Peridot's Pov

Amethyst squinted as she stared at presumably her screen.

"Where the hell are you dude?" I adjusted my earbud.

"Yellen's getting a haircut for school." At some point over break, she'd decided that growing her hair out was too much trouble. And every time Yellen got a haircut, it was a full-day ordeal. But ignoring my boredom, I realized that Amethyst wasn't in her bedroom as usual. She was on an unfamiliar couch.

"Where are you?" I asked, scrunching my nose. Amethyst sighed.

"Don't tell anyone, but I'm at Alex's apartment."

"Why?"

"Sugilite got pissed at the way Mom and Eric were treating me. So she and Alex came and told me to pack up."

"When was this?" I asked, intrigued.

"A couple days ago? Alex works a lot and her roommate is never here so I'm pretty much taking care of myself."

"What about school?" She shrugged.

"We haven't figured that out yet. It's tricky because I'm not supposed to be here. CPS would kill Sugilite if they found out."

"Do you think your mother will tell them?" I asked. Amethyst shook her head.

"She doesn't have to. CPS is at her place all the time too. They're gonna find out sooner or later." I sighed and sank down in my seat.

"What will happen?" Amethyst shrugged.

"Mom and Sugi will both get in trouble. Worst case scenario me and all the kids get sent into foster care. Just hearing from Alex and her roommate is enough to terrify me about that."

"Who's Alexandrite's roommate?" I inquired.

"Think her name's Olivia or something? Alex calls her Liv but told me to call her Olive. Sugi said they met in a foster home." I nodded.

"What are you going to do?"

"She's never here so I don't think I'll have any problems."

"No, about the other thing." I lowered my voice and glanced around the salon. Mother was still getting her hair cut as well.

"Oh, that. Well, Sugilite's bringing me takeout tonight. We'll probably talk about it." I glanced up from my phone.

"Mother's haircut is almost done. I have to go, but call me after you talk to Sugilite, okay?" Amethyst nodded.

"Talk to you then."

"You too." Amethyst hesitated.

"Love you, P Dizzle." I nodded.

"You too, Amethyst."

We had a late supper. Mother got carried away with work and it wasn't until seven that Yellen and I decided to cook for her. Yellen was bobbing her head as she gathered ingredients.

"It's so freeing to not have hair on my neck!" She marveled. I rolled my eyes.

"Then why didn't you tie it back this week?" She shot a playful glare at me.

"Because. When you're on vacation you have to have your hair looking its best. To spark any international romances." I chuckled and rolled my eyes again.

"I'm sure you got plenty of numbers in the Bahamas?" Yellen stopped, slightly embarrassed. "That's what I thought."

"Whatever, let's just get cooking." Yellen had decided we'd make breakfast for dinner, which seemed as good an idea as any. Centi was preoccupied with some cartoon for children that was teaching her German or some language, and Mother hadn't left her office in hours, which left us to our own devices in the kitchen.

"What is she even doing, anyway?" I asked, looking out at the door to Mother's office. "Something for the school?" Yellen shook her head as she cracked an egg.

"No, she told us when we got home. She's on an important business call with Blue and White. For DiamondCorp." Right, the business that she was a partner of.  While I wasn't exactly sure what DiamondCorp did, I knew it was profitable. Moher had dual majored in business and education in college and before becoming a principal, she had taught a business class at Crystal Prep.

"What's going on?" I asked. Yellen shrugged.

"Who knows. I think they're still trying to figure out what to do with Pink's assets." I nodded. Pink had been the fourth partner of DiamondCorp, but she had suddenly disappeared years before. Nobody knew what had happened to her, or if she was even still alive. But it seemed that DiamondCorp couldn't settle itself between the three remaining partners. "I just hope whatever happens doesn't screw us over," Yellen commented, catching my attention.

"What?" Yellen sighed as if I never understood anything and turned to me.

"When Pink... you know... White pretty much took her power for herself. She gave a little to Mom and Blue, but I've heard them say that they're worried she might try to buy them out." She turned back to the eggs.

"What would that mean for us?" I asked, the plates completely abandoned.

"That we'd get a few thousand bucks or so, but once that runs out we'd just have Mom's teaching income. Which, in case you haven't noticed, isn't exactly the most profitable career." I nodded.

"We'd have to sell the house probably." Yellen nodded as she began scrambling the eggs.

"Yeah, but I don't think we have much to worry about. Afterall,- White wouldn't really buy out her sister, right?"

Dinner took all too long. By the time I made it to my room I was worried my moment had passed. But no sooner did I open my laptop when Amethyst called me.

"What happened?" I asked quickly. Amethyst sighed.

"...We're just gonna wait it out." She glanced up at something beyond her phone screen, so I could tell that Sugilite was still talking to Alexandrite.

"What did she say?" I asked, peering at the screen.

"Well, the only way I'm getting out of Mom's place for good is if Sugi gets her own apartment, proves that she can afford to feed and clothe me and can get me to school, and makes a good enough case against a judge."

"Which is an issue because...?" Amethyst sighed.

"Because Sugilite is a college student living in a dorm who can hardly afford to take care of herself, much less get an apartment and a lawyer to prove she can take care of me." I joined in on the sigh this time.

"If only you lived back in Beach City. We could help, I know Mother would!" I wiped my tears on my arm and realized I was crying. I also realized that I wasn't alone in my room. Yellen, standing with Centi in her arms, was also tearing up a bit. She came and sat beside me.

"I know she would too, but there's no way we can." She turned to my laptop screen. "I'm sorry, Amethyst." Amethyst nodded.

"It's okay. CPS will notice I'm not in school and come to get me, but hopefully when they do  they'll finally see how shitty Mom and Eric are." I thought for a moment.

"Amethyst, why exactly did Sugilite come to get you?" She glanced up again then looked back at her phone, lowering her voice.

"This guy from my school gave me his number a week or two ago. Izzie found my phone and started saying that I was texting my 'boyfriend'. My Mom got upset but Eric was pissed. Started yelling at me about me about how I was gonna end up pregnant if I didn't stop and that if I got pregnant they'd throw me out. He tried to hit me too, but Sugilite stopped him." I didn't know who was more shocked, me or Yellen.

"What are you going to do if you have to go back?" Yellen asked, appalled. Amethyst snorted.

"Jesus, maybe I'll get pregnant so they can kick me out." Needless to say, her joke did not impress us. "That was a joke, you guys."

Yelle tried to ask Amethyst a few more questions, mostly about her siblings and how they were treated("You two have to take care of them all?"). I could tell Amethyst didn't want to talk anymore.

"We should go. Text me in the morning, I'm willing to get in trouble for texting during class." Amethyst nodded.

"Talk to you tomorrow. Love you." I nodded back.

"Love you too." We ended the call and Yellen shut my computer, turning to face me.

"You told Pearl all of this?" I nodded. "And she still didn't think it was that bad?"

"Not at all. She didn't believe how worried I was." Yellen shook her head.

"Jesus Christ, Peri..." She thought for a moment, then looked me in the eye. "Does Amethyst know you guys broke up yesterday?"

(A/N): I've had some of this for a few days. I do plan to write more often, trust me.

Don't forget it's still April for them. And I've been thinking about changing what year these books take place. Not too far, but I'm a little nervous about having the third book take place in 2032. I probably won't change anything but I'll keep you posted. The year doesn't really affect the story though so I've been trying to keep it ambiguous.