I Think I Like You

Chapter 6: Trapped

Today is unbearably hot, too hot to even just sit here and watch people on their hands and knees drawing with brightly pigmented chalk.

Yep, today is the day of the chalk-walk.

While all the other poor suckers at this school are stuck in classes, I get to sit back, relax, and watch as students recreate their artistic designs with the cheapest material schools could buy.

At least, that's what I thought, until I started sweating so profusely I had to take off my uniform jacket and fan myself with one of the blindingly colorful pamphlets on the table in front of me.

I sit at the sign in table at the front of the school next to Weiss, who is currently having a few students fill out some of the many forms we were given.

That's our job: to sign students in, tell them where they're supposed to draw, approve their design, and send them on their way. It wasn't the most exciting thing that I could've done, but at least I can keep an eye on Weiss this way.

I even get a colorful lanyard to mark me as part of the staff, which said: Ruby Rose, Vice President.

I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me feel super official and a little bit proud to be in charge of something, even if it is just some dinky school event.

I set the pamphlet down and opt instead to continuously pull at the collar of my shirt to help myself cool off. As I listen to Weiss drone on about some of the guidelines to a group of students, I lazily turn my head to the side and look at the other members doing their various acts.

I spot Jaune, jogging back and forth between the supplies table and students, somehow managing to not sweat up a storm. Nora and Ren are organizing the supply table and I've also occasionally been seeing them making trips to the art building to grab certain colors that were running low. Yang wasn't assigned a specific job but she was mostly just walking around, chatting with some of the students, and complimenting their designs.

My sister had told me a few days prior that she didn't want to help with the event at all, since she wasn't assigned a specific job, but it was a chance to skip an entire day of classes and Yang wasn't one to turn down an opportunity like that.

I shield my eyes from the sun and turn my head to the opposite side to see Blake, who's bending down to hand water bottles to a pair of students working on a design.

It hadn't been easy, but I practically begged her to let me switch places with her. At first she seemed annoyed at me for asking and was adamant about keeping our predetermined positions. Turns out, all it took was an offer to do the student council filing for a month - and she gave in.

Blake notices me leaning backwards in my chair and squinting my eyes in her direction; she gives me a quick wave, and I wave back at her. She then points to the water bottle in her hand and tilts her head at me, as though she was asking if I was thirsty.

I vigorously nod my head and point between me and Weiss, who had just finished talking to the students. I hold up two fingers to indicate that I wanted one for Weiss too, and Blake gave me a thumbs up before walking off.

Weiss sits back down in her chair beside me, smoothing her skirt down and fixing her jacket cuffs.

"Weisss," I complain, making her turn her attention towards me. "It's so hottt."

I dramatically drop my head back, so that it's resting on the back of my chair, and start sliding down slowly in my chair until I'm practically sitting on my back. Weiss sighs, setting her elbows onto the table to rest her head in her hands.

"Oh? And what am I supposed to do about that?" Weiss asks, clear disinterest in her voice.

I just make a groaning noise and continue to fan myself with my collar.

"How can you wear a jacket when it's over 90 degrees outside?" I ask.

"It's the proper uniform, Ruby," Weiss glances over at me but doesn't move her head off her hands. "and sit up straight, you need to be setting a good example for the lower classman."

I let out an exasperated groan again, but ultimately figure there's no point in arguing. I scooch myself back up in my seat, so I can continue watching some of the participating students draw, when I hear a quiet giggle from behind me.

"You still sound the same as ever, Weiss."

Both Weiss and I whip our heads around to see where the laugh had come from. There's a girl walking up behind us that I didn't recognize. She has reddish-brown hair with chocolate eyes to match and she was holding two water bottles in her hand.

"Blake told me you could use these." The girl says.

She walks around to the front of the table and sets the waters down in front of us; I immediately grab one and start chugging it.

Weiss gives me a distasteful look before her gaze switched to the girl, whom she gives a polite smile to.

"Velvet! It's great to see you."

"You too Weiss, we haven't really seen much of each other since last year."

I put down the, now empty, water bottle and wipe my mouth off with my sleeve. I look between the two as they chat and grow more confused as to what they're talking about by the second. Weiss notices this out of the corner of her eye and realization dawns over her.

"Oh, Ruby, this is Velvet. She was the secretary of student council last year."

