Love Potion No. 9. 1/2

Chapter 19: Absent from classes

  Lapis begrudgingly walked into school on Monday morning. Her movements were sluggish, her eyelids were half-lidded and heavy, and her clothes were wrinkled and disheveled.

Suffice to say, she looked like shit.

'She didn't call me all weekend. She didn't even send me a text... Oh god, I fucked everything up...' She thought as she made her way to her first period class. She didn't even think about going over to Peridot's locker.

The blonde needed time. Lapis could respect that.

But, goddamn did it hurt.

She walked into the classroom and slumped into her seat, wallowing in her own depression pit.

She thought about asking to have her seat changed. Peridot probably didn't want to sit next to her. It would be better if they were apart for a while.

More and more people walked into the classroom and took their seats. The one next to Lapis remained noticeably empty.

'She's probably trying to avoid me. I would want to, too...'

Bismuth actually showed up for classes that day, dropping into her seat and looking over at Lapis.

"Hey Bl- Oh man, you look like shit." The rainbow haired girl joked.

"Ugh..." Lapis grumbled.

"What happened to make you all sad and stuff?" Her friend asked.

"Ugh..."

Bismuth gave a worried look, but didn't pressure the bluenette anymore. Instead, she looked to the front of the classroom.

Lapis stayed slumped in her seat, trying and failing to think of other things. The seat next to her still stayed empty.

'She must really be trying to avo-'

The final bell rang, starting the class and pulling Lapis from her thoughts. The bluenette immediately sat up.

Peridot was running late.

In her entire academic career, Peridot had never been late to a class. On time and always punctual, those were the ways people described Peridot's attendance.

So, to see Peridot be late for a class for the first time, right after the weekend of the confrontation, made Lapis feel even worse.

'She hates me... She's trying to actively avoid me as much as possible. Oh god, I'm horrible...'

Lapis squeezed her eyes shut and tried to stop those negative thoughts from entering her head. It didn't work, but she kept trying anyways.

It was only when Ms. Opal got up to teach, 10 minutes after the bell, did people notice something's wrong.

"Is... Is Ms. Greene running late?" Ms. Opal askes, trying to look for the student in question.

"I didn't see her at her locker today." Answered a student.

"I haven't seen her around school, either." Another student spoke up.

Lapis opened her eyes as she heard the comments of confusion. She sat up and looked around the room.

People were genuinely concerned as to the location of the blonde. She may have been a nerd, but she was still considered a human being by others. And when people stop doing what they usually do, others start to worry

Lapis looked over at Bismuth to see she was just as concerned as the rest. "Have you seen Peridot this morning?" Lapis asked.

"I was about to ask you the same question." Bismuth shot back.

The thoughts of despair in Lapis' head were quickly replaced by thoughts of panic as something quickly became apparent to the class.

Peridot wasn't just late.

Peridot was absent.

Peridot had never missed a period of class, much less a day. She came to the school no matter what was going on with her. Teachers had to MAKE her go home when she wouldn't leave the classroom to take care of herself. That's how dedicated Peridot was to classwork.

So, for Peridot to miss her first period, made it clear that something was very wrong.

'She wouldn't just miss class because of me, right? I didn't... I didn't hurt her that much, did I?'

'Did I?'

A low murmur had settled over the class as they all rumored and speculated over why Peridot was missing. Meanwhile, Lapis was busy trying not to give herself a panic attack thinking about the blonde.

'Oh nonono, I didn't mean for this to happen! I didn't mean to hurt her this badly! I only wanted to prove I could act nicer to her, I only wanted to-'

Suddenly, the intercom in the classroom blared to life.

"Could Miss Lapis Lazuli head to the principal's office? Could Miss Lapis Lazuli please head to the principal's office? Thank you." It stated before shutting off again.

The entire class went silent and turned to stare at the student that had been summoned, waiting for her to react.

Lapis sat in her seat, wide-eyed and surprised at what just happened. Her body was completely frozen, even though her mind screamed for it to do something. It seemed that the message hadn't fully reached Lapis yet.

But, when it finally did, Lapis shakily got up from her seat, walked out the classroom, and made her way to the front office.

Her legs felt like they were made of jelly with each step she took. 'Why did they call me up? I haven't done anything wrong recently, and I've done my detention time without ditching. What is happening?'

