She checked her phone's lock screen. He was fifteen minutes late.

Several days earlier Annie had stood, angry and embarrassed, in front of her math teacher's desk holding a tutor recommendation card. She was told he'd be prompt, he was the class president after all (even though Annie had never actually heard of him) and that he was well above all the other classes in mathematics skill level and it would be no problem for him to help her out.

She rolled her eyes and wiped her face. She was still sweating from after practice. Laying her head on the library table she listened to the snores of the librarian and the sounds of human life around her. Not that she was particularly interested in the couple making out behind the non-fiction or the wheezing asthmatic who was getting excited from the latest famous novel, which Annie also didn't know the name of. She didn't particularly like to read. Maybe that's why her literature grades were so poor. Along with her history grades. And her math grades. Especially her math grades.

She closed her eyes. Maybe she should call him. She shook her head. Did nerds text?

Her phone slipped from the front pocket of her jacket and into her hand and she scrolled down to the newest contact to view their last conversation.

Hello, my name is Annie Leonhardt and I am in need of a tutor.

My teacher recommended you...

What grade are you in and what subject?

Oh, I'm Armin Arlert by the way. We can study any time after 4:15pm

I'm a senior and math. Can we meet at the library after soccer practice?

See you then.

She cringed. Practice had sucked that day. She'd missed nearly every goal while Mikasa had gotten every one. Annie sighed and began to type.

Are you here?

She locked her phone and pushed her hand under her chin. She'd wait another five minutes and if he didn't show up it wasn't worth it. Just as her eyes began to close for a second time, she heard a shuffling noise and an out of breath voice flying at her rather loudly in their present setting.

"I'm so sorry I'm late!" She looked up.

Taller, long blond hair, cute nose, bright blue eyes, weird dress shirt, flushed face, funny eyebrows. She frowned (like always.) Annie stood, pulling back a chair for him and extending her arm, watching him drop the books in his arms and set his backpack down next to hers. He nodded and shook her hand. She noticed his sweaty palms and held back an unamused face.

When he sat, she found herself unusually interested in him. He seemed to be anxious, uptight, scared. She sat beside him, pulling her binder from her bag.

"Don't worry about it," she said in a monotone manner. He smiled at her, face turning slightly red. She wanted to ask why but was interrupted by his quick words.

"Okay, so you're taking algebra three, which is a general required course and is the bottom level for a senior. Your teacher told me you were studying trigonometry at the moment but you haven't turned in assignments so I'm guessing you don't understand it," he paused, flipping through papers and pulling out a sheet filled with numbers, "I took the liberty to look at your math grade online, but I accidentally looked at all of your grades so I think maybe we should start with math and then move on to other subjects once you get the hang of-"

"You what?" Annie stopped him with a forceful command. His face was still red.

"I saw your grades."

She slowly sat back in her chair with a scowl, sizing him up and glaring into his eyes once she'd seen what she wanted to of him. She saw him swallow.

"Look, I-I'm sorry, I just needed to get a handle on what I needed to help you with," he said almost pleading.

"Don't worry about it." she said, moving her eyes from him to the paper in his hands. "Now what are we going to start on? I have martial arts at seven, and you were extremely late."

Relief seemed to wash over him by the relaxation of his shoulders and he shifted the paper towards her.

She checked her watch again before six thirty. They'd been talking quietly about something Annie'd heard about in class but never really paid attention to. She noticed that her new tutor seemed incredibly familiar but ignored her thoughts long enough to finish a worksheet and ask a few questions.

As soon as they'd both agreed to leave, she remembered.

"You're friends with Ackerman, right?" she asked, slinging her bag over her shoulder with a quirked brow. He turned with a surprised face.

"Mikasa?"

Annie blinked and then nodded. Perhaps she should act as if they were friends and not rivals. (and they weren't rivals... their enemy-ship was completely one-sided on Annie's part; she'd never admit to it though, especially if this guy was her friend)

He nodded, sweeping the papers into his hands and glancing back up at her. His face flared red when they're eyes latched onto each others'. Annie's brows furrowed in confusion.

"I thought I recognized you... You and, uh... Eren, yeah, hang out, right?" she asked, knowing for certain that this was correct but allowing him to answer her first. She'd often seen the three of them together after practice, and maybe that was why Armin was late. The thought caused a bitter taste in her mouth, but what reason was there for her to be jealous?

"Yeah," his eyes seemed to light up, "yeah we do sometimes." he swallowed and glanced down. "Well I hope I helped you, erm... when do you want to meet again? We can meet any day you need assistance-"

"How about tomorrow after practice. Like today, but this time you'll be on time." she said cooly, glancing at the time again with impatience. She held back a smirk as he squirmed in embarrassment.

"Alright that's fine. Just text me if you change your mind or something comes up." he replied, turning to walk away with a last wave of the hand.

Before he had completely disappeared into the dim hallways of the shelves she called out to him.

"Hey!" she stepped back, shocked by her own reaction. He turned, something like hope in his eyes. "Thanks." she said quietly, nodding her head in a gesture of appreciation. He smiled back at her, his cheeks bright red and nose to match.

As he finally left she sat down again, closing her eyes and rolling her head back to hang off her neck limply. She sighed loudly, crossing her arms and biting her lip. She felt something in her stomach that she'd never felt before, and glancing back towards the empty space he'd taken up several moments ago did not help to heal it, but it intensified.

She groaned, grabbed her backpack once more, and trudged out of the building, not acknowledging the librarian and keeping her pace into the evening air.

She tried not to think about him during her fighting. Watchful eyes saw her agitation and corrected her stance. She bit back a retort and kicked the air again. Higher. Higher.

When she reached her limit she spread her legs and touched her toes, sliding off her hand wraps and glancing up at the clock. A loud voice was telling her it wasn't time to quit yet. Annie felt her heart shift inside her chest, the churning bubbly feeling from the library slipping into a swamp of indignation. She rolled her eyes and kept her stances going, punching numbers and vocabulary away with the flick of a wrist, and blurring the faces of the day with the heel of her foot.

Maybe tomorrow would be better.

A/N: The website screwed with my layout for the texts so if you want to view it by it's original set up visit my tumblr in my aruani tag. You may have to scroll down a bit, hehe.

Please feel free to add any feedback. I don't usually edit (TERRIBLE IDEA EW NO STAHP) so typos are random and (possibly) frequent so I'm sorry in advance.

Thanks for reading!