Nothing but Lies and Stories (Steven Universe AU)

"And these classes are sure to pre-set her for college?" Connie's mother questioned the student counselor. The older man nodded his head in agreement. "Definitely, there's nothing to worry about Mrs. Maheswaran. We've got a plan, and i'm sure your daughter is able to stick to it" Connie scrunched up her nose for a quick second and agreed. Of course she had to agree, there wasn't anything else she should be doing but doing as she was told right?

"Classes have already started, and since we've got your schedule do you want to start today or come back tomorrow?" Connie was surprised at that suggestion, she did have all her things but she wasn't sure she was ready to-

"Of course, no reason to wait a whole day" her mother spoke up again. 

"Right" the counselor smiled at Connie as if trying to get an okay from her rather than her parents. Connie simply smiled and agreed. Of course, she was ready for it. Before, starting school was nerve wracking, she feared not being able to make friends, she feared being the one smart kid everyone only goes to for homework. It's happened before to say the least in her past years of school but this time? She felt something different.

A student was called down from a classroom, they wore a badge that simply said "leadership" in bold letters. They were much taller than Connie, a bit thick in body structure, having curves Connie had wished she had. Average height, Blonde, dressed in a long sleeved crop top and high waisted jeans. 

She seemed like a perfect mix between a girly girl and an athlete. They briefly introduced themselves as Chloe, she clicked her gum against her teeth, making an annoying sound which Connie did her best to ignore.

Her extremely ecstatic tone of voice just seemed insanely over the top, but Connie figured she was just trying her best to be optimistic and welcoming. The girl, Chloe, turned out to be a Senior.

 She advised Connie which places were safe, which to avoid so she wouldn't A. smell like weed or get blamed for using it and B. Getting caught in unnecessary fights with other students. And also, quiet areas in the building. Connie took a mental note about those quiet places, they could come in handy at some point. Chloe took a glance at Connie's paper schedule she had in her hands. 

"You should really be more careful" The two girls heard a voice echo while they walked. A girl with blue tinted hair was holding a taller guy by the forearm , leading him carefully while he had his face tilted downward, covering his face with a large tissue. Blood seemed to be seeping through, making both Connie and Chloe worried. The boy chuckled weakly, 

"Yeah, I know" 

The boy was thick, seemed a bit muscular in build. He had dark brown curly hair and wore a black shirt with a pink varsity jacket with light blue jeans and white shoes. 

"Damn Universe, what do you do now?" Chloe laughed. Steven stopped walking, hearing Chloe call out his last name. "Just you know, messing around, nothing to worry about" The blue hair girl rolled her eyes, "Keep walking" She snapped at him but Chloe seemed to take it like it was directed towards her. 

"Excuse me Lazuli? A bit rude to snap at someone that's just trying to make conversation" 

"It's Lapis thanks, and I honestly didn't acknowledge you even standing there since you know, you're irrelevant" Lapis snapped. Chloe glared, gritting her teeth. 

"Listen here you little-" Steven cleared his throat, stepping in front of the two girls chuckling awkwardly. "Lapis, chill out. Sorry, we'll just be on our way" Connie stood there awkwardly, biting her bottom lip as her anxiety rose within her. She waited off to the side. Steven quickly glanced at the new face that appeared beside Chloe. He stared at the tanned girl in front of him, mumbling a small apology and pushed along Lapis towards the nurses office successfully avoiding any sort of confrontation to go down in the middle of class. 

Chloe took a second to re-compose herself before putting a smile on her face and suggested they would continue. Connie agreed, hesitating slightly before convincing herself to push through it. 

She had first had Chemistry, English Literature, Calculus, Sociology, Music, Study Period, Spanish and lastly Health Class. 

"We just started First period" Connie looked up at the blonde and handed her the schedule. Showing her the way, Connie saw that all the students had already taken their seats and started their work. Gosh, it was always so awkward to just walk in late, first off, and second is being the new kid that didn't know her way around the campus. Chloe laughed at Connie's shyness.

"Girl, it's okay they don't bite. I'll meet you right back here when the period is over to take you to the next class" Connie agreed, took a deep but silent inhale through her nose and opened the door cautiously. Students turned their heads, some just didn't care and he went back to focusing on their work. The class teacher stood up from her desk and quietly made her way to Connie. 

"Can i help you?" A woman in her forties, dark brown hair, light tanned skin and slightly taller than Connie stood in front of the teen with her hands held together in a polite manner. 