Lapis slowly opened the door into Ms. Obsidian's room. She was only expecting the principal herself to be in there, so she was really shocked when she noticed that there was more than one figure in there.

The first people she noticed were two officers standing next to Ms. Obsidian's desk. The first officer was dressed in a typical blue officer uniform, with curly pink hair and a round face. The second officer was dressed in a typical uniform as well, but his was completely gray. His hair was messy and his eyes were also dark gray.

The second group she noticed were the Zircons.

Both Bell and Yella were seated in two chairs up against the wall, and they looked completely different than Lapis had ever seen.

Bell was leaning against Yella, her head resting on her shoulder, while Yella was rubbing her back supportively. Bell was wearing the same suit that Lapis first met her in, but it was wrinkled and unkempt. Yella was wearing a similar yellow suit, and it was in much the same state.

To say that Bell was a mess was an understatement. Her hair was frazzled and tangled, her skin was slightly paler, and her face was in in constant sad expression. Her eyes were puffy and red, as if she had been crying for days on end, and small sniffles could be heard coming from her.

Yella had also adopted Bell's depression look, although she tried to keep her focus on calming Bell down.

The two parents looked absolutely heartbroken.

As soon as Lapis stepped though and shut the door, both groups eyes were focused on her.

Lapis could see Bell and Yella get considerably angrier as she stepped into the office.

"Where is she?" Bell muttered, her voice a mix of sadness, desperation, and fury.

"Who? What's going on?" Lapis asked nervously.

"Lapis, please take a seat. We need to ask you a few questions." Ms. Obsidian said, gesturing to the seat in front of her desk.

Lapis nodded and took a seat. The Zircons kept angrily glared at the teen.

The bluenette felt a tap on her shoulder and looked to her left.

"Miss Lazuli, my name is Rose, I'm the campus SRO," Said the officer with pink hair, before gesturing to the officer in gray, "And this is patrol officer Daniel Ordain, from the Beach City Police Department. We need to ask you a few questions."

Lapis nodded slightly, which the SRO took as a sign to continue.

"Mrs. and Mrs. Zircon, Ms. Obsidian, can you give us and Miss Lazuli a minute?" The SRO asked politely.

The two parents reluctantly nodded and got up from their chairs, making their way to the doors. The principal followed after then. Once they left, the SRO started taking again, while the patrol officer pulled out a notepad.

"So, Lapis... Can I call you Lapis?"

Lapis nodded in agreement.

"So, Lapis, did you go to the Valentine's dance last Friday night? At around 8pm?"

"Yeah."

The Patrol Deputy quickly wrote something down.

"Did you go with anyone to the dance that day?"

"Uh, yeah, my... my friend Peridot."

Lapis could feel the panic rising with each question the SRO asked. 'What's with all these questions, and why are they asking me? What makes me suspicious? And why were Peridot's parents here?'

"Would Peridot happen to be this person?" The SRO proceeded to hold up a family photo of the Zircons and Peridot, pointing to the nerd in question.

"Yeah?"

The Patrol officer wrote more in his notepad.

"Have you seen Peridot this morning?"

"No..."

"I see. Going back to the dance, did you guys stay for the whole dance, or did you leave early?"

"We, um... We left early."

"And why is that?"

Lapis finally had enough. "What's this all about? Why are you asking me so many questions about Friday?" She exclaimed, her thoughts both panicked and annoyed at the invasion of privacy.

"Ma'am, please answer the questions. This is of utmost importance." The patrol officer stated calmly.

"No. I'm not answering another question until you tell me what's going on! I'm starting to panic!" Lapis exclaimed.

The SRO placed her hands on Lapis' shoulders to calm her down. "Lapis, I promise you, if you answer all our questions, we will tell you what's going on, but you need to answer them. It's very important." Rose said.

The SRO portrayed an aura of calm that made Lapis relax almost instantly. "Okay... but you promise to tell me what's going on?"

"Promise. Now, why did you leave early."

"We... We got into a fight."

"What happened during that fight?"

"Some... Some things were done before that night that shouldn't have been done before. Peridot found out, got angry and stormed off."

"And what did YOU do after the fight?"

"I... I went home. Locked myself in my room for the rest of that night and Saturday."

