Authors Note: So... no excuse... here's chapter three...
Every night it was the same thing, Yang would lay in bed until the point she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer, her mind racing in a nebulous swirl of disjointed ideas and morbidly depressing emotions. Back at home she would usually distract herself with a movie or a game, but she didn't have that luxury here. Right now she was laying on a pull out couch with her introverted friend while in the living room of a soon to be teacher. She turned her head to the sleeping form of Blake. Her back was to the blonde girl and a soft snore could faintly be heard coming from her. She smiled as her strange relationship with the raven haired girl came to mind. The way they met and became friends was something out of some cheesy romantic comedy.
Yang snorted at the thought. This whole setting was of one of those movies, but she couldn't help but think there was more to it. Obviously there was. Yang wanted to get away from everything: her friends, her sister, her dad. She wanted a break from trying so damn hard to make people happy, focus on herself. Then why the hell did she feel so guilty about it? And what of Blake? What is it that she wanted to get away from? She was still a total blank card to Yang. From the conversations that they have had, Yang managed to pick up that she doesn't have the best home life. But there had to be more than that.
Looking back at the ceiling, Yang let out a small sigh. She really hated her mind for doing this to her. A light turning on in the kitchen pulled Yang from her thoughts. She heard footsteps walking through the kitchen followed by the sound of the refrigerator door opening. More than likely it was Glynda. The sound of her shuffling through the refrigerator filled the air. Soon the door closed and Yang heard her sit down at the table with a huff, followed by the hiss of a can cracking open.
Yang laid there as she listened to the noises from the kitchen. Every now and again a sigh or a groan would be heard. After a few minutes of that, Yang heard Glynda get back up and shuffle over to the refrigerator and repeat the process from earlier. Grabbing her phone, Yang checked the time. It was around two in the morning. Letting out a sigh, Yang rolled out of bed and walked into the kitchen.
Glynda looked up as she noticed the messy haired blonde walk into the kitchen. "Yang, what are you still doing up?"
Yang shrugged as she slid down into a chair across from the older blonde. She saw the empty beer can sitting on the table and Glynda took a sip from the one in her hand. "Couldn't sleep."
"Missing home?" Glynda asked, lowering the can from her lips.
Letting out a bitter chuckle, Yang shook her head. "Something like that."
The two sat in silence for a few more minutes. Both not really making eye contact. Yang couldn't help but notice that Glynda looked a little tense, guessing it was because she wasn't really expecting the company during her late night drinking session. She began to look the woman over. Something seemed off with her. Yang couldn't quite place it though. Why would someone be up at two in the morning, drinking alone? Well Yang could think of a few reasons actually. She decided to brush it off. "So, Glynda," Yang asked, breaking the silence, "are you actually from here?"
Glynda was taking another sip from her drink as Yang asked the question. "Hmm?" She said lowering the can. "No. I just moved here actually, from a small town in Michigan." She took another sip. "It's a lot like this town actually." Glynda unconsciously let out a sigh.
Yang quirked her head to the side. When most people mentioned home, they normally had a sense of nostalgia about them. When Glynda mentioned home, she said it bitterly. Almost as though she wasn't quite happy about the situation she was in.
Glynda watched as the girl thought, the room enveloped in silence once again. This time it was Glynda's turn to break the silence. "So, what's this road trip all about?"
Yang's head shot up at the question, giving the woman a perplexed look. That caused Glynda to chuckle. "I mean like why? To recapture your youth or something. Believe me, you both are plenty youthful. Or was it a sense of adventure?"
"Take your pick," the blonde shrugged, debating telling Glynda her actual reasoning. She decided to just redirect the question. "Why do ya ask?"
"Just curious I guess," The older of the two took another sip from her drink. "I mean you and Blake, you're not two people most would typically picture going on a summer road trip together."
Yang chuckled at the thought. "Yeah. I guess." She rested her head in the palm of her hand. Things quieted again. The only sound was the occasional sigh from Glynda. Her mind went back to a conversation from earlier. Back when they were in the diner. Yang didn't quite notice it at the time but she remembered the same, but slightly more covered, bitter tone when she was talking about teaching. Yang looked up from her palm and met Glynda's eyes. "Is this really what you want to do?"
Glynda choked in surprise on her drink, letting out a cough as she looked to the teen. Her face was still shocked as even as when she asked the question. "What?"
