The blaring sound of an alarm clock shot through the quiet room. Groaning and the rustling of blankets could be heard before a hand reached out to slam it off. Tired and slightly irritated, the teen willed herself to sit up in her bed and run a hand through her light blonde hair. She groggily fumbled with her glasses and slid them onto to her face to look at the illuminated screen of her clock.

She jolted up at the sight of the time and threw the blankets from her in alarm. She was supposed to be up almost an hour ago! For anyone else getting up at this hour for school would be normal, but unfortunately she had to walk. The buses were completely useless in her area and she couldn't get a reliable ride, so this was her only option. It only worked if she didn't sleep through over half her alarms, though.

She flew from her bed and stumbled into the hallway. She nearly tripped over her own feet trying to get up the stairs and into the bathroom. She clicked on the light switch and immediately cringed and cursed at the light her eyes hadn't adjusted to yet.

"Come on, Peridot, wake up." she urged herself as she turned the water on to wash her face. No matter what the consequences were, she never seemed to get it through her head that staying up to play video games is a bad idea. And last night was no exception since she was up until almost two a.m. working toward defeating as many levels as she could.

In her defense, it was a highly addictive game and she only needed to beat one more level before she would be able to move up a class. But maybe if she had gone to sleep at a decent hour she wouldn't have slept in for so long! Peridot grimaced and shook her head at her reflection, then reached for her toothbrush.

Once she was finished, she rushed out of the bathroom. On the way to the stairs, she passed by her mom's bedroom and paused for just a moment to peek into it. Her mother wasn't there, which meant she had already gone to work, leaving Peridot alone in the house. It was normal to see it empty like this.

The main reason Peridot couldn't get rides to school was because her mom insisted she was too old to rely on her for things like that anymore. She could count on one hand the amount of times her mom was around in the mornings, and there were few times that she was even home before Peridot came back from school. She was used to it by now and understood that her mom's job took too much of her time, but she wouldn't mind if she was around more often.

She frowned and turned to bolt down the stairs to her room where she began to get ready for school.

She settled on a simple but comfortable outfit and attempted to fix her disastrous hair. There was no time for breakfast, which was fine with her because she ended up skipping it most mornings anyway. She hastily threw on a sweater and shoes, grabbed her backpack and phone, and headed for the front door.

She paused and stared at her hand clutching the knob. Although she was aware that she had very little time to just stand around, there was something nagging at the back of her mind. It felt like she was forgetting something. She ran through her head all the things she had done or could have done, but nothing seemed to be missing.

Whatever it was probably wasn't very important anyway. Without a second thought, she burst out of the house and into the chilly morning air to start racing all the way to school.

By the time Peridot got there, she felt like her lungs were going to explode from her chest and her legs were going to give out at any moment. She was surprised but extremely thankful to find that she actually made it just in time. Wheezing and sputtering like an old, rundown engine, she stopped right inside the main doors of the building to take a moment to catch her breath.

Her breathing had nearly returned to normal before it was suddenly squeezed right back out of her by a pair of strong arms. The startling action made her cry out as she was lifted into the air and carelessly swung around.

"You're late, nerd!" she heard through the wind rushing past her ears. She immediately recognized the voice and her shock was replaced with anger.

"Put me down, Jasper!" she hissed through clenched teeth as she thrashed around in her arms. She was not in the mood for this! Jasper complied and dropped her mid-air. Peridot staggered and caught her footing to whip around and glare up at the girl that, for some reason, she still called her best friend.

Admittedly, she probably didn't look very intimidating compared to Jasper who was twice her size and had more strength in one arm than Peridot had in her entire body. Much to her irritation, Jasper simply laughed and ran a hand through her chestnut brown hair.

"Calm down, I was just messing with you. I wouldn't intentionally hurt you."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better?" Peridot asked as she straightened out her clothes and hair.

"More or less." Jasper shrugged. "How come you're late?"

At that Peridot flushed and looked away, pretending to be more interested in her jeans than the question. "Over slept." she confessed.

"Really?" Jasper said. "And that was probably because you stayed up playing your stupid games again, didn't you?"

"They're not stupid!" Peridot shouted, which was a bad idea because that basically confirmed Jasper's suspicions. "But- I was just- I-I..." Peridot stammered in a vain attempt to defend herself.

Jasper just folded her arms and gave her that knowing smirk she hated. Peridot heard the bell ring and groaned. There was no chance of even trying to explain herself. It was unlikely Jasper would believe her anyway. "I gotta get to class." she grumbled in resignation.

"See you later!" Jasper called to her with a laugh and a shake of her head as they parted ways. Peridot sighed with relief. It could have been worse, she thought. She just hoped the worst of the day was over.