"You didn't attempt to pursue Ms. Greene? Maybe try to follow her home?" The patrol officer spoke up again.

"No. She said she needed time so... so I gave her time." Lapis said with a somber tone.

'Don't start crying again...'

Rose went back to being the questioner. "You didn't try to contact her? Call her, send her a text?"

"No... I thought she would talk to Me when she wanted to talk."

Lapis could feel the panic setting into dread. The officers were asking far too many questions about that night.

The SRO turned to face the other officer. "Is that all you needed?"

"Almost. You can tell her now, though." He responded.

'Finally, some answers...'

"Okay, Lapis, thank you for answering. I'm going to tell you why we're questioning you, but I need you to stay calm. Can you do that?" Rose asked.

Lapis nodded hesitantly.

"Okay... On Saturday morning, February 15, Peridot Greene was reported missing. Her parents thought she made it home late last night, but they didn't find her that morning. It is believed she was kidnapped during the dance last Friday, the one both of you attended. Daniel is a part of the investigation team looking into her disappearance."

Lapis gripped the edge of her chair, her knuckles turning white. The color drained out of her face as she started to breath faster and faster. Her entire body was shaking.

"Missing? She's... She's missing?!?" She shouted, jumping up from her seat.

"Lapis, please, calm do-"

"How did this happen?!? Who the hell would do something like that to her?!?"

The bluenette's hand shot up to her head as she pulled at her hair. Her breaths were practically non-existent with who fast they were, and she was slipping more and more into a panic attack.

"We don't know, ma'am. That's why we're asking so many questions. We need to know if there's anyone who would willingly kidnap Peridot. Perhaps someone they're on really bad terms with?" The patrol officer asked.

"Well, she wasn't really on that bad of terms with anybody...." Lapis tried to answer the question, but her mind kept circling back to the revelation. "She's not in any danger, is she?"

"We aren't sure, that's what we're looking into right now. Did you see any suspicious characters approach Ms. Greene? Perhaps someone following her?"

"Uh... Oh, wait! There was this one person who I saw watching her a lot of days. She was really buff, she had green tattoos, um... white hair and a broken nose!" Lapis said, recalling the figure she had seen a few days ago.

The patrol officer nodded as he quickly wrote the details in his notepad. "Did they happen to drive any sort of vehicle?"

"Yeah, a blue pickup truck!"

"Anything else?"

"Yeah, these three students, we call 'em the Diamonds, were talking to her. They were pretty suspicious. Ms. Obsidian might know their names."

"I know who they are." Rose spoke up, before turning to the patrol officer. "I'll get their names and appearances to you later."

The Patrol Officer nodded before looking over his notes. "Is that all?"

"Uh... Yeah. Yeah, I think so. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Just stay close by. Don't try to leave town in case we have more questions for you."

"Okay. W... Wait, you don't think I'M a suspect, do you? Cause, let me tell you, never in a million years would I do anything to Peridot."

"We don't think you did, but we can't rule put anybody yet. Just stay in town, that's the best thing you can do to help." The SRO reassured.

"That's all then. Thank you for your time, you can return to class. We'd ask you to report any new information you may acquire to Officer Rose or the Beach City Police Department." The patrol officer said, before tucking the notebook into his back pocket.

Lapis slowly got up, said her goodbyes, and left the door.

That's when she ran into the Zircons again. The look of anger on Bell's face alone made her stop in her tracks.

"Where. Is. My. Daughter?" She said through gritted teeth.

"Ms. Zircon, please, I-"

"I trusted you. WE trusted you. We thought that you had changed, because Peridot thought you changed. You were supposed to make sure she'd get home safe!" Bell shouted, starting to break down into tears again.

Me. Obsidian came over and tried to defuse the situation. "Mrs. Zircon, please. This wasn't anyone's fau-"

"You don't know that! You don't know that..." Bell screamed, before finally breaking down and sobbing into Yella's shoulder.

At that moment, the other two officers walked out into the middle of the conversation.

"Mrs. And Mrs. Zircon, please come with me. We have something to talk about down at the police station." The patrol officer said, gesturing them to follow him.

Yella nodded before nudging Bell gently so they could move forward. Lapis watched as the group left the building.

