Chapter Three: Glitz and Glam


"So… who was that?" Penny asked matching Ruby's stride carefully. "She was really pretty!" she added rather suddenly making Ruby stumble forward in surprise. But thankfully Penny's quick reflexes saved her, though her grip was a little too tight for the painter's liking. "Be careful, Ruby!"

"Uh, thanks…" Ruby responded bashfully rubbing the back of neck.

After she steadied herself Ruby dared a sideways glance over to Penny, hopelessly praying that other girl's curiosity was forgotten. Weiss wasn't exactly a secret. Everyone knew Ruby lost the competition to someone extraordinary, she just preferred to keep Weiss' identity to herself. Like a precious memory that slowly changed after each fervent retelling, Ruby wanted to keep the image of Weiss' graceful victory just the way it was. It didn't matter how imaginative a person could be. Because simply picturing Weiss bathed in the soft, dim light of the stage with her white dress sparkling like snow would do the ethereal snow angel a gross injustice. She needed to be seen in person to fully believe that beauty could in fact be summarized in a word, a name—Weiss. But Penny was a resilient girl who hardly ever gave up, so to avoid a whole mess of trouble Ruby reluctantly answered.

"You remember that art thing I went to, like, a year ago?" she asked, her whole face heating up faster than a cracked egg on the sizzling tarmac.

Penny kept a firm grip on Ruby's arm and shoulders, concern clear across her youthful face. "I do recall, yes."

"Well," Ruby said sucking in a mouthful of air, "that was the winner."

"Oh, wow!"

"'Wow' indeed," Ruby grinned. "She's really something else… I mean, who gives a complete stranger their hard earned prize money?"

"I'd give it to you," Penny cut in cheerily.

"Thanks, Pen. But you're my best friend, we're sort of contractually obligated to be there for each other."

"So she and you aren't friends?" Penny asked, her shimmering eyes practically begging Ruby for a clear cut answer.

Ruby had never seen her friend act so… interested in her personal affairs before. It was rather off-putting if Ruby could be honest. She slipped her arm out of Penny death grip and promptly used it to rub the small of her back, still aching rather painfully from the surprise vehicular love tap. Ruby was going to need a good long soak in the tub when this day was through.

"Ruby?" Penny called curiously.

"Oh! Uh…"

It was a simple decision, Ruby realised. Weiss herself wasn't a secret she wanted to keep from Penny if her suspicions about the young girl were correct. If anything she wanted to scream it from the highest mountain or have it written in the sky in big, bold letters that she was in love with Weiss Schnee. It was just difficult to openly admit it after everything that happened with Jaune.

Ruby had also never directly spoken to anyone other than Yang and Blake about her not-so-timid attraction to Weiss. Her other friends weren't involved in her personal life to avoid conflict, but Penny was different. She had been there for Ruby unconditionally without question. When Penny heard about the break up, she didn't take it well. Yang had to physically restrain the ginger haired teen when she tried to leave with a rolled up newspaper. Penny was so livid she swore to teach Jaune a lesson if she ever saw his face again. So if anyone deserved a peek into Ruby's secret affairs it would have to be Penny. Out of everyone Ruby knew, minus Yang and Blake, it was only Penny who time and time again had proven herself to be the loyalist of friends.

"Um…?"

"No, not exactly. We only spoke for like a minute or two, but I haven't been able to get her out of my head."

"Well," Penny shrugged, with an undiscernible expression on her face, "she did give you 35k."

"I know that! But even if she hadn't—look, I was prepared to leave that competition empty handed. I never expected her to give me anything, because getting to meet her was worth more to me than you'll ever know." Ruby placed a hand over her chest to placate the ever burning ache in her heart that yearned for Weiss. "I've thought about her day and night ever since. So I might sort of, kind of, oh I don't know... Maybe be in love with her."

Ruby braced for the worst possible outcome and readied her finest battalion of excuses in case she needed to backpedal out of Nopeville ASAP. It was hard to discern whether or not Penny was taking the news well. Penny's expression hadn't changed from having her head tilted slightly to the right in question, and it sure wasn't giving away any hints as to what she was truly thinking.

"Though I'd be totally okay with just being her friend if that's all she wants," Ruby added in quickly to save face.

"That's a lie," Penny deadpanned.

"Yeah… yeah, it was."

The initial shock wore off and now Penny kept a thoughtful expression on her face as she timidly smiled at Ruby. "I think you should go for it!" she said with a firm nod. "Ruby, you are so wonderful and amazing. My only worry is that you'll get hurt again. I don't know this girl but if you feel that strongly about her, then she is probably worth taking that risk. I mean, you've always had a good sense of judgement."

"Thank you so much, Penny…" Ruby murmured, relief washing over her. "You have no idea how much that means to me."

"It's no problem, friend!" Penny exclaimed rather cheerfully. "So when are you seeing her next?"

"Um," Ruby rubbed her palms together suddenly hyper aware of how clammy they were. "I don't know. I left her my number so I'll just have to wait and see."

"That's not good enough, Ruby!" Penny shouted as she marched past Ruby and stood her ground, blocking the artist from taking another step.

Ruby looked at her freckle faced friend with a quirked eyebrow wondering why she was being so adamant. "Well, what do you suggest I do then?"

"You need to go back in there and talk to the girl you've been waiting for!"