However, toward the end of the day she noticed that something wasn't right. Clouds slowly began to form and the sun was fighting to keep itself shining through them. It had gradually lost the fight as more and more clouds blew in over time.

Peridot felt a sense of dread in the pit of her stomach that kept drawing her attention to the windows. It was distracting her from her work and she got in trouble for it, but she couldn't help checking. She watched them apprehensively and silently tried willing them to go away because she knew what would happen if they didn't. The very thought of it made her stomach turn.

It went on like that until there were only a few more minutes left of her last period, and what Peridot had been dreading seemed like it was inevitable.

The clouds were thick and black and covering the entire sky, which meant there was going to be a storm. It could start at any moment, and Peridot knew there was a good chance it could happen before she made it home. She considered asking Jasper for a ride, but knew that wouldn't happen with her wrestling practice after school. And there was no way she would stick around the school for hours while she waited for a ride. She paled with the realization that she would most likely get caught in a thunderstorm.

"Peridot, are you alright?"

She jumped at the sudden voice beside her and turned to see one of her friends, Pearl, staring at her with a concerned look. Peridot had been listening to her drone on about something for a while, but she hadn't really heard anything until now. Peridot avoided her eyes and cleared her voice.

"Of course I am! Why wouldn't I be?" she lied through a fake smile. She didn't want to tell Pearl what was really on her mind. No one knew about her fear of thunder, not even Jasper, her best friend since middle school. It was such an irrational and childish fear that she didn't want to mention it to anyone, especially her mother who chastised her about it as a kid and believed she had outgrown it. Nobody knew for years and she wasn't about to let any one know now.

She couldn't tell if Pearl believed her or not, but if she didn't then she decided not to press it. "Alright." Pearl said cautiously. "Then you're okay with it?"

The bell decided to ring at that moment which made Peridot jump from her seat and the chair scraped loudly on the floor. It drew some attention to her but Peridot didn't notice. The only thing on her mind was that she needed to get out of here so she could get home as soon as possible.

"Yeah, yeah, sure!" she said dismissively as she hastily shoved her notebook into her backpack. She had no idea what Pearl had been talking about before, but she was sure whatever it was could be handled later. She was already halfway out the classroom door when she heard Pearl call after her, but she ignored it.

When she stepped out of the building a harsh gust of wind hit her face and she shivered as she pulled her hood over her head. It was the like the wind was trying to push her back as a warning for what was to come.

She pushed through and hurried past a group of people leaving the school campus. As she went by, she noticed a few of them with umbrellas. The sight sent a chill down her spine and she sped up her pace to a jog.

Just like that morning, Peridot ended up running like her life depended on it. And to her, it felt like it was.

She kept peeking up at the charcoal gray clouds for any sign of rain, but it didn't start raining as soon as she thought. She was lucky it only began sprinkling as she turned the corner onto her street. The sight of her house gave her a boost of energy to sprint the last block home.

Her boots pounded up the porch stairs to her front door in her excitement. She laughed with relief as she reached into her pocket for her keys.

Her smile wavered when she felt nothing, and she reached into her other one. Again there was nothing. She patted her other pockets, and her heart sank when she didn't feel her keys anywhere.

She swung her backpack off her shoulders and began rummaging through it. When she saw no sign of them, she dumped the contents out and frantically rifled through them. She had to have her keys, she had to! She even shook out her folders and notebooks on the very slim chance they were hiding between the papers. But still nothing.

"They have to be somewhere!" she cried as she threw everything back into her bag. How could she forget her keys? She couldn't be stuck outside like this! There wasn't even a spare key anywhere she could use because her key was the spare key.

She scrambled up and tried turning the knob, but it was locked. Of course she would remember to lock the door and forget her keys! Out of desperation, she ran to her bedroom window.

By now, the sprinkling turned into a light drizzle and her clothes were slowly getting soaked. She ignored it and got a good grip on the window and tried to tug it open. She pulled so hard she fell to the ground and got her jeans and sweater muddy. Even with her effort it refused to budge.

She let out a growl of frustration and jumped up to press her face against the window to peer inside. Her eyes flicked around until they landed on her desk. Right there, out in the open where she always left them, were her keys. She narrowed her eyes and glared daggers at them. It was like they were taunting her for leaving them behind.

She wrenched herself from the window and hurried around the house, trying to open all the windows she could reach and the back door. She also tried the garage door, but of course it was locked too.

She went back to the front porch and fished her phone from her pocket to call her mom in a last ditch effort. She pushed her damp hair from her forehead as she listened anxiously to the ringing on the other end of the line. She wasn't surprised when it went to voicemail, but she still felt a small pang of disappointment that her mom hadn't answered.

