AN:
Holy overwhelmingly positive response! Thank you all so much for all the reviews, follows, and favorites. This was just meant to be a bit of a side project while I worked primarily on my main fic right now, Team BRVE. If you like my writing style, I highly advise you go check it out! With how positive the response was, I do promise to put some extra effort than I was originally intending into this fic.
This chapter's a bit on the shorter side, but I promise they all won't be like this. I hope you enjoy!
What was not the first time in her life, Yang felt as if she had failed.
She'd really thought she'd made headway in befriending her roommate. Yet, after that first night, Blake was never really anywhere to be found.
Blake left a note for Yang on the second day. The blonde found it after waking up.
Yang,
I'm skipping opening weekend events. If anyone asks, I'm not feeling well.
Blake
Yang didn't really blame her on that one. The opening weekend events were supposed to assist freshmen in getting their bearings around campus and get them to introduce themselves to new people through a series of godawful icebreakers. Blake had already been on campus for about a week, and to be honest, who did enjoy icebreakers?
Yang quickly learned that the leaders for opening weekend really enjoyed icebreakers. It was far too hot for any of this, the large group of students baking in the hot August sun as they ran around playing the silly games that the leaders had drummed up.
Despite not having a roommate with her like everyone else, Yang, being naturally extroverted, made friends with many of the other students on her dorm floor. There was Jaune, the dorky computer science major, Pyrrha, on a elementary education track, Nora, the hyperactive sports management student, and Ren, the quiet animation student. There were a number of new neighbors Yang decided to keep her distance from, including the white-haired snobby rich girl whose name she did not know, and the group of hugely muscled bros who she found forming their own pack. Yang and her new friends joked that they'd be in a frat by the end of the semester, and at least one of them would get kicked out of school by the end of their freshman year.
When the hot, sunny day turned into the cooler evening, the events based on dorm floor had ceased. There were a few options for those who wanted to fill their evening with meeting more people, and a school-sponsored block party at night to kick off the start of the new school year. The new group of neighbors dissipated in different directions for the evening activities, exchanging numbers and vowing to show up to the block party to hang out some more. While some of the group headed back to the dorm, and others went to go find the buildings their classes were in, Yang made her way towards the Student Union.
There was one event on that first weekend that Yang had been looking forward to: the Queer Center's open house. The Queer Center was one of Yang's favorite parts about coming to Beacon University. She'd known she was gay for many years, but she had never really been out at home. Too many people around her would have disapproved. Yang had never really been one to care too much about what others thought, but she stayed in the closet for the sake of her younger sister. The last thing she wanted was her nerdy little sister to get bullied any extra at school because of Yang.
The Queer Center was one of the several cultural centers in the Student Union. Yang had visited it several times during her tours of Beacon U. It was no shock to her that the QC was filled with a ton of students, some appearing to be older than freshmen, crowded into the QC for the open house.
What did shock Yang, however, was finding Blake at the Queer Center. The black-haired girl was sitting alone, in a corner, as people talked about the various programs the QC offered. She had not yet seen Yang, who had melted in along the back line of students checking out the center.
And here I was, worrying my roommate would freak out when she found out I'm gay. Yang couldn't believe that she had gotten lucky enough to not only have an accepting roommate, but a roommate who was some form of queer as well.
When the presentation finished, the student staff started tours around the center. A very large bin sat on a table in the middle of the main room of the QC, the lounge, filled with flags for various sexualities that were free to take.
Yang, who'd wanted a pride flag for several years, but was always too scared to buy one, made a beeline the moment the bin had been placed on the table. Most people had cleared out to take tours, but Yang poured into the bin, searching through the various flags to find a regular rainbow flag.
When Yang looked up, clutching onto her prized flag wrapped in plastic, her lilac eyes met the amber eyes of Blake Belladonna, her mysterious roommate.
"Uh, hi," Yang said, startled.
"Hey," Blake nodded, before reaching into the bin herself. She found what she was looking for, a bisexual flag. "If uh, we end up with any mutual friends, could you not tell them you saw me here? I'm not like, out or anything."
Yang's face broke into a wide smile. "Not a problem. I'm not really out either. Never really have been. I was a bit worried about one hurdle at college, but it looks like that's not as big of a deal as I figured it would be."
"Thanks," Blake said with another small nod, ignoring Yang's statement about the hurdle. "I'll, uh, see you later." The raven-haired girl ducked away from the bin, making room for others to grab flags.
Yang watched as her mysterious roommate quickly ducked back into the crowd and out of the rainbow center. For a moment, Yang stood still, wondering why she was so quick to flee, so quick to hide amongst the crowd. A tap on her shoulder caused her to turn around. One of the student staff was trying to pick up some stragglers from the bin and start a tour of the Queer Center. Brushing the odd experience with Blake out of her mind, Yang smiled and nodded, heading off with the staff for her tour.
