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(Rosé PoV)

I lounged in the library with my team. We had exams coming up. Our first round of them and we could all use the time to learn things.

"Did you get problem 'c?'" Pine asked me.

"It's theorem 1.5.4 in the textbook," Yuma cut in before I could answer. She looked positively bored and struggling to cope. She'd never really attended a school before this one from what I could gather and the mindset was hard to pick up very quickly. Beacon was certainly rigorous and it took some effort from even the smartest book learned people like Fox.

I thought she was doing well considering where she started. She had to work extra hard and I knew that she was stressed about most of her classes beyond a healthy threshold. I wasn't sure how to help her cope either. I was barely keeping up with the classes myself and I didn't have any advice beyond 'spend more time studying' and Yuma already spent plenty. She could really use a break. There would be a few days off after midterm and the dance.

The dance…

I'd hoped to invite Cloud to dance with me again while I was wearing some pretty little number. But that had been blown out of the water along with so many other little plans. And some big plans as well, granted.

He was involved. With two girls. He was poly. Maybe demi and maybe straight. I had had a few days to cool off my searing temper but I was still boiling beneath the surface waters. He just had never told me and then I'd gone on dreaming. He probably wasn't about to leave two girls for me. He had more history with them than even I had with him. The outlook was bleak and my heart was broken a little. Another woman had already laid claim to my prize and I had become besotted with someone beyond my reach. It had probably been too much to hope for from the very start. I mean, my life wasn't a romance novel. He had never been about to whisk me away with him.

I had late night fantasies about the man that were far too inappropriate to ever share in detail. Now that was all crushed. Gone. I had been wasting my time. Under my anger was a deep sad well of depression. I clung a little to my anger rather than be dragged down into those melancholy waters. Anger kept me sharp and focused. It was easier to blame him and be angry than feel that deep hurt. I had loved and lost and I was paying the price.

I knew Peach had been miffed when she heard the news as well.

"Does he have a ring on his finger?" She had asked.

"Well, no, but they're together." I had told her. I thought of how he kissed her in the atrium and chased after her like she made his world go 'round.

"Then this isn't over. I'm not going to give up so easily." She shot back with a little fire.

I wish that I could feel some fire. Instead I just felt soggy on the inside. Like wet tissue paper. And the wrong thing at the wrong time causing the right torsion would tear me. I wanted to cry but that would be too undignified. As a princess it was never my place to break down. But I was heartbroken. I wanted to curl up somewhere cold and just lay still for an indeterminate amount of time. I just wanted to stop feeling so fragile.

Cloud had been a heartthrob. I'd gotten my heartthrobbed. Peach had too even if she didn't show it. Suddenly Weiss Schnee had shown up and stolen the blue ribbon. I couldn't fault her taste. And the fact she was beautiful and probably talented and smart was just rubbing it in. And on top of that there was another girl I had to compete with who was probably equally amazing or, dare I dread it, even more so. And I would have to outdo them both? One was already too much. Two was just insurmountable entirely. That wasn't fair. I deserved an opportunity. I deserved a little hope. I couldn't help but be jealous of and dislike the new politics teacher.

Couldn't I just have one thing? Just one? Weiss Schnee had to have it. And she had to be drop dead gorgeous. It's not like I could be angry that she liked or loved Cloud. I liked and loved Cloud. I saw what there was to like in him. She had just… she'd gotten there first. She'd beaten me to the punch by so much I never really had a prayer. And there was a whole other girl. An entire girl on top of Weiss Schnee, the once but no longer heiress. I didn't have a chance.

The mysterious Ruby Rose of team Ruby. I hadn't even seen her and I hated her too. She'd been with Cloud since Mistral. That was… that was years. And they knew one another for probably longer than that. He once told me I reminded him of Ruby Rose. And now I knew it wasn't a bad thing but I couldn't exactly call it a good thing either.

He had always avoided talking about his romantic life. And his family. I had hoped it was just a touch of added mystery. Not a whole two women in his life. Weiss Schnee had real curves and a face that caught men's eyes. She had a full woman's body where I was just a girl. She made me feel like a dumb kid just through her presence alone. That bit so deep. She had his eye in the places and ways I dreamed about one day possessing myself. She had that now. So, even though it wasn't really fair of me, I hated Professor Schnee. Gods, what a bitch. I found myself looking for reasons to hate her. The way she spoke. How she held herself. The way she walked. It was all so pristine like clear cut glass. She'd been trained in etiquette and how to walk and talk. It was artificial. But then I had been taught that same sort of etiquette. I couldn't hate her unless I hated myself and I found myself disliking myself more and more. I spiraled inward and downward.