Velvet offers me a shy wave. "Hello, I hear you're the vice president this year. That must be exciting!"

I meekly smile and scratch the back of my head, feeling a slight blush creep up my neck.

"It's nothing, really."

Velvet giggles again and Weiss raises an eyebrow at me.

"Yes, Ruby has been quite helpful this school year… for the most part."

I squint my eyes at her questioningly. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean? I've been plenty helpful so far."

Weiss just rolls her eyes and shakes her head.

"Yep, plenty helpful, like that time you tried to work the copy machine."

I cringe thinking about the incident. I had used a printer before, so I figured a copying machine wouldn't be that different; turns out it's very different. I ended up making about three hundred title pages for a report that was supposed to be ten pages long. I still haven't heard the end of it from Weiss.

"Come on, that was one time."

Weiss scoffs. "Oh, yeah? What about the time when you put the approval stamps on the wrong papers? Or when you dropped the weekly schedules into that puddle?"

"The ground was slippery! It had been raining, like, all day." I counter.

"Slippery or not, you're a klutz Ruby. And don't even get me started on yo-"

She's interrupted by Velvet laughing so hard she has to clutch her stomach to keep herself upright. Weiss and I make confused faces at each other.

"You two sound like some old married couple." She says, once the laughter has subsided enough for her to speak.

Both me and Weiss's eyes widen and I look away from her. I could feel my cheeks heating up and I start feeling a little bashful.

We look like a couple?

"Ah, don't take that the wrong way, I think it's cute." Velvet gives us a smile. "And if it makes you feel any better, Ruby, I think you're doing a great job in the council so far."

To be completely honest, that did make me feel better to hear. I know Weiss doesn't always mean it when she's being harsh on me, but a little positive reinforcement did help every once in a while. I turn my gaze back up to Velvet and grin.

"Thanks."

Velvet nods her head and reaches into her back pocket to grab something.

"Now that we've got introductions out of the way, let me show you what I'm actually here for."

Velvet finds what she's looking for and pulls out a folded piece of paper from her pocket. She carefully unfolds the edges and hands it to Weiss, whose eyes widen.

"This is incredible. I had no idea you were participating today, Velvet."

I figure that it's probably Velvet's design and lean over in my chair to take a look. The design was fairly simple, a heart with yellow stitches going across it in all different directions. Regardless of the simple design, it did have a very aesthetically pleasing look about it.

"It's nothing special really, just a last minute design I thought of."

I shake my head. "No way, this is really cool."

Velvet gives us her thanks and Weiss shows her the guidelines and where to draw, like she did with the other students. We wave at Velvet as she turns around to leave, but as she begins walking away she turns back towards us.

"Oh yeah, are you guys going to Nora's bonfire next weekend?"

Weiss and I both look equally confused.

"She didn't tell you? Well, Nora said her parents were going to be out of town and she wanted to throw a party. You two should come."

"It's so hot though, why a bonfire?" I ask.

"It does still get down into the fifties at night." Weiss says.

Velvet eagerly nods. "I have to go start my drawing now, or it'll never get done. But I hope to see you guys there."

We wave her off again and this time she actually leaves to find her spot on the sidewalk with all the other students. I lean back in my chair and Weiss starts organizing all the different papers on the table. A bonfire sounded fun. Weiss didn't seem like the type for parties, not that I really was either, but maybe I could get her to go with me, since I am her friend and all.

"Hey Weiss, wanna go to th-"

"No."

Well that was fast.

"Why not? It sounds fun."

Weiss stops organizing the papers on the table to glare at me. The glare didn't last very long, as she quickly turned her gaze downwards.

"I've told you before, Ruby, I'm just… not that good with people."

I give her an understanding look. "I know, but… if we went together then I could look out for you!" I say, cheerfully.

Weiss scrunches her eyebrows together and turns to look at me. "I don't need you to look out for me, I'm perfectly capable of handling myself."

I mentally kick myself, but I'm pretty sure I visibly cringe. I think Weiss notices it and she sighs, looking regretful.

"I'm sorry… I know you didn't mean it like that. " She said softly while giving me a warm smile. "I'll think about it."

I tilt my head to the side and grin back at her.

Weiss continued shuffling the forms on the table and making sure they were all in the right order. She went through each different form and made sure to stack it perfectly in place for the next student that happened to come by. Even though they probably wouldn't give a second thought to grabbing a piece of paper, Weiss made sure everything was precise and organized.

