Chapter 1
She can't hear anything but the flopping sound of the bottoms of her shoes on the pavement as she nearly sprints to her next class.
First day of her junior year and she was already running late. Her previous class had run over by roughly ten minutes, and her next class was nearly across campus. Of course it was an uphill battle as well, literally.
As she powers up the final set of stairs, she takes a moment to catch her breath at the top. Her backpack weighs heavily on her shoulders. Science textbooks were always the heaviest. Maybe she needed to reevaluate her field of study.
But she couldn't worry about that now. She was already about three minutes late for class.
Quietly, she opens the door to the classroom and slides her way across the back row, not wanting to bring herself any attention. There was a single spot open towards the far end. Next to a girl that has silvery white hair.
Not wanting to take a seat that someone has already claimed, she leans down into the empty space between the two seats and whispers.
"Is there anyone sitting here?" She gestures towards the empty seat.
"Oh." The girl turns to face her, looking up in her direction. She has bright blue crystalline eyes. But something about them seemed distant, or empty. "You can definitely sit here if you would like."
"Thanks." Blake mumbles as she slides into the seat and leans over, unzipping her backpack to look for her vertebrate zoology text book.
She can't help but notice the girl beside her has a recorder placed on the end of the desk, but isn't taking notes on a laptop or in a notebook. Maybe she just prefers to listen to lectures instead of writing down notes. Wouldn't be that much of a stretch. Still, something was different about her.
After about another hour, with Blake more than occasionally monitoring the behavior of the girl beside her, class ends.
Not having class for another two hours, Blake takes her time packing up. She notices that the girl beside her hasn't really moved. Only having put away her recorder, and listening to something through the headphones that were attached to her phone.
Eventually, the professor makes their way up the steps and over towards the white haired girl. Blake would be lying if she said she weren't eavesdropping. But she was right there, so it wasn't exactly like it was intentional. Just a product of proximity and coincidence. At least that was what she was going to tell herself.
"Miss Schnee, I just wanted to check in. I noticed that your aid has yet to return. Do you need any assistance, or is there anyone we can call?"
"Um." She seems anxious, spinning the phone over and over in her hands.
"Maybe they are running late?"
"I tried to give my aid a call, but they haven't called back yet. I'm not sure where they have gone off to." She leans down, Blake guesses to pull something from her bag.
Blake notices that the girl is feeling around for the bag, not looking down to see where it is at, even though it is right there next to her.
"Here Weiss, let me get it for you." The professor leans down and hands it to this girl, Weiss.
And suddenly Blake realizes. This girl, Weiss, she is blind.
"I- I can help." Blake says it before she can stop herself. "I don't have class for another few hours. If you need some help, I don't mind."
"That's very kind of you.." The professor waits for Blake to introduce herself, seeing as how she's one of maybe fifty or more students in the lecture.
"Blake. My name is Blake Belladonna."
"It's okay. Thank you though. I'm sure my aid will be here shortly."
"Are you sure? I really don't mind. And there's nothing worse than being late to class on the first day. Trust me, I know." The professor looks over at Blake, with a slight look of disapproval, which Blake tries to ignore by focusing on Weiss.
"I don't want to inconvenience you." Weiss confesses, holding tightly to the shoulder strap of her bag.
"It's not. I promise." Blake shrugs. "I don't have anywhere else to be. And if I can help you out, I don't mind at all."
She sees the other girl breathe out a heavy sigh, holding her arms closely to herself.
"As long as you're absolutely certain that I am not imposing on you in any way." Weiss says, her eyes looking down.
"Should we go?" Blake asks, unable to hide the soft look from her face, even though it would go unnoticed.
"Do you, do you mind if I hold onto your arm while we walk?" Weiss voice is quiet, like she is embarrassed to even ask.
"Oh, of course. Sorry I didn't think of that. Careless of me. Let me just get my bag and then we will go." Blake swings her backpack over one shoulder and pulls it from behind over her other shoulder.
When she looks over, Weiss already has an arm stretched out for Blake to take. Slowly, Blake reaches out and hooks her elbow with Weiss' and Blake looks towards the door, pulling slightly on the arm connected to her own.
"Ready to go?"
"Yes." Weiss nods in confirmation.
"If there is anything you need me to do, just tell me. I don't mind." They make their way through the doorway and down the hall towards the exit.
"Maybe if we have to go up or down any stairs, or anything where I would need to step up or down. You know, so I don't fall and drag you down with me." Weiss laughs lightly, and it makes Blake smile.
"I can do that, no problem." They step out the front door of the building and Blake takes a look in every direction. "And where are we off to?"
"My next class is in the psychology building."
