More than meets the eye

Okay. Sorry I don't have names for the chapters, but I'm not sure what to call them. Anyways, here's the second chapter. Hope you'll like it.

Disclaimer – I don't own any of these characters.

The start of this chapter takes place at the same time as the first one does, although it's Robina's day. And, it's a bit serious, but a serious plot bunny hopped along, and yeah.


Robina hummed as she walked along the mall corridors. She was no stranger to the place; in fact, she was surprised when no one acknowledged her by her name when she went into certain stores. She certainly shopped there enough. She might have spent a fortune on clothes from their shops.

Not that she initially wanted to. Oh no, she didn't really have any craving or needing for their clothes. In fact, she would have settled for something less fancy. Actually, she would have loved to get something less fancy (and less expensive too). She didn't really like to flaunt herself, or the clothing she had. She was more of a humble type.

But then again…not that many people knew that she was the humble type.

'Certainly not the people at school.' She thought bitterly to herself. For all she knew, the people at school thought she was a brazen show-off, and that was just the tip of the iceberg.

No one could guess, not even her closest 'friend', that she felt really uncomfortable being popular. She let out a small chuckle. The most popular girl in school, hating popularity. Or, not so much popularity, but what one had to do to be popular.

You had to have the right clothes. You had to know the right things to say. You had to know what was hot at the moment. You had to poke fun at other people.

Robina hated the last thing most of all. The others would have a good laugh at some other persons expense, but every time, Robina had to force it out of herself, even though she always had an empty, sick feeling in the pit of her stomach after.

She honestly did not see how they could take pleasure in someone else's pain. She saw not point in laughing at it, unless the person who had gotten hurt could laugh at their fall themselves. But emotional pain was the worst.

If they did show any outward sign at all, Robina hated to see it. The slight twitch, a jaw clenching, or the sad look as the person let their eyes fall, and refuse to make eye contact.

Every single time she would see that, it hurt her on the inside. She could feel the other's pain. And she would never get used to seeing that, no matter how much she saw it while hanging with her groupies.

But there was one person who didn't give off any of those outward signs.

And that was the person, that Robina happened to see, examining some pants in a window, outside of one of the places where she spent a lot at.

Valencia Rogue.

Whenever the popular crowd, or someone in it, would pick at Valencia, she would just roll her eyes, and deliver a cutting comeback.

Robina noticed that she had confidence. Her roommate was laid-back, and a bit of a bad girl. She didn't care what other people thought of her. She was gutsy. The most popular girls in school would mock her, point at her, say things about her, and all Valencia would do was flip them the bird, and walk off, smirking at their disbelieving faces.

Robina snapped out of her thoughts when she saw Valencia, who had gone into the store, come back out. Quickly, she hid behind a nearby large potted plant. Valencia didn't notice her, and walked down the hallway to the food court.

Robina sighed. She moved away from the plant, and sat down on a bench, once again becoming absorbed in her thoughts.

And Robina, no matter how much she would deny it at the time, admired that gutsy trait. One of the reasons she supposedly hated Valencia, was for that trait.

In fact, it wasn't that, that Robina hated, it was the fact that she herself was too scared to act like that.

Robina gaped like a fish at her revelation. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. And the more she thought about how it made sense, the more her 'hatred' for Valencia began to fade.

But she couldn't let anyone know that. Not yet, at least. Not if she wanted to keep the security of her crowd.

-That night, at The Tavern-

Robina laughed at the student. And there was the sick feeling. Right on time.

She didn't want to laugh at him, but if she didn't, the group would ask what was wrong with her. And then, if they thought something was really wrong with her, they would abandon her, and make fun of her, and…

No. She commanded herself silently. Don't think of that now.

And she kept on laughing. And as she laughed, someone caught her eye. Turning her head a bit, she saw Valencia Rogue staring at her. Directly into her eyes. And it was if they had a silent conversation, through that look.

Why do you do this, if you don't-?

I can't tell you right now.

When then?

Later on. When we get back to the dorm.

Valencia took her answer, and turned back to her dinner in front of her. As the crowds laughter died down, and Hans came by with their food, Robina took her plate, and began to eat. But she couldn't taste the food, because she was concentrating too hard on what she was going to say.


-Back at the dorm-

Robina sat down on her bed, and twiddled her thumbs. Robina had left a little bit earlier than the rest of her gang, and Valencia was scarfing down the last of her dessert when she left.

