I Think I Like You

Chapter 2: An Unexpected Development

I lean my head back, so that I'm facing the clouds above, and let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding.

Today has been a long day, making me feel more exhausted than usual.

I'm currently making my way back home and mulling over the prior events from the council. Nothing much happened during the meeting, except for Weiss giving me a pamphlet for the 'rules' of being a student council member and discussing some of the upcoming events.

There aren't actually that many rules, but god are they pretentious. I pull the pamphlet out of my uniforms back pocket to skim over it again.

Student Council Rules/Conduct Guide:
1. Meetings are every Monday and Friday (Wednesdays if needed)
2. Members must maintain all A's and B's on their report card, with a GPA no less than a 3.0
3. Members must abide by all school rules and regulations, and remind others as well
4. Members will come to meetings and activities on time, ready to work, and on their best behavior

Just reading it makes me feel like I'm in kindergarten. I don't know how Yang has put up with this for so long, I mean, she's been in the student council for the past two years and I've rarely heard her complain about it.

Granted, I did get off to a pretty bad start with about half the people in there, considering I tried to sleep through the impromptu election. Each time I got confused about something Weiss had said during the meeting, she would just glare at me and one of the other members would have to clear it up.

Ice Queen.

The name seems to fit her perfectly from what I've seen.

It's like she thinks of me as some child that doesn't know what I'm doing, yet, I'm only a year younger! The thought sends a surge of irritation through me.

It's not like I have a complex about my age. If anything, it's my height that makes me feel younger than I really am. Not many seventeen year-olds are just breaking into being five feet tall.

Nevertheless, Everything about Weiss irritated me to no end.

At one point, towards the end of the meeting, she just got up and left for, like, twenty minutes. When she came back in, she just said the meeting was over and left without another word, like she was too important to stick around any longer.

I'll show her.

I crumble up the pamphlet, lift my arm back, and throw it onto the ground as hard as I can. I kick it a few times for good measure, and give a triumphant smile whilst crossing my arms.

"How do you like that?"

My strange action catches the attention of a nearby woman pushing her baby along in a stroller. She looks at the piece of trash on the ground and gives me a disapproving look. I feel my face turning red and pick the pamphlet back up, mumbling a sorry as I walk by her and drop it in the nearest trashcan.

As I near the cul-de-sac where my house is, I feel a buzz and pull my phone out from my backpack.

Penny: How was the meeting?

Ruby: Could've been worse

Penny: That's wonderful! You must give me the details tomorrow!

Ruby: There's not much to say tbh

Penny: Well, I'm looking forward to it regardless.

I put my phone back into my bag as I walk up the driveway to my house. I really don't want to think about today anymore.

My house is near the end of the small neighborhood I live in. All the houses are fairly close together and they all look about the same too. All except mine, since my dad repainted it in a slightly lighter green paint than the rest of the houses used.

To say the least, the homeowners association was not very happy about that.

I see Yang's bike, Bumblebee, parked next to my dad's truck, which means she beat me home. Normally, she'd drive me home every day except for when she'd have club days, but even now that I'm technically in her club, she won't drive me on days we have meetings.

She claims those are the days that she's promised to drive Blake home. I don't mind much though, since I like walking anyways.

When I open the front door I'm instantly hit with the smell of freshly baked cookies, which could only mean one thing…

"Dad!"

I kick off my shoes at the door and run into the kitchen to see my dad, apron on, pulling out fresh cookies from the oven. Yang is sitting at one of the stools next to the kitchen's island, already munching on a cookie.

I run up to my dad and throw my arms around him in a hug.

"Easy there, sport, unless you want me to drop this batch of cookies." My dad laughs as I untangle myself from him and take a step back.

"What're you doing home so early?" I ask, eagerly.

"My boss got a raise. He was in such a good mood he gave all his staff the rest of the day off."

"That's awefum!" I say, shoving one of the freshly baked cookies in my mouth.

Usually, my dad comes home around seven at night or so. We try to spend as much quality time together as possible, and since it's always dark by the time he gets back that generally means all of us watching a movie.

Even though he's all smiles and rarely shows his grump side, I know being a single parent must be hard on him.

Most of the time, he has to work super long days to help support us, and Yang works at her part-time job whenever she can to help out as well. We just get by most the time, but something my dad's always taught me is that family is worth it, and I don't think we would rather have it any other way.

At this point, I'm on my third cookie when Zwei comes trotting in from around the corner. I lean down to pet the scruffy corgi, who gladly nuzzles my hand back.

"Hey dad, guess who's gonna be the new vice president." Yang inquires with a mischievous smirk.

My dad's face lights up. "You're the new vice president, Yang? Sweetie, that's wonderful!"

"Nope, not me." she leans over to grab another cookie.