"From vertebrate zoology to psychology. Seems like you must enjoy a lot of hard work and studying." Blake teases as she corrects their course towards the psychology building.
"It is actually one of my majors." Weiss nods, confirming.
"One?"
"I am working on my business and psychology degrees. So you were correct in your assumption."
"So why the zoology?"
"I'm taking it as an elective."
"Wow. Truly an overachiever, huh?" Blake chuckles.
"It's more so because it's interesting to me." Weiss shrugs lightly. "I've always been fairly interested in the sciences, but it would've been of less benefit in terms of my future career."
"And what would that be?" Blake instantly realizes that she may be overstepping. She did just meet Weiss less than two hours ago. "You don't have to answer. I don't know why I keep asking so many questions."
With her free hand, Blake rubs the back of her neck, in an attempt to calm her nerves.
"No. It's okay. I don't mind. It's nice to talk with someone that isn't my aid or my family." Even though Weiss doesn't seem bothered by it, what she says makes something pang in Blake's chest. "My family owns a pharmaceutical company. One day, when my father is ready to retire, I will step in to take his place. So studying business and psychology should help prepare me for when the time comes."
"Quite the life you have set out for yourself." Blake nods as they continue walking, noticing a small step up onto a sidewalk. "In about three steps we will need to step up a little bit. I will slow down so you have time to adjust."
"Thank you." Once they arrive at the edge, Weiss hesitantly lifts her foot, brushing the underside of her shoe along the edge of the curb, so she can register the height before setting her foot down to take another step. "And what about yourself? I feel like I'm just rambling on and on."
"It's okay. I don't mind listening to you talk about yourself." She hears Weiss clear her throat before she continues. "I am studying biology, but I am also working on a minor in English. I really just love reading, honestly."
"See? Also an over achiever."
"Not like you though."
"Do you always compliment people you've just met like this? Or are you just being overly sympathetic?"
"What? N-no!"
"So you aren't normally nice?"
"That, that isn't what I meant. I am usually nice." The shock in Blake's voice begins to dissipate when she hears Weiss giggling.
"I was just messing with you." Blake sighs in relief. "Even if you can't see someone, you can tell a lot from the sound of their voice. And you have a warm and sincere voice."
"Well, thank you." It makes a small smirk appear on Blake's face. They slow to a stop at the top of the stairs in front of the building. "We have made it. Did you need anyone to help after this class?"
"Weiss!" An unfamiliar voice breaks into the space between them as a lady runs up to Weiss, and begins apologizing profusely. Blake assumes that it must be Weiss' aid.
Weiss dismisses the apologies saying that they aren't necessary and tells the aid that she can wait for her inside so that they can walk to the lecture room, and the aid walks away, head hanging in shame.
"Sorry."
"For what? You have no need to apologize."
"For the interruption." Weiss gestures in the direction the aid had wandered. "And I should be okay, now that they have arrived. Thank you though."
"I'm more than happy to help." When Weiss slowly pulls her arm free from Blake's, Blake can't help but purse her lips. "And you can ask me any time you need anything."
"Maybe I will take you up on that offer."
Blake can't help but smile as she sees the same warm smile appear on Weiss' face.
"So, would it be okay if I sat next to you for the semester?"
"I think that would be more than okay."
"Well I guess I should probably go so you can not be late, and I don't waste any of your time." Blake begins to turn away from her.
"Would it be okay if I asked for your phone number?" The sudden request makes Blake's heart beat a little faster than normal.
"Yeah. Sure. Definitely." Weiss hands her cellphone to Blake after she unlocks the screen. "Feel free to text me any time."
"I will see you at our next lecture. Well, I mean, not really. But you get what I mean."
When Weiss begins to laugh at her own joke, Blake follows suit.
"I will be there."
"On time?"
"I hope so."
"Goodbye, Blake."
"Have a good rest of your day."
She hears Weiss utter a thank you in return as she turns and walks down the front steps of the building, off towards the library and eventually the English department.
About an hour later, while she is sitting in her Mistrali literature lecture, her phone begins to vibrate in her pocket.
When she looks down to check the message, she sees that it is from Weiss. She thanked her again for helping her this morning and let her know that she is grateful to have someone like her sit beside her in class.
She types out a quick, short response and puts her phone back into her pocket.
Later that night when she unpacks her backpack, Blake looks at her vertebrate zoology text book and can't help but smile.
Something about meeting Weiss had made her feel giddy. Almost like a school kid.
It would be nice to have a friend that wasn't one of her more cut throat biology classmates, or her boisterous and overzealous roommate, Yang. She would just have to see where the semester took her. If anything, she had a new study buddy to spend her time in the library with.