to you."

Lazuli held Peri closer, encircling her with her arm before entwining their right hand's fingers.

"I could teach you, you know? Not today, but I could."

"We'll see, okay?"

Lazuli nodded, before standing up. She took one of the towels still around Peri and dried herself expertly, before helping Peri up.

"Come on. You need to get out of those clothes before you catch a cold."

When Lazuli's parents came home later that afternoon, they found the two girls on the couch, watching Camp Pining Hearts. Peri, still wearing Lazuli's clothes, which were way too big for her, had fallen asleep on her girlfriend's shoulder. When it became clear Peri's near-death experience had exhausted her, Lazuli's father placed her on the backseat of his car, and Lazuli drove her home. And while Lazuli left her on her bed, placing a good night's kiss on her forehead, Peri was dreaming of her first swimming lesson with an easy smile. It was going to be great.