First to Fall

Pearl plopped down on the queen sized bed, her thin body sprawled out on the mattress. Peridot followed, sitting upright, and crossing her legs. No one was in here besides them in the small room. Whatever was happening to her head was causing her to feel sick. Not the throwing up kind of sick, but the type where someone faints from lightheadedness. It could just be the dim lighting. Thoughts beginning to dissipate, the blonde needed to rest her head against something.

Anything.

Falling backwards, she laid face up on the bed. It felt nice, comfier than usual. Did the ceiling always look this yellow and spin this much? Closing her eyes was the only solution to bring some limited relief.

Wait, there was a reason she was here in the first place.

Oh yeah, Pearl.

Her roommate’s pink hair appeared a redder hue than usual. Was it the dim lighting? Sitting on her side with both arms to support, Pearl was faced towards her, watching her.

They were both terribly close to one another.

That’s right. There was something she wanted to tell me.

Peridot did not roll over to her side. If she did, the blonde would surely pass out. Opening her mouth, she spoke words even her mind could not process. The nature of it was a question, and Pearl seemed to understand. Even if her mental capacity for assembling sentences was thrown out the window, at least she was still cohesive.

Pearl’s delicate hand was playing with her own, Peridot realized. For how long? Three minutes could have passed since she plopped on the bed, or three hours. At this point there was no telling. Never before did time tick by so slowly.

Saying something under her breath, Pearl rolled over on top of Peridot. Immediately Pearl held both of her wrists down by her head. Like she was even able to push her off and walk out in the first place. Nothing was processing.

What is going on? Why is Pearl above me?

Only basal thoughts were allowed to enter her head. As much as she struggled to understand, nothing clicked. Only actions by the girl on top of her seemed to bypass the confusion. What’s worse, she could not make herself move, even if she was not held down. Her nerves were disconnecting from her muscles. Her body was no longer obeying her mind. Was she dying?

The pale face above her gave a white-ish glow. Peridot could no longer distinguish her housemate’s features. Instead some other girl, maybe an angel, was shedding off her skin. It took longer for Peridot to comprehend the figure’s face was madly pressed on her own. She did not feel it. The blonde also never felt the subject taking off her own clothes, first her shirt, then her pants.

Fading.

She was fading away. As much as she tried keeping her eyes open, her vision persisted to glaze over. The obscure room was darkening, shadows creeping up from each corner, silhouetting her vision. They were frightening, yet she welcomed it. Wanting the freedom to breathe, her own inhales were sapped away by greedy lips. And why.

Was she dying?

Why.

It was her last thought. Peridot sunk in the blackness which succeeded to engulf her. It was odd. She felt nothing, and everything. But mostly anything. Vision did not exist, along with the rest of her physicality. What was the meaning? What was her meaning? Thoughts departed long ago. Peridot only felt a sense of being, of her own existence. Other than that, nothing.

Just as fast as she fell into a mindless abyss, her mind was brought back. The world was re-creating itself.  In a snap, her vision was back, albeit still hazy. She was no longer on the bed, but held firmly inside familiar arms.

There was screaming. Where was it coming from? Wherever the source might be, it was creeping at a crescendo.

Next, her full hearing returned. The screaming was originating from somewhere closeby. Her world was becoming recognizable again. Lungs sore and clenching, she gasped for oxygen.

“You need water.”

Were those words?

The blonde felt a shuffling, and a bottle of clear liquid was handed to her. Absentmindedly Peridot brought it to her lips. There was nothing else in the world which could have tasted better then.

Those arms never let go of their strong hold. She never wanted them to either.

All of Peridot’s senses were returning, although still weak. Her head was already pressed into the neck of someone she knew very well. The scent of flowers wafted up her nose, a smell which she could always relax around. Violet eyes were gazing at her protectively.

In a flash, the smaller girl whipped both hands out and over her mouth. She was the one who was screaming bloody murder.

“Garnet, I think she’s coming back!”

“Good job Lapis. Make sure she doesn’t fall back into…” It was hard to hear what the driver was saying. Driver. She was in a car, Peridot came to understand.

The blonde began to weep. There was no emotion behind it, only her body’s impulse. As if a brick wall stood in front of her, blocking her cognitive senses, she desperately needed to find a way around.

Lapis wiped away the tears from her cheeks, reassuring her. “It’s okay, we got away. We’re not at the party anymore. Everything’s going to be alright. I’m here.”

Even though Peridot managed to control her anxiety fairly well, it was back full force. Completely helpless to it, she gave in to her biggest fear. “Promise you won’t leave,” she trembled, feeling as if something else was possessing her to speak words.

Taking both of her shoulders, Lapis looked her dead in the eye, as confident as could be. “Never.”

This made Peridot sob even more. If she was in the right mind, she would have laughed at herself. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” There was no hesitation from Lapis.

“We’re here,” Garnet interrupted.

