Newton's Third Law
CHAPTER 1
Petra kicked the box of her books off of her bed, and watched the cardboard dent in, possibly along with the fifty pounds of hundred dollar textbooks that had been stored in there. She slid down her sheets to the linoleum floor of her new college dorm and buried her face into her knees. How is this college so crappy? Why did I even decide to transfer here? Everything was fine… everything was fine…
The fan in the corner of the room recycled the hot air that blew in through the window, just barely cooling the dorm off by a few degrees. And of course there was no air conditioning here either. She'd done the move on her own, and when she arrived into what she thought was her single room, she discovered the school's overpopulation crisis, and that she'd been sharing it.
She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, catching the droplets of sweat that'd settled along her hairline, trying to ignore her growing disgust. And yet here she was. It was her choice. But now, she was forgetting why she'd made it.
Her roommate wasn't here, and thank god. They'd met a few hours earlier, Petra had stepped in to find her emptying boxes of old science labs along the very thin imaginary line that split the room in two. So focused on her task, she hadn't even noticed the shocked redhead standing in the corner, until Petra's hand slipped, and the hinge creaked as the door hit the wall.
"Huh—" the girl had swung around, whipping her brown ponytail back, and looked at Petra from her hunched over position.
Petra stared back at her, and she was so sure that she'd went to the right room—378—but it's obvious not, because a strange girl was… unpacking. "I'm really sorry, I think I've got the wrong—"
"Wait, you must be Petra." The girl stood to her full height, and made her way over to Petra, towering over her. "Hanji!" she exclaimed, shaking her hand with excitement. "Ahh, I've always wanted to have a sophomore as a roommate! I mean, as a junior, of course, I was a sophomore last year, quite obviously! I'm so interested in the possible stress changes between that of a sophomore and a junior. I've been tracking my own, but I need another student that I can monitor almost 24/7 for both years in order get rid of all the variables, and etc. I'm sure you're aware of all of that." Hanji smiled, then, adjusting her glasses, added, "I really have to finish this up if I want to go out later tonight." and turned back to her business.
Petra had dropped off her things, then retreated to the nearest café, with air conditioning, and camped out in there until she'd seen Hanji leave the building a couple hours later. During that time she'd also found out that she would not be getting her own room, and that no, she can't switch roommates. She'd gotten along with everyone so well before in her life, so why stop now? But there were limits, even for her.
And now here she was. Hanji, she was pretty sure, had gone out clubbing, as far as she knew, and even though her side of the room was a complete mess, she'd somehow managed to keep it all on her side. Petra had to respect that.
She picked up her backpack—stuffed lightly with her wallet, phone, and a good book—and headed back to her dorm room.
It had to be the hottest day of the year; the air was stuffy and muggy, so much that it was literally palpable. Incoming freshman lugged cardboard boxes across grassy expanses of the campus, typically followed in tow by parents, siblings. Petra wove through them, already used to the process of move-in day (after all, she'd technically done it twice by now). The only difference was this year she did it completely alone. No family, friends.
She used her student badge to get inside the dorm, and took the elevator up with a green-eyed freshman carrying two boxes of what was messily labeled as DESK SHIT.
The whole floor was abuzz with conversation, the constant sound of slamming doors, boxes, furniture, and had a permanent smell of sweat mixed with deodorant. It was enough to make her want to run back to her room, whether Hanji would be in there or not.
Petra (eventually finding her way back to her room) was ready to go back and finish unpacking, maybe catch up with the latest Game of Thrones episode, and enjoy the quiet company of her floor fan. But when she pushed in on the wooden door, she found it locked. Which normally won't be a problem. If she had her keys on her. Growing panicked, she started rifling through all her pockets, and pulled her backpack in front of her to search through it. Hoping, praying that she didn't do the unthinkable. That she didn't leave her keys in the room.
"Crap." she muttered under her breath. She could feel the sweat start to pool up under the back of her shirt. Of all the days to be locked out of her room. This can't be real. And yet it was.
She banged the heel of her palm against the wooden door one last time, in a desperate attempt to get it open. It didn't.
Petra pulled her phone out, and quickly dialed Hanji's phone number (the one good thing she'd gotten out of their encounter) and waited impatiently to hear the girl's screeching voice on the other end.
"Hi! You've reached the LOVELY and SPECTACULAR Hanji Zoë!"
Crap.
"Unfortunately I'm either busy conducting my latest research project (the effects of vodka on a death defyingly boring lecture class!) or I'm OUT CLUBBING! AHAHahahahaha… So if you may be calling on a subject of UTMOST IMPORTANCE, PLEASE LEAVE A MESSAGE AFTER THE BEEP!"
Petra heaved a sigh, and waited through the automated message for the beep. "Hello? Hey, Hanji. It's me, your new roommate, Petra. I," she sighed again. "I, uh, got locked out of our dorm room. If you could maybe call back or come and let me in… that would really be great. Uh, thanks."
Petra slid to the dorm floors, ignoring the streaks of grime that painted the once white linoleum. God. What she wouldn't do to have her fan back… or for that matter some air conditioning in this dorm.
