A/N: Here's chapter 2. Hope y'all like it.

A month had passed with nothing out of the ordinary happening. Not that big of a surprise as high school is pretty mundane at the end of the day. It also helps that I've tried to stay out of the limelight for the most part.

The plan had been simple: stay away from the RWBY cast, and slowly fade into the background. I wanted to become that kid who everyone knew by name, but not much else. The kind who would eventually be forgotten after everyone graduated. This way I could avoid any sort of crazy events or drama that the main characters would likely draw. After all, if you follow conventional writing tropes, high school is pretty normal so crazy things are going to happen around the "main characters" to spice things up.

I spent most of my free time during this month picking up the same hobbies I did when I was older, those being bike riding and working out. For the former, it was a calming experience just to ride around and listen to music as I admired the scenery around me. The latter was one I didn't do much of in my original world, and one of my biggest regrets was not working out when I was in high school. Now would be the best time to put some effort into it; hopefully, I wouldn't slack after two weeks and then eventually give up as my attention was caught by something else.

Unfortunately, as a wise man once said: "No plan survives contact with the enemy". In this case, the enemy was a certain red-haired girl who would ruin my chance of becoming a background character. It had happened about a week ago, during one of my "moping sessions", which had sprouted up after I made a depressing discovery after I first arrived here.

Light shone through the cafeteria windows, bathing the large room in a bright glow. The sounds of students socializing filled the entire space, however, I ignored it as I picked at my food and generally was oblivious to my surroundings. My thoughts were currently occupied by a rather important person in my life, or rather the lack of his existence.

My stepfather either didn't exist or I had never met him in the first place. The outcome was still the same: the man had never been and may ever be in my life. It was akin to death, except no one was aware of their passing but you.

I had learned this fact not long after my first day in Beacon. There was a distinct lack of signifying evidence that my stepfather lived with us. No pictures of him or my stepsister, none of his items, nor the massive tv setup he had made. It all came to a head when I outright asked my mother if she knew him with no context or anything.

She had replied with complete confusion, and I eventually played it off as me being weird. She seemed to let it go at that, yet on the inside, I felt absolutely devastated. Someone who had become an integral part of my life, who was the only person I truly trusted and respected, was just… gone.

There was no one I could talk to about it either, as how do I explain that I'm depressed over someone who doesn't exist? Though I guess that fact wasn't a big deal, as I was used to dealing with my emotions myself.

Suddenly, someone appeared in the periphery of my vision and I looked up to realize that Pyrrha had suddenly decided to sit at my table, a tray of food in her hands. I had chosen to sit at a rather secluded table in the corner where few people were sitting. I didn't want to deal with sitting at a more populated table and become s sort of invading element to those social groups. Plus it decreased my chances of getting involved with the RWBY characters. At least, until now.

"Yo," I said casually as my eyes wandered around the cafeteria, "You always sit with your friends. What brings you to my lonely little corner?"

"Sorry," Pyrrha spoke her usual catchphrase as a look of friendly concern washed over her face, "It's just… you look out of it today. More than usual."

For a second, I didn't respond as I was still observing the surrounding student population. I had already noticed a handful of eyes pointing this way. More were likely to follow as words were exchanged between friends.

'Ah… I can see my carefully constructed plan crumble into ash.'

Already, I could hear the gossip that would sprout out of Pyrrha's sudden choice to sit at my table. It was high school after all, so people passing around rumors was an essential part of it. I looked back to Pyrrha, who was the main catalyst for this whole situation.

When I first met Pyrrha, I had speculated that she was likely very popular amongst the student body. Popular was an extreme understatement, as I would so come to find out. Let's go over a list of Pyrrha's many accomplishments, shall we?

Firstly, as a child, she had apparently been a child actor. The redhead had starred in many movies, tv shows, and ads and she became a pretty well-known face during her career. She eventually stopped acting as she transitioned out of her child stage, yet her past is still prevalent today.

In school, she was extremely popular amongst the student body and the faculty. She was known to be extremely helpful to her fellow classmates and would go out of her way to assist them. I experienced that during history class, as I realized that Remnant's history was very different from Earth's history. The girl was a genuine lifesaver. And of course, she had some of the highest grades among the student population.

She had also been the ace of the volleyball team during her time as a freshman last year. Apparently, they had gone to a high school tournament and she had been a contributing factor to them getting first place. She was just an athletic person in general and would excel in any physical activity she participated in.

The final cherry on top was probably the craziest. She was the actual daughter of the current mayor of New Vale City. To say she was popular was downright insulting. No, the girl was practically famous and was likely the most well-known face in the entire city.