I realized that had always been something I admired about Weiss, her ability to make everything she does look presentable and proper.

I don't exactly know when I started looking up to Weiss, and why I can only wish to be the kind of person she is; maybe it was her ability to keep her cool in practically any situation, her indestructible resolve to find the right answer to a problem, or all the times I've seen her stand up during a meeting and immediately everyone goes quiet with respect. Maybe it was all the times we've walked home together, going for a joyride on my bike, or doing something incredibly mundane like talking about homework.

I look at Weiss out of the corner of my eye to watch her as she continues to shuffle through papers.

I watch as she gets an odd look on her face and stares at the table for a few seconds before she turns her head into the crook of her arm and lets out one of the most adorable, high pitched, sneezes I've ever heard.

I giggle and immediately try to smother it by turning my head to the opposite side.

Weiss wasn't fooled and sends a glare my way. This only makes me laugh harder and as I looked back over I see Weiss give a face of defeat, letting out a small chuckle of her own. She sits back in her chair and gives a thoughtful expression before turning to me.

"Ruby, I just want to let you know, I didn't mean anything I said earlier… I think you're a great help in the council."

I stop laughing so hard, but keep a goofy grin on my face.

"Don't worry, I know you didn't mean it. Even though you do so much more than me, Miss President." I wink at her. "I think you're the one here who deserves all the praise!"

Weiss gives me a shy smile and I can see a light blush spreading across her face. She quickly turns her head away from me and coughs. My goofy grin gets bigger at the adorable gesture.

"Aww, you don't need to be so bashful, Weiss."

Weiss gives a hmph and rests her elbows on her knees, so she can use her hands to cover up her reddening cheeks.

"I'm not being bashful."

She's so freakin cute, dammit!

I couldn't help myself, I lean over to wrap my arms around her torso and nuzzle my head into her shoulder. I feel Weiss stiffen, and I look up to see her eyes were so wide they look like they were about to pop out of her head.

"Ruby Rose, you will let me go of me right now."

I just squeezed her tighter and nuzzle my face closer into her shoulder, ignoring her trying to wriggle out of my grasp.

"I can't help it." I say as Weiss uses one of her hands to try and push my face off her shoulder. "You're just so damn cute sometimes, Weiss."

Weiss continues to push my head further away, and with her other free hand she somehow manages to get a grasp on my shoulder and starts shoving it away as well. I just laugh as we play our weird game of tug of war, but this version having much more pushing.

As she manages to get my head far enough back that I can see her face, I notice there's still a very prominent blush on her cheeks and it makes me want to tackle her all over again. However, during our scuffle I was so busy laughing and listening to Weiss's annoyed attempts to get me to let her go, I almost fail to hear someone clearing their throat at the front of the table.

I immediately look up to see Mr. Ozpin, eyebrow raised in a questioning gesture. Weiss takes the opportunity and pushes me off completely before frantically smoothing out her jacket and skirt.

"Mr. Ozpin, it's a pleasure to see you at this event!"

Weiss stands up and shakes his hand. Ozpin chuckles and looks between the two of us.

"Likewise, Weiss. It's nice to see you two are getting along."

I look up and give him a meek smile. However, I can see Weiss's eye twitch at the comment, and I almost burst out laughing again.

"Yes, of course." She says.

Ozpin looks around at all the students on the ground drawing out their designs. Some were with groups of friends chalking up big pictures, while others were by themselves and drawing small, more modest designs.

I spot Yang's over at the water cooler, stacking waters in her hands while chatting with Blake. She must have gone over to help Blake at some point, with the sun beating down harder as it got later in the day there would definitely be more kids needing to stay hydrated.

"I must say, you two have done quite an impressive job."

"Thank you, Mr. Ozpin." I say. "But the other members helped a lot too."

Ozpin looks down at me and gives a smug smile. "I'm especially happy to see you pitching in, Ruby, it seems you've warmed up to your position quite a bit."

I give a nervous chuckle. "Heh, yeah it's not as bad as I thought it'd be."

For a split second I look at Weiss out of the corner of my eye, her posture was flawless and her hands clasped firmly, but comfortably in front of her. I quickly look back at Ozpin, hoping he didn't notice.

"Definitely not as bad."

