Just a note, I have gotten some complaints of Weiss being OOC. Here is my response.
I would disagree quite a lot with Weiss being OOC.
Let me explain.
In my AU, Ruby is an excellent student who got into a prestigious school by having a lot of talent. Weiss respects that. Remember how she approached Pyrrha in the show, because Pyrrha was a good fighter? It's something I think is overlooked a lot, but no less a part of her personality. She talks to people that she respects, and is actually somewhat nice to them. It's just that she respects Ruby a little sooner, that's all, whereas in many fanfics she sees her as annoying or immature at the start of it due to Ruby doing something stupid.
In fact, she's meaner to Ruby than she is to Pyrrha. Weiss knows Pyrrha's reputation better, and also had something to gain, so she's as more interested in being all friendly and stuff. Ruby on the other hand is a bit more of an unknown, so she's cautiously making some moves to being friends, but is still a little hazy on the idea.
Just my two cents - if you have evidence to the contrary, feel free to tell me I missed something, because I certainly may have.
At ten o'clock on a Monday morning, a girl stood in the bathroom of her apartment. Her name was Ruby, and she was eighteen years old.
It was her first day of college.
Ruby stared into the smudged bathroom mirror, and shrugged to adjust her backpack, a too-small polyester sack in red and black, with a broken strap she had sewn back herself and a polka dot patch where a pair of scissors had ripped a hole.
She looked down at her torn and tattered jeans, worn from years of use, trying to decide how she felt about being the same size she'd been for the past two years. On the one hand, it was pretty great, because she didn't need to waste any money on clothes and stuff.
On the other... those jeans made her look like a homeless person, which wasn't really what she had been going for. Her loose black cotton tank top didn't really help the image. At least it wasn't ripped. Yet. She hoped. Her toes curled and uncurled inside of her ragged red Puma sneakers as she evaluated the girl looking back at her from the dirty glass. She looked good enough, she supposed, and it wasn't like she had nicer clothes anyway.
Her teeth were brushed and she had showered just twenty minutes ago, and her messy black-and-red dyed hair was... sorta neat, at least.
She could do this.
Well, she could leave the bathroom at least.
Ruby turned away from the mirror, almost tripping on the discarded towel from her shower earlier, and hurried for the front door. Then stopped short again, overcome by nerves.
Well, she got out of the bathroom, but leaving the house might be an entirely different challenge...
Yang was waiting for her in the doorway. As usual, her sister looked awesome. She sported a stylishly slashed denim jacket, almost illegally short skirt, tight yellow tee, and a mess of brilliant blonde curls that were all arranged to messy, I-don't-give-a-fuck perfection.
Yang looked like some kind of biker goddess. And that just made Ruby feel worse. How could she even compare to her sister, let alone everyone else?
"Heya sis!" Yang called across the four foot distance. She never was much for volume control. "Ready to hit the road?" She hooked a thumb at the black and yellow bike parked outside.
Ruby laughed, a little nervously. "Ehe. Yeah. Sure! Let's go! College, woo!" She pumped a fist in the air. It wavered there for a second, and fell back down.
Yes, Ruby Rose was feeling like quite the ray of sunshine. Why wouldn't she? After all, going to a new school away from literally everyone she had known for the past four years, definitely pretty high on her list of 'fun things I want to do with my life.'
Yang sighed, put her hands on her hips, and gave her sister a knowing look. "Aww, is somebody nervous?" Yang cooed, her voice in that tone that meant cheek-pinching, or worse yet, hugs, might be incoming.
"Ah! No! Of course not!" Ruby squeaked. "Nope, not me. I'm totally cool. As a... uh..." Okay, it's definitely some kind of vegetable... "Cucumber?"
She felt like such a little kid. She was such a little kid. What was she even going to do, off in college? She wasn't ready for this!
Yang sighed again and smiled gently at her little sister as worried expressions clouded her face. Then she firmly seized one of Ruby's ears and started pulling her out the door. It was cute and all, but neither of them had time to stand around.
"Ow, ow, ow!" Ruby whimpered, startled and and in more than a little pain.
"C'mon Rubes. Everyone needs a little push now and then." Yang told her.
"This isn't a little push, this is my ear!"
Twenty minutes later Yang's motorcycle purred to a halt outside the curling wrought iron gates of Vale Academy. Ruby looked up, and gulped. She hadn't even stepped off her sister's bike yet, and she was already intimidated. Even the freaking gates looked amazing. They were twisting, and pure black, shaped into rose vines, and absolutely gorgeous.
"Welp, see ya sis." Yang said, somehow managing to sprawl on the handlebars of her motorcycle. She waited a second. "You can get off any time now..."
Ruby bit her lip, then gingerly removed her arms from Yang's waist, and stepped off the bike. Her red shoes were on college asphalt. She was here. She could totally do this. "Yeah. See you."
Yang gave her one last encouraging smile and sped off, leaving her sister alone.
Ruby looked up at the gates, bouncing nervously on the balls of her feet. Beacon Academy. The preppiest of preppy schools. The best funded too. People who went here were rich, and when they graduated they got rich person jobs, whatever those were. Like doctor, or lawyer. Their parents were rich, and they inherited fortunes. This place oozed money on a level Ruby couldn't even understand. And somehow, here she was, standing awkwardly at the gates and trying to work up the courage to step in. Someone up in the sky must really, really like her. Or really hate her...
