AN: The current date of the chapter is Wednesday, October 19th.

Icey_U: everyone morning!

purple_PUMA: WHY

keepittogether: ha, jokes on you I haven't slept yet

What-can-I-do4u: Sapphire whyyyy

Icey_U: Ruby said it would be funny.

Mr-Universe: WHY CAN'T YOU PEOPLE MESSAGE EACH OTHER AT NORMAL HOURS IT'S 1 IN THE MORNING

Made_of_LOVE: Sapphire, you are my favourite cousin, and I love you, but

Made_of_LOVE: what the fuck

HappyCat: Aw Sapph I just got Aqua to sleep

Icy_U: I figured out the nightmare that is changing my name

HappyCat: How'd you do that?

Icy_U: I made a request to Peridot, guess she changed the code. She told me it would take a few days for the change to happen, because it would send me an email and all that.

Icy_U: Worth it.

HappyCat: Okay, I didn't wanna say anything, but

HappyCat: Where IS Peridot? She hasn't been at school in days.

keepittogether: Oh, yeah I kind of assumed she's sick?

purple_PUMA: nah, she'd still message us if she was sick, wouldn't she?

Icy_U: well, Ruby is definitely sick. Poor thing has a little cold. Maybe Peridot is sick and not allowed to use electronics?

purple_PUMA: oh yeah I forgot some people do that bullshit

Made_of_LOVE: Do what?

purple_PUMA: 'if you're feeling well enough to go on your phone you're obviously okay to go to school'

Icy_U: Yes, because using your fingers for something that hardly requires much mental process is obviously the same as going to school.

purple_PUMA: adults are so stupid

keepittogether: I don't wanna grow up

Icy_U: ...

Icy_U: me neither.

Mr-Universe: Yeah, I don't want to either.

purple_PUMA: i'm legit fuckin scared of what's coming

purple_PUMA: I don't even know if I can manage to get into any college, I have no plan

Icy_U: neither do I

Mr-Universe: I didn't think I was gonna make it this far

HappyCat: me neither

purple_PUMA: me too

Icy_U: same here.

Made_of_LOVE: I don't think any of us did. I kind of have a plan but

Made_of_LOVE: I don't want to live alone. The thought of being alone is scary.

La_Vie_En_Rose: Well, we'll all have each other in the future, I'm sure of it.

Made_of_LOVE: thanks Rose.

La_Vie_En_Rose: oh, and Sapphire?

Icy_U: Yeah?

La_Vie_En_Rose: your everyone privileges have been revoked.

La_Vie_En_Rose: OH FUCK

Icy_U: ha

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: god DAMMIT ROSE QUARTZ

La_Vie_En_Rose: I'll just... See myself out into the shame corner.

La_Vie_En_Rose: goodnight everyone.

TIME SKIP- 6:45

POV SHIFT- Lapis Lazuli

Lapis stood in front of her bathroom mirror, happy to have electricity back in her house, as she groomed herself. She had chosen her blue and violet flannel to keep warm against the rain. Her house was freezing cold from the weather outside.

The blue haired girl frowned at her reflection. Her hair did look weird, didn't it? She messed around with her bangs, pushing them back and away from her face at first only to cringe. She didn't want her face on display, she didn't like it. She hated her soft, childishly round cheeks, her freckles, her dull eyes with those dark circles under them from long nights of waking up from nightmares...

Slowly, Lapis pushed her bangs over to one side of her face, covering one of her eyes, just like Amethyst. She narrowed her eyes as she gazed into the mirror. She looked okay, but the Hawaiian just hoped her friends would like it. Lapis didn't want them to think she was weird.

Peridot had gone silent over the weekend, she had left for something on Saturday but had never returned. Lapis had kept an eye on the chatroom whenever she could, but no messages from the blonde had popped up. Lapis would understand if the blonde had been grounded, or was busy, but... She hadn't shown up to school at all through the week so far. Not on Monday or Tuesday.

The Hawaiian didn't like being apart from her crush, it burned her inside not knowing where she was, not being able to quell the tiny blonde's fears. Lapis loved her, she was in love with the charming Greek teen. Everything about her made the blue haired girl want to do stupid things like draw her with little hearts all around her, or write dumb little love notes that would have to be burned later, or listen to shitty sad love songs on her phone and cry because she knew deep down Peridot would never feel the same way.

She probably barely gave Lapis a second thought.

The blue haired girl ripped up another love note and burned the pieces with her lighter until they were unrecognizable. She tossed them out the window into the rain after they had been turned black.

Lapis grabbed her backpack, and was about to shove her wallet inside until she stopped. She opened the wallet up and looked at the picture inside. It had been taken when she was 10 years old. She was riding on the shoulders of her dad, her papa feeding her ice cream. They had been so happy once. They had been a family once.