Ozpin flashes a knowing smile. "Well, that's certainly good to hear. Enjoy your day ladies."

We both wave him off, and once he's far enough away to not hear us Weiss immediately turns to me and flicks my forehead, making me gasp in surprise.

"That's for being an absolute dolt." She says with a scowl on her face that I just couldn't take seriously. "And don't ever touch me in public again."

I laughed and shrug at her, making sure to throw my hands out to the side as I did so. She just flicks my forehead again in disdain and gives a loud sigh before sitting back down.

The rest of the day had gone by pretty fast overall. The sun had been brutal though, and I don't think I've ever drank so much water in one day my entire life.

Once the sun was positioned directly above us in the sky, even Weiss had eventually given in and taken off her jacket due to the unbearable heat.

At one point, earlier on in the day, Jaune had tripped with a big box full of chalk in his hand, making it go everywhere and I'm not going to lie, I found it hysterical. The boy was such a mess that Pyrrah had to go over and help him put everything back in the box.

It almost made me feel better about his revealed feelings for Weiss, there was no way a boy that uncoordinated and dense could get through in any way to her. I also hadn't seen Neptune all day which was a much welcomed bonus.

I had gotten so bored at one point that I started making paper airplanes out of the extra sign in papers and aiming them at Weiss, to see how long until she would notice.

Needless to say, the third one nailed her right in the eye and she immediately told me in a… less proper way, to buzz off.

However, the day had slowed down considerably after lunch had passed, Yang and Blake had taken bumblebee to pick up pizzas for the student council members and we had sat around in a big circle enjoying our meal.

Weiss hadn't seemed all too fond of the food at first, as I noticed her eyeing it strangely multiple times, but she had eaten it without too many complaints.

Around this time most students would be starting the last period of the day, in their nice air-conditioned classrooms. Outside however, almost all of the participants were done drawing their designs and either just lying around or chatting with friends, we did have the entire school day off after all.

That just about brings me to where I am now.

I lie down backwards on a cemented curb near the front of the school as I try to fan myself as best I can with my shirt collar. I have to shield my eyes from the sun as I lazily lift my head up to see Weiss, who was sitting upright next to me typing out some email on her phone.

Bored out of my mind, I just turn to watching the minute hand of the schools clock tower tick by painfully slow. Occasionally a car would drive by the front to pick up a student or walk into the office, kids were also walking by fairly frequently, either on their phones or talking with a friend.

I sit up and slide myself to the edge of the curb so that I'm sitting next to Weiss. She puts her phone down beside her and leans her head into her elbow to cough a few times. I grow concerned, as I'd heard her coughing earlier too, but at that time I thought it to be nothing more than Weiss being embarrassed.

"Are you okay? You don't feel sick, do you?" I ask, concern visible on my face.

Weiss gives me a glare out of the corner of her eye and then rolls her eyes at me.

"Of course I'm-" cough. "-fine."

I scoot closer so that we were about a foot apart and lean my head down to her level, to get a better look at her. That's when I notice how much paler her skin looked than usual, and the drop of sweat that was forming on her brow.

"Weiss." I say, with worry even more evident in my tone.

She just buries her head into her knees and starts shivering slightly making my eyes widen; there's no way someone can shiver when it's this hot outside. It's when I hear how ragged her breath sounds and how she starts rocking on the heels of her shoes that I realize what must be happening.

I quickly dart my head around to see if anyone was near us but, of course, there are people everywhere. On the bright side, no one seems to be paying much attention to us, and from far away Weiss's rocking probably wasn't so apparent. Not for long anyways.

I scooch close enough over to her that our shoulders are touching and casually lean down to whisper in her ear.

"Are you having an attack? What do you need me to do?"

Her head was buried in her knees and she wraps her arms even tighter around her legs. When she hears my voice I can see her grimace and grind her teeth together as she turns her head to the side to face me.

"M-my bag…"

I nod and turn my head around, about to get up, when I realize I have no idea where her bag is.

"Where is it, Weiss?"

Her eyes are still squeezed shut and I can tell her rocking was getting more feverish, yet not to noticeable. She keeps taking in ragged breaths that almost made it sound like she's in physical pain.

"T- table." she stammers out.

I give her a nod and squeeze her shoulders with one of my hands.

"I'll be right back Weiss. You're gonna be okay."

