Unspoken Love

Chapter 6

A True Best Friend

Another day came around and Penny was walking down the stairs when she saw Ruby all alone. She was wondering what was up since today was usually a day where she had to work in the library. Ruby told her that her days were changed. They grabbed their things and headed out. As they walked through the halls, they came across someone particular. They stopped dead in their tracks and stared at her. It was Nora. Penny didn't really know who it was, but Ruby was speechless. She didn't know what to say.

"I… I think I forgot something. I gotta go." She turned around and ran off. Penny tried to stop her, but she was too far away to catch up. Meanwhile, Nora was confused. Why did Ruby behave in such a manner?

…

The next day, all five of them were enjoying lunch together. They were all pretty happy, except for Ruby. She was completely silent and kept her head down. Weiss noticed her interesting behavior and could automatically tell what she was thinking about.

"Hey Ruby, you know that girl we saw yesterday?" She didn't respond.

"What are you talking about Penny?"

"Oh, you know that upperclassman she works with in the library? Well, we saw her yesterday. She was gonna tell Ruby something, but she ended up running off. Anyway, she wanted to meet with her after school today to see if they could resolve their little conflict going on." Ruby still didn't respond. She kept quiet and continued to eat her food. On the other hand, Weiss was running rampant in her mind.

Ugh! That girl! What nerve she has to think that Ruby did anything wrong. Why would she even want to make up with her? She's not worth it. Ruby, you better not be thinking about making up with this girl. She put you in a pit of despair, but now she wants to make things better. How selfish can you be?

"You had a crush on her, didn't you? This is your perfect chance. Ruby?" Finally, Ruby retracted herself from her lunch and responded with a simple nod. Weiss was watching her this entire time and saw that she was troubled, not just about what Penny was talking about.

After they finished up their lunch, they put the chairs back in order and everyone went their separate ways. Before they all disappeared, Cinder came up from behind Weiss.

"Hey, so this girl you guys were talking about… Who is she?"

"This doesn't concern you. You don't need to know."

"I'm your friend, aren't I?" Weiss sighed.

"Yeah. Fine, I'll show you." She guided Cinder and Neo to the second floor to where Nora's class was. The door was already open so they peeked into the classroom and Weiss pointed them out to who she was. Cinder and Neo saw a small-looking girl with red hair. From a distance, she looked kind of cute, but Cinder didn't have much of an opinion. "Yeah, Ruby likes cute girls. I guess there's a reason why she's thinking about her so much." Cinder sharpened her eyes and examined the girl. Out of nowhere, she dropped a couple of papers and tried to pick them, but as she did, she ended up falling out of her chair.

"Hmm, seems more like a clutz to me." Weiss and Neo peeked into the classroom and saw her rubbing her head from the fall.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Out of nowhere, Cinder shouted out loud and pointed at Weiss.

"It's time for your special training session!"

"Eh?! What are you talking about?" Cinder grabbed her hand and pulled her through the halls and up the stairs. "Wait! Where are you taking me?"

"To the roof. We're gonna start some training. It's pretty hard to make a clutz into a non-clutz, but it's easy to make a non-clutz into a clutz so that's what we're gonna do." Weiss was confused. She didn't get her logic, but didn't fight back.

When they got to the roof, she let go of Weiss' hand and threw a banana peel on the ground. Weiss looked at Cinder and then at the peel. Does she really expect me to look like a goofball in front of all of these people?

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

"Are you kidding me? I'm not doing this."

"Do you want an example? Neo, do you mind?"

"Of course not." Neo straightened out her clothes and started to walk forward. Out of nowhere, she tripped and fell flat on her face, completely avoiding the banana peel. Weiss was completely in shock. It was incredible how she could make it look so believable. Even Cinder was confused on if that was for real or not.

When Neo returned to her feet, everyone slowly started to crowd them. Now, Cinder was insisting that Weiss trip on the banana peel. However, she couldn't make herself to do this, especially now that everyone was watching.

The crowd started to chant Weiss' name, insisting that she trip over the banana peel. Weiss couldn't take it anymore. She was getting tired of this stupid act. She stepped right in front of the peel and looked down. The crowd was getting pumped for it seemed that Weiss was actually going to do it. She lifted her leg and the crowd grew silent. Her foot raced towards the ground until it finally made contact, completely avoiding the banana peel.

"Aaawwwww!" The crowd quickly dispersed from the scene as the lunch bell rang, telling everyone to make their way back to class. Before they left the roof, Weiss gave Cinder a piece of her mind about the whole banana peel scene. After that, the three of them returned to class and stuck through another long day of school.

When school was finally over, Cinder, Neo, and Penny headed home. Weiss stood up and packed her things when Ruby came out of nowhere and stood in front of her.

"Hi Weiss, um, do you mind if I come over to your house today?" Weiss was surprised. It's been so long since Ruby wanted to come over to her house. When she asked this question, only one other thing came to mind: Does this mean she's choosing me over her? With their things all packed up, they left the school and started to walk home.

As they did, Weiss noticed that Ruby was still acting strange. Her head was down, not willing to even look once. What could I do? I don't like seeing her this way. Should I try it? She pondered that thought until she finally decided to do it. She took a deep breath and tried her very best to make it look like she tripped over nothing. Unfortunately, Ruby didn't care. She continued to look down with such a depressed look.

