Armin had a way with words. He could use them gracefully, he could twist them into complex shapes and make them dance into your ears. He could make them change colors and swirl in the air. His words could be strung together as a song or engraved into a statue of the queen herself. Instead, Armin chose to give his precious beautiful words to Annie.

The last person Armin had given his words to had stolen them, tortured and sucked the life out of his beautiful words, like a snake does to its prey before devouring it. Armin used to write poetry for a girl who worked at a coffee shop.

He would go there every morning: she would give him his coffee and a glittering smile and he would place a love letter in her tips jar. Little did he know that the coffee shop girl was copying his poetry and selling it to a well-known publisher. He never found out the truth until the quaint coffee shop had closed down and a book consisting of a collection of love letters debuted under the coffee girl's pseudonym.

But Annie wouldn't dream of doing such a thing Armin thought to himself as he closed up his leather messenger bag and adjusted his grey rectangular glasses. Once he stepped out of his classroom, he stopped being a private junior high history teacher and became a best selling author. His thoughts and observations on the world around him could have easily become a legendary book if they were written down.

He walked towards his black Nissan,which was perfectly parallel parked across the front curb of the school. Across the street was a large silver Mercedes Benz with a short blonde woman in business attire leaning against the passenger window. Armin beamed at her as he unlocked his car. The Mercedes owner pointed left then pointed right. Armin pointed right and then drove away in the direction that he pointed. He laughed to himself because he could practically hear Annie sigh as she got into her silver car and drove herself to the park where they had agreed to meet.

This was their own little ritual: every Thursday afternoon they would meet up at either the park or the bookstore. Annie preferred the bookstore and Armin preferred the park.

Armin arrived first at their destination and bought two vanilla ice creams: one for him which was plain and one for Annie that had cinnamon sprinkled on top.

When Annie arrived, she reluctantly took the ice cream cone mumbling "I've already racked up too many carbs today; I taste tested Amy's homemade cupcakes"

Amy was Annie's eleven year old daughter in addition to being one of Armin's slower students. Armin had first met Amy's mother during a parent-teacher conference that had gone way off topic. Annie was the vice president of a bank and there was no other way that they could have crossed paths because their lifestyles were so different. Armin always felt as if he owed Amy something because without her imperfect history grades, he would have never met the woman who he held so dear.

They settled down on a bench shaded by rows of willow trees and engaged in their usual conversation. Annie told him about the people being laid-off at the bank and the new fountain they were going to build at her house; Armin told her about the antics of his students and some ideas he had for fiction novels he planned to write. Annie gave birth to Amy when she was only seventeen which resulted in Amy's dad disappearing. Armin was always the listener Annie never had.

"You know, I've been thinking of starting a kickboxing class." Annie said.

"Don't you think you're tough enough already?" Armin laughed as he took another lick of his ice cream.

Annie gently punched Armin on his side and retorted "Who knows maybe I'll really like it. It'll be like finding a new talent or passion."

"I believe everyone dies without knowing their true passion." Armin suddenly dove into a deeper topic "which is why I've made it my personal goal to experience as many things as I can before I die…everything I can afford to experience on a teacher's salary that is." The last part of his statement tapered out as if he was ashamed to say it.

Annie gazed at her ice cream cone that was now mostly cone,thinking hard about what she was about to say .

"Can I help you out?"

"Hmm?"

"You know, I'll help pay for you finding your true passion."

"But you're…I can't accept that." Armin replied shaking his head.

"Armin, its your dream," Annie reasoned. "you've always been there for me, this is the least I can do to pay you back."

Armin grinned at her cliche speech, but agreed.

"Only on one condition: you have to experience everything with me."

"Its a deal."

"Whats the first thing on your list?" Annie asked, still excited that she could finally pay back Armin for all his kindness, even if the only thing she could offer was her money.

"Paddle boarding" Armin smiled.

Author's Note: and scene! Do you even paddle board, bro? Cover art is not mine it belongs to post/81473528506/tariirii-please-take-me-to-aruani-hell-because So excite for the second chapter. Don't worry there will be a backstory and Amy POV I wouldn't mind if you wrote a review...