human au w/ teen crystal gems 

a/n: for all you guys, gals, and nonbinary pals that are going to school soon!

~

as peridot scurried around in the hallways, shuffling to avoid bumping into other students. she struggled to breathe correctly, and was obviously failing to do so. her first day of school was proving to be much harder than she planned, and her anxieties were growing by the second. 

what if it was like this every day?

are other kids staring at her? 

will the teachers call her parents if she's late?

will i get bad grades?

are other kids going to want to be friends with me if i can't even find my way through the school?

how am i going to survive?

peridot clung onto her map of the school, which was only making her more panicked and confused in the busy hallways. the corners of the paper were ragged from peridot tearing at it. the loud voices of other people calling to their friends and old teachers was making peridot on edge. would she ever find her classroom? was she going to have a panic attack right here in the crammed hallways? would anyone know how to help with a panic attack? 

there was a loud shout, and peridot fell to the ground as some bumped into her. she landed painfully on both of her knees, and the map slipped from out of her hands. the stampede of students swept her map away, and she stayed sitting on the floor, staring at the rush of students. 

her panic was getting too big. it was wrapping around her brain, suffocating her thoughts and making it impossible to calm down. it was a weight on her back, and she had fallen. her anxiety was crushing her ribs, forcing the air out of her lungs and leaving her on empty shell. the noises around her only seemed to grow, as the panic inside her amplified it. 

"hey, kid. you okay?" the voice only seemed a little closer than the horrible scraping background noise of all the other voices. peridot ignored it the same way she ignored every other voice. 

but what happened next was strange. the voice spoke to her again. 

"i'm talking to you, kid on the ground. c'mon. get up. you're going to get crushed." a hand reached out to her, and when peridot didn't grab it, the hand gently wrapped around her wrist and lifted her up. now that peridot was standing, her anxiety subsided a little. just a little though. the stream of students in the hallways hadn't cleared up much and the noises that were coming from the other students was unbearable, like fingernails on chalkboards. 

"breathe. count to ten." two hands covered her ears, and a voice prompted her. "just close your eyes. count to ten." sounds were muffled, like they were underwater, but not quite drowning. peridot was struggle to understand what was happening. 

"c'mon. i'll count with you...one...two..." the voice continued counting. peridot found herself with her eyes closed, muttering numbers under her breath. the hands on her ears were nice. warm, and soft. blocking out noise. 

"...ten." the hands came off of her ears, and the background sounds of on foot traffic returned. it didn't seem as bad though, now. peridot kept her eyes closed for a few moments before taking one last deep breath and opening them. 

in front of her was a slim, tall girl that looked a few years older than her. she was wearing a plain white tee with a navy blue flannel over it. she wore loose, boys jeans, which peridot noticed. her hair was cropped short, but still managed to look soft and fluffy. her hair was also dyed blue. she seemed oddly comfortable in this setting, and but still managed to look alert. 

peridot managed not to stare. she wasn't expecting anyone to help her, and she certainly wasn't expecting anyone to help her so professionally. 

"hey, you okay? i saw jasper bump into you. ignore her the best you can, she's a pain in the ass." her helper nodded to a taller, broader girl not too far away from them. jasper, or at least the person that seemed like jasper, was much taller and bigger than most people. she was making too much noise for what seemed possible for one human being to produce. she looked like she could kill peridot -heck, jasper looked like she could kill the school's entire football team. "you'll learn to live with her. or at least live avoiding her." lapis glared daggers in jasper's direction. 

"oh. yeah, yeah, i'm fine. thanks for helping me with my...uhh...panicking. panic attack. yeah." peridot's words were drowned out by the sounds of the other students. the girl nodded. 

"you're welcome. i'm lapis, by the way." she waved, and peridot waved back. somehow, even thought they did the same thing, lapis made it look cooler. "where you heading off to?" 

peridot knew what class she was going to immediately, and what teacher. she had spent so much time anxiously reading over her schedule and memorized all her classes. 

"uhh...creative writing with mrs. hugo?" peridot cringed at her own words. creative writing was one of the nerd classes, third only to theater arts and theater tech. it was one of those classes that people took to get an easy A. 

"oh, i'm in that class too. it's usually a class with all four grades in it, y'know?" lapis looked down at her phone. "yeah, we should go soon. mrs. hugo is awesome. as long as you're actually working and love writing, or you're at least trying to improve, you'll be fine." lapis took one of peridot's hands and lead the way. the crowd seemed to thin. the noises didn't seem as harsh anymore. 

maybe school wasn't going to be so bad.