"Hello ma'am, my name is Connie, I'm new here" Connie spoke lowley, in an almost whisper. The teacher let out a drawn out "oh", remembering about the announcement of the new arrival to her classroom. "That's right! I heard you'd be coming. Right then, just find an empty seat and i'll give you your textbook in a second, the assignment is on the board" 

Connie nodded, looking around for an open space, there were two desks that had a back dangling behind the chairs. Right beside the desk that occupied a black backpack, she figured the person wouldn't notice that someone new would be next to them when they had returned. Right in front of her sat a male, Black haired, grey shirt and white shorts, and grey sport shoes. A pencil sat between his ear, which did little movement as he bobbed his head a little. The teacher came over, giving her the textbook as promised. "Jeff, mind catching her up to speed?" The boy that sat in front of her flinched hearing his name but still, turned to give Connie a friendly smile. "You got it" 

Turning around in his seat, Connie opened her text book to the appropriate page and began to work on the given assignment. 

"Chemistry is a pain" he mumbled "This assignment is pretty easy but if you need anything i'll try and help. In all honesty Steven is a lot better at this than I am" Connie hummed and began to write on a separate piece of paper and worked out some problems. 

"Chemistry is hard i'll admit, but i love a challenge" she smirked. Jeff chuckled "Damn alright" He held his arm up defensively "Knock yourself out, i'm assuming my assistance isn't needed?" Connie scrunched her nose and gave the raven haired boy and shake of the head. 

Connie seemed to be too focused on what she was doing, finishing up her assignment that she didn't realize someone had taken a seat right next to her. "You alright bro?" She heard Jeff whisper. 

"Yeah, totally fine" Connie looked up, seeing the same boy from the hallway with the bloody nose.. Dark curly hair, thick, slightly muscular build. He wore a pink varsity jacket with a black shirt and yellow star on the center. They both locked eyes for a quick second just like before. He smiled slightly but almost painfully so. Probably feeling slightly embarrassed since she had seen him with tissue stuffed up his nose

"You're new here huh?" he asked. Connie nodded. The male beside her extended his hand towards her. Surprised, Connie stared at it for a few seconds before realizing he was expecting a handshake. God, she's had more achievements with human interactions in the last half hour at this school than she had in her last few years of public education. She's not used to getting such attention much less on her first day. 

Connie went and put her hand and his and gave a light shake before letting go. She felt a slight tingle run through her body and by the looks of it, the boy had the same awe and shock in his eyes as their hands touched. Though his smile never once disappeared from his face, she felt like she was just imagining things. 

"Name's Steven, nice to meet you" He let go of her hand. "Connie, likewise". Steven relaxed, listening to her speak for the first time. Damn, something about this girl has really gotten to him after just a first impression. He had to admit, he found her attractive for sure, she had nice, tan skin, beautiful golden brown eyes and cute round glasses that rested on her nose and complemented her face. 

Steven cleared his throat, trying to shake his intrusive thoughts of the girl clouding his head. He turned back to his friend Jeff and they carried out another conversation. The class that once was quiet turned into students murmuring among themselves. Connie glanced at the clock on her phone, it was ten minutes until class was over. Jeff turned around in his seat, all packed up and ready to go. 

"You've heard about the Diamonds on the news right?" Jeff asked, his thumb swiping up on his phone screen. The Diamonds again huh, guess it was a hot topic around Beach City. Steven hummed in disagreement, his head resting on the palm of hand. He held his head up with his arm resting on the desk. Jeff shot his head up, nearly gasping in surprise. 

"What? No way they're practically trending online now, check this out, one of them totally freaks out" Jeff hands him his phone and a video begins to play. Connie eyes Steven holding the phone and as if he knew, he turned the phone so she could see and hear. 

The video began a little shaky, the person behind the camera seemed to rock a little back and forth before it focused and panned directly on a tall woman, navy colored hair, blue eyes and sunkissed skin. Judging by her expression, she was visibly upset. Her eyes had dark circles, face glistened with wet spots, indicating that she had been crying. 

