I Think I Like You

Chapter 4: Joyride

I open the front door to my house and kick off my sneakers at the entry way.

The house is quiet for the most part, which means my dad wasn't home yet, but I can hear the TV in the living room. This was most likely Yang, she likes to watch TV when procrastinating on school work. I did wonder sometimes how she managed to stay in student council with her barely passing grades.

I left Weiss's house earlier, but only once she'd calmed down. After that, she saw me off and I told her I would text her later. I needed some time to process all of what she'd told me anyways.

I walk down the hallway and stop at the entrance of the living room. I look around the corner to see Yang sitting on the couch with her feet propped up on our coffee table. She must have heard me enter the room because she glances over at the archway with a smile.

"Hey, Ruby. I didn't hear you come in." She grabs the remote beside her and turns down the volume of the TV. "How was Weiss's house? Get everything sorted?"

"Yeah." Is all I say, as I continue to stand there and fiddle with my backpack straps.

Yang takes notice of my strange behavior and gives me a questioning look.

"What's wrong, Rubes?"

I gulp hesitantly. "Well… I… I wanted to apologize for what I said to you earlier today, in the club room."

Yang's face softens a little.

"No, I should be the one apologizing." She sighs. "It was me who was out of line. We've always called Weiss that jokingly. I never really stopped to think if it might upset her or something."

I vigorously shake my head. "I overreacted. I was the one out of line."

"How about we were both being a bit dramatic?" Yang looks over and offers me a smile.

I give her a smile back and then we both chuckle.

"Maybe a little bit." I say.

"Truce?"

"Truce."

I grin and give Yang a wave, signaling that I'm about to go up to my room. First thing I normally do after school is get out of my stuffy uniform and set my bag down.

However, as I start climbing the stairs, I'm called out to from the living room.

"Oh wait, Ruby!" Yang yells from the living room.

"Yeah?" I call back.

"Dad said he left you something in the garage. I think you should go check it out."

Something for me?

"Will do!"

I race up the rest of the stairs and throw my bag down on my bed, along with my backpack and my uniform jacket. It was a Friday, so I wasn't really worried about laying anything out neatly.

I'm not really sure what it could be that my dad left me, but I like surprises, so I'm excited nonetheless. I run back down the steps and into the kitchen, where the door leading into the garage is. I swing it open and turn on the light switch, waiting a moment for my eyes to adjust.

Yang's motorcycle sits in its designated spot and the place where my dad parks his truck is empty, since he's still at work. The only thing different about the garage was a big plastic garbage bag that's sitting in the corner. It looks like it's covering something, so I jog over to it and eagerly yank the tarp off.

I blink a few times and turn my head to the side as I realize what I'm looking at.

It's a red bicycle, brand new by the looks of it, with a shiny and sleek design. There's a black seat and handlebars with grips on them. It looks so cool, random as all heck, but cool.

I immediately take out my phone from my back pocket and call my dad. He picks up within a few rings.

"Hello? Ruby?"

"Dad! You got me a bike?!"

I hear him chuckle over the line.

"You know how I said my boss got a raise a few weeks ago?"

"Yeah."

"Well, as it turns out, everyone working for the company gets one too, so I got you something to celebrate!"

"Dad, you should've gotten yourself something to celebrate! Not something for me."

I hear him guffaw over the phone, making me cringe and hold it further away from my ear.

"Nonsense! I figured you might want something to ride on going to and from school, since Yang can't drive you back on your meeting days. Do you not like it?"

I look over the sleek bike again. It did look really cool. It kind of looks like one of those bikes used for BMX.

"I love it."

"Well great! The guy at the store told me I couldn't return it anyways."

"Dad!"

"I knew you'd like it, so it wasn't an issue." I hear some shuffling in the background and some muffled voices. "I've got to get back to work, sweetie, I'll be home in a few hours and we can give it a test run then. I Love you, bye."

"Bye, dad."

I hang up the phone and take another minute to marvel at the bike, feeling the handlebars and testing the pull brakes on them.

I look down and notice the back wheel has two medal rods sticking out of the cogset. This gives me an idea. I take out my phone and text Weiss.

Ruby: Weiss!

She doesn't respond immediately, so I make my way back into the house and start walking up to my room. Just as I sit down at my computer, I feel a buzz from my back pocket.

Weiss: Yes, Ruby?

Ruby: What r u doing after school on Monday?

Weiss: We have a meeting on Monday.

Ruby: I mean after the meeting.

Weiss: I'm unsure. Why?

I debate on telling her what I'm planning, but decide against it, opting for a mysterious approach instead.

Ruby: Do you like surprises?

"Ruby Rose, you would have to be insane to think I'm getting on that."

Our meeting has just ended, and I told Weiss to come with me outside. She did so without much argument, except for repeatedly saying how much she hates surprises.