"It's all my fault, I guess."

Recovering from her trip, "Are you still thinking about her?"

"Yeah, but it's alright. I know I shouldn't have done what I did, but I've gotten over now." Ruby gave her a smile, but Weiss knew that she wasn't being completely honest. Something about that smile wasn't honest enough to make Weiss believe she was telling the truth.

When they got to Weiss' house, they immediately headed to her room. Since it's been so long, Ruby let herself wander the room in search of something new, but the only thing that attracted her eyes was the picture of her and Weiss together.

"Hey, you also have this picture?"

"Of course. You're the one who gave it to me."

"Oh yeah. And you framed it too. I think I should do that. It looks really nice." Ruby continued to examine the picture until she said something almost shocking. "Hmm, did you gain weight?" Weiss was stabbed through the heart. What kind of question was that? "Haha, I'm just joking. Sorry."

"Haha, it's okay. Just a joke." Weiss tried to brush it away but couldn't help but think that she was right. She's been slacking off when it comes to martial arts and archery training. "Hey Weiss, do you mind if I spend the night tonight?" These requests were coming left and right. Weiss could barely keep up, but she quickly agreed. As the two of them laughed off that little joke, Weiss' caretaker knocked on the door and opened it up.

"Hello Ruby, it's so nice to see you again. What would you like to eat?"

"Oh, um, anything that Weiss likes," she said with a smile.

"Alright, are you staying the night?"

"Yeah, sorry for the intrusion."

"Oh, don't worry about it. It's nice having guests over. Weiss never brings anyone home anymore so it gets kind of lonely sometimes."

"Hey, it's not my fault!" Everyone but Weiss laughed as her caretaker left the room to prepare dinner.

A couple of hours went by and dinner was ready. They headed downstairs and saw that some of the guys from the martial arts school were there as well. They greeted Weiss with such fashion and she just gave them a simple wave hello. All the guys at the school idolized her since she was the best fighter there, but ever since she stopped going, they've been wanting her back. Everyone sat down and started to eat.

As they were eating, Ruby was pleased with the food. It's been so long since she's been at Weiss' house that she nearly forgot about how good the food was there so she was eating more than usual. On the other hand, Weiss restraining herself from eating her normal amount. Her bowl was less than half of what she usually eats and her guy friends took notice.

"Hey Weiss, something wrong? Usually you're bowl is filled way passed the brim."

"Yeah, you holding back or what?"

"Is that true Weiss?" Weiss was embarrassed. She knew she couldn't hide anything when these guys were in her home. She finished her food as quickly as she could and stood up from the table.

"Thank you for the meal."

"Ah, come on Weiss. You sure you don't want more?"

"Or, you could train with us?" She left the table and returned to her room where Ruby came back a few seconds after her.

"Gosh, your home is so lively. I love that. At my house, it's just me and my sister so it can get kind of lonely."

"Trust me, all of this ruckus isn't something to be too proud of." The both of them started to get dressed for bed. Meanwhile, her caretaker laid out another futon for Ruby to sleep on. Weiss laid out another blanket and pillow for her. Ruby got on the futon and Weiss turned off the light. The two of them slipped into bed and continued to look at the ceiling.

"I'm really stupid." Weiss looked over at Ruby who was looking at the ceiling. "Even if I avoid here now, Nora will still exist. I really liked her so why am I trying so hard to think that that feeling never happened? It does seem kind of cruel, doesn't it?" Weiss turned over onto her back.

"It's not your fault. Love is something you can't control. It just happens. If anything ever happens to you or someone talks bad about you because of this, I'll beat them up. I promise."

"Haha, I had a feeling you might say that. Thank you. That makes me feel better." Weiss gripped her blankets and continued to look the ceiling. On the other hand, Ruby was on her side, staring at Weiss. "Hey, Weiss?" It took her a few seconds to finally acknowledge. She turned on her side and saw that she was looking right at her. "I love you." Weiss's face turned bright red, but in the lighting of the night, no one could tell. Ruby turned onto her back. "It's so nice to have best friend that I can trust and believe in. Good night Weiss."

When they next morning came around, they got ready and headed off to school. When they reached the campus, Ruby saw Nora standing by herself and ran up to her.

"Nora, I'm so sorry for standing you up yesterday. I was being immature. I'm sorry, but I really do like you. What about you? Do you like me? Do you dislike me?" Ruby was turning this into an interrogation. Nora didn't know how to answer. She was too flustered to give her an answer. Meanwhile, Weiss was watching the whole thing with a blank face and her jaw on the ground. She couldn't believe this was happening. As this was happening, Penny passed by her.

"Hey, it looks like those two finally made up." Then Cinder walked by.

"You're too slow Weiss." Finally, Neo slipped by her.

"It seems that you just gave her a confidence boost." These comments didn't make her feel any better. It seemed as if all that stuff that happened the day before meant nothing to her. She sighed and walked right by them, completely ignoring Ruby. However, she was just glad that Ruby was happy and out of her little slump.

End of Chapter 6