It would have been useless anyway. Even if her mom had answered, what would she be able to do? On the very, very slim chance she cared enough to leave work early and let her in, Peridot would still be stuck outside until she showed up. There was no way her mom would be able to get home before the thunder started.

Peridot slumped down to sit on one of the steps and hung her head in defeat.

After all that, Peridot was in the exact same position she was before. There were no more options, unless she felt like breaking into the house. It was very tempting, and she even looked through her backpack for a paper clip, but she couldn't do that. The sky was so dark she could barely see and the rain was pounding so hard it stung. She was stuck.

Without realizing it, she pushed her glasses up and wiped away the tears that threatened to fall. She sat with her head in her hands for a few moments. Through her fingers she happened to catch something in the corner of her eye. She looked up to see pale yellow light shining through her neighbor's window. She stared at it before shaking her head to chase away the ridiculous idea that popped into her head.

She couldn't just waltz over there expecting help! She didn't know who they were or what they were like. It would be weird if she showed up out of nowhere after never talking to them.

But... there was still the chance of someone being there who would be nice enough to help her. It would be a lot better than sitting out in the rain. It would only be for a little while and she would try to stay out of their way as much as possible. She bit her lip and finally decided to go over there. It wouldn't hurt to at least ask.

She stood and slowly started toward her neighbor's house. She walked faster when she heard the faint sound of thunder rolling in the distance.

She sloshed around in mud more than she would have liked. Peridot could barely see the ground in front of her, but she could finally make out the stone walkway lined with shrubs that led to the brick stairs of a covered deck. She walked up the stairs and hesitated at the door before she forced herself to knock.

The door opened to reveal a girl standing there. She was a few inches taller than Peridot with tan skin, deep blue eyes and equally blue short hair. She blinked her listless eyes, then slumped against the door frame and gave Peridot a bored look. "Yeah?"

Peridot stood there staring dumbly. She was suddenly aware of how much of a disaster she probably looked with her soaked, dirty clothes and messy hair. She fidgeted and stammered out a response. "I... Um, hi. I live next door in that house over there. See, I woke up late this morning so I forgot my keys, which I normally don't do, but now the door is locked and I can't get in..." She laughed nervously when the girl continued to stare blankly at her. Peridot decided to try a more direct approach. "W-Would it be alright if I stayed here for a while?"

The girl frowned and shook her head. "Nope, sorry. I can't help you." She started to close the door.

Peridot gasped and rushed forward. "Wait!" Her outburst surprised herself as much as the other girl and made them both pause. "Please! It's raining and I really don't want to wait outside! It will only be until my mom gets back!"

It was silent for a moment before the girl looked over her shoulder into the house and back to Peridot. "How long until she gets back?"

"Not very long!" she replied immediately. "I promise!"

The girl sighed in exasperation and pulled the door open wider. "Fine. Leave your shoes outside."

Peridot quickly bent down to untie her boots and kick them just outside the door.

"And don't sit on anything." the girl added firmly, then disappeared into the house. Her harsh tone made Peridot take extra care when she stepped inside and closed the door behind her. She figured she better be on her best behavior so she wouldn't get kicked out for whatever reason.

She technically already had one strike against her since she had lied about her mom coming home soon. She honestly didn't know how long it would take for her to get home. There were days when she didn't get home until after midnight. When it came to her job, her mom was ambitious and hard-working, but when it came to domestic abilities she was a little unreliable. Now all Peridot had was to hope today was one of the days she came back at a decent hour.

Peridot took a moment to take in her surroundings. She stood in a large living room with two couches set against adjoining walls and a coffee table in the middle. There was also a leather reclining chair, and a TV set upon an oak entertainment center against a wall that had an arched doorway to the right of it. Her eye caught an easel with an unfinished painting next to one of the lamps. She squinted her eyes and tried to figure out what the painting was.

"Use this."

Peridot turned just in time to catch a towel that was flung careless at her before it hit her in the face. She stood there dumbly and watched as the girl took her seat on the edge of the leather chair. "So, why did you come here?" she asked.

"I... I told you. It was because I locked myself out." Peridot said. Why did this suddenly feel like an interrogation?

"Yeah, but why my house? We've never even talked before."

"I saw your lights on." Peridot admitted. "Not that I was spying on you or anything! I just happened to see them."

"Right." With a scowl, the girl leaned back in her chair and folded her arms over her chest. "I was sleeping, you know."

Peridot gulped. "O-Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't know."

The girl only rolled her eyes and turned her head away. There was an awkward silence and things got extremely tense. Peridot fiddled with the towel before cautiously using it to wipe her face. Maybe it was a bad idea to come here after all. Peridot really hadn't meant to disturb her.

The silence seemed to drag on forever.