And this girl had decided to sit with me, at a relatively secluded table, in a high school full of teenagers.

The gossip would spread like wildfire and everyone would soon know or want to know who the boy sitting alone with the famous girl was. The chances of me meeting other RWBY characters were now extremely high because of this. As troublesome as it will be, I should just give up as continuing to try and stay in the background would likely bring me closer to what I was running from.

'It is what it is, I suppose.'

"I swear, we've had this conversation before," I said, trying to divert the conversation away from her question.

"I'm sure we have," Pyrhha said as she easily saw through my diversion, "I'm just concerned is all. If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. I don't want to seem pushy."

A small part of me was curious about what would happen if I did explain my inner thoughts. Would she feel shame for making me have to explain my grief? Maybe she'd feel sympathy for me and try to comfort me the best she could. Would my opening up turn us from relative strangers to close acquaintances or even friends?

I toyed with the possibilities in my mind, but I was already dead set on not explaining anything to her. Like I said before, we weren't that close to begin with. Sure we spoke during advisory, yet it never evolved beyond just being acquaintances at best. Plus, I wasn't comfortable with opening up to… anyone really. Except for my stepfather, but that avenue's gone.

"Nah, you're good," I waved off her concern, "There's no need to worry, I'm just thinking too hard about something."

Pyrrha looked like she wanted to say more, but thankfully the bell rang from the intercom. Some students got up from their seats as they headed to their next class, while others lingered at their tables for a few seconds longer as they were engrossed in conversation. I stood up as well, gathering all my trash, and shooting the redhead a 'goodbye'.

I could feel her eyes stare at me with concern, but I wasn't worried about that. I was more worried about the ensuing rumors that would come from this girl's seemingly normal choice to sit at my table.

I was pulled out of my thoughts as I forced my bike to come to a stop at a crosswalk. The walk signal switched to a red hand, as cars drove past me. I waited patiently as the music playing in my headphones transitioned from the headbanging riffs of heavy metal to the calming yet somber tune of a jazz song.

My eyes looked across the road where I saw the beautiful golden sand of the beach, and the clear blue water of the ocean. As I waited, I refocused on my thoughts of the past week. Ever since that first moment when Pyrrha chose to sit at my table, she continued to do so for these last seven days. She'd just start up a conversation with me about any topic, and I'd humor her as I had nothing better to do.

I wondered if she was trying to get closer to me because I didn't know who she was at first. In the series. Pyrrha became friends with Jaune because he didn't know who she was and he didn't view her differently because of her past. She likely thinks the same of me, and she isn't wrong as I genuinely don't care about her fame besides the fact that it'll bring me more attention.

And attention it did bring me, as I had overheard rumors about her and me after she began to frequent my table. Some were just curious about who I was and how I was able to attract the attention of Beacon's most popular girl. Others resorted to assuming and thought that I and her were somehow dating. It was troublesome because I knew that eventually, these rumors would spiral into even more rumors which would then become some of the weirdest assumptions you've ever heard. I didn't care either way, as I wasn't going to put in the effort to squash those rumors. Let people think what they want about me.

The walk signal turned white and I resumed my previous pace as I rode across the street and onto a paved path leading to the beach. The path cut through the rather sizable beach, and my eyes gazed across the many people enjoying their time here. My legs began to feel sore, and I figured now would be the best time to take a break. I spotted an empty bench along the path and I slowed down before coming to a stop in front of it. Getting off the bike, I propped it against the bench before plopping down on the worn wood of the seat, letting out a relieved sigh.

My hand reached for the water bottle stored on the bike as I pulled out my phone. I took a sip as I scrolled through the device, pulling up a web novel I had read a few chapters of. I sat like that for a while, not paying attention to my surroundings as music blasted into my ears. It was a nice day for it too, despite it being mid-October. It was warm enough for people to be out and about on the beach in their swimsuits, while not being so hot that it'd cause discomfort.

I was so engrossed in my reading that I barely noticed the two girls who walked past the bench I was sitting at. I spared them a passing glance as they walked by, noting that one had golden blonde hair and the other black. They were walking toward some of the volleyball courts set up on the beach, but I stopped paying attention at that moment as I looked back at my phone.

This would soon prove to be a costly mistake as I wasn't able to notice that the two girls had called out to me all of a sudden, nor the volleyball suddenly coming straight towards my head. I saw it in my peripheral vision at the last second, and I could only look up and stare as the ball went straight for my face.

'...shit.'

*THUD!*

My head was knocked back as the ball hit the center of my face, and I instinctively closed my eyes. My glasses thankfully weren't broken, but they pushed painfully against the bridge of my nose. My headphones were thrown somewhere behind the bench, and my phone slipped out of my hand. A burning pain soon spread throughout the impact zone, and I couldn't help but hold my face with my hand.

