Sugilite's pov

Finals week was officially kicking my ass. I was stressing out about passing so much that I couldn't sleep. I knew that passing would make the difference between making a better life for me and Amethyst or being forced to move back home without her.

The idea of moving back home was scary too. I didn't even know what I'd do for the summer. I couldn't stay with Alex, it wouldn't be fair to her. And I couldn't afford to get an apartment of my own even if I got a roommate. Which meant my options were to see if I could stay with Tahitia again or move back in with Dad.

I didn't want to bring back to Dad. As an adult I didn't have to, and I had no desire to see him again. I was surprised he still had the house in the first place. I couldn't go back even if I wanted to though, because Amethyst couldn't. Which left Tahitia as the only option.

I sighed and grabbed my phone, calling Opal. I was sitting in my car outside the dorms and wanted to calm down a bit before throwing myself into bed.

"Hey babe! What's up?" I smiled.

"I miss you so much." Opal laughed.

"It hasn't been that long, plus I'll be going home next week. We can see each other then."

"Home. I can't wait."

"Hey, you're coming back this summer, right?" She asked.

"Back to Beach City?" I asked. "Duh. Where else would I go?"

"No, back home. My mom misses you guys."

"Oh..." I almost started to cry. "She does?"

"Yeah, she says you're her favorite daughter. She can't wait for you guys."

"You guys? She wants Amethyst and I back?"

"Of course she does. She loves you guys." I smiled. Tahitia never failed to surprise me. She was my real mom. I had a real family. And I couldn't wait to see them again.

"Let's have dinner."

"Tonight?" I could hear Opal almost choke. "Sugilite, we're three hours apart right now!"

"So we meet in the middle. An hour and a half there, an hour and a half back. If we leave soon we can be home by eight. You don't have a final tonight, do you?" Opal took a deep breath.

"No, I don't." She hesitated, then giggled. "Are we really going to do this?" I nodded.

"Absolutely." I wanted to see her as soon as I possibly could.

"Oh. Okay then. There's an Applebee's about an hour and a half away from here, does that sound good?"

"As long as you're there, anything sounds good."

"Okay, I love you."

"I love you too. See you soon." I hung up and checked to see how much battery I had left on my phone, then made sure I had my wallet. Once I was assured that I was ready I texted my roommate to let her know I'd be home late and started off.

Just over an hour and a half later, I pulled into the Applebee's parking lot. I looked around to see if Opal's car was there but didn't see it, so I settled back into my seat. After about ten minutes though, she pulled in and parked in the empty spot next to me.

"Opal!" I got out of my car around ran around hers to give her the biggest hug I ever had.

"Sugilite!" She squeezed me tight then kissed me quick. "I've missed you so much you have no idea." I smiled.

"C'mon, let's go eat." Hand in hand, we walked inside and got seated.

"So, what's new?" She asked, scanning the menu.

"In general? Not much. I've already taken three finals, I only have a few more. I can't wait to go home next week." I sighed a bit and leaned back. "I haven't seen Amethyst since she went back to my mom's place. It's gonna feel so good to bring her back for the summer."

"I wish we had more than an air mattress to offer her. I mean, there's always the couch, but I'm not sure if that's better." Opal smiled and took a sip of her drink.

"Hey, it can't be any worse than the cot they've got her on. Plus, she'll have Pearl as a roommate. That's gotta beat sharing a room with three other girls. Even if it's just for a little bit." I smiled back at her. "How about you?" Her smiled dropped and she groaned with frustration.

"I swear to God if I ever have to speak to Rainbow's roommate again I'll throw myself off a bridge." I raised my eyebrows.

"What did she do?" Opal rubbed her face.

"She said that I need to stopped talking to Rainbow. She said that all I'm doing is hurting her and leading her on." She looked up at me. "Then she told me to go run back home to my crybaby sister." I clenched my fists.

"What did you do?" She smirked.

"Slapped her and walked away." I gasped.

"Hell yeah you did! I would've too." At that point, a waitress came and took our orders. As soon as she left, I leaned back and smirked. "Man, I'm so gay." Opal started laughing.

"Jesus, is that what we sound like?" I laughed.

"At least I'm gay for you. Would you prefer I was totally boy crazy?" Opal raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, you mean like middle school?" I laughed.

"Whatever. I haven't dated a boy in like... Two years? I don't know. It's hard to keep track when there's someone so beautiful sitting across from you." Opal smiled.

"Aw, babe, you have a crush on me? Yikes how embarrassing." She took a sip of her sweet tea while I laughed.

"Damn, that's the funniest thing you've ever said and no one was even around to hear it. Alex will never believe me." Opal playfully slapped my arm.

"Cut it out, you!" She smiled. "Alex is doing good then? She doesn't text much." I smiled and shook my head.

"She never does. If I wasn't at her apartment all the time I'd be worried."

"So she's okay?"

"As far as you can tell with her. She's so confusing." Opal shrugged.

"I'm sure if something was really wrong, she'd tell us. Plus, we'd feel it! It's like that best friend telekinesis thing!" I laughed.

"You're right, aren't you?" Opal nodded.

Soon after that, our meals came. While we ate we talked about little things, like schoolwork and things we wanted to do over the summer, and that one weird kid who we always noticed in one class. But if felt way too soon when we finished and walked out into the warm evening. The sun was setting and Opal looked gorgeous. I held her hand until we got to our cars, then turned to look at her.

"It feels so wrong," She said. "I feel like we should be going home together."

"Hey," I reminded her, kissing her quickly. "Next week we will be." She smiled and hugged me one last time, a hug that lingered for a moment and stayed with me all night. I waved as she got into her car and once we both left the parking lot, we turned separate ways.