I told her to wait at the front while I secretly went around the side of the school to get my new bike off the bike rack. When I had ridden it back around the school and stopped in front of her, she'd given me a look of disbelief.

"It's completely safe though!" I say, pointing to the back wheel. "All you have to do is stand on the metal foot thingy's. I'll do all the pushing!"

She gives me a look of skepticism.

"The foot thingy's? You don't even know what they're called?"

"What they're called is beside the point!" I exclaim.

"If the point was to persuade me even more into not getting on that, then I'd say you did pretty good job."

"Weeeisssss!" I complain loudly.

A few of the remaining students standing around outside the school look over to where Weiss and I are. I hear a few chuckles and Weiss's face turns bright red.

"Fine. Fine. Just shut up, people are staring."

I smile triumphantly as she walks over and stares at the back of the bike for a moment.

"You put-" I start to explain, but Weiss cut me off.

"I know how to get on the back of a bike you dolt. It's not exactly rocket science."

I huff as she shakily steps on one of the back petals and I push us off so that we gain balance. It's surprisingly a lot easier than I expected it to be.

I start pedaling towards the schools exit when I'm suddenly very aware of Weiss's hands on my shoulders. I push the thought away as we exit the school and I start pedaling faster down the sidewalk.

"Where are we going, anyways?" she questions.

I take one of my hands off the handle and run it through my matted hair.

"Not sure." I say.

I hear Weiss snicker.

"Leave it to you to get me on a deathtrap like this and then have the nerve to say you don't even know where were going."

I stand up off my seat and start to pedal harder and I can feel Weiss grip on to my shoulders slightly tighten. We start flying down a hill and I stop my pedaling to feel the breeze in my face. My hair blows backwards and my hands grip the handles harder as a huge smile appears on my face.

"This is an adventure, Weiss." I turn my head towards her so she can hear me over the wind. "Let's see where it takes us!"

I watch the scenery go by as we pass neighborhoods that have kids playing in the front yards and people walking their dogs along the sidewalks.

We pass cute little shops that have trinkets on display, and a little more than one to many flashy signs in their windows. We pass by people walking amongst themselves on the streets, talking on cell phones or just going about their daily business.

We pass by picket fences that are so old they have vines growing all over them that were starting to bud flowers. We pass down busy streets that make us have to keep stopping and pressing the walk button to get across, and we pass parks, lakes, screaming kids in strollers, local businesses, even restaurants that look as though they could be shut down at any moment.

I realize I've never seen so much of the town I've lived in my whole life. It was truly eye-opening and serene.

And there is no one else I would rather share this with.

As we come up to a clearing, outlined by a patch of tall oak trees, my mind starts to wander.

What were me and Weiss? Does she even think of me as a friend?

I know she must not think badly of me, regardless of how she acts, considering how much I feel like she's opened up to me.

However, something keeps nagging me in the back of my mind that I'm just an annoyance to her. Someone that found her in the wrong place, at the wrong time, that she was forced to reveal her worst weakness to.

If you don't count student council work, she's never once called out to me of her own volition. She's never once made any attempt to make casual conversation, even if she does go along with my own. And she's never once invited me anywhere or accepted any of my invitations to do anything, until today, when I didn't even tell her what we were going to be doing.

I feel something strange bubble up in my chest, causing me to grip the handle bars even tighter.

Weiss pats my shoulder with one of her hands and points off to the side on the opposite side of the road. I can feel her lean down closer to me; close enough to feel her warm breath in my ear.

"Look."

I focus my view to where she was pointing. Across the road is a huge water reservoir; it had to be at least three miles wide. The water itself looked deeply blue, but also murky at the same time.

"Do you want to stop and take a look?" I ask.

Out of the corner of my eye I see Weiss give a quick nod and I start slowing my pace. I suddenly start to feel fatigue in my legs catching up with me, and am silently thankful for the pit stop.

I look both ways to make sure the road is clear, before gently swerving us off the sidewalk to the other side. I stop as soon as we hit the grass, which makes us sway slightly. I feel the pressure of Weiss's hands on my shoulders subside as she lets go. She then proceeds to cautiously hop off the back of the bike and start walking over to the water.

I lay the bike down in the grass and jog over to where she's kneeling on both feet next to the reservoir.

"I had no idea this was here." She says, dipping one of her delicate fingers into the water and starting to swirl it around.

"Me neither." I say.

Continuing to stand and stare out over the water, I start to feel mesmerized by the stillness of it. I'm only snapped out of it when I hear Weiss speak quietly next to me.

"It's very peaceful here."

She closes her eyes for a moment and I drop down next to her, sitting crisscross along the shore line.

"Very." I agree.

We sit there in comfortable silence as I listened to some birds chirping in the distance and the faint hum of cars occasionally driving by. I start to wonder how long we've been riding around for, when I see the sun starting to dip below the tree line.