Thinking of the sky, Ruby looked up. It was a clear, beautiful day, warm sunlight beating down on the ground and not a cloud in sight. That had to be a good omen, right?
Ruby tried to take deep breaths, to calm down. She couldn't even work up her courage enough to get through the gate. It was all just too much...
Suddenly, someone pushed past her as she shifted from foot to foot, almost knocking her face first onto the pavement. It was a guy in a black suit. A really gorgeous guy in a black suit, she noticed, his coppery red hair and clean shaven jaw line like something straight out of a fashion magazine, or a movie poster. He filled the broad shoulders and thick sleeves of the suit well, like it was all muscle, not fat, and he towered over her by a good eight inches. He had a thick brow that shadowed his deep blue eyes so that they looked almost purple, or black.
Bottom line, he was really, really hot.
His lips curled into a sneer and he was gone, through the gates without a second glance. He just dismissed her completely.
Something twisted and coiled in the pit of her stomach, and she swallowed hard. Well, that made her want to run away and never look back... Like she didn't already...
Instead, she steeled herself, and stepped in. When she saw the actual campus, her earlier annoyance just disappeared. Ruby walked slowly, craning her head and looking around with wide eyes, trying to see every part of the school at once.
The buildings looked as amazing as the gate. Even more amazing, actually. They were like pieces of some gothic castle, made up of huge asymmetrical chunks of rock ranging from gray to tan in color, set in pale cement. Dark glass windows with high arches and intricate designs added a mysterious feel. Spires, minarets, and towers decorated every available edge. This place wouldn't have felt out of place in the Middle Ages, or an old fashioned vampire novel, by Stoker, not Meyer.
It took Ruby's breath away. She couldn't even describe this place if she wanted to.
And the students! She couldn't see that many, maybe twenty or so wandering the green grass lawn. They were all dressed perfectly, in dresses, skirts, suits... they seemed like they were heading for a cocktail party or some other rich person thing, not school. Ruby couldn't spy a pair of jeans, or a hoodie, or even a t-shirt on a single one of them.
She realized she had no idea where she was going. Unfortunately, she didn't spy anywhere to set her backpack down while she tried to find the map they had sent her in the mail. She knew it was in there... and she really should have just stuck it in her pocket... But, as usual, she didn't really think things through.
Maybe she shouldn't have skipped the campus tour...
Ruby sighed, shifted her shoulders, and dropped the bag to the ground. It wasn't like the ratty old thing could really get any dirtier, after all. She squatted down next to it on the perfectly clipped grass carpet, wondering where her map was and how many times a day they must mow this place. There wasn't a blade out of place. She almost felt bad for putting her bag on it, it was probably messing it up somehow.
She was so lost in thought she didn't hear someone approach behind her. "Well, if it isn't a pig girl." Came a cultured, aristocratic voice absolutely dripping with loathing, just over her shoulder. "Careful, if you bend over like that, you might get mud on those pretty clothes. We couldn't have that, could we?"
Ruby shot a look over her shoulder. It was another absolutely gorgeous guy, with carefully brushed dull gold hair and an immaculate dark grey suit. He was just as built and almost as tall as the last one, cute in a preppy kind of way. And once again, a huge jerk. Yang would have a great comeback... But when Ruby tried to think of what her sister might say, she failed, and couldn't say anything at all. It was a really dumb insult, she knew. Juvenile. It shouldn't even bother her, she didn't know him and and she knew shouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing his words stung.
That didn't make it hurt any less. Sticks and stones may break may break my bones, but words will never hurt me...
That was such crap.
The first time anyone bothered to talk to her at this stupid school and they just had to say something like that...
Her eyes pricked with tears and she looked away, pretending to go through her backpack again. The warm, beautiful sun suddenly seemed too hot, and her hands shook a little as she went through the motions of searching. So far, all the people she'd met were just... casually cruel. Ruby, usually such an optimist, found herself doubting if anyone in this entire place had a decent bone in their body.
Whoever-it-was chuckled, and continued on his way, probably delighted to have ruined someone's day.
Ruby realized she had stopped moving, shook herself, and continued to rummage around. She finally found her map crumpled into a small side pocket, dug it out, and glared at it. Stupid thing. She breathed deeply, trying to calm down, and looked it over carefully.
...
Okay. She knew where she was going. It was a start.
Ruby looked up at the pretty, pretty campus and pretty, pretty people. All of whom probably hated her. Bunch of jerks. Sighing, she put her backpack back on, and started trudging for her first class, feet dragging on the wet, dewy grass.
It was going to be a really long day...
Ruby slunk into class a minute before the bell. Everyone stared at her as she hurried her way to a seat all the way in the back of the curved lecture hall, away from everyone, her head down. They just watched her with mocking eyes, whispering comments to eachother as she huddled in her seat and hoped that somehow if she squeezed herself up small enough nobody would see her. Maybe she could get so small that she would just disappear entirely.
Unfortunately, she had no such luck.