"Lapis, please understand, this wasn't your fault. They're just emotional right now. Now, please get to class." Ms. Obsidian said calmly.

Lapis weakly nodded before turning around and shuffling back to her class.

Everything felt numb to her. All the information she just received in the past few minutes just tried her senses. Then, it started to hit her.

If the urge to cry was strong before, it was overbearingly powerful now. Lapis failed to keep a few stray tears from falling down her face.

'She's missing. Somebody kidnapped her. Oh god, something could happen to her. Something could happen and I might never see her again. Oh god...'

Lapis thought back to what Ms. Obsidian had said. How it wasn't her fault.

'But it was. If I hadn't lied from the get go, if I had just been truthful with her, she wouldn't have run off from the dance, she wouldn't have stormed off from me, and she would've made it home safely that night.'

'It's all my fault.'

Whether there was truth to this thought or not, Lapis didn't care. The weight of everything that just happened forced the thought out.

Lapis slowly made her way back into the classroom, sat down in her chair, and buried her head in her arms on her desk.

"Blue? Blue, what happened? You looked like you were crying." Bismuth asked, worried for her friend.

Lapis shook her head slightly, not even lifting it up to face Bismuth.

"C'mon Blue, I'm starting to panic. What happ-"

"It's. Nothing." Lapis growled, before going silent again.

Lapis needed to do something. With every fiber of her being, she needed to help in the search for her friend. She didn't focus on anything else but that one thought for the rest of the school day. Her feelings of sadness soon faded into feelings of anger.

'Who the hell took Peridot?'

~☆~

Darkness.

That's all Peridot saw when she slowly regained her sense of sight. Her eyes fluttered open as she groaned in discomfort. She raised her head in a daze to confirm her surroundings. When she saw nothing, she tried to get up, only to find her arms were tied around the back of a chair.

Panic started to well up inside the nerd. Soon, the memories of the night before finally hit her, and that's when she started to shout.

"H... Help! Somebody, please! Somebody help!" She screamed as she struggled against the restraints.

She looked down at herself and noticed the dress she was wearing was ripped slightly and smudged. She also noticed her glasses were cracked slightly in the corner. She felt sweaty, dirty, and afraid. More afraid than she had ever been in her life.

She kept struggling and shouting until she heard something that sounded like a light switch. Suddenly, the room as flooded with light, and Peridot had to squint her eyes to adjust to them.

She noticed that the room she was a simple concrete square with shower heads on one side of the wall and a drain in the middle of the floor. She also noticed the giant, metallic door that sat right in front of her, and another chair place a foot in front of her.

Then, the door opened, and in walked this big, burly woman with flowing, turquoise tattoos, a sleeveless hoodie that barely fit her muscles, ripped jeans, and a metal baseball bat. The figure's hood was up with white hair spilling out the sides, and Peridot couldn't see her face from the lighting, but she did noticed one thing.

A reddish orange, broken nose. One she very much recognized.

'This is the person who kidnapped me!'

Peridot sat in silence, fear coursing through her body.

The figure took a look at Peridot before letting out a low, growly chuckle.

"Man, you're finally awake. You enjoy your beauty sleep, nerd?" She said, before walking over and sitting down in the chair. The figure let the baseball bat rest at her side.

For some reason, that voice seemed very familiar to Peridot. Like, a distant childhood memory.

Peridot stayed silent, short and fast breaths coming from her mouth.

"Not gonna say anything? Maybe you're too scared to talk, now that your blue-haired bitch isn't around to protect you."

Peridot went wide-eyed at that statement. 'She knows about Lapis. How does she know about Lapis? Is she here, too? Is she in danger?!?'

"How do you know about Lapis..." Peridot asked meekly.

The figure let out another chuckle.

"You don't recognize me, do you? I mean, it has been a good few years since we were last face-to-face... Hmm, maybe I'll just show you."

The figure reached up to her hood and pulled it down, letting her white hair flow down and revealing her face to Peridot. The blonde let out a loud gasp.

"M... Malachite?"

Malachite Quartz sat in front of Peridot, grinning from ear to ear with sharp-toothed smile. Her nose shaped in a way that was definitely unnatural. Her hair was messy and wild, and a large tattoo adorned one side of her face. It simply read 'Topaz'.