Weiss continues swirling her finger around in the water, making different patterns and shapes. Her bangs ghost over her eyes as she looks deep in thought. The sunlight behind the swaying trees cast shadows that dance across her face and highlight the scar that runs perfectly down her left eye. She really is undeniably pretty.

"Weiss, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

I fiddle with a blade of grass between my hands as I speak.

"Why'd you join the student council?"

Weiss takes her finger out of the water and shakes it off, proceeding to rest her head onto her knees.

"My sister was in the student council when she was in high school." She says, flipping some bangs out of her eyes and looking out across the water. "I wanted to be just like her when I was younger."

"What about now?" I question.

Weiss scrunches up her nose and lets out a long breath of air.

"I'm not so sure about now." She says quietly. "It's just that- she was my role model. The one person I could look up to when I was little. She was the one that got me into fencing in the first place."

Weiss then gives a bitter laugh and leans back on her hands.

"And I was the one who messed it all up. I always am."

I frown at her words. When I see the dejected look on her face, I grit my teeth, feeling concern building up in me.

"Nonsense, what happened was an accident from what you've told me. You can't blame yourself for that."

"Ruby, I haven't been fair to you."

I give her a confused look.

"What do you mean?"

Weiss doesn't respond, instead, she just stands up, dusting of her uniform and turning around. She scans the ground until spotting something she's looking for and walks a few feet away. She then picks up a pebble, about the size of a quarter and tosses it back and forth between her hands.

"Have you ever skipped stones before, Ruby?"

I shake my head.

Weiss walks back down to the water and flicks her wrist so that it skips on the water, one, two, three times.

"Come here. I'll show you."

I stand up and walk over to where Weiss is. She tells me that we first need to find some suitable rocks for throwing.

We spend about five minutes walking around the side of the reservoir looking for as many pebbles as we can carry. I start holding them in the pockets of my uniform jacket until they start overflowing and falling out.

I try to frantically pick the stones up and hear Weiss giggle from a few yards away. Feel that same pang in my chest from earlier, I try to ignore it.

"I think you have enough now, Ruby."

I give her an embarrassed smile and scratch the back of my head as I make my way over. We put the stones we collected in a pile, mine making up the majority, and then we each grab one.

"It's pretty simple, actually." Weiss starts. "You hold the stone between your pointer finger and your thumb, and then you throw with your wrist."

She throws the one she was holding and it skips five times before disappearing beneath the water with a satisfying plop.

"Wow." I say, amazed at how easily she's able to do it.

I grip the rock the way she just showed me, determined to get it right on the first try, but she shakes her head at me before I have a chance to throw it.

"More gentle, here."

She grabs my hand and loosens my grip on the pebble. As her hands guide mine I take notice of how soft they are.

"Like this." She corrects.

I nod my head and twist my arm back the way she'd been doing. I toss the pebble - and as soon as it hits the water - it sinks.

I let out an aggravated sigh and Weiss raises her eyebrows at me.

"You need to flick you wrist more."

After a few more tries, and demonstrations, I finally get one of the pebbles to skip. It only skips once, but for me, it's a great feat.

"Weiss! Did you see that!? It skipped!" I exclaim, jumping up and down excitedly.

Weiss chuckles at my behavior.

"Yes, congratulations."

After she says it, almost immediately, she stops chuckling, looking down at the ground and frowning.

"...I'm sorry, Ruby."

I stop my celebrating and cock my head towards her.

"For what?" I ask, completely bewildered.

Weiss looks uncomfortable and her gazes flits out to the water momentarily.

"You've been so nice to me over the past month or so, and I've been… not so nice."

"What're you talking about, Weiss? You just taught me how to skip a pebble!" I say exclaim happily, until the gravity of the situation hits me, making me kick at the ground with my shoe. "...You came along with me today even though I forced y-"

"No."

Weiss stomps her foot on the ground angrily. I'm taken aback and my eyes widen at the tone of her voice.

"I wanted to come, Ruby. I did. I know I complain a lot, and I'm hard to deal with sometimes, I just… I-I'm not good at having friends." She whispers the last part.

Knowing this, everything seems to make a lot more sense to me, and a smile split across my face that's so big it could've cracked it open.

"You… think of me as a friend?"

"Of course." She says quietly.

I see a blush spreading across her face, making her turn away, embarrassed.

"Aww, Weiss!"

I run over and hug her, picking her up off the ground. I giggle at her failing attempts to escape and angry grunts.

"Put me down right now you dunce."

"Friends hug each other at times like this though!" I laugh as I set her down anyways.

Thunk.

"Owieee!" I grab my forehead.

"You absolutely will not do that again. Let's go back now."

Weiss starts walking back to the bike and I look after her as she goes.

Friends.

The thought sends a flood of happiness coursing through me.