The teacher started the lesson, day one of Engineering 101. Ruby tried hard to pay attention, her pencil scribbling furiously as she took notes. She was interested in the class, she really was. She enjoyed building things, creating things, and this class seemed like a good way to experiment with that passion. The teacher, a fat balding man named Port, was certainly... involved in what he was doing. She could do this. Totally. Who cared what anyone else thought of her.
Someone snickered, and she just knew it was aimed at her.
Ruby gave up, and put her head on the desk, and blew out a heavy breath of air. It was going to be a really long day...
Somehow, Ruby made it through the class, and Intro to Design after that. She rushed outside of the classroom, eager to get away, thinking about where she might eat, and persistently avoiding thinking about anything else. Checking her map again, she traced one slim finger along it, biting her lip in concentration.
"Let's see... okay most of this stuff is just past the library..." She mumbled to herself. Unfortunately, none of the names were places she recognized. Starbucks? Yeah, she'd been there. Wendy's? Burger King? McDonalds? Yup, yup, and yup. But never in her life had she been to somewhere with a name like "The Taste of Italy: Delicatessen and Bakery." It sounded fancy. And pricy. Ruby started walking towards it anyway, picking her way along the smooth grey sidewalk and dodging other students. Past the library was where the food was, and her stomach was loudly demanding some munchies. And after all, it was just lunch, and even in this place, food was food. At least she hoped it was. Though really, how bad could it be?
Ruby found that the answer was very, when she finally got to the place. She swallowed hard as she looked up at the wall-mounted menu, decorated in mouth watering pictures of various delicacies. Twenty dollars for a sandwich? Five for a soda? Ruby turned and fled to check the other places. There had to be something she could afford around here.
For what felt like the millionth time that day, Ruby was out of luck. The closest she could get to affordable was a place named Guglhupf, a two story restaurant with tasteful black furniture, marble table tops, and decorative paper lanterns. She didn't know if the name was just gibberish or another language, but they had a soup that was within her ten dollar budget, so here she was. Granted, it was billed as an appetizer, so it probably wasn't going to be enough. Still, Ruby's growling stomach wouldn't really let her say no.
"Uh, the Minestrone appetizer, please?" Ruby squeaked at the cashier, a short blonde woman with too much makeup and too little patience. She shifted unsteadily from foot to foot. 'Please... don't say anything just let me get something to eat and leave.' She silently begged.
"$10.93." The cashier said, punching in the total. "Are you paying with your card or with cash?" She spoke quickly, with a waspish, disgruntled tone in her voice.
"Card?" Ruby repeated. They had given her an ID card... Was that what she meant?
"Your ID card. You're a financial aid student, aren't you? A financial aid card entitles you to three meals a day under thirty dollars." Ruby didn't exactly like the way she said 'financial aid.' Or the way she just assumed Ruby didn't have any money. Granted, she wasn't wrong but...
"Each?" Ruby asked. Well, there wasn't any reason to pass up food. Her mood was bad enough that if just one more person laughed at her, she might just go hide in the bathroom and cry, or scream at them, but her stomach was tying itself in knots and growling like a wild animal, so it came first, at least for now. And three thirty dollar meals a day was nothing to laugh at.
"Yes." The woman bit off the word, glaring like Ruby had personally insulted her. "Now, are you done holding up the line?"
"...guess so." Ruby mumbled. She got ninety dollars worth of food a day! That totally made up for everything! Yeah. Woo... "Umm, could I also get a small cider and a bratwurst then?" She asked quietly, passing over her ID card. The woman swiped it, and passed it back, along with a little piece of laminated plastic with the number 13 on both sides.
"Leave that on your table where the waiters can see it." She told Ruby, like she was talking to a child.
Ruby grabbed the two cards, offered a shaky smile, and fled for the upper floor.
Literally everyone hated her.
This was going to be a long day...
When she got upstairs, Ruby hesitantly claimed a two chair table on the second floor, sliding the chair out gingerly. It was probably worth as much as any three pieces of furniture back at Yang's apartment, so she felt like she had to be careful. She set her bag on the opposite chair and settled down to wait, absently chewing her lip as she looked at the stairs, waiting.
Ten minutes later, she was still sitting there, foodless. Yang had told her once that the classier a place was, the longer you had to wait for food.
Well, Guglhupf must be pretty classy, because this was getting ridiculous. Ruby was half tempted to tackle a waiter and just take someone else's food. Or maybe the waiter was being slow because the cashier told him to... She probably hated Ruby enough to do that, the girl thought bitterly.
Ruby decided to shoot another hopeful look at the stairs, and suddenly forgot about her meal entirely.
Ascending the stairs, one hand delicately resting on the rail, was the most drop dead gorgeous girl she had ever seen.
Her hair, done in a perfectly brushed ponytail held back by a black spiky tiara, was a pure snowy white, her perfect little sun dress the same color, with only a few pale blue accents. Her tall, tall heels clicked on the stairs, and Ruby gaped at how high they were. Yang would probably have called them stripper heels, but this girl made them look good. Really good. Ruby wet her dry lips and wondered where her vocabulary had gone, why she couldn't think of any word other than 'good' to describe her.