"This," Yang motioned around her. "All of this. The teaching. The town. Everything. Is this what you want?"
"Fuck," Glynda muttered under her breath as she set the can down on the table, crossing her arms. She let out a long sigh. "No," she stated simply. "It wasn't my original plan. More of a back up plan actually." Why was she telling a seventeen year old girl this. Why was she confiding in her?
Yang sat up at this point. "What was it then? And why the change?"
"Well," Glynda began to speak, sighing again. She couldn't believe she was actually confiding in this girl. "My original plan was to move to Los Angeles and attempt to become an actress and get away from home."
Yang watched as the woman looked up to her. Yang could level with that. She too was currently on a trip away from home. She nodded for the woman to continue.
"Well the summer after I graduated, I took what money I saved up and moved out to California." She leaned back in her chair, picking her beer up from the table. "I burned through that money so fast. Los Angeles was not cheap at all," She said with a hollow chuckle. "If it wasn't for the few friends I made letting me stay at their places while I searched for a job while also auditioning for parts, I would've been home a lot sooner than I was."
"Sounds like it was pretty rough." Both of the blondes looked over to see Blake standing in the entryway from the livingroom to kitchen.
XxxxXxxxX
Blake was awoken by the sound of voices. She could hear them coming from the kitchen. Rolling over, she saw that Yang was no longer in her spot and that a light was coming from the kitchen. She listened to the voices a bit more, quickly identifying them as Yang and Glynda. What were they doing up this late? Blake was confused. She could've sworn she remembered Yang getting in the bed and Glynda heading down the hall to her room. Why were they both up now at, Blake checked her phone, two thirty in the morning. Covering her eyes with her forearm, Blake let out a sigh.
Deciding to listen in on the conversation, hoping to let it soothe her back into a slumber, Blake covered her head with the blanket. She heard Glynda mention something about her and Yang being a mix matched friendship. Blake chuckled at that. That was an understatement if she ever heard one. Her relationship with Yang then crossed her mind. Yang was actually her first friend since Adam left her behind. The crimson haired boy crossed her mind, causing her face to scrunch up. She didn't want to think of him. He was nothing but a bad memory of times forgotten now.
She was glad she had Yang now though. It was nice to have someone she could once again call friend. Someone she could talk to. Well, more listen to. Yang was the talker of the two, but Blake was fine with that. Yang always had a multitude of stories to tell. No matter the situation. It was nice. She filled the empty silence she had grown accustomed too. It was a welcomed change. She didn't feel so lonely anymore.
Blake was pulled from her thoughts when she heard Glynda choke on something. When she spoke she sounded surprised. She listened to what Yang said. Something about what Glynda wanted. She heard the older blonde mutter something, but couldn't quite make out what it was. Blake sat up and a swung her legs over the side of the bed. She heard Yang ask another question about what she really wanted. Blake moved over and stood, leaning against the wall as Glynda explained how she wanted to be an actress. "Sounds like it was pretty rough," Blake spoke as she folded her arms behind her back.
The two girls at the table turned to face her. "Oh, Blake." Yang spoke, slightly surprised.
"I'm sorry. Did we wake you?" Glynda asked, shooting Blake a sympathetic look.
"No. It's fine. Dream wasn't that good anyway," Blake noticed Yang giving her a concerned look. Her mind shot back to the first night. When she had the nightmare, and how Yang acted concerned when she awoke from it. "I'm fine Yang. Nothing to worry about," She gave the girl a soft smile, hopefully reassuring her.
Yang smiled back and turned her attention back to Glynda motioning for her to continue.
Glynda sighed, hoping that Blake's interruption would cause the blonde to drop the subject. "After about a year, I ran out of money and couldn't find a job. All my auditions fell through." Glynda took a long drink from her can, emptying it. "Had to call home. Have my parents buy me a plane ticket back home. I felt so bad. I failed. I didn't make it and I had to rely on my parents." She was silent for a moment. "I cried when I saw them at the airport waiting for me. Felt like an absolute disgrace."
Blake watched the woman. She looked like it was still eating her. Blake could relate on some note. She could draw parallels between this and her and Yang's trip. Both of their parents had told them to call if they needed anything. Neither of them wanted to. This trip was supposed to be away from all that. They didn't want help from their parents.
