Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Her thought process was interrupted by the obnoxious ring of the bell above the door. She grimaced as she pulled herself together and turned to the counter with a smile. “Hello, welcome to Big Coffee. How may I serve you today?” She smiled down at the customer, who was a few inches shorter than she was.

The shorter one seemed to be taking in the menu, her brown eyes scanning the words. Pearl noticed the droop in her eyes, the sluggish movements. Working at a coffee shop gets you used to it. She tapped her fingers on the countertop as the lavender-haired woman pointed to something on the board above her.

“I’ll have that,” she squinted her eyes at the white lettering, “The Cookie..Creeme??...” she leaned over the counter a bit, and Pearl turned to the board, “The Cookie Crumble Crème Coffee?” She corrected, turning back to face her. 

“Yes! That one. Could you add like..6..7 pumps of caramel in it?” The shorter talked, almost mumbling as she leaned against the counter. “Alright, can I get a name for this?” Pearl asks as she’s focused on the cup, a pen in hand.

“Amethyst.”

Pearl wrote in neat cursive, curling the cross through the ‘t’s. She nodded and smiled back down at Amethyst. “It’ll be right out.” she turned swiftly and began to make the drink. She could feel eyes on her as her hands worked their way around the machines. She glanced at Amethyst, who stood at the counter, watching her work her magic. She could tell she was tired. It was relatively early in the morning.

"Yknow, if you want your coffee to wake you up, expresso is what you'd want to put in it," Pearl states as she works. Amethyst nods tiredly, "Yeah, I don't really like coffee or any of that, don't really see the hype...anything sweet is more my vibe." Amethyst talks with her hands, even though Pearl is facing the other way. Pearl just nodded. Amethyst sits up a bit, "Now that I think about it, I probably prefer tea more than coffee." Amethyst spoke half to herself, half to Pearl. "Gross, I sound old." she grimaced at herself and sunk back down.

"Nothing wrong with liking tea! I'm a tea person myself, actually. I think we have some teas on the menu you could try next time!" Pearl's sweet voice came from behind the corner again, making Amethyst smile. How can she be this cheery so early in the morning? Early bird, I guess. 

Amethyst rested her head on her hand as she looked at the cute barista through lidded eyes. She rolls her eyes as she yawns again. Honestly, who starts work at 6:00 AM in the morning? She already felt like quitting just for this ridiculous schedule, and she just got hired. Maybe this is why she can’t keep any jobs.

Her thoughts were cut off by the cup getting set on the counter rather sweetly, ‘Pearl :^)’ read the barista’s nametag, was busy with the screen, tapping away, and Amethyst almost forgot she had to pay for this. She mentally slapped herself as she brought out her wallet.

“Your total will beee,…” She spoke as she rang up the small coffee, “$6.56” She gave a warm smile as she scooted the cup towards Amethyst while she fumbled with her wallet, pulling a few scrunched-up bills out and handing them toward Pearl, which she counted, gave Amethyst her change, and the two of them waved at each other when Amethyst left.

She admired the beauty of the drink for a second, tempted to take a picture of it. Dont do thatttt, so uncool. She cracked a smile at her inner monologue as she turned the cup in her hands, seeing the cursive of her name so beautifully perfect. Her eyes widened. She didn't think her name could be written so gorgeously. 

It made her want to keep the cup if she was being honest.

As Amethyst left the coffee shop and checked her phone, ‘6:15 AM’ she groaned as she quickened her pace, sipping at her cup as she opened her new boss's number and started texting. God, late on your first day.

She huffed at herself and started texting with one hand.

‘Hwy Garnet, im ight be a fw mintues late today, lost trac k of tiem ’

When she was rereading it over she mentally cursed herself, going back and fixing her mistakes. Gotta keep it professional when you're working at a…convenience store.

 In her defense, it was the only thing hiring quickly! It’s not what she wanted to do with her life, but it pays. 

As she was looking down at her phone, she bumped face-first into someone. 

“Oh god- Jesus, dude I’m so sorry-” she apologized profusely as the liquid in her drink had found a new home, soaking in the nice wool clothing of this stranger. She looked up and was caught off guard.

“Hey man, it's cool. I was just heading to pick my friend up anyways.” the taller said, wiping the remains off her shirt, just leaving a sticky stain, as she smiled down at Amethyst. “Just be more careful next time.” She shot a thumbs up and another warm smile as she passed Amethyst by.