Trailing after the pale girl was a collection of other students, like moths to a flame. The pale girl sat down and pulled a small silver laptop from her icy blue handbag, and started typing. The other students crowded around, vying for her attention, spilling onto nearby tables but none of them quite daring to sit next to her. It was like the girl had a sign around her neck, 'Look but don't touch,' and nobody dared disobey.
Ruby caught the name 'Weiss' more than once, as she watched the girl ignore her admirers. That must be her name. Ruby rolled it around on her tongue, saying it softly to herself. Weiss. It was a beautiful name. She wondered what her last name was, her middle name. Did she have any nicknames? Did she...
Ruby didn't notice until five minutes later that her food was here.
She scarfed down her meal and got out of the restaurant as fast as she could, not wanting to be disappointed again, rejected again by someone she didn't even know. Ruby had one more class, and then she was through. She could go home, and get away from this place. One more class.
She hoped she never saw the pale girl again.
Somehow, she couldn't bear to be disappointed by her, too.
Ruby slipped through the door of Economics 101 early. Her lunch hour wasn't really over, but she wasn't in the mood to hang around with the other students. At least this way she could be alone. Even the professor wasn't here yet.
Ruby got all of five minutes alone, sitting in the back of the room and absently sketching, before the door clicked open and someone else came in. Ruby's eyes flicked up to see who, and she stared.
It was her.
The girl from before.
And she was coming right for Ruby, her heels making a muffled tapping sound as she climbed the carpeted stairs to the last row where Ruby sat frozen.
Hyperventilating sounded pretty good right now, but Ruby barely fought down the urge, her breath hitching briefly.
She suddenly understood why deer froze in car's headlights.
At this close distance, Ruby noticed a long scar running down the girl's left eye, pale and raised just a hair off of her otherwise flawless skin. She wondered how she got it, and imagined, somehow, that it would be better not to ask. That it was something that should stay a mystery.
She stopped right by where Ruby was sitting.
"You're here early too?" The girl asked, talking to Ruby casually, unaware of the bundle of nerves the other girl was wrestling with. She had a high, musical voice, like a singer. And she wasn't even three feet away.
"Yeah." Ruby rasped, cleared her throat, and tried again. "Yes, I am."
Her eyes were the palest blue Ruby had ever seen. She could drown in those eyes... Dive in and never want to come up for air...
"Well, I can understand wanting to get away from the rest of the student body." She said, annoyance coloring her tone. She spoke formally, but in a pleasant way. It made her seem interesting somehow, and it was natural rather than stiff or stuck up. "They're rather dull, and too nosy for their own good."
"Ehe. Yeah. I don't really like anyone here..." Ruby paused, then realized she was talking to someone she did actually like. Very much. At least so far. "Uh! Not you of course! Just, um, other people..." In her mind, Ruby repeated the girl's name like a prayer. Weiss. Weiss.
Weiss looked thoughtful for a moment. Then she gestured down, and asked "Do you mind?"
It took Ruby a second to realize she was asking about the empty seat next to her.
"Oh! No, of course not. You can do whatever you want! It's a free country, right? Well... except for Faunus..." Ruby trailed off, flushing red.
The other girl set her bag down, gently lowered herself into the seat, and then looked curiously at Ruby's sketch pad. Then she looked up at Ruby with her pale blue eyes, her expression questioning.
Ruby looked down, then turned an even brighter shade of scarlet. It was, unmistakably, a sketch of Weiss climbing the stairs back at the restaurant. She hadn't even really realized she had been drawing it, or she might have hid it. Or never started in the first place. "I'm so sorry!" Ruby squeaked.
"No, it's fine." Weiss replied, not sounding bothered in the slightest. "I was actually going to ask if I could have it when you finish. It's quite good. Are you an art major?"
"I'm thinking of double majoring... Engineering and art." Ruby mumbled in reply.
"Then if you'll pardon me asking, why are you in an economics class?"
Ruby couldn't decide whether to squeal in joy or run out of the lecture hall. Weiss seemed to actually care what she had to say. And she thought she was a good artist!
But on the other hand, this was way too close. Ruby didn't know if her heart would survive a full conversation, it was racing so fast, and she definitely wouldn't get through one without looking like a complete idiot. Something about the pale girl made her brain dribble out her ears, and tied her tongue in knots.
"I was just sort of interested. I mean, I have a little bit of time before I needa decide, why not try a few things out? I might find something I really like, you know?" Ruby replied. She noticed that her stammer was fading, she was getting more relaxed. The wooden lecture hall bench didn't feel quite so uncomfortable any more.
She could do this.
"Well, that's a good attitude." Weiss said, one eyebrow raised like she found something interesting, though Ruby couldn't tell what. "I'm majoring in business myself. To take over my father's company."
"Oh. What company does your dad own?" Ruby asked curiously.
"The Schnee Corporation. That is my last name, Schnee. Oh, I just realized, we haven't really been introduced. My name is Weiss Schnee, and you are?"
And suddenly, it was like the floor dropped out of the room, and she was falling. Like all the air just disappeared, and she couldn't breathe.
'Oh my god oh my god oh my god...'