Peridot stole a glance at the other. She wondered why she had never seen her before. Aside from the fact that they were neighbors, it looked like they were about the same age. Peridot thought she would have seen her around school or at the boardwalk. They lived in a small town and she had bright blue hair, how hard could she be to spot? But Peridot couldn't think of a single time she had seen her anywhere. Either Peridot was unobservant (which was unlikely) or this girl was a real hermit.

Peridot was tempted to ask about it, but she held herself back. Trying to pry into her life was probably the last thing she wanted to do after bothering her.

But she really hated the tension and figured she should say something. She decided to speak up about something else. "Uh, I'm Peridot."

That at least got the girl's attention. She snapped her eyes toward Peridot and cocked an eyebrow. "What?"

"My name is Peridot." she said more clearly. The two stared at each other before the girl smirked and let out a small scoff that dissolved into laughter.

"Peridot? You mean like the gemstone?" she asked.

"Yes?" Peridot said hesitantly. She didn't know how that was funny, but being laughed at was a lot better than being ignored she supposed. Peridot laughed nervously and decided to go along with it. "Would it be worse if I told you my last name is Diamond?"

The girl broke into a grin and laughed harder. Peridot was amused to hear her let out a little snort. "That is pretty funny. My name isn't much better, I guess. It's Lapis. Middle name Lazuli."

"Ha! I get it! Like the rock!" Peridot laughed loudly, but it became awkward when she realized she was the only one. She cleared her throat and tried to brush it off. "So, uh, Lapis... do you live here alone?"

Lapis gave her a weird look, but after a second she shook her head. "No, I live with my dad. He's... out right now."

"Oh, I understand. My mom is gone a lot too, usually with work which is where she is right now and why I can't get into the house." Peridot over-explained.

"Isn't your family rich or something?" Lapis asked.

Peridot furrowed her brow at the question. "Yeah, I guess." Although they had quite a bit of wealth, she had never felt like she was 'rich.' Just... better off than most people. Sure she had a pretty big allowance and always had all the latest technology, but she wasn't spoiled or anything. Besides, what did that have to do with anything? "What makes you say that?"

"I live right next to you, I've seen your house." Lapis said flatly. "But in that case, why didn't any of your maids or whatever open the door for you?"

"We don't have maids." Peridot huffed. Lapis looked like she didn't believe her. "I mean, my mom has a personal assistant slash secretary person that comes over sometimes to do stuff for her, but she's hardly a maid. Besides, I'm usually the only one home and I can clean up after myself."

"Oh." Lapis looked thoughtful for a moment. "I'm usually left alone to clean the house too."

That wasn't really what Peridot meant, but before she could clarify there was a sudden clap of thunder. It seemed to rattle the whole house and caused her to jump at the sound and a small squeak escaped past her lips.

She hadn't meant to do that! Her reaction seemed to startle Lapis who stared at her in surprise. Peridot felt like covering her face and sinking into the floor but she was so stunned she simply stared back.

"Are you okay?" Lapis asked slowly.

"Yes!" Peridot said too quickly. "Yeah! I was just... I was just..." She struggled to find an excuse, because there really wasn't an excuse for that, but she was saved by her phone ringing. She grabbed it so fast she nearly dropped it and saw that the caller was her mom.

She forgot she had called her. With a shaky hand she answered it. "Hello?"

"Peridot? Is there a reason you called me while I was in a very important meeting?"

"Oh, Mother, I-I locked my keys in the house and I can't get in."

"That's your reason?"

"Yes..."

"You know better than to bother me unless it's an emergency."

"But I-"

"It doesn't matter, it's already been done. You're just lucky my phone was on silent. If you're not in the house then where are you?"

"At the neighbor's house."

There was an annoyed sigh that Peridot heard often. "I'll be pulling into the driveway shortly. I expect to see you waiting for me there." She hung up without another word.

Peridot stared at her phone for a moment. She sighed and her eyes slid up to meet Lapis's. Peridot had felt Lapis's eyes on her the whole time and it had made her even more uncomfortable. She shifted her eyes away almost guiltily. "That was my mom." she explained with a nervous smile. "She's about to be home so I can leave now."

"Oh." Lapis said standing with her. "Alright."

"Um, thanks again for letting me stay here. And I'm sorry if I bothered you."

Lapis shrugged her shoulders. "Don't worry about it. It's just..." She bit her lip as if she was trying to hold something back. They stood there awkwardly for a moment. "You should just go."

Peridot nodded and handed back the towel. She felt like she should say more but she was drawing a blank. "Well... Bye."

Without waiting for Lapis's response, she quickly turned and opened the door. She grabbed her boots but she didn't bother to put them on.

Just as she stepped off the last step, she saw the headlights of her mom's car turning into their driveway. She knew she would get chewed out for ruining her socks, but she didn't care. She just wanted to finally get home.