"After that, I hung around home for a bit. Eventually I realised I actually had to get up and do something. So I decided to start taking classes." Glynda dropped her head back to stare at the ceiling. "Four years later and I had my bachelor's degree. Still wanted out of my hometown though. So I applied to schools around the country. None would take me because of the distance. Eventually I got a call from Isaac Ozpin saying that he'd love to have me. So I came out here in the fall and started looking around for a house. Once all that was settled, I moved in a couple months ago," Silence filled the room. The only sound was the ticking of the clock on the wall. Finally Glynda spoke again. "I guess I'm just still angry about the whole thing. This isn't what I want to do. This town reminds me so much of home that it feels like I hadn't even left."
"Things don't always go the way you want them. Sometimes things happen and completely cause your plans to kilter." Blake looked to Yang, giving the girl a small smile. If it wasn't for the energetic blonde, Blake would probably still be holed up in the library, or trying to find ways to ignore her family. Instead, she was on a once in a lifetime adventure.
Yang shot Blake a knowing smile before turning her gaze to Glynda. She knew what Blake meant by that statement. She felt a sense of pride in it.
"Being here in this town. Being a teacher. Owning a condo. Feels like I'm already settling down. It honestly makes me feel old, ya know?" Glynda was still looking up at the ceiling.
Yang looked at the woman. There was absolutely no way Glynda was old. Yang looked out past Glynda, through the glass slider and into the back yard. She saw the small inground pool for the condo resident's public use. An idea hatched in the girl's brain. "Hey Glynda," Yang said as she stood up from her seat, walking towards the slider, Blake's eyes following her. Glynda looked at the teen, now standing next to her. She turned to face Glynda with a big smile plastered across her face. "You wanna know what makes me feel young?"
Glynda's face fell flat. "You are young," She let out a sigh, "but what?"
Yang moved in close to her face as a devious grin began to spread. "Skinny dipping."
Both Blake and Glynda looked at the girl with wide eyes. "What?" Glynda cocked an eyebrow. "You can't be serious."
Yang looked out the window to the pool, a smile spread wide across her face. "Of course I'm serious," She turned back to look at the older woman. "It's almost three in the morning. Nobody is gonna see us."
Glynda began to consider Yang's words. True it was almost three and nobody was going to be awake. There isn't a sign or anything posted saying that the pool has designated hours. She hadn't gone skinny dipping since she was in high school. Maybe it would get her out of this funk she was in. It wouldn't hurt to try.
She looked up at Yang. She was smiling brightly, waiting for Glynda to answer. Her smile was quite infectious, causing a grin to spread across Glynda's face. "Alright," she got up from her chair and opened the slider door. "Let's do this then," she said as she began to pull off her shirt, walking out onto the patio.
"Hell yeah! Now that's the spirit!" Yang shouted as she followed the woman out the door. She heard Blake let out a sigh behind her.
"I can't believe this is really happening," Blake said with a look of disbelief.
As soon as Glynda was free from her sweatpants and panties, she ran across the lawn. "You only live once!" She shouted as she leapt forward into the pool with a splash.
Yang let out a laugh as she started to pull off her shorts. "Dude, midlife crisis' are freaking scary."
"She's only, like, thirty," Blake added as she watched the blonde strip, freeing herself from her shorts. Blake noticed Yang's bare butt as she dropped her garments onto the brick patio. She felt the heat rise to her face as she turned around and looked up.
This didn't go unnoticed by Yang who decided the tease the raven haired girl. "You can look Blake," She began in a flirtatious tone as she pulled her shirt off over her head. "I'm not shy." The blonde gave a teasing wink.
Blake felt her face grow even more hot at that comment. "God damn it Yang." "The stars are really interesting tonight, okay?"
Yang laughed at the girl. "Alright. Don't get too caught up in them though. Come for a swim." She ran out across the yard and jumped into the pool. "Incoming!" She yelled just before she hit the water.
She watched as the blonde ran across the lawn. Watching as she popped up from the water, laughing. Blake couldn't help but admire the girl. Yang was quite beautiful. Blake would happily admit that. Just not out loud. She also sometimes wished she could be as outgoing as Yang. The girl was incredibly infectious. Her personality began to wear off on you after a while. Proven by the fact that Blake was actually willing to go skinny dipping. Once stripped of her clothing, Blake bolted across the yard and into the pool. When she resurfaced she was laughing rather loudly. Opening her eyes, she noticed the two blondes staring at her. "What?"