This bitch had her claws in my man. My man. And there didn't seem to be anything I could do about it. I had wanted to share that dance with him so badly. Now that dance was probably hers. As it always had been. And I was so furious with Cloud as well. If only he had told me from the start he had lovers. If only he had let me know that he was taken. But that wasn't fair either because I probably would have started liking him anyway. And like Peach said, there was no ring on his finger. This game wasn't over yet. It didn't have to be. I could find my way into his heart and beat there steadily. I wanted to be inside him and I wanted him to be inside me. But the dirty, man grabbing Schnee was already comfortably at home in his heart. She'd put up furnishings and moved in furniture and now she dazed in bed there and slept soundly. That was where I was supposed to be. And by what right was he her's? I heard that they shared a dorm here on campus. She could have gotten her own rooms. She could have stowed herself away on one of those godforsaken airships. But no. She was sharing a bed with my man. And deep down I knew that he had never been my man. But still, that was my man. It didn't make a lot of sense. But I was uncomfortable.

Oh gods. I bet they had had sex. I bet she had fucked him here at Beacon in those shared rooms. I bet he moaned her name as he released inside her. Motherfucker. That hurt. I thought about it a little. Then I thought about it a lot. And no matter how much I thought about it it just kept hurting. It was like barbed wire around my lungs and it made me ache to breath. Motherfucker. I bet he made love to her. I bet he made love to her and he didn't even think about me.

Ouch.

His dance, his bed, his dog, his body: all of it was somebody else's.

Motherfucker. I had been too late from the start. Did that make it hurt more or less? There were two of them. Did that make it hurt more or less?

All I knew was it made it hurt a lot.

"Are you alright?" Pine asked me.

"Just fine."

"Yeah, okay."

"What?"

"You're thinking about Professor Strife."

"So? Sue me."

"You need to get laid."

"I seriously want to."

"Not by him. There are seriously dozens of guys you could choose from."

"I don't want them."

"You're tearing yourself up."

"So she has her eyes on the money," Peach cut in. "Big deal."

"He's taken. You both need to get over it."

"No ring," Peach reminded her.

"Come off of it," Pine continued. "Don't encourage her. Everyone loves and loses sometimes. It sucks but you've got to face it like anything else. He has a woman."

"Two women," I corrected. "Evidently the girls are both bi or demi and are at least poly and interested in each other and him."

"Okay. So there are two women. You have to move on. There are plenty of guys."

"Not like him," I pointed out. We'd talked about it before. Emotionally available, metrosexual, masculine guys were not on every street corner.

"And you expect us to find a guy within our age group? Guys our age are so immature and quick to infatuation. I've dated guys my age. Guys my age don't know how to treat me. They just want to work out or play video games. I'm not interested and Rosé is smart to not be interested either."

"How are you two going to compete with Weiss Schnee? And another girl? How? Seriously? Find a different guy who's older if you like that but don't wreck someone else's home. Yuma, cut in here any time," Pine ordered.

"I like older guys too," Yuma said quietly.

"Oh don't tell me Peach was right about you and him. I'd held out hope for you against the odds."

"He saved my life. He's a real man. Having Weiss Schnee swoop in out of nowhere sucks… but we do have to give it up."

"Well at least you're reasonable about your little crush," Pine acknowledged.

"What about the chase? It's still afoot. The hunt is still going on," Peach disagreed.

"You guys. Did you see him follow after her? He's head over heels in love with the woman. Yeah I thought he was hot too but he's taken. The Schnee has him. You have to get over it."

"He didn't stop being hot just cause he has a girlfriend," Peach went on.

"Will you listen to yourself?"

"I'm going to get another dance out of him if it's the last thing I do," I said. "We're friends at least. Dances between friends are totally a thing."

"Oh gods. You're serious."

"Yeah. I'm serious."

"You want to dance with him? In front of his girlfriend?" Pine asked me. Her wings shifted.

"Yeah. Get some, I'm going to ask him for a dance too," Peach agreed. "The chase is still on, girls. It's time to see who is a woman."