Ruby was sitting next to the heir to the single wealthiest company in the world. The Schnee Corporation had their hands in everything Ruby could name. They did anything and everything and had... well, whatever they wanted. And she was sitting next to the heir to the whole company.
She didn't even know people used words like 'heir' anymore.
She didn't know how Weiss could get any more perfect.
"Ruby." She finally managed to say, after what felt like hours. "Ruby Rose." Her throat was so dry...
Weiss smiled. "It's nice to meet you Ruby."
Ruby's heart did a jig, and she didn't know how she kept from fainting.
Ruby managed to get through a conversation with Weiss for the whole twenty minutes before class started. Then she threw herself into the work, trying to avoid any more embarrassment. Fortunately, Weiss seemed just as absorbed in the lesson, and didn't try to keep talking. Small favors...
For once, Ruby didn't even notice the funny looks the other students gave her, or the gossip. She was too absorbed, either in her work, or in sneaking glances at Weiss, praying the other girl didn't notice. Ruby couldn't help the looks. The other girl was just... magnetic. She couldn't ignore Weiss anymore than she could ignore gravity.
After class, they left together, in a comfortable silence. Weiss walked with Ruby to the gates, attracting more attention along the way, but Ruby was still too distracted by the girl at her side to notice. She admired the other girl's stride. It was smooth, and graceful, like she was skating on ice rather than walking on pavement.
Ruby tried to think of something to say, something, anything, that would make her seem smart and funny and interesting. She would have even settled for just one of those. But nothing came to mind, so she just bit her lip, smiling unsteadily, and walked.
As they left the gates, Ruby craned her head around, trying to spot her sister. After a couple seconds she found Yang, waiting on her motorcycle, along with a host of other cars. Ruby waved to her and started to leave, but Weiss stopped her with a light touch on the shoulder. Ruby practically jerked back to face her as the other girl offered her a slip of paper.
"It's my cell phone number." Weiss explained. "In case you want to talk later. I'll be busy until nine, but if you want to talk after that I'm free." She didn't say what she wanted, Ruby noticed. Maybe she just wasn't that kind of person. Or maybe she hoped Ruby wasn't going to call.
Ruby hesitantly took the paper, smiled, and quickly headed for Yang. She didn't even say thank you.
"Who's the hottie?" Her sister demanded with a wry grin as Ruby climbed onto the bike.
"Please, Yang, just drive." Ruby begged, holding on tight.
Yang laughed and the motorcycle roared, sending both of them speeding away from Beacon. Ruby held her sister tight as they rolled through the sun dappled afternoon streets, enjoying the fruity smell of her sister's perfume and the wind in her and the warmth of another body close to hers.
As they turned onto another street, almost out of sight of Beacon, Ruby looked over her shoulder and realized that for the first time that day, she wasn't so scared of coming back tomorrow. Then the bike whipped around the corner and the school was gone.
Their early dinner felt surprisingly tasteless compared to the delectable meal Ruby had eaten at Guglhupf. Compared to crispy wurst, fresh squeezed cider, and flavorful soup, instant mac-n-cheese with a side of hamburger and a glass of milk was pretty bland. Even the table couldn't compare, just a simple scratched-wood affair that would have looked like trash compared to the beautiful tables back at the restaurant. It pretty much did anyway.
Ruby was abruptly very worried that she was becoming stuck up, and it made her scowl and jab her fork into a single piece of macaroni, a little harder than she needed to.
She wasn't like those rich jerks, puffed up on their own importance, and wouldn't ever be.
Well... She might not mind being a little more like Weiss.
Ruby sighed. Everything seemed to come back to that girl... it was like having a mosquito in your room, she decided. It buzzed and buzzed around and never let you quite forget it was there.
Not that she would ever compare Weiss to a mosquito!
She picked absently at her meal, squirming under Yang's gaze. Her sister had a pretty good knowing look, even when her cheeks were puffed up like a hamster from the huge bites she was taking. Yang finished her food before Ruby had even really started, leaned back, put her hands behind her head and asked "So, how was college?"
"I, uh, fine?" Ruby stammered. She stuck a bite in her mouth and chewed slowly, trying to avoid the Yang-ish Inquisition.
That was a terrible pun, even in her head. A pun so bad, even Yang wouldn't make it. Well, actually, she might, be even so, Ruby shouldn't be dropping to that level.
Yang waited until she had finished, then pounced again. "Well, you know, I saw that cute girl give you her number, so it seems like it went pretty damn good to me. And hey, since you don't swing that way, if you'd just tell me what it is..." Yang trailed off with a suggestive leer.
"Aha. Yeah. That's me, straight as an arrow!" Ruby chirped, a touch too quickly to seem normal. "And no, I just met Weiss. I don't want you hitting on her, she'd hate that." Would she hate that? Did Weiss... 'swing that way?' Ruby felt like she would very much like to find out.
Not that Yang ever needed to know that.
And then there was her metaphor. Arrows didn't actually fly straight, they wiggled in midair, Ruby thought as she leaned her chin on her hand and poked at some macaroni with her fork. Maybe it wasn't a very good example. Or maybe it was a little too good... She thought of Weiss, the way she talked, the way she moved, the way her shoulder had bumped her once when they walked, and her heart skipped a beat, then made up for it in spades, racing wildly. Ruby quickly gulped some milk and stopped thinking about it.