"But I just left."

"So?" Penny crossed her arms. "The Ruby I know and love would run back in there."

"There's a process to these things," Ruby said with a slight mocking chuckle.

"No there isn't!"

"Uh, yes there is. You don't just go back after give them your number, you'd look desperate. You gotta wait." Penny's friendly green eyes narrowed at her, showing off an emotion Ruby hardly ever saw the girl display. Anger. "It's okay, really. Plus, Weiss doesn't look like the type of girl to break a promise or lie about liking someone."

"You don't know that."

"Yeah, you're right. I don't." Ruby frowned. "Which is why I'm waiting until she calls me. Look, I don't expect a kid like you to understand what it's like."

The words slipped out before Ruby could properly articulate her thoughts. The devastated look on Penny's face said everything and more. It was a disaster. Like an offshore oil rig that sprung a leak, Ruby saw the inky black substance polluting their friendship and there was nothing she could do to stop it. The once crystal clear waters between them was now a dead sea.

"Penny, I didn't mean that…"

"No, you did. You knew exactly what you were saying." Tears were freely rolling down Penny's rosy cheeks now in a steady stream. "You do realize that I'm only four years younger than you, right?"

"Penny, please. I—"

"What makes you so much more of an adult than me? Is it because you have a car, or lived on your own?"

"No! Nothing like that! I only meant that you haven't really dated anyone before."

"It's not like I haven't had the opportunity." Penny puffed out her cheeks and looked away to the side blushing rather cutely. "I've been asked out before. I just never said yes because…" she said mumbling the rest quietly.

"What was that?"

"… you never asked me."

"Ask you what? About your love life?" Ruby couldn't stop herself from chuckling slightly at the notion. She was playing dumb to try and skirt past this awkward conversation and preserve their purely platonic relationship. "Sorry, Penny, I never knew you were that interested in love stuff. We can still talk about cute boys and stuff if you want."

"Ruby, how dense can you be?"

"What?" Ruby felt a tick in her left eye coming along. Why couldn't Penny see that some things are better left unsaid?

"I literally just said I loved you five minutes ago!" Penny screamed angrily in frustration. "I've been saying it for how many years now? I don't even know anymore."

"But I thought you meant it in the friend way…"

Penny reigned her voice in and wiped away her tears. "Of course I meant it in the friend way… I never wanted to be anything more than that."

Ruby could see now that Penny was beyond the point of no return. She had made her feelings perfectly clear, leaving no room for interpretation or misunderstanding. Ruby knew she had to confront Penny with an equal amount of honesty, otherwise it wouldn't have been fair to the girl who clearly cherished her so much.

"Then why? Why did you never say anything to me directly?" Ruby asked swallowing her prise as she tried to take a step closer to Penny, but the girl reluctantly shook her head and kept her distance. "You of all people know how dumb I can be."

"Because I thought you were straight. We all thought you were," Penny answered in a defeated tone. "I was happy just being next to you. So when you and Jaune broke up, I decided to step up and maybe take his place… as the person closest you. But then you came out and I thought I finally saw my chance.

"Do you remember that day I called you over to the park? You complimented my new dress and said you liked what I did with my hair. I spent hours trying to find something nice to wear, and my dad even gave me some money to go to a hair salon. I was so ready to tell you... I tried to broach the subject by asking if there was any one you liked. Do you remember what you said to me?"

Ruby gulped but her mouth and throat were drier than a Vacuo desert. Unable to speak, Ruby nodded meekly in response.

"You wanted some time to find yourself before dating again…" Penny wrapped her arms around herself, her shoulders shuddering as she took in a deep, soothing breath. "Why didn't you just say you found someone instead of lying like you did?"

"I really wasn't ready to…" Ruby said stringing together her first coherent thought in the past few minutes. "I only told Yang and Blake about Weiss because they were there that day. I was worried if I told anyone else they'd say I was crazy for crushing over a stranger."

"'They' includes me, huh?"

Ruby nodded her head again feeling ashamed. "I knew how crazy it was, believe me. I thought I'd never see her again since the only thing I knew about her was her name and that she lived in Atlas. I don't even know how old she is!"

"So why couldn't you have just told me all this?" Penny asked feeling deeply hurt and betrayed. "Was I not a good enough friend to you? Was there something I did wrong? Why couldn't you just trust me?"

"No, no! It isn't like that at all!"

"Then explain it to me, please."

A crowd was beginning to form around them. Penny either didn't notice or care, but Ruby sure did.

"Can we talk about this somewhere else?"

"What? Why?"

"Um…" Ruby looked all around them guiding Penny's furious eyes to the strangers glancing at them when they passed. "Y'see?"

"All I see in front of me is jerk who's embarrassed to be seen with a kid throwing a tantrum!"

"No, standing here is embarrassing. Can we please just get to the car for you to finish yelling at me?"

Penny hardened her gaze and said, "No. I'm not going with you. You hurt me, Ruby. You hurt me."

"I'm sorry…"

"Sorry isn't good enough right now," Penny continued without pause. "I'm going home. You can do whatever it is adults do in their spare time. Alone."

"Pen—"

"And for what it's worth, Ruby, I really hope things work out for you and whatever her name is. She's… really pretty."

"Penny…" Ruby called out weakly but the girl walking away from her didn't look back.