"Weiss Schnee is a woman," Pine pointed out. "She's going to make you look foolish. And that's not counting that there is a whole entire other woman waiting in the wings. He isn't going to give that up because of you. Schnee will be clever and aggressive. She'll be ready."

"No ring," I pointed out. "If they really had dibs there would be a ring. There's not a ring on any of his fingers. If they wanted him they should have put a ring on him."

"No ring. You go princess," Peach cheered. "I know what I like and I want to get a kiss out of him. Come on Yuma. It's not over yet."

"I don't know… I don't think it's a good idea… it's another woman's man. Are you really comfortable doing that?"

"Fuck yeah I am. It's just a dance. Then it's just a touch. Then it's just a kiss. That's the playbook," Peach said.

"Not for any other guy but I have to shoot my shot. I have to try. This isn't just some dude. This is the real thing," I agreed.

"I don't think you know what you're getting into. I think you're setting yourself up to get hurt and for failure," Yuma teetered nervously. "This is serious. What you're doing and what you're proposing is serious."

"Thank you Yuma. At least you're seeing straight instead of stars," Pine chorused. "Do you really think Schnee is going to let you do whatever you want and put your hooks in him? Even if she's not explicitly ready for this, she is going to be able to handle some upstart girls with straying eyes and thoughts. And I do feel I have to mention this again. There is another woman. On top of Weiss Schnee, who is bad enough, there is a whole other woman to this thing. You need to think this through. He's already a lucky man with Schnee. He is even more lucky than even that. He's not going to give that up. At the end of the day he's a straight or demi guy who already found not one but two people. You two just can't compete with that. No matter how good you are it isn't good enough. Schnee would be too much for you to reasonably expect yourselves to compete with. There is another woman out there somewhere. You need to face reality."

"I didn't work this hard to not shoot my shot. I'm already hurting. I'm taking the shot," I countered. "I'm getting that fucking dance."

"What then? Seriously," Pine was relentless.

"We worry about that if and when we get that far," Peach cut in. "Baby steps. I'm with Rosé. This game isn't over and somebody better put Schnee on alert. Because I'mma comin."

"Schnee isn't going to just do nothing. She made him chase her. She lured him out and walked right into his rooms. She has him eating out of her hand. She shares his fucking bed."

"You don't think I know that?" I asked.

"You're really talking like you don't. She has a plan. She has another girlfriend involved in this. I know a crafty bitch when I see one. Schnee has plots. She likes him enough to share him with another girl. She isn't going to let you in on that or ruin her plans. She will absolutely shut you down at the dance and cut you off at the pass. She will smell you coming a mile away."

"And if I do get the dance?"

"Yeah? What if he does let us dance with him? And you too, Yuma?" Peach wondered.

"I… I don't know. Maybe I would dance with him if I had the chance…" Yuma mumbled.

"You shouldn't dance with him even if you get the chance and I'll tell you why. You should be even more scared if you get the chance to dance with him because Schnee will have allowed it. It will be a trap. The honeypot will be baited. It will be a feint or empty movement. Getting a dance will be fake pressure on him that she is expecting and ready for or she won't even let you touch him. Schnee has been ten steps ahead of you from the start. She won't give up her advantage unless you absolutely are able to force her. And she is smart. She's not stupid, anyone can tell that. She's the youngest Professor to ever teach at Atlas Academy or Beacon when we all thought he was. She knows that it's possible that you exist even if she doesn't know who you are. If you get a dance you should be even more worried because she will have you in her sights after that. This may be a game to you but it isn't to her," Pine analyzed like a fucking tournament match between fighters.

"It's not a game to me. I want him," I disagreed. "And I want that fucking dance."

"You're still thinking like a schoolgirl with a crush, though. Schnee isn't just winning, she has already won. You'll give yourself away and it will all be for nothing because she's not fucking around. The dance is the perfect opportunity to bait you out and crush you. And you won't even be able to say you didn't know because I just warned you. You won't even be able to say that you didn't know to her if she confronts you because she's not dumb. He might believe that it was just a dance between friends but she will most certainly be able to tell if you're trying to make a move. It will be a trick."

"How should I do it then?" I wondered.

"You should give up, Rosé, Peach, Yuma, all of you girls. I want the best for you all and pinning after another woman's man is just going to get you hurt. I'm telling you; if you get the dance you should be even more worried than however worried you are now."

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-WG