Blake slumped in her chair at her desk in her dorm. She couldn't believe that had just happened. She didn't want to get close to her roommate. She hadn't intended on going to the Queer Center's open house. Yet something inside had nagged her to go. Just go check it out! What could go wrong?
Blake cursed mentally at herself. What was she thinking? Nothing had gone wrong. Blake didn't have to worry about Yang finding out she was bisexual, and Yang didn't have to worry about Blake finding out she was gay. It had been awkward, yes, but Blake realized she'd never have to have that awkward talk later, replaced by an awkward grabbing of flags.
Blake's amber eyes shifted to the flag resting in the top of her bag, just above her laptop. Should she hang it up? Her walls were pretty bare, especially compared to Yang's. The blonde girl's side of the room was covered in pictures and posters… except for one spot, right next to her bed. It was about the size of a flag.
Blake shook her head. Why was she worrying about this? Blake Belladonna doesn't care about this stuff. Blake Belladonna might be bisexual, but Blake Belladonna wasn't interested in anybody. Blake Belladonna was going to college to get a degree, get a job, and take care of herself. She didn't need anyone to help her along the way.
Blake pulled the flag from her bag and shoved it into the drawer under her desk. The desk had two compartments, a small drawer that could properly lock with a padlock, and a small shelf under the desk for holding books and other school supplies. The drawer's built-in locking mechanism could be opened by anybody with a simple twist, but held a hole for a padlock, if a student wanted to keep it locked. Most people at Beacon University didn't lock their drawers, but Blake wasn't "most people".
Fishing around in her drawer, Blake pulled out the still-packaged padlock she had yet to open. Tearing the plastic packaging open, she resolved to herself that she would never again speak about what had happened tonight with Yang. Sliding the padlock through the hole, Blake locked the desk shut. Attaching the padlock key to her lanyard that she kept stuffed in her pants pocket at all times, Blake sighed. She wasn't going to befriend Yang. She was going to get her degree. She was going to get a job. She wasn't going through this. Not again.
Yang couldn't lie. She'd fallen in love with the Queer Center years ago, when her uncle had first gotten a job with the school and the two sisters had gotten to take a tour of the university. But now that Yang had properly gotten a tour and got to meet the people that came to the QC, Yang could safely say that she was seriously in love with this corner of the huge university.
After the tour, Yang found herself playing card games with a group of strangers. She wasn't the only one playing with strangers, however. No one in the group really knew each other. Small exchanges of names preceded the game's rules, followed by a few rounds of the game one of the boys had introduced as "Bullshit".
Yang wasn't sure if she'd ever had this much fun with people she'd considered complete strangers. The Queer Center, and the people who came here, were pretty great, in her opinion. She couldn't wait to make the halls of this center her go-to place outside of her dorm.
Yang's thoughts wandered to Blake. She'd come and gone so fast. Where is she? Back at the dorm? Probably. Yang glanced at her phone, checking the time. The Queer Center would be closing soon, but there was the block party tonight.
Yang looked up to hear the student staff member who had given her a tour explain the same exact thing that Yang had just been thinking. She looked around at the group who she'd been playing cards with. The small group decided to all head down to the block party together. Yang, of course, quickly agreed.
Yang unlocked her phone and sent a text to her roommate, who's number she'd weaseled out of the mysterious girl the night before. Yang had worded it as if it were for in case one of them had gotten lost at convocation, but in reality, Yang had just wanted to have her roommate's phone number, just in case. Blake didn't seem to be one to text very often, or socialize at all very often, but Yang gave it a shot.
You coming to the block party tonight?
Yang put her phone back into her pocket and stood up with her new friends. While they headed out into the night, Yang felt her pocket vibrate. Pulling out her phone, she saw Blake's response.
No, I don't really do parties.
Yang stared at the screen for a moment. She'd gotten that much, Blake wasn't a party type. But this wasn't like, a student-run party with booze and drugs. This was a school-sponsored event, with a bunch of free stuff. Still, Yang decided to give it a rest.
Suit yourself.
Yang shoved her phone back into her pocket, resolving to not worry about her weirdly antisocial roommate for the rest of the night, and work on her budding friendships with these new people.
Yang finally returned to the dorm room late that night, her arms filled with free stuff she had gotten from the block party, and the rainbow flag tucked between two free t-shirts. She found Blake asleep, light off, the small figure of the girl facing the wall and mostly hidden under the covers.
Yang put the free stuff she'd gotten down on her desk, changing quietly in the dark room. Crawling into bed, Yang sighed silently as she stared up at the ceiling. She really didn't want a bad roommate for her freshman year. Things had been going so well at convocation. Why was Blake so keen on avoiding her?
As Yang tried to fall asleep, she knew that Blake would probably not be there when she woke up. Yang tried to brush off the feeling, resolving to spend the next day with her new neighbor friends, and maybe even the friends from Queer Center.
Yang was in college. She was going to make friends and enjoy herself. No weird freshman roommate was going to hold her back.