Amethyst dropped her tense shoulders, looking back at the kind stranger again. Rainbow-thick dreads were tied into a tight ponytail behind her. Goddamn, I want her hair. Rainbows are cool as shit.  She put a hand on her chest, to calm herself after the situation.

She shook her head and rechecked her phone. 6:34 AM What the fuck. She quickly got back on route, going over the message one more time and sending it to her boss, pocketing her phone and being more aware of her surroundings.

This is one of the only times she is glad Beach City is as small as it is because she got there perfectly at 6:40 AM. Only…40 minutes late.

She got inside the store, out of breath. She doubled over, putting her hands on her knees as she caught her breath. The night shift worker clearly wasn't happy about her lateness, looking quite exhausted. Amethyst fixed on her nametag and gave a guilty, apologetic smile to the worker she was switching with, who clocked out immediately with a huff and was out quicker than light.

Amethyst sat at the chair at the front desk, tapping her fingers on the counter. 

Yeah, this shit sucked.

This is going to be the longest 10 hours of her life.

I mean, who even goes to convenience stores anymore!? Especially in beach city. She mentally kicked herself for choosing this job out of everything. Her phone buzzed, and she checked it eagerly, hoping somebody would want to talk her out of this boredom.

‘Garnet(boss):

‘Don't let it happen again. Sadie wasn’t happy.’

Her lips pressed into a straight line, and she replied with a thumbs-up emoji, swallowing nervously. I wonder what she said. She wondered, going through any apps on her phone to pass the time. The door finally rang. A small boy ran to the back of the store and picked out 3 ice cream sandwiches, basically zooming to the counter with a massive grin on his face.

She let a small chuckle out at his enthusiasm and scanned the items. She made a puzzled look at the screen and just groaned and turned away from it, not understanding any of the buttons, and not wanting to. That Pearl lady made it seem so easy. She glanced at her half-empty cup that was on the far side of the counter that hasnt been touched since her rather embarrassing accident with the rainbow-haired lady. 

Blinking, she snapped out of her thoughts and calculated the price for the kids' ice cream sandwiches.

“Totals… $8.50, kid,” she turned one of them over for the price sticker. “I think,” she mumbled but shrugged and put it back on the counter. Who cares anyways.

To which, the kid dumped a crumpled $10 bill, barely peaking over the counter,  up at Amethyst. She gave him his change, and he grabbed his icecreams and booked it. She giggled and rested her head in her hands, going back to her phone.

Chapter Text

Amethyst tapped her fingers across the counter as the lousy clock on the wall ticked. She rolled her eyes as she checked her, almost-dead phone. ‘3:48 PM’ Amethyst shook her head as she began to clean up. Who knew working at a corner store would be...slow.

She cleaned the wrappers and all kinds of junk that surrounded her workspace, and she just waited for whoever looked like a ‘Lars’ to walk in and take her place.

When Lars got there, it was ‘4:45 PM,’ And the most Amethyst could do was give him a glare and walk out of there as fast as she could, hoping he had a miserable night. She pulled out her dying phone to message Garnet.

‘Lars was an hour late getting here, dunno if you should know. I know now that I will make sure I'm on time every day. Being on the other side of this-‘ being on the other side of this is absolute dog shit!? How hard is it to just get there on time? Plan it out more?- ‘sucks. Sorry again!’ You are so professional, Amethyst.

Amethyst stomped home as she muttered to herself. An hour late.  A FULL HOUR! She already hates this Lars guy, and they haven't even spoken a full sentence to each other yet. She's going to make sure she's not late anymore, now being in Sadie’s shoes…Maybe she’ll apologize or something next time she sees her because this shit sucks.

Only an hour, but when she's supposed to be off the clock she wants to be off the clock? A smile worked its way over her lips as she passed Big Coffee,. She noted the new people at the front desk, A short blondie and a girl with poofy black hair pulled into a curly bun with a pink headband. 

-

Amethyst groaned as she pushed open the door to her shared apartment. She rubbed her tired eyes as she placed her 10-hour cup of coffee on the kitchen counter, which she still hadn't finished. Making her way to the couch, she plopped down out of exhaustion.