Yang's cheeky smile only grew. "That's the most I've ever heard you laugh."
A blush spread across Blake's face again. "What? I've never done anything like this before," She said, reverting back to her timid nature. Yang laughed as she splashed the girl with water. "You better run Xiao Long," Blake then lunged forward and tackled the laughing blonde, pulling them both under the water.
After a bit Blake began to grow comfortable around the other two naked women. It seemed almost natural as they horsed around in the water.
"Welcome to the gun show!" Yang yelled as she stood on the side of the pool flexing, unknown to her that Blake was lurking behind her. Blake ran forward and pulled Yang into the pool with her, causing the girl to yelp in surprise.
Glynda didn't get as into it as the younger two girls. She did find herself laughing quite a bit at them though. It was fun just watching the two mess around with each other. Every now and again Glynda would join in, but normally chose to wait on the side and make sure they didn't kill each other.
Eventually the trio climbed out of the pool and made their way back to Glynda's patio. They recovered their clothing from the ground as Glynda quickly slipped inside to grab some towels.
"Thanks Yang," Blake suddenly said.
"Huh?" Yang turned to look at the girl who was giving her a smile.
"You let me come out of my shell for a bit. Not something I typically do. So, thanks."
Yang waved her off with a smile. "Pft. It was nothing. Anytime."
Glynda returned with the towels, throwing both Blake and Yang one. "Dry off. It's almost five. We need some rest."
The girls complied and dried themselves off, pulling their clothes back on. They all went back inside and headed to their respective spots. Now that the excitement was wearing off, Yang could feel the fatigue overtaking her. It wasn't long after her head hit the pillow that she succumbed to sleep.
XxxxXxxxX
Yang was awoken by her phone ringing. She scrambled to grab her phone as she let out a loud groan. She had not slept nearly long enough. Once she had her phone, she slid the answer slider across the screen, putting it to her ear. "Mmm, hello," Yang said groggily.
A man with an English accent answered back. "Yeah, hello. Is this Yang Xiao Long?"
"Yeah," Yang answered as she rubbed her eye.
"This is Gavin with Main Street Auto Repair. We managed to get your car towed in this morning."
Yang sat up at that. "Dude, that's great."
"Yeah. So we looked at the registration and it says the vehicle is registered to a Blake Belladonna. So before we do any actual work on it, we're gonna need her approval."
Yang looked over to see Blake beginning to sit up. "What's up?" She said, letting out a yawn.
Yang pulled her phone away from her ear, as she could hear sounds of someone working in the garage in the background. "We need to go to the mechanic's and you need to sign off for them to work on your car."
Blake nodded as she got out of the bed and wandered over to her bag. "Alright. Let's get dressed then." Blake pulled out a change of clothes from her bag. "I'll go wake Glynda, tell them we'll be by shortly."
Yang pulled the phone back to her ear as Blake wandered off towards the bathroom. "We'll be by in a bit." After hearing the mechanic agree, Yang hung up her phone, letting it drop to the floor next to her. She stretched her arms above her head. A satisfying pop noise came from her back causing her to relax and let out a deep sigh of relief. Yang hopped of the bed, grabbing some clothes for her to change in to.
By the time Yang had changed, Blake had returned from waking Glynda. She walked into the living room as Yang was pulling on her Beacon High hoodie. She gave Yang a quizzical look. She has rarely seen the girl not wearing the jacket over the course of the trip. Even in this summer weather. If Yang was to hot she would just roll up the sleeves. Curiosity got the better of Blake this time. "Hey Yang." the blonde looked to her. "Why do you always have that hoodie on?"
Yang shrugged. "I just do. I sort of have an affinity for being warm. I've always been like this. At least that's what my dad says." Yang gave Blake a cheeky smile as she watched the girl also pull on a jacket. "You're also kinda preaching to the choir there."
Blake looked down to her purple and grey hoodie. "Well it's a light jacket not that heavy thing," Blake argued back as she pointed to Yang. "Plus it's only ten in the morning right now. It hasn't warmed up yet."
"Relax. I'm only teasing," The blonde let out a chuckle.
The two decided to start cleaning up the living room as they waited for Glynda. Blake folded the blankets and took the pillows as Yang folded up the couch. After she was finished with that, she helped Blake with the blankets.