I feel my hand slow at petting Zwei. My dad looks confused for a second, but then he looks down and makes eye contact with me.

"Ruby?"

I just offer a shrug.

"It's a long story."

My dad's look of confusion, however, quickly turns into one of astonishment.

"Ruby that's amazing, I'm so proud of you! How'd this happen?"

"Ruby volunteered-!"

"-I was forced into it." Yang and I both say at the same time.

My dad looks between us and lets out a chuckle.

I realize I'm covered in Zwei hair and stand back up to brush myself off. Leaning over the counter, I grab about six cookies in my hands and prepare to walk up to my room.

"However it happened, I'm glad. You could use something to keep you occupied besides playing those video games all the time, Ruby."

I start walking up the stairs and mumble a "yeah I got it." to him.

Making my way down the hallway, I eventually reach my room towards the end.

The room itself is fairly small, my bed's in the far left corner with my nightstand right next to it. Almost everything in my room is red, from by bed spread to the walls. I have a desk positioned on the opposite end of the room, with my computer on it and a big window right beside it.

I open the door and throw my backpack down on my bed, flopping myself onto it as well and putting an arm over my eyes.

I didn't ask to be in this position, so I wish people would stop making it such a big deal out of it...

I feel another buzz from my backpack and, assuming it's Penny, I open the front pocket to take my phone out. To my surprise, It's not Penny.

Unknown: Hello, Ruby. This is Weiss. I will need your assistance tomorrow after school in the library. Don't be late.

I groan and slide an arm down my face. Leave it to the Ice Queen to simultaneously find a way to take away one of my free days after school and do more work at the same time. I take my arm off my face and rub my temple before replying back.

Ruby: How'd u get my number?

The response comes only moments later.

Weiss: Your sister.

Goddammit Yang.

I text her back that I would be there and roll over onto my side, facing the window by my bed. This is going to be a long year.

"...What am I supposed to be doing again?"

The next day I meet Weiss after school in the library, as I was so graciously asked to, and was greeted with a lovely stack of papers being shoved into my face.

She told me something along the lines of papers being stapled wrong, but she explained it so fast I was still unsure.

There were a few students hustling about or studying in the library, but it was pretty empty for the most part. This was a good thing, however, since Weiss had enough papers laid out to cover two whole tables.

She's wearing her uniform as neat as always, with her vest buttoned up all the way, her ribbon perfectly tied, and her skirt free of any wrinkles. I, myself, opted for pants instead of a skirt; they're just more comfortable to me, and I've never really been one for keeping up with appearances.

Weiss on the other hand, looks like she just stepped out of some fashion magazine, with her white hair put up into a ponytail and all those perfect features of her face. Even her scar somehow manages to look flawless.

She was undeniably gorgeous, well, except for the scowl she was giving me right now.

"Ruby, for the last time, these are student's career surveys." Weiss flips some unwanted hair over her shoulder. "The main office told us that this stack was stapled wrong. I already took out the old staples so we just have to match the name on the first page with the name on the second page. When you find the correct papers staple them together and put them in a pile. Sound easy enough?"

I scrunch up my nose, looking at all the papers we had to go through.

I would say the stack and all of the papers, including the ones scattered about the tables, were the equivalent of about two dictionaries stacked on top of each other.

"Why can't we do this during a meeting, or when everyone is here?" I ask.

Weiss sighs and holds a hand to her temple.

"The lady in the office said they were due in by tomorrow. So, we're doing it now."

"But why am I the only one helping?"

Despite my protest, I grab a few papers and start looking among some of the others on the table, trying to find a right match.

"Because, Ruby, you're the vice president." Irritation was seeping into Weiss's voice as she staples two papers together and continued searching through the rest. "I would have preferred to do it myself, but it was far too much work for one person."

"Yeah, but why not get some of the others to help with us?"

Weiss spares me an irritated glance and I try to ignore it and continue looking through the papers.

"Everyone else is generally unavailable on Tuesdays. Mainly due to other club meetings and jobs."

"Do you have a job?" I ask as I try to staple two papers together and somehow end up stapling the table instead.

Weiss comes over and brushes my hand off the stapler, making me move to the side and hold my hands up in surrender. She does it correctly and adds it to the pile, shooting me another one of her glares. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen her smile.

"I help my father out with my family's company from time to time."

I sit down at one of the chairs next to the table and rest my head on my hands. Looking up at the president, I notice she has that faraway look in her eyes again, as though she wasn't completely there. I feel a little bad for complaining so much, so I do my best to lighten the mood.

"That's really cool! What company is it?"

A robotic reply is sent my way.

"It's Schnee Bank."

"What kinda stuff do you do?"

Weiss gives an annoyed huff. "If you're just going to sit there and do nothing but run your mouth, you might as well leave."

