First Message
Later that day, Peridot went to hang out with a friend from school. Perhaps friend was too strong of a word. Acquaintance felt much more appropriate, and it better described their relationship. Late into the previous semester, she met Lars in her Data Analysis class. Right off the bat, it was obvious the punk kid was a classic slacker, and did not want to be there. Whenever the professor forced to call on him, his voice always had a snotty tone, and never interacted with the other classmates. Every day his face had a static expression of complete boredom. Not the kind of character Peridot was drawn to.
If he doesn’t want to be here, why doesn’t he just get a job or go to another school, instead of waste all that money? She thought to herself.
But she had underestimated him too swiftly, as her apathetic classmate proved to be very bright, despite his demeanor. It was people like him, who ticked Peridot off. Because they never did any work, they were wasting their ability. So when the professor assigned a group project which counted as a fourth of her grade, luck ended up pooling her and Lars into the same three person group. It was even more surprising to see Lars actually engage in the project, whenever they were outside the class. Even though his overall character was annoying, he was not half as bad a person as Peridot originally thought.
Now they were chilling at the beach like friends, good ones even, might do. Even when they were together he acted careless, though at times Lars was very intent on listening to Peridot. Oddly she respected his people skills, which was a big contradiction. That was what made Lars mysterious. He was often an extremely private person, which was also expressed though his skeptical and suspicious behavior. In a different way, Peridot could relate. Their mutual wariness of others was probably what brought them together in the first place. It was the reason why their personalities, though still very different, meshed so well.
They laid out a few towels rather close to the edge where the tide rose and fell. It was one of the only spaces available since the whole shore was congested with people. They were at Beach City’s largest beach, which was positively crowded on any remotely warm day. It took them twenty, maybe thirty minutes to find parking around the neighborhood. Fortunately they found a free spot, and snagged it before another car could.
Now they both laid down on opposite sides of their camp, shielding their eyes from the blazing sun as they people watched. They had just gotten out of the ocean to cool off, and ended up swimming in the waves. It wiped Peridot out physically, not to mention literally, but afterwards she felt relaxed. Tranquil even.
They both wore black. Peridot had on black shorts and a black and forest green bikini top, while Lars only had on black swim trunks. Even his gauges, which he just increased sizes, were black.
Lars was pretty lanky and a little under six feet, putting him almost a foot taller than she. His red curly hair was shapes into a kind of Mohawk, and both sides of his head were buzzed. But the color complimented his darker skin tone. Everyone was darker than Peridot. She was the palest person she knew. And she forgot sunscreen, to her skin’s detriment. Later she would pay the price.
Whipping out her phone, she swiped the screen to unlock, and touched the icon to view messages. The second text conversation was from a number she had not even saved in her contacts. But she knew who it was from.
Lapis Lazuli, the cute bartender from last night, had reached out to her. Peridot could not remember what she said or how she acted, but was confident she made herself a fool in front of Lapis. The hangover earlier that morning was enough proof.
Instead of texting her back, Peridot simply looked at the text and closed out of her inbox. She had no idea what to say back, since this was the first time a girl of interest initiated contact with her. It was the first time she had ever been asked out at all, and she was silently freaking out. Even though she hesitated to respond back, the text festered inside her head the whole day. She had to say something, but lacked the guts.
Lars was not too experienced with girls either, from what Peridot could gather. It was not like he could not find a date or get a girlfriend, he just showed no interest in the subject when it came to himself. But maybe he had some input on what to do.
Mustering some courage, Peridot finally spoke to him after an hour of relaxing in silence. “Hey Lars? I need your advice on something.”
“Advice on something? That’s very specific.”
Smart aleck.
“Pertaining to girls,” Peridot continued.
“What about them? Are you gay?” It was a genuine question.
Peridot nodded. It was the second time now she had come out to anyone. “I suppose you could say that. But that’s not the point, I need counsel on one girl in particular.”
“It’s one of your housemates, isn’t it,” he hypothesized, giving Peridot his full attention.
This made her laugh out loud. “No, definitely not!” Her roommates were very good looking, by most people’s standards. But Peridot felt no attraction towards them. She hardly felt attracted to anyone in general, but when she did it was always towards women. “Actually, it’s someone I met last night when I went out with my roommates.”
“I’m listening.”
“Well for starters, her name is Lapis Lazuli, and actually works at the club we went to as a bartender. She has blue hair and a nice tan, that’s as much as I can remember of her appearance anyway. When I was sitting down feeling pretty nauseous, she brought me a bottled water and asked for my number. Honestly it was kind of a blur. This morning I woke up to a text from her, but haven’t responded.”
“Why in the world not?” He stuck out both hands in a presenting manner.
“I’m too much of a pansy,” Peridot admitted.
“But she came to you. Not only that, but texted you first. If she just wanted to hook up with you, she would have tried something last night. Sounds like a keeper to me.”
“We’ve only met once,” Peridot said, unamused.
“Still. You wanted my opinion right? I think you should give her a chance. It’s not too late to text her back, though you might want to do that soon before she loses interest.”
“I don’t know how.”
“Well, you click on the message, type on the touch screen and-“
“I mean I don’t know what to say.”
Lars groaned. “This isn’t my problem, you wanted my advice so I’m giving it to you. You don’t have anything to lose.”
That’s right. There was not anything that would be lost in sending a simple text message. It was not about what she would lose at all. Instead she would gain embarrassment and apprehension. There was this growing fear that Lapis would turn her down. Not having any experience in dating, maybe Lapis would see right through her, decide she was a total nerd, and drop her like a hot potato. Was that not what most people did, if they sensed anything subpar to their caliber? But Lapis did go out of her way to bring her a water, and that reoccurring small voice told Peridot that Lapis was neither shallow nor depthless. But she did not know. She did not know Lapis at all. A text back was all that was needed, for her to find out.
“Fine, fine, I’ll do it. But if she never texts me back, it’s your fault,” Peridot said back, not in an aggressive or accusing way.
“I don’t care who you blame, it’s your decision,” he put his hands behind his neck, supporting his head. “If it’s this stressful for you, then don’t do it. Really, you should relax,” Lars laid back and closed his eyes, knowing it would evoke an annoyed response from the short blonde. Why did she really hang out with him anyway?
She looked back at her phone, and stared down at the text. Reading those same words over and over started making no sense. What was wrong with her anyway? Most girls would be thrilled, excited to be asked out, but she was sick with nerves. But if she never responded, well, the weight of regret would pound her more than the nerves. Needing to get her head on straight, Peridot told herself she was overthinking this way too much, that she needed to make a decision. She was hardly indecisive, so why was now any different?
Making an audible sigh for Lars to crack open one eye lid, she typed away. The message was short but sweet.
Hey Lapis, it’s Peridot. I would love to go out sometime. When works for you?
With some hesitation, she pressed send. She threw the phone on the towel in front of her, like it was some sort of contagious disease. There. It’s done, no going back.
Peridot half hoped Lapis would not respond, since so much time had passed. That she had simply waited too long to show any interest. That the blue haired bartender was with some attractive girl right now, sipping away margaritas at happy hour. To her consternation, in less than a couple minutes her phone buzzed against the towel, distinct enough to hear. Immediately Peridot snatched it and checked the screen.
I’d love to! How does Wednesday work for you?