“Huh?” Peridot said obliviously. She looked out the car. Garnet’s car was parked outside an empty parking lot of a fast food joint. When did they get here?

“There are things the three of us need to talk about,” Garnet explained.

Peridot understood. Sentences seemingly with no meaning were almost unjumbled. She nodded in response, and Lapis embraced her tighter.

“That party was a hot mess,” Lapis said angrily.

“Agreed. But first of all, I want to apologize to you, and especially Peridot. She endured the worst of it.”

The blue haired girl was silent for a second in thought. “None of this was your fault.”

“I was the designated driver tonight and took it upon myself to watch you two, as well as Pearl, Amethyst, and Jasper. I never expected that to happen, or for Pearl to act that way. I should have kept a closer eye.”

“You’re not responsible for Pearl’s actions,” her girlfriend said frustrated. “She was the one who made the decision to fuck my girlfriend!”

“But she was also drugged,” Garnet argued.

“What?” Lapis was startled.

“I saw her go for the keg, the same one Peridot drank from, as well as Amethyst and Jasper. Some… asshole spiked it with some date rape drug.” It was the first time Peridot heard Garnet swear. It did not fit her.

“How do you know it was that keg?”

Garnet held up her finely manicured hand, showing off her glossy maroon nails. Except one of them was black. “I always put on this nail polish. If you dip a finger in, the color will change if your drink is spiked. I like to prepare for the worst, just in case.” 

“And that’s why you stopped me.”

“Yes. And only a couple others. I wish I could have helped Peridot in time.”

“You helped us in a different way. If you hadn’t been around to help us get away, we would have been trapped at the party with cops storming the place.”

“Again, I’m always prepared for the worst. Although for this party, it was probably for the best they did.”

“Do you think the others are going to be alright?”

Peridot coughed, unintentionally interrupting them.

“Sadie was also a designated driver, and came with Lars. I told her in time to take Pearl, Amethyst, and Jasper, if she could find them. Even though Pearl drove, she likely made it out with Sadie and Lars. I’m not sure about the other two.”

“So Pearl was drugged too,” Lapis paused.

“At least it appeared to be the case. I noticed her acting weird after you gave her that, beautiful if I might add, hook to the face.”

Peridot held Lapis’ hand tighter.

“I can’t be mad at her,” Lapis said, as if she was talking to herself. “It… wouldn’t be right.”

“She likely couldn’t even control her own actions towards Peridot in those moments.”

“But I’m still angry. At her.”

“And that’s still understandable.”

“I still want to punch her.”

“That’s also an understandable response.”

“You probably think I’m a bitch, for wanting that.”

“Not in the slightest,” Garnet threw back, giving a deep sigh. “Honestly I’m angry too. Peridot’s my friend as well.”

They were both talking about her as if she was not there. But on the other hand, maybe she was not. “I don’t understand.” Peridot repeated.

They both looked at her, Garnet with sad, dark eyes. “You’ll be alright,” she said calmly.

“Do you think,” Lapis began speaking to Garnet, “it was rape?”

“In this case, they were not only drunk, but drugged. Pearl… I want to believe Pearl had no idea what she was doing. She would never do something like that if she wasn’t. But it still was involuntary,” she trailed off.

“What if Pearl’s conscience was partially there?”

“I don’t know,” a fast tear slipped off her cheek. “Pearl’s not only my roommate, but one of my closest friends. I wish I knew.”

The blonde had never seen the older woman cry in her life.

Lapis spoke slowly. “Both Peridot and I have been regularly seeing counselors, separately. We’ll talk to them about it.” Peridot felt Lapis bury her face into her hair. “Lately we’ve constantly had to navigate new issues popping up right and left. But we want to work everything out together, no matter what it takes.”

Peridot now felt her emotions creeping back. “Lapis, hold me.”

“I am holding you, nerd,” her girlfriend choked out a laugh.

“Oh.” She nuzzled further into her girlfriend, realizing a certain soreness.

“So what happens next?” The blue hair girl said quietly.

“I texted Sadie to meet up somewhere, like here or the diner,” Garnet was checking her phone again. “New message, she said that works.”

“Are they all with her?” Peridot heard Lapis say.

Garnet typed and sent another message, and she received an almost instant reply.

“Only Lars,” Garnet sadly said. “Also said she’ll explain. Are you alright with meeting up, just for a few minutes? I would like to make sure they’re alright. Will you and Peridot be okay?”

“Yeah, that’s fine. We should check in with them.”

“I’ll tell Sadie to drive and meet us here in the parking lot.”

Lapis and Garnet discussed more back and forth, and Peridot felt lost. She was hearing and processing some words, but others flew right by. Other times her mind would still blank out and snap back, like a light turning on and off.

She had no idea when Sadie and Lars appeared outside the car. When did that occur? Her door was now open, but Lapis was still with her. She did not want to move. Peridot listened to the conversation between the four.

“And then I noticed Lars was acting weirder than usual. That’s when I realized something was wrong, not only with him, but everyone around us,” Sadie was holding his hand.