I feel my eyes widen. I quickly stand back up and try to redeem myself, grabbing a new stack of papers.

We work in silence for about ten minutes while I try my best to avoid all eye contact with Weiss. I was just trying to be friendly, so why was she being so mean to me? I didn't ask to be here, in fact I was demanded to be here.

My dad always tells me you don't know what others are going through, and that you should give everyone a chance.

Well, that's just bullshit.

I gave Weiss the benefit of the doubt at first, but I've just chalked her up to being a pretentious asshole at this point. I got a super irritated, and granted, more defensive than I should've been in a spur of the moment anguish of my thoughts.

"I didn't ask to be here ya'know." I grumble.

I glance up and see Weiss clenching the papers she has in her hand. She looks peeved.

"I didn't ask for you to be here either." she shoots back at me.

"Uh, yeah, you kinda did."

"I mean in student council you dunce." She points an angry finger my direction. "I have enough work to do as it is, I don't have time to teach an immature, unwilling, child."

Her voice starts to rise and I realize mine's rising too.

"I'm only a year younger than you!" I shout back indignantly.

"Well you act like its five years!"

"Yeah? Well, you act like a pretentious, grade-A, bi-"

Whatever was going to come out of my mouth was stopped with a loud cellphone ringtone. Weiss and I are both leaning over the table, probably looking like we're about to bite the other's head off. Weiss just leans back and scoffs.

"Here you are getting me to stoop down to your juvenile level." She takes her phone, the source of the ringing, out of her blazer's front pocket and starts walking away to take her call.

I'm pretty sure I make a snarling noise at her. "Whatever, Princess."

She goes behind a bookshelf and I'm left trying to calm myself down. I quietly seethe as I overhear bits and pieces of Weiss's conversation. I wasn't trying to listen, really, she was just in hearing range.

"Hello?... Yes I understand… I told you I would be doing student activities today… This weekend?... I'm not sure if-… Yes, of course… Of course I will… Goodbye."

Weiss comes back around, seeming to be paler than usual. Not that I was paying attention.

"Anything the matter, princess?"

She looks like she's about to make a snarky comeback, but bites her tongue.

"Ruby, I-" Weiss makes a weak gesture of surrender and put her hands on her hips. "Look, I'll be right back. Just continue working on this… please." and with that, she strolls around the corner and out the library's heavy double doors.

Running away?

I almost feel bad for thinking it, almost.

I sigh and continue to sort through random papers. Within a few minutes I find a couple names that match and I silently celebrate. From what we had already done, before we started arguing, we should be able to finish within the next hour or so. That is, when Weiss comes back. I look at the clock to notice it had been about five minutes and I start wondering where Weiss had gone.

Well, what she doesn't know won't hurt her.

I plop myself back down and nestle my head into my arms. While the ice queen is off stalking around and doing who knows what, I'll just catch some shut eye.

I unceremoniously lift my head off of my sleeves, leaving a long line of drool coming with it.

The first thing that hits me is that I really need to pee.

The second thing is, where's Weiss?

I cross my legs under the table and look up at the clock. It had been thirty minutes. Thirty minutes, and still no Weiss? Maybe she really did just leave me here to finish this myself; not that I would finish it if that was the case.

There's one part of me says she'd totally just left me here, but another part said that's not something she would do as the President. She even left her disgusting blindingly white backpack here. I decide I would go pee first, and then text her or something to see how much I must have pissed her off.

At this point it was about four o'clock and the only person left in the library was one of the librarians, who was putting away some books. She smiles at me and I give her a wave as I push open the double doors to look for the nearest bathroom.

I walk down the hall and enter the first restroom I spot.

This particular one has three stalls, one big stall at the end, and a row of sinks across from them that had one big mirror going across it. The big stall was closed, so I went to the one closest to the door to relieve myself.

The walls in the bathroom were pretty grey, although they look like they could've been blue at some point in time. As I exit the stall I notice one of the faucets already has a drizzle of water coming out of it, so I walk over to turn it off. It made a squeaking noise that made me cringe a little, but I realize I still need to wash my hands.

As I put my hand up to the soap dispenser I hear a shuffling noise from the big stall.

I stop my hand and listened for a second; I didn't hear anything and was about to just leave it alone, when I hear a sniffle. I glance over at the stall and debate whether I should say something, or if I should just leave. After an internal battle I walk up to the door of the stall and knock lightly.

"Hello?"

Silence.

Even the shuffling had completely stopped. I back up a bit and thought that maybe I should just leave, but another part of me wants to make sure this person is okay.

"I know someone's in there. I just want to make sure you're not hurt..."

Again, silence.