Aside from her face, the rest of Malachite was completely different.

"The one and only. I'm glad you didn't completely forget about me. This makes this all the more fun." Malachite chuckled, before getting up and grabbing her baseball bat.

Peridot tensed up as soon as the burly woman moved. "I... Nobody's seen you since 9th grade! Not even your sister!" She exclaimed, starting her struggle against the restraints again.

"Yeah, you can blame your girlfriend for that one. Fucked up my face so bad I didn't even want to be seen."

Malachite then quickly got up close to the nerd, holding her face with one muscled hand.

"Day in and day out, she would kick the shit out of me for even getting near you. Everyone stopped taking me seriously. Do you know what that feels like? I used to be feared! That day she broke my nose, I snapped. I had never felt so weak before then. So, I went out, got so drunk I almost stopped breathing, and fell off a cliff into the ocean by accident."

Malachite released Peridot before stepping back, stretching her arms put to show off her body.

"I would've died if the Diamonds hadn't saved me. I owe them my life. They even gave me a little makeover. Now look at me! Ain't weak no more! Now, I'm something to be feared again!" She growled while flexing her muscles.

Then, very suddenly, a sinister glare overtook her face.

"You know... When I heard my assignment was to 'hire' you, a lot of thoughts crossed thought my mind. But one very specific one was very strong." She said, before bringing the baseball bat down, smacking it a few times against the palm of her hand.

Peridot visibly gulped.

Malachite placed the baseball bat under her arm and reached into her pant pocket, producing a white bandana.

"I don't want you to have the satisfaction of being able to scream." She said darkly, before walking over to Peridot.

"No, stay back! Somebody hel- mph!" Peridot was quickly silenced by the bandana in her mouth.

"Now, I wanted to do this to Lapis, settle debts between us. But you'll do just fine. After all, if you had just given me what I wanted that day, she wouldn't have beat the shit out of me." Malachite snarled, before lining up the baseball bat with Peridot's nose.

Peridot kept up her muffled screaming, now starting to cry as tears filled up her eyes.

"Time for a little rhinoplasty!" Malachite screamed, before pulling the baseball bat back and swinging if forward.

Suddenly, the metal door burst opened again, and another buff figure walked in.

"Malachite! What did Yellow say about hurting the 'employees?'" The figure said.

The baseball bat stopped just short of Peridot's nose. The blonde let out a small whimper.

"I'm in the middle of something, Topaz." Malachite growled as she put the bat down.

"It doesn't matter. Blue wants to talk to you about your performance on Friday."

Malachite let out a groan before turning to the figure. "Can. It. Wait?"

"You were reckless, Mala. You could've been caught. They're not happy with you."

"Fine."

Malachite turned back to Peridot, leaning in close and whispering into her ear.

"This isn't over, runt. We'll finish this later."

Malachite pushed her way past the figure out through the door, disappearing from sight.

The figure let out a sigh before walking over and untying Peridot.

As soon as she was free of restraint, Peridot fell to the floor, panting. She looked up at the figure in front of her with a mix of fear and thankfulness.

The figure had blonde, sharply cut hair, an orange vest over a yellow shirt, heavy jeans and black boots. Her face was had a blank, stern expression, but her eyes portrayed... pity.

Peridot found the face familiar, almost comforting. She wracked her memory to try and figure out who this person was.

Under one of the figure's muscular arms was a green jumpsuit, around the same size as Peridot. The figure dropped it on the ground.

"Here's your uniform. Get changed out of that dress and into this. Knock on the door when you're done and I'll tell you what you'll be doing next. Oh, and don't try and scream. We're too far underground for anyone to hear you. Plus, it messes up the other employees." She said, her voice both stern yet soft.

Peridot looked down at the uniform and then up at the figure again, before finally recognizing the figure.

"T... Topaz? You... You're alive?"

Topaz said nothing before turning around and heading back towards the door. She was about to leave when she turned her head to face Peridot, a somber expression on her face.

"I... I'm sorry, Peridot. I didn't want you caught up in this..." She said softly.

Topaz shut the door behind her, leaving Peridot alone in the room once again. 

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There's a little easter egg in this chapter referencing one of my previous books. Let me know if you found it in the comments.

Don't worry, it's just an easter egg.