Hearts Disguised

Chapter 6

A True Friend

Yang's first night there wasn't so great. She tossed and turned for most of the night and when morning came around, it was almost impossible to get out of bed. Her mind felt like it went through a marathon and her body felt like Jell-O. But somehow, she managed to get out of bed and head out for school.

On her way there, she tried to keep an optimistic mind. She was hoping to see Ruby before she headed off to her school. She went down the same route she usually took, but when she got to the bridge, she wasn't there. She looked around, but couldn't find her. Then, she saw a piece of paper taped to the bridge. It was Ruby's handwriting so she ripped it off and read it.

Dear Yang,

I really wanted to see you again, but something horrible happened. Uncle Qrow and I were forced to move out of town. I thought I could see you when we split up to go to our schools, but that didn't happen. I just wanted to say that I love you so much. You'll always be my big sister and I hope to see you soon.

Love your little rose,

Ruby3

A tear dropped onto the note as Yang crumpled the paper in her hands. She couldn't believe what was happening. Everything was being taken away from her. She didn't do anything wrong, yet she was being punished. How was this possible? She looked at the paper again and only looked at one thing: Ruby's name.

Ruby… please don't leave me. She couldn't take it anymore. School was not the place she wanted to be at the time so she tried to run back to the orphanage. She kept her head down so no one could see her tears, but before she got too far, she ran into someone and was sent back onto her butt. When she looked up, she was surprised to see Coco.

"Hey Yang, what's going on…" She caught a glimpse of Yang's tears before she turned away in shame. "Hey, what's wrong?" She knelt down in front of her. Suddenly, Yang jumped into her arms and started to cry. Coco was a little surprised by this behavior, but quickly let it go. She wrapped her arms around Yang and tried to calm her down.

"Alright, sshhh. It's alright." Coco picked her up in her arms and carried her to school. However, she carried her to their normal lunch room where she set her down on her normal chair. She then pulled up another chair and sat in front of her. "Just let it out. It's alright." Yang did not hesitate. Her tears continued to fall like rain. Just like last time, Coco stayed there with her until she calmed down. However, this time, Yang mustered up the courage to talk about her troubles.

"Coco, could you hear me out for a few minutes?"

"Of course, that's what I'm here for. What's up?" She took a deep breath before speaking up.

"My parents were recently killed and now I'm forced to live on my own in some orphanage." Yang waited for a response, but there was none. Coco was too in shock to respond to something like that. It's not like people encounter things like this on a normal day basis.

"Oh my God, I'm sorry to hear that. My deepest condolences. I bet they were wonderful people."

"They were," she said as her head dropped to the floor. "They were the best parents any kid could ever ask for." Coco looked at her again and saw tears start to form up again. She had to do something. She grabbed her and brought her into her body.

"It's alright Yang. Everybody goes through things like this. It's just our job to see what kind of person we're shaped into after everything's over."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there's this thing called adversity. Everyone experiences it and it pushed us to be either the best person we could be or someone who doesn't care. I think you can turn this situation into a way of becoming a better, stronger person than you were before."

"But how?" She gently brought her off of her body.

"That's the hardest part. You have to find that out for yourself." Out of nowhere, a smile appeared on Yang's face which made Coco feel a lot better. She wasn't much help last time, but she managed to be of some help this time.

"Thank you, Coco."

"For what?"

"For being so nice to me. I always thought that upperclassmen were jerks to freshmen like me."

"Pssh! That's just a rumor. As long as you don't act like idiot, there's no reason for us to be mean to you." Yang started to laugh. Again, she felt like a weight was lifted off of her as she felt Yang slowly started to leave her troubles behind. "Hey, I've got an idea. I'd feel really bad about making you go back to that orphanage after this so how about you spend the night at my house?" All of a sudden, Yang's face lit up.

"Really?"

"Of course. I think it'll really help you calm down a bit."

"Okay. Where do you live?"

"Oh, I was thinking that you take me to the orphanage so things would be easier on both of us."

"Okay, then I'll meet you here after school."

"Sounds good." The two of the stood up right as the bell to the third period rang.

Just outside, Blake was passing by on her way to the third period when she saw Yang walking out of the building with Coco. Her arm was around Yang as they both had smiles on their faces. Out of nowhere, Blake crumpled up the piece of paper that was in her hand as she watched the two of them walk off together. Immediately after they left, she loosened her grip in question. Why do I feel like this? I don't even know her all that well. And who is that girl that's always with her? Why can't that be me? Suddenly, she stopped her train of thought. Forget about it. None of this means anything. She sighed and looked down, totally forgetting that that was her homework she had crumpled up in her hands.

…

Once school was over, Coco met up with Yang and the two of them headed back to Yang's place. When they got there, she quickly ran to her room and retrieved her things. It only took her a few minutes to come back with all of her things ready. Before they left, Cathy came in and asked Yang where she was going. She told her that she was spending the night at Coco's house. After that, Coco had to sign some papers saying that she would be the one to personally take her home and bring her back. When that was over, she handed Yang over to Coco and the two of them went back to Coco's house.

When they arrived at Coco's house, they stopped before stepping too close to the front door. Coco peered her ears towards the door and could hear her father inside. Instead of walking through the front door, she guided Yang to the side of her house where they climbed it up to her room. When they got inside of the house, Yang couldn't help but ask her what was going on.

"So what was that all about?"

"I'm sorry Yang. My father doesn't like kids so seeing you here wouldn't make things too good for you." Yang gulped.

"Then why'd you bring me here?"

"Because I wanted to help you feel better." Her fear turned to hope in that instant. Coco really was trying to be a nice person to her and she couldn't help but smile.

"Hey Coco, I heard you climb in through your window! Get your ass down here!"

"Um, I need to go, but I'll be right back. Are you hungry or anything? I'll bring you something if you want?"

"Just some water. That would be great."

"Alright. Just hang around, but try not to make too much noise. I'll be back." She quickly left her room.

"Coco, where the hell are you?!"

"I'm right here, you fat ass! What did you want?"

It was a little hard to block out the sounds of the arguing since the both of them were so loud. Yang was actually a little surprised that Coco had this kind of side to her. She thought that she was just a normal girl, but apparently, she had a really aggressive side. Once the sounds of their arguing were put to the back of her head, she decided to explore her room. To no surprise, she had a guitar and bass that both hooked up to an amp. On the walls were posters of Jeff and Casey Williams. Yang didn't know about them too much, but she did know that they were an impressive duo. Other than those things, there wasn't much else in her room. It was a decent sized room so she didn't feel cramped, but she did feel a little awkward being in a place where the father was so neglecting.

After a about an hour or so, Coco came back into her room with a glass of water. She immediately apologized to Yang for not being a good host, but Yang told her not to worry about it. However, she did have something to ask her. She walked up to her and looked her in the eye.

"Would you ever consider having a younger sister?"

End of Chapter 6