Every bone in my body was telling me to leave it. However, if I wasn't crazy and there really was a person in there that was hurt, I wouldn't forgive myself if I walked out now. I shuffle back over to the stall to knock again when I notice from the crack in the door, it wasn't locked. I gently pull it open.

And what I saw rocked me.

There, in the corner of the stall, was Weiss.

But not the confident, big-headed Weiss I had known. This couldn't be her. This Weiss was shoved into as tight a ball as she could make, rocking herself back and forth rather violently.

For a moment I was so stunned all I could do was stare. This was not what I was expecting in the least.

She wasn't even looking at me; she was staring straight ahead, looking completely distraught and taking in frantic gasps of air. That was enough to shake me out of the confusion I was in and stumble over to her.

"Oh my god, Weiss!? What's wrong? Are you okay?"

I put a hand on her shoulder but she doesn't acknowledge I'm there, she just keeps rocking. I start panicking.

"Do you need something? What can I do? Weiss? Can you hear me?"

She turns her head away from me, so that I see the back of her ponytail. It had become so loose it almost came out of her hair entirely. She continues to look away, but I notice her rocking had become a bit less frantic, and her breathing less rapid.

"What do I do?" I was asking myself more than anything else at this point.

However, I hear her make a small noise, almost like a whine, and I lean in to see if I can hear her better.

"What was that, Weiss?"

"Bag… Medicine…" Was her barely coherent reply.

She must have medicine in her backpack.

I get up and start running to the library where I last saw her backpack.

"I'll be right back! Don't move!" I yell as I plow open the door.

I wasn't really worried about her going anywhere, obviously, I just wanted her to know I wouldn't leave her there. I run into the library and get scolded by the librarian to slow down. I give her a quick apology, but I'm far more concerned about Weiss having some sort of mental break down right now to actually care.

Oh my god. What if I caused it?

I try to shake the thought as I grab her backpack off the table where she left it, once again ignoring the librarian's scolding as I shoved open the doors. I trip over my feet as I slam open the bathroom door and land face first on the cheap, cold tile.

"Dolt." I hear from the stall.

As I got up I smile at the insult, knowing that Weiss must be somewhat lucid.

I finish my run to the bathroom stall to see her still huddled into a ball but with her head looking up at me. I don't know why I was surprised by this, but she didn't have any tears on her face whatsoever.

I hold out the bag to her and she snatches it, going through it until she found a small orange pill bottle labeled: Alprazolam: Xanax

She feverishly opens the lid and swallows one dry, then proceeds to stick her head between her legs. I silently sit down next to her and we stay this way for a few minutes.

It's Weiss who breaks the silence first.

"Thank you."

I look over at her; she's now resting her head on top of her knees but is refusing to look me in the eye.

"Do you want to tell me what that was about?" She says nothing, so I decide maybe I should try and lighten the mood. "You're not trying to ease yourself off of some drugs I hope?" I say, eyeing the bottle.

Weiss gives an amused chuckle, but I can tell her heart wasn't in it.

"I wish." She waits a second and I don't try to rush her. "I get panic attacks." She simply states.

"Oh." Is all I manage to say and I immediately kick myself for it.

You can't think of anything better to say than that?

"I'm so pathetic." Weiss says with a melancholy chuckle. "I hate it when that happens. It makes me feel like some freak."

I look away from her and down at my sneakers. "I… I wasn't the one that caused it was I?"

Weiss finally looks over at me and waits until I turn my eyes back towards her. She reaches towards me and… thumps me on the forehead.

"Ow!?" I yelp, holding my hands to my temple.

"Of course not you dunce! Do you even know what a panic attack is?" Weiss asks incredulously.

"It's where you… panic? Right?"

Weiss lets out a bitter sigh.

"There's more to it than that... I get them when I think too much, or when I fight with my parents. Sometimes I get them for no other reason than fate wanting to royally screw me." Weiss gives a huff of annoyance "My dad keeps calling me, trying to get me to sing at one of his company's promotional banquets and I guess I just kind of… snapped."

"That sounds like it sucks." I confide.

"That's one way of putting it." Weiss nods her head and then rests it back onto her knees.

We stay quiet for a minute until, again, Weiss breaks the silence.

"Thank you, Ruby. I'm sorry for treating you like a child when it was really me who was being the childish one."

I smile shyly. "Don't mention it, I just did what anyone would do. And I was kinda giving you a hard time, so I'm partially to blame." I look over and see Weiss trying to turn away from me, her face turning a light shade of pink.

"Aww! Are you blushing?" I ask, leaning forward to get a better look.

Thunk

"Owie!" I hold a hand to my freshly thumped forehead. "Weiss!? What was that for!?"

Weiss scowls at me. "I'm not good at giving apologies and if you tell anyone about any of this, I'll actually kill you."

I just laugh, knowing this was her way of trying to break the ice.

"Aye aye, captain."