"Azure, Could you tell us why the family is reopening the case?" the reporter asked, holding a microphone to the woman. "Our reasoning behind why we will be reopening the case doesn't concern anyone, all we ask for is help to get answers on her disappearance" 

"Yes, I'm sure everyone would also like some answers just as well as the family does. There's a lot of people out there that speculate Rosaline's disappearance was due to family conflict, would that be the case?" the reporter continued. Azure scoffed, "I'm sure we were not the cause of her disappearance, we love each other and have always cared for one another. That is such an absurd statement" 

The reporter continued to throw questions and with each statement that left their mouth, the woman, Azure seemed to get more and more frustrated. 

"All we want as a family is closure!" Azure burst, her cheeks a slight tint of pink. Connie and Steven raised their eyebrows at her outburst towards the reporter. "She's been gone for 16 years and not knowing why is painful ! 16 years worth of grief and pain and yet everyone out there speculating or implying we did something as far as torture or abuse? Roseline was my youngest sister, I loved her, we all loved her!"

Azure broke down in tears again as she screamed at the reporter. "We just want answers! We know she's out there, we just want her to come home!" And with that the video had ended. Steven and Connie got so invested in it took a second to gather their thoughts before snapping back to reality. They remembered they were back in the classroom. 

"God, that poor woman…" Connie breathed. She hadn't realized she had tensed her whole body after witnessing her whole rant and breakdown. She felt some sort of second hand embarrassment for her but on the other hand she felt some sympathy. After all, they all just want answers. Being left with The uncertainty and lack of explanations can certainly drive someone crazy. Constantly having it on their minds, making up explanations, and scenarios. 

"Yeah…" was all Steven could mutter out. "Pretty intense, but i'm sure someone would figure out something sooner or later" Jeff concluded. "On a side note, Connie, you know your way around the school yet?" Steven turned to Connie, trying to change the subject to a lighter one.

Connie shook her head, "Im sure ill figure it out eventually" 

Jeff nodded, "You're always welcome to hang with us you know, you seem pretty cool" Connie smiled, she felt the happiness practically bubble inside her. Definitely a great change for sure. This was so much better than her past awkward encounters with others. She's actually making friends! "Yeah, gladly, you all seem cool too" Jeff grinned, wiggling his eyebrows at Steven who in turn smiled slightly, eyebrow lifted in amusement towards his friend. 

"Hear that? I'm cool " 

The bell rings 

"Lapis left all her stuff here, I think we should take it to her" Steven frowned, "Geez, she's so careless sometimes" he mumbled. Steven gathered up her supplies and backpack, sticking everything inside carefully and carrying her backpack by one of the straps. Connie looked down at her schedule as they walked out of the room while she glanced around, trying her best to try and pinpoint where the next class would be. She figured that the ambassador that had helped her out this morning would be around but she wasn't anywhere to be found. Not that Connie cared, she figured she herself had to get to her own classes. 

"You know where her next class is right? I can help Connie around while you take her stuff and then meet up later?" Jeff suggested. Steven gave a confused look towards him, then realizing what he was trying to do seeing Jeff give him a wink. While that went unnoticed by Connie, she shrugged not really caring besides getting to class on time. 

Wow, already trying to hit on the new girl, Steven thought. Not like Jeff to do that, he must really be into her. Steven's lips twitched, trying to for a laugh which he held back. 

"Sure, catch you later?" Jeff nodded, nudging the indian-american girl to follow him. Connie gave one last look at Steven, giving a small wave and walking off. Steven stood there watching her walk off, the two seemed to walk in silence. Steven felt an unsettling feeling rise in his stomach. Steven chewed on his cheek. 

Something felt wrong about seeing her walk away without him. 

XxxxxXxxxXxx

"What? Really?!" Connie exclaimed excitedly, holding her phone to her ear. Forgetting that her mother was driving, her sudden outburst caused her momentarily swerve. Her mother glared and whispered her name silently. Connie gave her an apologetic look and composed herself. 

"That was pretty fast...no! Yes i do want the job" Connie's mother's eyebrows lifted, hearing the word job. Not even a few days at Beach City and she's already got a job? She was impressed, to say the least. Priyanka smiled to herself, focusing on the road but slightly tilting her head, listening onto her daughter's conversation. Not that she was being nosey, she just couldn't help but overhear

"Yeah, I can stop by the shop today, not a problem...yes ma'am...mhm" Connie's grin never left her face. Once she ended the call, her mother stared at her, waiting for something to happen. 

"I got the job at The Big Donut, part time, only a few hours after school Monday through Friday" Priyanka nodded, "That's great honey, make sure you give yourself time for studying though, gotta keep up on studies as well but i'm sure you're capable of finding a balance" her mother stated. Connie nodded understanding. 