"Well, do you have any other friends?" Yang drawled, still smirking like the Cheshire Cat. Ruby desperately wished her sister would pull the same disappearing act and leave her alone...
"No, the place is kinda full of stuck up rich kids." Ruby mumbled. "I couldn't even get food without someone yelling at me..." She sighed heavily, slumping in her chair.
"Ah, c'mon Rubes! You had a ton of friends last year. Like, Jaune, and Ren, and Nora, and Pyrrha... Are you really telling me you can't meet anyone? You're great with people!" Her sister was still acting bright and sunny, in sharp contrast to Ruby's gloomy mood.
Ruby decided she had finally had enough. "No, that's the problem, I have nothing in common with them! I just feel so... so worthless Yang! They dress better, they look better, they just act so... superior, or something! I'm just me! And..." Ruby trailed off, something knotting in her throat and the pit of her stomach. Her unspoken words hung in the air between them, the proverbial skeleton in the closet. 'And that's not good enough.'
Yang's smirk died at the sound of her sister's voice. "Is it really that bad?" She asked quietly.
"...uh huh."
"So, want to give me a hit list?" Yang offered, cracking her knuckles and making one of her trademark puns. Ruby was too tired to even groan at how bad it was.
"No... It's fine. Besides, they'd sue you for everything we have." Ruby grumbled, spinning her hamburger on her palm.
"Well... 'least you have Weiss, right?" Yang offered. "So they can't be all bad."
"Haha, yeah." Ruby laughed bitterly, like nothing was actually funny. "She's like, super rich Yang! Do you really think she's gonna talk to me for more than, like, a week? She probably just feels sorry for me..."
"Geez Rubes, really? She gave you her phone number. That counts for something." Yang pointed out. "And don't be so moody, it isn't like you."
Ruby thought about the slip of paper in her back pocket. "I guess she did."
"Well, you should give this a shot. Who knows, she might actually be a cool person."
Ruby smiled a little. Maybe things weren't quite as bad as she thought. "Thanks Yang." She murmured. The tension in her body eased somewhat.
"Hey, what are big sisters for?" Her sister smiled softly. "Go do your homework little sis. I got something to tell you later."
"Ugh." Ruby grumbled. "Fine." Ruby cleared her place, scraping her cold macaroni and most of a hamburger into the trash, and dumping the dirty dishes into the already overflowing sink with a slight clatter. Then she headed to her room.
Homework... Ruby almost jumped for joy. She decided to change into pajama bottoms before doing anything. They were fuzzy and loveable and always made her feel better. And she definitely needed a little fuzzy love today.
Three hours later at around eight o'clock, Ruby came out of her room and looked around for Yang. Her sister had said she wanted to talk to her... Hopefully it was good news. Ruby didn't think she could take any more bad. She padded through the house in fuzzy pink pajama pants and her sock feet, making a beeline for Yang's room. The heavy metal blasting out from Yang's cheap speakers on the other side of the door gave her a teeny tiny hint that Yang might be in there.
Ruby didn't even bother knocking, she just pushed inside. And froze.
Her sisters bed was occupied by a little more than the one it usually contained. Yang and a dark haired girl were... making out. On it. Really... athletically.
It figured...
Ruby slammed the door and headed back for her room, really eager to get back to her work all of a sudden. Sure, she was happy her sister was dating someone and all, but she really didn't need to see that. Unfortunately, with Yang, she couldn't usually help but see, and did, way more often than she liked... Her sister didn't just didn't get why most people thought public displays of affection were so awkward.
Ruby wished for brain soap. Anything to scrub that image out.
A few moments later her sister came in to find Ruby with her nose in a textbook, pretending to read.
"Shit, I'm sorry about that..." Yang apologized sheepishly, rubbing her wild blonde hair. "I thought you'd be longer..."
Ruby rolled her eyes and glared. "Three hours Yang! I was working for three hours!"
"I was distracted!" Her sister protested. "How the hell was I supposed to know!"
"By looking at a clock!"
"But I was looking at boobs!"
"Yaaang!" Ruby wailed. "Don't do that in the house! Or at least do it when I'm not here! And definitely don't tell me about it! Ugh!"
"Oh, we kept our shirts on." Yang grumbled. "And if it makes you feel better, she's as pissed at me as you are."
Ruby's eyes widened, and her eyebrows arched. "You mean, she isn't a total..."
Yang narrowed her eyes at the implication, and Ruby cleared her throat.
"Aha. Okay. Um, so... Do I get to meet her?"
"Yes. Hi." Came a soft voice from behind Yang. "Oh, move out of the way, Yang. I can't see."
Yang stepped aside and Ruby and the dark haired girl locked eyes. She was tall, not as tall as Yang though, and dressed in dress pants, lace up boots, a white button up shirt, and a dark vest. A little black bow perched atop her silky black hair. The girl gave Ruby a little wave.
"I'm Blake... And... I'm really sorry about that..." The other girl clutched her arm awkwardly as she stood in the doorway, fidgeting like she was unsure whether or not to come in.