By the time they finished, Glynda was waiting in the kitchen for them with her keys in hand. "Alright. You two ready?" The two girls nodded as they hopped into the truck and threw their belongings in the bed. Both Yang and Blake noticed that Glynda seemed a lot less tense today. It seemed as though she had a whole new energy about her.
Once they reached the repair shop, Blake and Yang climbed out. Glynda opted to wait in the truck for them.
Stepping in the door, Blake noticed two men sitting behind the desk today chatting. One of them was the same guy as yesterday, while the other looked younger and had a head of wild hair that looked like he just woke up. He was scratching his beard while the man with tattoos was talking to him.
"So I told my wife about the dream and she called me a fucking idiot. That she doesn't care who I have sex with in my dreams," the tattooed man said with a chuckle.
"I find it funny that you cock block yourself in your own dreams," the younger guy said with an english accent. He then turned his head to see the two girls walking up to the desk. "Hello," he said as he stood from his chair. "Are you the people here for the car we had to tow this morning?"
Blake nodded as she stepped forward. "Yes. I'm Blake Belladonna. The owner of the car," she said as she pulled out her driver's license, handing it to the man.
He took the card and looked it over. Nodding as he confirmed the name to the match the registration. "Alright. Well before you got here, Geoff gave your vehicle standard look over and we noticed that your car is also well over do for an oil change. Would you also like to do that while you're here? We won't charge you for the tow since uh," the man scratched the back of his head. "Since I was the reason we couldn't tow it yesterday."
"Yeah. All because you backed over the spare transmission I had lying out back and tore the drive shaft out," Geoff said in a matter of fact tone. "How did you do that anyway?"
"Well the roads here are strange and I thought…"
Geoff cut him off. "Gavin, you were in a back parking lot. Not a road. You're just an idiot." The tattooed man was laughing at his friend's stupidity.
"Okay. I wasn't paying attention. How 'bout that? I'm not stupid."
"You thought headlight fluid was a thing."
"I… Uh…" He couldn't find anything to counter with. "I'm just gonna go shut up now." Gavin turned back to face Blake, who had a very confused look on her face. "So?"
Blake snapped back to reality after trying to process what she just heard. "Uh... yeah. Sure. How much will the total be?"
"Well the tire is an easy fix. Just have to find and plug the hole." He handed Blake her license back. "The oil change will be about thirty dollars so…" He turned to Geoff who was already typing on the computer.
"Forty seven, ninety five."
"Okay,' Blake began as she pulled out her wallet. "Sounds good." She handed the money to Gavin who then put it in the register and gave Blake her change.
"It'll be about an hour or so, so feel free to hang around here or whatever," Geoff said with a shrug.
The two girls decided to go back out to Glynda and see if there was anything they could do for an hour. Glynda thought for a moment but couldn't think of anything so she came up with a simple idea. "Well out of thanks for the fun time last night. I'll treat you two to breakfast."
After the group got their food, they returned to the repair shop to see the car sitting in the parking lot. Stepping out of Glynda's truck, Blake and Yang grabbed their bags from the back and returned them to Blake's car. Before getting in the car the two turned back to face Glynda.
Glynda stepped forward to them with a smile spread across her face. "I'd like to thank you two."
"For what?" Yang asked confused.
"For showing me how to relax. Have fun. I was a bit stressed out over the whole thing."
Yang shifted her weight to her right leg, putting her hand on her hip and smiled to the woman while Blake folded her arms behind her back. "It was a pleasure, and thank you for allowing us to stay at your house." Blake said with a nod.
"Oh please. It was no problem. I know how it is to live on a budget." The older blonde let out a chuckle. She looked the girls over. She couldn't help but be grateful for what they did. After saying their final goodbyes, Glynda wished them a safe trip as they climbed into the red car, saying goodbye one last time before they started it and drove off.
"So, where to next Yang?" Blake said as she looked over to the blonde, slouched in the passenger seat.
Yang grabbed her chin as she started to think. "Well I'm still thinking North." Yang looked over to the black haired girl. "So Nebraska then. Sound good partner?"
Blake let out a small chuckle. "Partner? What are we now? Cowboys?"
"We are from Texas."
"Point taken," Blake popped a tape in the player, "Nebraska it is then."
Author's Note: So this project is getting... weird for me... I still love it... I'm just having some troubles writing it... mainly up in chapter five... maybe I'll hop ahead to other chapters and then come back when I think I got it down...