"Hurry…"

I bolt up, about to sprint over to the table, before I realize I didn't want to make it appear that something was wrong. I opt for a fast jog until I reach the sign-in table on the other side of the courtyard. I'm sure that up close I look like a sweaty, worrying, mess but there are more important matters to focus on at the moment.

As I get close to the table I spot the shiny white bag under the back of it. I practically dive for it before grabbing it by one of its straps, almost tripping myself as I turn back around.

I jog back over until I see Weiss hunched over the edge of the curb. She doesn't look to alarmingly out of the ordinary to someone who didn't know what was happening, but to me the sight made my heart ache for the poor girl.

To see Weiss looking so small and vulnerable just makes me want to be close to her, hug her, and tell her everything's going to be okay.

I quickly drop down next to her and put the bag onto the ground beside me. I slide close enough until our shoulders are touching, and lean protectively close to her as I hand her the backpack. Weiss shifts her gaze up to it but just grits her teeth together and focuses her eyes back into her knee embrace again.

I feel a surge of unexpected anger rush through me as I rip the bag open and dig through it myself. When I find the bottle I'm looking for, I keep my hands inside the bag and unscrew the lid as I take a pill out.

"Weiss, you need to take this."

Weiss just continued to subtly rock herself and turns her face away from me. It seems like she doesn't want to take it, and I don't want to force her, but when someone walks by and I feel her noticeably stiffen, while also letting out a small whimper, I don't know what else to do.

I grab one of her hands that was wrapped around her legs and quickly shove the pill into it.

Weiss lifts her head up enough, so that it isn't resting on her knees, and looks at the small capsule.

I see the way she eyes it - looking at it as though it was some sort of poison.

I gently reach around and grab the back of her hand with my own, bringing it up to her mouth. She seems to stop resisting and I see a drop of sweat fall off her forehead as she covertly puts her hand to her mouth, and swallows the pill.

Nothing seems to happen immediately. If I think back to the other time this happened, almost a month ago, I remember it being a few minutes before it seemed to take its effect. I end up just sitting there, hopefully comforting Weiss, until she seemed to stop rocking so much and color starts returning to her face.

Eventually, I see her head look fully up and her posture return to normal. I give an audible sigh of relief and run a hand through my hair, pushing it out of my face.

Weiss looks over at me and we lock eyes. I can see her blue irises showing an unreadable intensity. This only lasts a few seconds, however, until she gives a huff of air and turns her head so that she's facing forward.

"I would say that I hate this, but I'm pretty sure you know that already." She says.

I nod my head but give her a concerned look.

"I'm just glad you're okay, and that no one was able to figure out what was happening, but Weiss," I wait until she turns towards me. "you need to tell me if you feel something like that is gonna happen."

Weiss stays silent for a moment, and for a second it looks like she's about to cry, but just as soon as the expression appeared, it's replaced with a bitter frown.

"Relying on that damn medicine is even worse compared to actually having an attack sometimes."

I hardly hear Weiss swear, which is how you know she's just plain pissed at that point.

"But you get through it." I say, trying to plead her into calming down. "I'll help you get through it."

Weiss slams one of her balled up fists into the cement, and I quickly look around to see if the action had called anybody's attention. Thankfully, it looks like we're in the clear. As I turn back to gape at her she's already looking over at me with a scowl on her face.

"You don't get it, Ruby. Knowing that at any moment during the day I might have to leave a room, or run back home to take some worthless pill to calm myself down makes me feel so trapped. I can't help thinking if this hindrance will last the rest of my life."

I dejectedly hold her gaze, but can't bring myself to say anything. Giving a sigh, Weiss looks back towards the clock tower to read the time.

"We should go and start helping clean up. Come on, Ruby."

Weiss grabs her backpack, and much forgotten phone that was sitting on the ground next to her, and stands up. She smooths out her skirt, making sure to get all the creases out from curling up on herself earlier, and starts walking away.

I watch her as she goes and I can't help but feeling a mixture of anger and sadness wash over me.

Weiss didn't deserve this, hell, no one does, but that doesn't make it any more fair.

Thinking that Weiss might have to deal with this for the rest of her life, makes my stomach clench with sorrow for her. I want to help her, but she clearly stated that I don't understand - which isn't exactly wrong - but I want to try.

I made her a promise after all.