Ruby laughed it off. "Oh, Yang does that kinda stuff all the time."
Blake fixed Yang with a Look, capital L. "Does she now. I hope she hasn't in the past... oh, week, at least."
Yang looked a little twitchy, which was quite a sight to see. "No! And, uh, I'll be in the kitchen! Making... tea. Everyone likes tea!" She bolted, and Blake smirked.
"Figured." She said, a warm, pleased, tone in her voice. The expression 'like the cat that got the cream' sprang to mind.
Ruby giggled at her sister's flight from the room. "Oh man. She almost never does that. It isn't like her to get so embarrassed."
Blake arched an eyebrow. "Really? I thought she did that all the time. She certainly does with me."
Ruby couldn't stop laughing. "Really?" She looked at Blake with new eyes, her respect for the girl growing by the second. Yang seemed really... Different around her. Good different. "You really aren't like the other girls she's dated, aren't you?" Her sister actually seemed to care what this girl thought, enough to be freaked out by even a joking question about whether she might be a cheating. It was certainly a change from the usual, one night stands that never made it past the third or fourth 'date.'
Blake's face quirked in a grin, and she sat next to Ruby on her bed. "I'd like to think so. Mind telling me more about these other girls?"
Anything to get her sister in trouble! If Ruby was just a little more evil, she might have snickered. "Well, like the last one, oh man she dressed like a..." Ruby began.
At just that moment, Yang had returned with tea. She stood in the doorway, a smile that was a little too wide to be normal fixed awkwardly on her face as she heard her little sister telling Blake all about some of her previous girlfriends. Working up her courage, Yang darted in, dropping two cups of tea on Ruby's desk. "Okayhere'syourteabye!" Then she fled for her life, feeling the burning gaze of the other two on her back the whole way. She was never going to live this down... ever.
Back in Ruby's room, Ruby and Blake looked at each other, then back at the empty hallway, and dissolved into giggles.
"I might want to go reassure her." Blake said, when they had calmed down.
"Not yet though, right?" Ruby asked. Not for the first time in her life, she wanted to let her sister squirm a little. After all, Yang did it to her often enough...
"Of course not. So, you were saying?"
Around nine, Blake went to check on Yang, leaving Ruby alone, sprawled on the bottom of her bunk bed. She really should get rid of the thing, it was too big for the room and really just too young for her. But she kept it anyways. It was the bed she used to share with Yang, back when they were kids. Well, when Yang was still a kid. If Ruby half closed her eyes, she could almost see her sister hanging her head off the top bunk to talk to her, messy curls almost touching the floor as she gave Ruby a lopsided, upside down grin...
Those were the days...
Ruby sighed, and glanced over at her jeans, lying in a pile on the floor. One leg was inside out from taking them off. She really should put them away...
Ruby suddenly remembered the piece of paper in the back pocket. It was nine. She should probably call Weiss. Ruby bit her lip, hesitant.
Did she want to call Weiss?
Then she shook her head. She was being ridiculous. Of course she wanted to. Weiss was the only person in all of Beacon who hadn't been a complete jerk to her.
Ruby shook her head, disappointed and more than a little annoyed with herself.
She jumped off the bed, landed on the floor with a thump, and padded over to her jeans. She lifted them up, and rooted around in the pockets, bringing them up to her face so she could see inside.
That proved to be a mistake. When had she last washed these? Ruby wrinkled her nose in disgust, finally found the bit of paper, and tossed the smelly pants in the laundry basket next to her door. They landed sort of half in, half out, and Ruby figured that was probably good enough.
She tumbled back down on her bed, lying on her back and staring at the number in one hand and the phone in the other.
Maybe she could just text her. She didn't need to call, right? Weiss would be fine with a text.
Even better, in a text she might not sound like a complete dork. Texts couldn't stutter, or blush, or fidget awkwardly in their seats... Yes, text was definitely a much better idea.
Ruby punched in the number, adding Weiss as a contact. Then she pulled up her messages, bit her lip, and frowned.
What was she even going to say?
Hi, how are you, why are you so fabulous and amazing and...
Okay, calm down.
Ruby's lip suddenly stung, and she realized she had chewed a hole in it. A little bit of warm blood trickled in her mouth. She gingerly prodded the wound with her tongue, her mind still whirring, trying to figure out something to type.
Her fingers, almost of their own free will, tapped out two letters.
H. I. 'Hi.'
Ruby hit send before she knew what she was doing, then immediately regretted it.
'Hi?' Really, that was the best she could do? The phone slipped out of her hand and thumped onto the mattress, and Ruby grabbed a fistful of her fuzzy black blanket and pulled it over her head, trying to hide from... something. She was so stupid... The entire point of texting had been to not seem like an idiot, and she still couldn't even say one word without looking like a complete spaz.
Next to her, the phone buzzed, and Ruby scrambled to pick it back up.
'Hello to you too. You know, I was expecting you to call.'
Ruby could almost see Weiss's frown. Well, great, she was already mad at her. Maybe texting wasn't the best idea...