Voices filled my ears as those two girls who walked past me had come to see if I was ok. Another voice called out in the distance, and they seem to be approaching closer. I opened my eyes again, and I looked through my fingers to see that those two girls were right in front of me, seemingly waiting for my response.

I waived off their concern easily, "I'll be fine. Well, as fine as someone who was hit directly in the face with a volleyball will be."

"You sure? With the way you're wincing you don't really look fine," a rather familiar voice commented and I squinted harder to try and get a better look at her.

'Jesus. I must have not been paying attention if I didn't notice who they were on first look.'

Standing right in front of me were two of the four main girls: Yang Xiao Long and Blake Belladonna. The blonde was in this simple white two-piece bikini, while Blake was in a black and purple piece, however, she elected to have an open zip-up sweater on.

"As I said, as fine as someone who was hit with a volleyball will be. Also, I wasn't wincing. I was squinting so I could see you two better."

Before the blonde could respond, another voice entered the conversation, "Shit! Sorry man, I did not mean to hit you!"

It was kinda hard to see who it was without my glasses, but from the voice and his wild blond hair, I could tell that it was another RWBY character, Sun Wukong, who was speaking.

'They're coming out of the woodworks.'

"Maybe you shouldn't have thrown it in the first place," Blake scolded.

"I was trying to throw it at you guys," Sun tried to defend himself, "I didn't see that there was someone behind y'all."

Blake shook her head in disappointment, "You were being completely care-"

"It's whatever," I interrupted as I searched the ground for my glasses, an act that was made hard by my nearsightedness.

"See! The guy is fine with it, so it's all good!" Sun crossed his arms triumphantly.

Blake frowned at the boy before giving me a raised eyebrow and I continued, "What's done is done. While it's true that he was completely careless," Sun visibly deflated at my criticism while Yang snickered in response, "he didn't do it maliciously nor was I hurt badly. So I'm not gonna make a fuss about it."

I finally found what I was looking for and picked my glasses off the ground before putting them back on my face. Happy that I could finally see correctly I refocused back on the three teens.

"Hey wait a sec…" Yang said as realization dawned on her face, "I knew I saw you somewhere! Your Pyrrha's boyfriend, aren't you?"

"Wha-?" I spouted in surprise as I looked at the blonde incredulously.

"Oh! The guy she always ignores her friends to talk to?" Sun chimed in.

Ignores her friends? Sure, the redhead had been interacting with me more frequently, but had she been hanging out with her friends less to talk to me? Don't tell me that my not knowing who she was led to this. Jeez… how desperate for friends must she be?

"No, it's nothing like that," I vehemently denied as I stood up so I could grab my headphones behind the bench. Acquiring the sound devices, I placed them around my neck, before looking back to the trio, "She's the one who chose to talk to me, and I just respond in kind. Nothing more, nothing less."

Yang's lilac eyes filled with a tinge of mischief, "Wow! Pyrrha must be absolutely smitten with you for her to take the initiative."

I have her a deadpan stare to show my thoughts on her comment, and she only laughed in response. I looked around for wherever I dropped my phone, and thankfully Blake was already on the uptake. She leaned down and grabbed my phone.

She snuck a glance at my phone screen, and her eyes lit up in slight interest before she passed it back to me. I took it back and realized that my phone was still on and that I was on an entirely different page from where I had left off. I must've scrolled accidentally while dropping it, which was a slight annoyance.

"Thanks," I responded, and it seems the girl wanted to say more however she was interrupted by the male blonde.

"By the way, we never caught your name."

"Jacob," I answered simply.

"Well, I'm Sun and this is my blonde in crime, Yang. Oh, and there's also dark, prickly, and broody over there," Sun pointed a thumb towards Blake, who glared back in response.

"'Dark, prickly, and broody' has a name," she addressed Sun with a scowl before returning to her calm look as she turned back to me, "Blake."

"Nice to meet you all," I greeted as I took a look at the time on my phone.

'I've been sitting here for a while and I didn't even realize it.'

"It's about that time, so see ya I suppose," I told the trio as I grabbed the bike and took a seat.

"Yep see you tomorrow!" Sun said back as the other two said their farewells. I pushed on the pedals as I began to gain momentum. With no music to accompany me, I was now alone with my thoughts.

'Tomorrow? What, are they going to go out of their way to talk to me as well? Ha, probably not.'

I stopped at the same crosswalk from earlier as I realized what I just thought.

'I just jinxed myself, didn't I?'