Ruby

When Yang abandoned me at the party, I admittedly kind of panicked.

I suppose it was an unfair reaction, the Schnee family had been so kind to host my father's engagement party. I never knew he had connections with Willow Schnee, so when he told me we'd be visiting the Schnee manor, I'd been practically blown away. At the time I felt sure that I'd enjoy myself, but now, with all of the great grandeur, especially that surrounding my family, I only felt intimidated.

It didn't help that nobody wanted to talk to me. I entered a room full of chatter and music and people dancing. It's a social event, dammit. And you'd think that I'd be a subject of interest, as the daughter of the man this party was thrown for. But instead I was met with nothing, nobody approached me and I ended up leaning against one of the walls, watching other people have fun and feeling incredibly anxious. I should be happy, my father was going to get married, and we were in such a fine place. Instead all I was aware of was how my hair hadn't been washed this morning and my dress was too big for me and I looked nothing like the type of people surrounding me. I lacked their practiced elegance. Their ability to look, and probably feel, like they were the most important people in the world. In their presence I was nothing. I was but a small girl in a room of gods. In the end, I felt sick, and I left.

I didn't really have a direction I was headed towards, I just walked out of the room and down one of the elegant. I have to commemorate the Schnee family for their home, they presented a strong aesthetic beauty, with halls of white and pale blue, like their home was a castle of ice and not brick and stone. As I walked, butlers and maids ushered last me, sending me odd glances. I thought, at first, that they'd question me. Make me go back to the party room. Ask who I was, maybe even kick me out. But they didn't say a word, only brushing past me. I guess they had more important jobs to do.

After a certain point, I grew familiar with the house. It was large, and I hadn't seen all of it, but the halls were all arranged in a similar fashion, with the most important rooms towards the ends and the least important in the middle. Every now and then I entered a larger room with a stairwell and balcony, but I never went upstairs. I don't know why. It just felt like the second floor was more private than the first. More of an invasion.

I finally stopped walking when I came across a long dead-end hall, where there were no servants around. There were several rooms, but I didn't enter them, instead I looked at the walls. Five portraits were framed in the hall, each for a member of the Schnee family, in order of oldest to youngest. I recognized Jacques Schnee from the news many years ago, his death had been broadcasted nationwide. It took everyone by shock, for sure. After him was willow, and then a little girl I didn't recognize but knew the name of. Winter. My father informed me that she had drowned as a child, jumping into a pool while nobody was around, not knowing how to swim. He said not to bring her up. After her image was a little girl and little boy, Weiss and Whitley. They were my age now, apparently. Probably dancing in that room right now.

I bet they fit into all that grandeur. I wonder what that's like.

Eventually I sat down, grabbed my phone and earphones from my pockets (big or not, the dress has pockets, god bless). Untangling the wires, I plugged in my music, turning the volume all the way up. In around two hours, the party would be over, and I would go find my family and leave. Until then I had Casey Lee Williams to distract my thoughts.

Listening to music is kind of like letting yourself go into a chosen haze. If you want to, you can focus while still listening to music, but you can choose to have it drown everything out instead. It's always been so easy for me to let go of reality this way. Sit back and close my eyes and just be with the sounds. It's a weird type of haze. But a good one too.

I open my eyes because I feel a tap on my shoulders, and I look up to see an angel standing over me.

On a second glance I immediately realize that she is not an angel, just a girl who very much looks like one. She is leaned over slightly to look at me, her back still straight like a dancer's, as if she's been trained to appear perfect even when leaning. Maybe she has. Her hair is white, tied in a high ponytail that flows down over her left shoulder, and her complexion is so pale. She looks like a porcelain doll come to life, like you'd have to put blush on her face to make her look fully real. Everything about her is light, even her eyelashes are the same pearly white as the rest of her. Her dress matches the the theme with pale tulle puffed sleeves and a short ball gown skirt. The only color is in her eyes, a bright blue in comparison to her pale appearance. After a beat I realize she's expecting me to say something.

I remove my earphones and look at her. "I-I'm sorry about this, I'm not trying to sneak around I swear," my voice comes out a little high pitched, and when she doesn't respond I continue, "I just got really overwhelmed by the party and nobody there was talking to me so I just kind of left and this, th-this hall was really quiet so, so I just came in here to get some peace. I swear, I'm the daughter of the man this party is for. Taiyang? That's my dad, you can ask him."

She straightens and pulls out her phone. I panicked immediately. She's going to call somebody to come get me, to kick me out. Dad will be furious if knows that I was hiding away during his party.

I'm quickly relieved, however, when she leans back down and hands me her phone instead. Hesitantly, I take it from her, and see that she's opened her notes all and typed something in.

I'm not going to get you in trouble, I believe you. I am Weiss Schnee, I live here, and I am mute. You're sitting across the door to my room.

Weiss Schnee. Fuck.

I look up at her and hand her phone back, "Sorry, I didn't mean to invade your space." She shrugs as a response, and smiles a bit to reassure me.

I am greatly surprised when she sits down next to me. She, of course, has to look elegant while doing it, moving like a trained ballerina. It must take a lot to still look proud and esteemed while sitting on the floor of an abandoned hall. She manages.

"Uh- my name is Ruby," I start, slightly optimistic, sticking my hand out to shake. She hesitates before shaking it. How often does she slum in hallways with people like me?

I wait as she types something new, it only takes a second. She shows me her screen. It's a pleasure to meet you. I also can get overwhelmed by these parties.

Trying to smile, I say, "Is that why you came here? To get away from it?" She nods. "Well, I guess we're stuck together."

I get faint smile, and then I guess we are.

I'm not good at conversation, and I don't know what to say next, so I do the next best thing. I offer her one headphone, "Do you want to listen?" She smiles more widely this time, like she couldn't hide it, and puts one in her ear as I do the same. I hit play and close my eyes, leaning my head against the wall. After awhile, I get curious and open them, looking over at her. Her eyes are closed like mine were, and she's manages to still sit with good posture, though know her back is leaned against the wall in chorus with mine. Her expression reveals nothing, only stagnant and calm. Maybe she is an angel, like I originally thought. She could've fooled me.

It's embarrassing to admit, but at some point I fall asleep, dreaming of nothing but a pale girl dancing with me. We are alone in the ballroom, and she is dressed in a white tux, leading me as clumsily meet each step. But she doesn't care, and we keep dancing. When I wake up, Weiss is gone, and Yang is perched on the ground besides me, shaking my shoulder. "Ruby, get up, and fix your hair. We're leaving, and if Dad finds out you skipped his engagement party he's going to throw a fit."

I've never set a lock on my phone, was never allowed to. But when I open it up at home before I go to bed, I find my contacts app open, with a new number entered. I read the name, confusedly, several times. Eventually I close my phone again, and lay down, wondering what about me made Weiss Schnee want to give me her number.