She took a deep breath, and tried to quickly memorize the little speech she had prepared in her head.

But all the thoughts disappeared, when Valencia walked into the room.

Valencia swiftly walked past her, into the washroom, to get ready for bed. Robina didn't mind; she had already finished up when she had gotten back.

Robina watched as Valencia milled around the room, tidying up things on the floor, pointedly ignoring Robina. She didn't mind; she wasn't looking forward to their conversation either.

When Valencia fixed everything in the drawers of her night-side table for the 3rd time, she couldn't take it anymore. Silently, she sat on her bed, and turned to face Robina, and stare her directly in the eyes. Robina stared back for a few moments, before she broke down, and looked away.

"So." She mumbled. "I suppose your going to tell everyone now?"

Valencia looked confused. "Tell everyone what?"

"That I'm not exactly who everyone thinks I am." Robina said, giving her a 'duh' look.

"Why would I do that?"

"I thought you hated me?"

"Well…" Valencia trailed off, as she looked away, thoughtfully. "I do. At least I thought I did. " She sighed, before turning back to her. "Look, A friend of mine gave me some very good advice today, and I decided to take it. And taking it made a difference already."

"How so." Robina asked quietly.

"Just by taking her advice, I saw something that probably no one has ever seen."

"Well, that parts true at least." Robina murmured quietly. Valencia shrugged, and ran a hand through her hair. "Can I ask you something?" She asked.

"What's that?"

Valencia got down on all fours on her bed, and stretched like a cat. "What did you mean by your not exactly who everyone thinks you are?"

"I thought you'd figured that out already?" Robina said, looking quite confused.

"No, I just realized that you aren't as shallow as everyone thinks you are." Valencia admitted, as she got up from her position, and lay down on her bed. "So, would you clear things up for me?"

Robina sighed. "Fine." She lay down on her own bed, similar to how Valencia was laying, and stared at the ceiling.

"First of all, I am not as bitchy as I bet you think I am." The guilty look on Valencia's face proved that. But after, Robina went into a thoughtful silence. She stayed like that for 5 minutes, until Valencia coughed. "So, is that it?"

"No. that's not all of it." Robina said flatly. Valencia once again shrugged, and turned to her side to face her roomie.

"So…tell me more about this person who you really are."

Robina didn't turn to face her. Instead of speaking directly to Valencia, she simply spoke out.

"Well…I don't like to speak out much." She started out slowly, almost cautiously. Valencia gaped. "Really?"

Robina made a noise of agreement. Feeling a little more comfortable than before, she continued on. "And I don't really like the popular people."

"Well, there's one thing we have in common." Valencia chuckled, and turned onto her back. A small smile spread on Robina's face. "Yeah, I guess it is." There was a pause. "Kinda odd now that I think about it."

Robina twisted her head over just a bit, so she could see the frown on Valencia's face. "Actually, you're right. Speaking of odd, why do you hang out with them if you don't like them?"

"Well…another thing about me…" Taking a deep breath, she spoke again. "I'm actually really insecure."

"And what exactly does that have to do with you disliking the popular crowd?"

Robina gave her a 'wtf?' look out of the corner of her eye, but began to speak again. "I only hang out with them, because I need to be secure."

Valencia turned on her side again, and nodded slowly. "And that's the only reason?"

Robina herself turned on her side, and nodded. "Yup. To tell you the truth, I don't even like being popular. If I could, I wouldn't be."

Valencia nodded, and Robina watched as an odd little smile spread on her face. "What're you smiling for?"

Valencia sat up, and met yes with her, whilst still smiling. " You said you told the truth."

Robina looked puzzled for a minute, before smiling herself. "Yup I did."

The two just sat in silence, smiling at each other, before Valencia yawned. "Well, I'm beat. I'm gonna turn in now. Night Robina."

And with the impromptu statement, Valencia pulled her covers off of the bed, before getting in, and falling immediately asleep.

Robina stared at her for a minute. Then, she pulled the covers away from her own bed, and slipped in. "Night Valencia." She mumbled.

After the talk with Valencia, Robina felt better. Maybe it was because she had finally revealed her little secret to someone, after a long time, or because she was finally at peace with her roomie.

But because of whatever it was, Robina fell asleep with a smile on her face, for the first time for a long time, and for the first time of many nights to come.


Hope you liked it. More to come soon.