"Lazuli?"
The sound of her classmate's voice snaps her out of her thoughts. Blinking a black eye sleepily, Lapis yawns and glances over at Peridot.
"Hm? What? Do you actually need something, or are you gonna point out the black eye." It isn't really a question. People keep asking who kicked her ass. It isn’t worth talking about, especially not to nosy assholes.
"Wh-- no I wasn't going to ask! No one here is stupid enough not to know why it's there." Peridot pushes her glasses back up the bridge of her nose, waving off the questions. "I wanted to make sure you at least got the homework done. Watching you fail so hard would just be annoying."
Lapis Lazuli gives her... friend?...the flattest glare she can possibly muster. Hopefully she’ll fucking retreat into that ugly-ass hat and stay the hell out of the way. Peridot doesn’t quite catch the hint, instead just awkwardly looking away from the bruises she spots on Lapis's neck. The night must have been rougher than she had first thought. What an oversight.
"Sorry. I'll leave you alone then...?" The grunt Peridot gets in response doesn't really mean much. "You know, if she's beating the shit outta you like that, you could just... leave ."
Of course that gets a response. Lapis gets up, carelessly pushing Peridot into the bench, and scoffs.
"LEAVE? If I leave, she wins, and you know what? FUCK THAT. She's made this a fight and she's made it so if I walk away I lose. Lose what? Who CARES? If I have to, we're both going down."
Peridot tugs anxiously at a tassel of her hat. What even is that shitty hat for, anyway? She looks confused, but Lapis doesn’t bother giving her the time to figure things out. Before Peridot can come up with any cute responses, Lapis grabs her bookbag and leaves.
The campus is crowded, and in the sea of people Lapis Lazuli feels for a moment like she could disappear. Everyone’s so busy with their own lives that no one notices one woman with a black eye, a fat lip, and bruises around her neck. Nobody’s got time to ask questions, since they’re all rushing off to their next destination. It's almost like getting lost out at sea. Even though everyone is jostling and pushing, bumping into each other like it's bumper cars at a damn carnival, she feels calmer. It's not like Peridot was going to call the cops or anything, and Lapis isn't going to bother pressing charges. Not when Jasper walked away from last night with a broken wrist and is lucky all her fingers weren't broken. Just thinking about it sets her stomach on fire and makes her want to find Jasper for another round. Of course, that isn't really possible at the moment, which is for the best.
It wasn't the first time Peridot had asked why she hadn't just left. And at this rate, it wouldn't be the last. It frustrates her that she can never find a way to explain that no, she just has to do this. The words stick in her throat like peanut butter. Jasper obviously feels the same, considering she hasn't left either. Grinding her teeth, she resists the itchy feeling of needing a smoke and instead heads towards her next class. She'll catch a smoke break afterwards. Her mother keeps nagging her to quit, but after the latest round with Jasper she can’t bring herself to care about her mother’s wishes. It’ll steady her nerves, and if it means she dies of lung cancer, fine.
The thought of lung cancer killing her first makes her snort. If Jasper’s lucky, then yeah, cancer might get her first. Otherwise she's going to drag them both down in flames. It’s the only thing that makes sense, given how fucked up we are . They'll make each other miserable until either one or both of them dies. The thought is both comforting and terrifying. For now, though, the train of thought has to be shelved. Other things require attention.
Her cellphone buzzes in her pocket while she's listening to the lecture. She ignores it.
It continues. A quick glance tells her that she shouldn’t even dignify it with a response. Jasper knows she has class right now. Let her whine to the voicemail.
Eventually the buzzing of her phone gets to her, and Lapis turns it off, dropping it into her backpack. A headache is starting to set in. She can already tell it’s going to be a long night.