Now it was all gone, and it was all her fault.

Lapis pressed her lips to the glossy plastic that protected the old photo before holding it close to her chest as if to keep it safe. Gently placing it inside her backpack, she walked out into the rain.

When she reached the school, she was thankful for the forested areas around for at least somewhat protecting her from the rain.

TIME SKIP- 11:30am

POV SHIFT- Pearl Oiseau

Something was wrong, very wrong. Everyone was on edge for some reason, the classroom was silent as a tomb, other than the sound of rain pouring down around them. The weather was awful, it was freezing cold and rain had been hammering down on them since 4 in the morning. It had been enough to wake Pearl up after her measly 3 hours of sleep, and the peach haired teen had wandered into Amethyst's mess of a room to crawl into her bed and snuggle up with her.

Pearl had no idea what had driven her to do that, other than the need for some much-needed comfort that only the lilac haired girl could provide. She hated being woken up like that, and rain made her nervous for some reason. She much preferred sunny weather, perfect to sit outside and read a book, or go out to the park, or... Anything. Pearl was definitely an outdoors loving girl.

But for now the skies were grey.

The teacher had given the class a book to read, something about some boy who joins with a circus, a train, the ringleader acting like a dick, an elephant... Pearl wasn't listening.

She was tired, miserable, and her body ached. She'd had dance class last night, and had left her with aching legs from all the things she had done. Not to mention... No, she didn't want to think about that. All Pearl wanted was to go back to her dorm and sleep.

Lapis seemed to be restless too, the blue haired girl was getting snappy at people and was generally more aggressive. She hadn't shown up at school yesterday, something about her family needing her for something.

Peridot still wasn't at school, Pearl was getting awfully concerned over the tiny girl, but she pushed it aside. The peach haired girl certainly had her theories about the blonde, but those would have to wait.

A flash from outside made some of the teens jump, followed by a low rumble. Pearl shivered, she was dreading having to work during this weather. If the power went out during her shift she was screwed.

"Psst, hey." Lapis muttered. "I can't see the clock, how long till this is over?" She asked, and Pearl noticed something rather... Off, about her friend (were they friends?). Her bangs were covering up one of her eyes. It was odd, not like her. But Pearl would keep her mouth shut about it. It wasn't nice to say such things.

She looked up at the clock. "It's 11:43." She told the shorter teen. The clock in the room was on the wall in front of them, and the thing was eye level. Pearl could see it perfectly from her desk, and Lapis was right beside her... "How can you not see the clock? It's almost right in front of us."

Lapis glared at her. "I just can't okay?" She growled.

The French teen wasn't done yet though, she smirked. "Lapis, can you... Not tell time?"

Bad idea. Lapis had all but snarled at her. "Yes, I can, dick-nose. I just can't fucking see it from here." She snapped, and Pearl went back to looking over her homework for spelling errors. She decided it would be best to just leave the blue haired teenager alone.

She quickly checked her phone, checking for messages from Amethyst. She and the purple haired girl had been texting each other almost non-stop all day. Amethyst had managed to get a few hours of sleep last night since Rose had made her go to bed early. Since the younger teen's birthday was coming soon, Pearl wanted to get her a nice gift. Amethyst insisted she didn't need anything, but the peach haired girl refused to listen.

So, there were things she had as options now as gifts for Amethyst's birthday. She could buy her a new video game, definitely some new clothes, or maybe something small and cool? She frowned thinking of her wallet, she wouldn't have very much left after buying things to make everyone's favourite food, along with making a large strawberry pie for Amethyst.

She hoped she would be giving what had to be one of her closest friends a good birthday. Amethyst could never afford things like big birthday parties, it always had to be small ones, like little sleepovers with Pearl, Garnet, and Rose. Sometimes Bismuth too if she wasn't too busy with practising hockey.

Things had gotten quite quiet around in their group. Ruby hadn't been around thanks to her cold, and though Pearl had messaged her plenty of times, still no answer from Peridot.

She couldn't help but wonder how the tiny girl was doing.

POV SHIFT- Peridot Diamond

Peridot shivered, curling up on her mattress with Percy in her arms. The Basement was cold, she had no clue how long she'd been down here. The blonde hoped her adoptive mother would let her out soon, she had to get to school on Monday... Was it even still the weekend though? She had no clue.

Her stomach ached from being so empty, tears slipping down her cheeks from eyes shut tight. She hated being down here so much, in the dark. She scratched between Percy's ears and held him close to her chest. He purred loudly, curling up on top of her, still so small. The Greek teenager was at least happy that Percy was still a kitten, if he laid o her chest he wouldn't be putting much weight on her ribs. She knew she was a thin kid, that it wasn't healthy, but she couldn't do much. Sweets were banned and Peridot couldn't eat too much or she'd get sick.