"Could you drop me off by the cafe, she asked me to come in for one final interview" 

"Alright, be home before dinner" 

"Right" 

Getting to the cafe was something Connie told herself to get comfortable with if she would be working there from now on. Sadie had been waiting for her arrival, thankfully Lars was there to cover while she showed Connie around. Once Connie arrived, Sadie pulled her back, showing her where they kept things, cleaning supplies, the staff schedule, where to punch in and out and other things that consisted of her daily job. It was a small shop and town so nothing gets too out of hand. 

"Alright, everything seems simple enough, i think i'll be able to handle it" Connie said confidently. "That's the spirit" Lars stood in the doorway of the backroom. His flat tone echoed through the room, the two girls looked at him startled. 

"Alright, you start today, no reason to wait right? Let's go" Lars sighed, hands stretched behind his head. "Really? Well alright" "Gotta start learning the orders of our regulars, i have some written down as a cheat sheet just in case ya know? Otherwise learning Coffee will be pretty difficult at first but you seem like a fast learner unlike all the incompetent people who've worked her before" 

Sadie elbowed him trying to get him to stop. The chime rang out, indicating that someone had entered the shop. Sadie turned and saw a familiar group of teenagers walk through the door. Connie observed how Sadie unconsciously began to put different types of donuts in bags and placed them on a red tray. Connie glanced at the group of 4 boys, one catching her attention. Specifically a dark brown curly haired male. 

Speaking of him, he was the first one that walked up to the counter. Connie felt herself sweating. Well this is weird, i'm just seeing Steven everywhere now. Steven had a smile plastered on his face, hands in the pockets of his varsity jackets. "Hey Sadie, hey Lars, just the usual dozen donuts and 4 hot chocolates" 

Steven placed the cash on the counter. Sadie nodded her head, impressed. "Hot chocolate this time huh? No coffee for you or your friends" Steven shook his head, shrugging his shoulders. 

"Nah, but we'll probably get some later" he laughed. "Alright Connie, let's get started, you'll be seeing these guys around more than you'd think" Steven's eyes bugged seeing Connie come walking beside Sadie, her hair tied back and out of her face unlike how she had it loose during school hours. 

Steven was able to get a better look at her face. Her cheekbones shining in the lighting, her eyelashes perfectly curled and coated with mascara making them look slightly thicker. She had a bit of eyeliner to make her eyes stand out a bit more. 

Damn she's cute Steven thought. 

 Connie smiled at the boy, giggling at his staring. 

"Hey Steven" 

Steven blinked, "Y-yeah…hey! Uh...you work here too?" 

Connie nodded, "Yup, hang tight we'll get your order out soon" she walked off. Steven smiled, watching her walk by. Lars on the other hand, crossed his arm and smirked. 

"Take a picture, it'll last longer you know" Lars leaned in, whispering to Steven's ear. Steven scoffed, a small blush rising to his cheeks. "I was not staring," Lars rolled his eyes. 

"Are you kidding? You were totally checking her out. Didn't know a girl could have that effect on you Universe" Steven glared at the taller male, feeling even more embarrassed. 

"We just met, I'm not interested in something like that with her. Seeing her here just caught me off guard" He tried to defend. 

" Yet " Lars snickered. Steven gave a light punch to Lars shoulder, who laughed in return. "Shut it" 

Connie appeared just back up to the front counter, setting down the tray of donuts and handing a drink carrier with four hot chocolates. Both Sadie and Lars stood waiting for Steven to take his things and sit at his table. Steven wanted to chat with Connie a bit more but things seemed a little awkward to continue a conversation in front of the two. 

Steven glanced at Connie, giving her a nod and a smile thanking her quietly. 

"See you at school tomorrow?" He asked. Connie, pulled her hair behind her ear. 

"Yeah, enjoy the donuts" 

Steven hummed and walked off back at his table. 

Lars and Sadie leaned in towards each other. "Steven's got it bad doesn't he" Sadie snickered. Lars chuckled in response "Oh hell yes he does, he doesn't even realize it yet" 

"20 bucks says Connie will say something first" Sadie smirked. Lars stared off in thought for a second and shook his head. 

"Bet, Steven's capable of making the first move" Both adults held each others hands and shook on it. Connie turned to her fellow coworkers, looking confused. "Did you guys say something?"

They both shook their heads slowly and both responded with a "Nothing"