She sighed then rolled over onto her back, staring at the ceiling and recalling her shit of a day. How few customers came in and when they did they were totally dicks. ‘Cept for ice cream kid, he was cool . She thought back to the barista this morning, What was her name again? Penny? No…Per….Pearl, that's it. Just thinking of the woman made her smile. How happy and energetic she was that early in the morning, Amethyst aspired to be like her.

And that one chick she bumped into. She physically face palmed, groaning in embarrassment. She had such cool hair. She noted, recalling the incident. And a sick tattoo. Hm. I want a tattoo. What would it be? Where would it be? I wonder if Pearl has any tats, bet she- Wow. Thats really fucking gay Amethyst shut up.

She covered her face with her hands as she rolled over to her side. As her eyelids began to grow heavy, she heard keys jingle outside the door. She rolled her eyes as her older sister popped in the doorway, slamming the door shut and immediately ransacking the kitchen.

“Hey, Jasper..”

“Sup.”

Amethyst sat up and leaned over the couch, looking at Jasper with wide puppy eyes, to which Jasper didn’t notice and kept her back towards Amethyst as she effortlessly opened lids to jars and pulling apart chip bags.

“...So…How was…your day?” Amethyst hinted still staring at Jasper.

“Terrible! Ugh, you won't believe the absolute bitch who came into the shop today. She was mad that the tires I sold her got popped by a nail like it's not my problem that she drove on a nail. The fuck did I do? Put the nail there? No! Ugh, I can't sometimes. People are so stupid .” 

Amethyst nodded and acted like she was following along. When Jasper went quiet, she glanced around the kitchen and sighed, rolling her eyes. She got up and walked over to the counter and jumped up and sat on it.

“My day was okay…” She glanced at Jasper before letting out an irritated groan.

“IwokeuplateandgotmycoffeelatebutIsawthisreallyreallycutebaristaandlikeobviouslyloveatfirstsightisntrealbutdudeshewassocuteandthenigotmycoffeeandleftandIwasalreadylatesoIwasmessagingGarnet,myboss,andbumpedintothisreallycoolotherladywhohadRAINBOWHAIR!RAINBOW!AndasickstartattooandmycoffeegotalloverherandughhhhwhenIgottotheshopuhhSadieIthinkwaspissedandGarnetwasmadatmeandLarswaslate,likeafullasshour!AnHour!?areyoukiddingme-”

Jasper turned and looked at Amethyst for the first time since she got home and let out a thundering laugh before holding a hand out to silence her. “Calm it. One at a time. Cute barista? Really? What is this, some sappy romance?” she snorted and Amethyst punched her on the arm.

“Stop! She was so cute,” Amethyst grabbed the nasty cup from this morning and looked at the label, still written in black ink, Amethyst’s name in fancy cursive. A blush dusted across Amethystight brown skin “Just look at this!” Amethyst pushed the cup into Jasper'sgrasp “Like, isn't that godly?! ” 

Jasper just lets a breathy laugh out and sets the cup down again. Amethyst spoke. “Im going to have to go there like every day now.” She states as she stares into nothing. “What if she's not gay?!” Amethyst’s eyes shot open at the realization.

“Jesus, Amethyst! You don’t even know this chick, what if she's some maniac killer or something? Get to know her before immediately trying to hook up with her??” Jasper knocked some sense into Amethyst and Amethyst just nodded and let out a sigh, slipping off the counter and going back to the couch, letting herself fall on the cushions and letting her dyed hair fall behind her. 

“You are so hopeless” Jasper laughs at her own joke.

“Don’t make me bring up Lapis,” Amethyst mumbled from her facefirst on the couch.

“Listen here, you little runt, ill kill you.” Jasper calls teasingly, putting her mess of whatever food she is eating down and goes into the living room, grabbing Amethyst in a headlock.

Amethyst struggles against it with a smile, giggling as she kicks“No! I’m so sorry for bringing up your one true watery love life!” Jasper just rolled her eyes and smiled back, rubbing her knuckles back and forth harshly on Amethyst’s head, her hair tangling and getting in her face.

“I am so getting you back for this.” Amethyst yelped as she was pushed back onto the couch, and she flipped herself, pushing her hair behind her. A few giggles lingered in the air before the two of them settled and Jasper set herself on one side of the couch, flipping through channels.