Her clothes clung to her tiny body, the thin material easily penetrated by the cold air of the house. "Please..." She whispered, only mouthing the words. "I just want to see my friends again..."

POV SHIFT- Sapphire Hibernis

"Saaaaph!" Ruby called to her, when the blue haired teen turned to her girlfriend she began to blush seeing Ruby grin at her, making a heart shape with her hands. "I love you."

Sapphire giggled and blew her beautiful lover a kiss as she stirred the lemonade she had on the counter. Sure it was out of a packet, but it tasted good. "You drink this, take your medicine, and get some rest. Okay?"

"I will. I'm gonna miss you. Do good on your test!" Ruby chirped, smiling happily as Sapphire kissed her on the forehead. The Indian girl had a test in her art class, something she couldn't skip, even if she wanted to in order to take care of Ruby. Ruby was almost better though, she was a strong girl.

Sapphire waved goodbye, and walked out. Heading down the stairs until she made her way into the school, walking alongside Pearl. The peach haired girl looked distressed, there were dark circles underneath her eyes and she was staring at her phone as she walked. "Pearl?"

The taller teenager jumped a little, and stared at Sapphire. "Oh, I'm sorry Sapphire, I didn't even notice you there." She responded. "Do you need something?"

She had been about to shake her head, when she realized that this could be the opportunity needed in order to speak with the French girl. "Can I talk to you, in the bathroom?" Sapphire asked, and Pearl nodded, following along behind the short girl into the empty bathroom.

"Okay, what's up?" Asked Pearl once they had entered the bathroom, the blue haired girl sitting up on the counter.

Sapphire took a deep breath. "What's wrong?" She asked, "And don't say 'it's nothing', Pearl. You haven't been sleeping, your hair's a mess, and your watching you phone as you're walking in the hall, which you scold me for all the time. What's going on?"

Pearl's eyes widened, before she let out a weary chuckle. "Nothing gets past you, does it? It's not even one problem, it's two. Okay, maybe three."

The tiny girl held out her hands, taking Pearl's and holding them tight. "Pearl. We've known each other almost all our lives, you can tell me anything."

The tall girl bit her lip before she looked down. "My mom texted me last night. She... She wants me to try living with her again. Sapphire, I can't do it."

Oh.

Emily Oiseau, Pearl's mother. Sapphire remembered her quite well. She was tall and skinny with fiery red hair and freckles all over her face. Emily had been a kind and caring woman, and had been trapped in an abusive relationship. Her partner had hurt her badly, and she had moved from France to America to escape them, though she gave birth to Pearl a little while later. She worked hard, and was always tired, always stressed out. One day at Pearl's house, Sapphire had found bottle of foul smelling liquid along with little white pills.

Sapphire remembered the day when people in suits had come up to them in school, taking the peach haired girl away. She remembered Pearl's agonized scream out in the hallway, not seeing her for days, and then she showed up again, saying that her mother was no longer allowed to take care of her, and that she would be living with new parents. Pearl had come to her house some nights, scared of being in a new house with strange people she didn't know, never hearing from her mother despite trying so hard to speak with her in any way possible.

The blue hared girl was glad that Pearl had Amethyst to help her through things, they needed each other.

"So, what should I tell her?" Pearl asked, and Sapphire gave her a gentle smile.

"The truth, tell her you're living in a dorm, with us. That you want to get your money's worth, and be able to more easily study. I mean, that's why you don't go to your home right now, isn't it?"

The pale teen gave a little chuckle. "Yes, it is. I guess you're right. But, that's not just it. You see... I... I'm so jealous of Greg. He and Rose get along in a way I just can't seem to have. He GETS her a lot more than I do."

Nodding, the tiny teen gave her friend's hands another squeeze. "And? I get the feeling that's not just it, is it? You're jealous of Greg because he and Rose already have a strong bond. That's fair. But, what sort of bond have you wished for yourself to have with Rose?"

Pearl shook her head. "I could answer that question a while ago. Now I'm not so sure. I used to say it all the time that I adored Rose, but... Lately I just don't think it's true. I mean don't get me wrong she's still one of my closest friends in the world, but... I feel like I'm closer with..."

Sapphire tilted her head, gesturing to Pearl to continue. "With..."

"She just makes me so happy, Sapph. Everyday I'm with her I feel so much more alive, like I can do anything. Sure we have our little fights, but it's just us playing around. I want to help her and protect her from the world, I want to see her smile. Lately whenever I'm around her my heart starts to pound and I just want to hold onto her, I want to be... Forever, with her." Pearl explained, starting to have a blissful smile spread across her face, along with a deep, pink blush.

"And, who is 'she'?" Asked Sapphire, already knowing the answer.

"Amethyst. I'm head over heels for Amethyst."