'Well, is this okay?' Ruby tapped out. 'My sister is being loud, so...' It wasn't really a lie. Ruby could still hear the music pretty clearly even though she was three rooms away. And she got the sense metal wasn't Weiss's thing.
'I would have preferred to talk. Texting has always seemed rather impersonal to me.' Ruby winced at that. 'But I suppose it's fine for now.'
"Oh man..." Ruby mumbled, then went back to typing, trying to seem calm in her messages if nothing else. 'Great! So...' Ruby fumbled for something to say.
'How do you like Beacon?' Weiss asked suddenly.
'Not very much.' Ruby admitted. 'Everyone there is so...' She hesitated for a moment, looking for the right word. 'Stuck up, I guess.'
'Really?' Weiss asked. 'I have a completely different issue with them.' There was a pause.
Ruby wondered if she had offended Weiss. The other girl wasn't saying anything... And she had just basically insulted everyone she knew...
She was such an idiot. Ruby closed her eyes. And she was friendless again... Absently, she noticed Yang's music was gone. It made her notice the rain outside, pounding down upon the roof of the house and splattering into the window on the far wall.
All of sudden, her phone beeped again, interrupting the deep, steady patter of the raindrops. Ruby's eyes flicked open and she sighed in relief. Weiss had just been typing. As she read the message, Ruby scolded herself. She shouldn't panic like that!
'They're lazy, and for the most part, rather useless.' The message read. 'You remember how the tuition is over a hundred thousand lien per year? Well, the secret is, if you agree to pay the full tuition, they guarantee you a spot. I believe you and I might be the only ones who got in on our own merits. The rest just bought a place.'
Ruby's eyes widened, her previous worry forgotten. She hadn't known that little secret. She'd been very, very lucky to get the huge scholarship she got, and it was the only reason she could even attend. 'Really? You didn't pay to get in?'
'Of course not! I'm insulted you would think so!'
'Ack! Sorry! Sorry! I just... you're super rich and all...'
'Yes, but unlike many of my peers I haven't let that make me lazy.'
'Well, I'm sorry, okay!' Ruby paused for a moment, struck by a sudden, burning question. 'Hey.' She wrote, fingers dancing over the touchscreen. 'I have a question.'
'Yes?'
'Why did you talk to me? In the classroom, I mean?'
'You interested me.' Weiss replied, and Ruby didn't notice she was grinning until she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the screen of her phone. 'After all, you're the only other student other than myself who got in fairly. I respect that, so when I saw your name on the class list, I decided to keep an eye out for you.'
'You were looking for me?' Ruby couldn't even keep her shock out of her message. She was half tempted to pinch herself. After all, this had to be a dream.
'You were also interesting for another reason.' Definitely dreaming.
Ruby waited with baited breath, fingers frozen, stubbornly avoiding pinching herself. Then she would probably wake up, and if she was dreaming, she didn't want to find out. She wondered what Weiss would say. Did she think Ruby looked... different from the rest of the students? Was it her art?
Ruby's mind went back to what she had thought about earlier, with Yang.
Was it because Weiss 'swung that way?'
'I noticed you staring in the restaurant. But you didn't try and bother me. Honestly, I appreciated that. It's very rare for someone to be interested in me, for me, not for my father's company. And it's even rarer for them to politely wait.'
And Ruby grinned like an idiot for the second time this evening. Weiss actually liked her! And noticed her! And...
And her phone's battery died.
"Oh no!" Ruby groaned, rolling of her bed and darting around the room, looking desperately for the charger. Stupid thing had to be around here somewhere! "It just had to run out right then! Gah!"
Twenty minutes later, she still hadn't found it, even though she checked every room in the apartment. The only interesting things she'd found were a huge dust bunny under the couch and a note stuck to the refrigerator door. It was from Yang, saying she was gonna stay the night at Blake's. Ruby was especially cranky about that second one. She hadn't even said goodbye!
And she still didn't know where the charger was...
Ruby shambled back into her room and collapsed on the bed. It was ten, and she felt like she had run a marathon. Drained like her phone's battery. She managed to tuck herself in about halfway, the fuzzy black blanket reaching up to her belly button, before she stopped trying.
Ruby drifted off pretty quickly, only one last thought slipping through her mind before she was asleep.
Weiss was going to be so mad...
Somewhere outside the window, thunder boomed.
Sorry for a super long A/N, but it is kinda worth reading, at least once! Please do!
Wow. Okay, this might be the most personal thing I've ever written. It does (or is going to) deal with a lot of my own insecurities, thoughts, feelings, and experiences. I'm incredibly proud of this story.
However, despite being my most personal story, it's also the only one I need to thank two other people for.
First is the person who inspired me, frozenhikki, author of October Storm. I think it's the best piece if writing I have ever read, bar none. The writing, not necessarily the whole thing, though the story itself is excellent too. That story is how everyone should write, I swear. Me and my beta have started talking about writing being "October Storm good."
Speaking of my beta, the second person is Wendy Crescent, my incredible beta reader. Some lucky authors on here might know her for her incredible reviews that are probably better crafted than most stories on this site. She really makes me want to keep writing and has improved this so much. It would be nowhere near as good without her.
You guys should thank both of these wonderful people. Seriously, they rock, and you should tell them so.
