Blake did not do well for her Developmental Psychology paper.
Being one of the top scorers in her cohort, it was not rare for Blake to score at least 95% for her papers. However, Blake was unusually distracted during the recent paper, first realising she had accidentally locked her access card in her dorm room and having to contend with the complicated procedure of getting herself back in later, and secondly wondering about Yang. The encounter in the bathroom the night before had piqued Blake's interest in finding out what the Real Estate major was like, so instead of revising, Blake had found herself stalking said blonde on Instagram. Although her posts had painted a picture of a popular girl who loved partying, Blake couldn't help but wonder what Yang was like underneath all the glamour. Her gut told her that there was more to the blonde than what she let most people see.
Blake could not believe she had spent an hour the previous night trawling through Yang's Instagram page instead of revising for her paper. Now, she had paid the price as seen from her lousy attempt at her paper. Mentally kicking herself, Blake promised herself that she would forget about all blonde peripherals that did not at all concern her and instead focus on her upcoming assessments like she had always done.
Blake felt a buzz in her pocket and pulled her phone out. She opened a text message from Weiss.
"Hey! How did the paper go?"
"Hey Weiss, it was bad… I couldn't focus at all."
"What? This seems rather out of character for you. What was preventing you from concentrating?"
"It's nothing, I'm fine! I just need to realign my priorities and stick to my study schedule a little bit better."
"No, you are not fine. I'm coming over to your dorm. Be there in 30 minutes."
Blake started typing "But I'm really fine, promise... " but before she could hit send, she received another notification from Weiss.
"And no buts."
Resigning herself to Weiss's version of tough love, Blake sighed and headed back to her dorm to meet her white-haired friend.
Knock knock. Knock knock knock. Knock.
The six knocks were a code that Blake and Weiss came up with, since they were both introverts who did not like interacting with people, even to ask who was at the door. This way they would always know when it was each other and not someone else. Blake dragged her feet to the door.
"Hey Weiss… Good to see you."
Arching an eyebrow at Blake's monotonous drawl, Weiss replied, "You too, Blake. Can I come in?"
"Sure," Blake stepped aside and Weiss walked in, sitting down on the couch.
"Alright, spill it." Weiss ordered.
"I'm sorry, what?" Blake was taken aback by Weiss' direct question.
"Don't play dumb, you won't normally be distracted from academia unless it was something major," Weiss' eyes bored into Blake's, making her flinch slightly.
"Um… Okay fine. It's that Yang girl-"
"Yang Xiao Long?! What did she do? I swear, if she so much as flirts with you I will immediately direct my lawyers to draft a restraining order-"
"Weiss, stop! Calm down. No such thing happened."
"Oh, okay," Weiss looked sheepish for a moment before hardening her expression again, "So what's up with you and that blonde bimbo?"
"Uh… I just can't stop thinking about our interaction in the shower, and how she described my voice as beautiful… It's just... She seemed so genuine and it's been a long time since someone talked to me without wanting something from me," Blake explained, thinking about all the times her classmates pretended to be nice to her, all for the purpose of asking Blake for her assessment answers.
"Blake… Yang doesn't know who you are. Sorry to say this, but if she knew, she wouldn't even bother talking to you. That brute only wants to flirt and engage in meaningless coitus with anyone who would raise her social status," Weiss sneered, her distaste for Yang apparent.
Blake's stomach dropped, "Oh, I see. Well, good to know, I guess. I've already told myself to forget about her." Frowning slightly, she continued, "I don't even know her anyway! There is no reason for her to occupy any more of my time."
"Exactly! You've been doing well so far Blake, don't let her derail you from our dream of becoming valedictorians together," Weiss encouraged, not realising that she had dissolved Blake's personal mirage of Yang's character, "Anyway, want to go out for dinner tonight? Winter wants to come over to my room, but I told her that I already have plans. Save me, please?"
"Sorry Weiss, I think I want to be alone tonight. I want to get a headstart on the next assessment since I didn't do well on the paper today. I hope you understand," Blake looked away slightly, sheepish.
Disappointed but a little impressed by Blake's directness and drive, Weiss simply said, "Oh. Of course, I quite understand. I suppose I could catch up with Winter after all, as we haven't talked in a while. I just hope she doesn't start boring me with details of how insufferable some colleague of hers named Qrow is. Good luck with studying!" Weiss bid her farewell and headed back to her dorm on the other side of the campus.
Blake nodded and smiled slightly, but inside she felt dejected. Hearing what Weiss said about Yang only wanting to interact with the popular students made her doubt their interaction that day. Perhaps she had unconsciously hoped that real life would turn out like a good book where characters were often three-dimensional. Weiss was right. From the constant stream of pictures with scantily clad guys and girls on Yang's Instagram, she wouldn't be surprised that if the popular blonde knew who she really was, she wouldn't even have bothered talking to her, let alone compliment her voice.
Sighing, Blake grabbed a towel and went to the bathroom, hoping that a nice hot shower would wash away the gloom and disappointment she had been plagued with throughout the day.