“I feel awful, but not as awful as Peridot, probably,” Lars muttered. “She stopped me after I had a small sip. For about an hour I was pretty gone, but it gets better once you start to come back. I’m just glad I wasn’t one of those frat boys chugging the thing.”

“Who knows what happened to them,” Sadie joked, trying to make light of a horrible situation.

“Probably the cops,” Lapis answered sarcastically.

“You two left after we did,” Garnet began. “What happened?”

Sadie began, “We saw Pearl, but she was so out of it and distraught that she ran out. Stumbling around if I might add. We tried looking for her again, but she was nowhere around. She must have left the party, while we were trying to drag Amethyst and Jasper away.”

“Pearl was conscious?” Garnet clarified.

“She didn’t quite seem all there, but she was reacting similar to Lars, which makes me think she was drugged as well.”

“What happened with Jasper and Amethyst?”

“Well I was literally dragging them out of the party. They could barely move. And of course Lars couldn’t help. This time, with an acceptable explanation. We were a block away from my car dragging those two, when we started hearing the sirens.”

“So we dumped them behind the bushes and ran,” Lars interrupted. 

“To summarize, yes. We concealed them far enough away from the party, where the police wouldn’t look. We wouldn’t have gotten away if we had not,” Sadie justified.

“They’ll be fine,” Lars added, fanning his hand out.

“What the…” Lapis trailed off.

Garnet replied with a sigh, “I’ll go back for them as well as look for Pearl. It’s best not to take the risk of leaving them there. But first, we need to get you two home,” she turned to Lapis who was holding Peridot. “If it’s alright with you Lapis, I’ll drop you both off at your house. You won’t want to be around the Temple when the others are back. It will be pretty intense.”

The blue haired girl replied with a nod.

Continuing, Garnet said, “You should go home and take care of Lars, Sadie. Don’t worry about the others.”

“But you’ll need a hand, right? You can’t just take care of three drugged and drunk people by themselves. I’ll go back with Lars to drop him off at his apartment, and meet you at the Temple. We can go from there. Does that sound good to you?” Sadie turned to Lars, who nodded and yawned in response.

Garnet smiled, “Thank you, I appreciate you offering.” Everyone began returning to their cars. Text me when you’re on your way, or if you can.”

“See you in about half an hour,” Sadie called out of the car door, before driving off.

In no time, Garnet drove Lapis and Peridot back home to Lapis’ place. Feeling her girlfriend pull her out of the car, she obediently followed.

“Thank you again, Garnet,” Lapis said with her door still open.

“You don’t need to thank me. You would have done the same.”

Looking down at the ground, she hesitated a bit. “I don’t ever think I apologized to you for being so rude the first day we met.”

“What do you mean? I didn’t think you were rude at all, just shy.”

“I knew you were a good person from the beginning, but because I saw you before at the club with Amy and Jasper, I didn’t believe it. And I felt a bit left out, knowing Peridot and you all lived together at the Temple. I felt like I was on the outside and for that reason I was jealous. But I allowed myself to feel that way, so for those reasons I want to apologize.”

“Well if it eases your mind, apology accepted.”

Lapis held Peridot tighter in her arms before leading the shorter girl into the house. Dropping their belongings on Lapis’ bed, the blonde was guided to the bathroom. Leaning over, Lapis turned the tub faucet to lukewarm, and started taking off Peridot’s clothes.

“Wha…” The shorter girl began to say, unknowingly raising her arms to make the shirt glide off easier.

“You’re sweating all over. We need to regulate your body temperature.”

Immediately Peridot felt relief when she stepped into the bath, with help from Lapis. She did not even know she was sweating in the first place, until Lapis had mentioned it and Peridot wiped her forehead. Sitting down with legs crossed, she let her girlfriend take a damp cloth and wash her.

“It might be a good idea to sit in here for a bit,” began Lapis. Leaning over, she pressed her forehead on Peridot’s own.

“I still can’t believe Pearl,” Lapis whispered, Peridot could feel her breath. “How could she do that to you? I thought she was our friend. It looks like none of us really know Pearl after all. I… I should have seen it coming. I’m sorry I wasn’t around to stop it earlier Peridot.”

Blue locks fell in front of Peridot’s face, and she swept them away. Lapis tenderly kissed her pale forehead.

“I love you, Peridot.”

The blonde immediately kissed her lips. Those words made up the first sentence she understood.

“I love you too,” she hummed back.

By the time they curled up in bed, Lapis’ flashing alarm clock said three am. When it turned six in the morning, they were rudely woken up by her cell phone.

Peridot’s eyes felt like they were held shut by some unknown force. She did not bother opening them, and remained in a half-asleep state. In the background, she could hear her beautiful girlfriend’s voice lull her.

“What’s wrong Garnet? What happened?”

The blonde was almost asleep again.

“What do you mean Pearl’s in the emergency room?”

Her eyes opened wide.