She cradled her head in her arms once more, leaning her weight onto her upright knees. She couldn't help but wonder what she was doing here. Either way, she had nobody to blame but herself for this. She'd transferred on her own accord, and had accepted the offer long before she'd told anyone about it.
I hate this. I hate this. I hate this. I hate this. I hate this….
The drone of pure anger and tiredness pounded inside her head, as if she was physically banging it against the wall behind her. And maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea.
She pulled her head out of its nest, and glanced around, readjusting herself to the white lights. Families walked through the halls, tossing around cardboard boxes, luggages. This was technically an Underclassmen dorm (so how exactly did Hanji get here?) so it was natural that it would be so busy. So much hotter and crowded than any of the other dorms…
And, hell. Maybe she'd promised herself that at this college she was going to keep a low profile. Hardly bother the administration. Not become a well known face, but maybe a typical good-student with a few close friends. But god did she want to get inside her room. And like hell she was going to go back to the stupid coffee shop (it was overrun with people).
The weeks leading up to her transfer, she'd received a Survival Guide package from the college, with addresses, phone numbers of several people like the dean, the med center, etc… In this, there was also information about her RA. And while she didn't remember anything about him, she was sure it wouldn't be hard to find him in this place. Maybe get him to give her a spare key…
Petra dragged herself back to her feet, suddenly disgusted at the fact that she'd sat on the floor, and trudged through the halls, until she finally came across a community board where the RAs' information was posted (name, room number, phone). From there she headed to his room.
She gave three swift knocks, and did all but pound on the wooden door. She was sweating buckets, and it didn't help that somehow the noise was even worse down this hall. Petra usually likes to think of herself as a calm, level headed, patient person. And for the most part, anyone you meet would attest to that. But it's been a long day. A day filled with crazy roommates, freshmen move-ins, getting locked out, and record breaking heat. She had a right to feel this way.
She leaned against the wood frame of the door, and when she didn't hear a reply, she knocked again. No reply. But the door was open just a crack, and honestly, what kind of an RA would he be if he wasn't in his room during freshmen move in?
Screw it.
She pushed the door open, speaking as she entered the room. "Hi! Levi, sorry to bother you. I got locked—"
Petra's voice failed her and she stopped short.
It took her a few moments to process exactly what she was seeing. She stood in the doorway, unsure of what to do.
A girl straddled a guy in an oversized office chair, her back to Petra, and from the look and sound of it, the two were in a heavy makeout session. And at this point, Petra wouldn't doubt if they were going to go further at this point. The two were completely oblivious to Petra's presence, and continued without stopping. It wasn't until the guy cracked one of his eyes open and saw Petra standing timidly in the doorway, looking like a deer caught in the headlights, that he stopped and pulled away.
Petra snapped out of her stupor, and was prepared to get the hell out of there, when the guy started undoing the knot between his eyebrow.
"Of all the times, freshman." his voice was a deep rumble, saturated with anger. The girl, who at first had been deeply invested in the guy, finally realized what was going on, and turned around. She stared at Petra half in shock, half in embarrassment. She tugged at the undone buttons on her shirt, revealing red marks that would probably turn into hickies in a bit, and pushed past the redhead to escape to the hallways.
Levi didn't stop her. Instead he watched the girl disappear, then turned his attention back to Petra. This tiny redhead standing in the doorway of his room—who'd interrupted him for who knows what reason.
"I didn't realize you were in here with your girlfriend, dude."
"She's not my girlfriend." It came out a bit more defensive than he'd meant it to be.
"Oh. Friend with benefit?"
"Nobody important, and none of your fucking business." he tousled his hair with his hand, and looked back at the girl. "Well?" he arched his eyebrow, and readjusted himself in his seat. He glowered at her.
Petra, still lost momentarily, finally snapped back into reality. "Levi. Are you the RA?"
"And you, freshman?"
Petra grimaced. "First. I'm not a freshman. Second. I need your help. Because hey, it's the hottest day of the year, and I locked myself out of my room." she sighed. "I just want to get back in and sit in front of my fan."
Levi squinted at her. "Wow. So you got locked out of your room on the first day, and you're not a freshman. What are you doing here?"
"I'm a transfer student."
"You transferred here?" he scoffed.
"I don't think you're in much of a position to judge." she sneered at him, suddenly defensive, and sick of the heat and shitty RAs. "At least I'm not the one who got caught making out with some girl who I barely know."
Levi rolled his eyes at her, almost as if begrudgingly admitting that she was right, and paused before he said anything. "Right." Standing up from his chair, he pocketed his own keyring sitting on his desk, and left the room, beckoning Petra to follow him.
He wove through the hallways with a sense of purpose, and to Petra's surprise, the other students knew enough to clear a path wherever he walked. She tried to think back to anything she might know about him. Levi Ackerman. Huh. His name sounded vaguely familiar, but it wasn't anything she could remember.
Levi led her through the elevators and throng of students with a practiced ease until they reached the front desk downstairs. Ignoring the buzz of people, and the old man sitting behind the desk—giving Levi the stink eye—Levi took Petra to a backroom where he produced a new key and tossed it at her.
"Replacement key. Return it back in two days or you get fined five bucks." Petra caught it, and tucked it into the pocket of her shorts.
"Thanks, Levi."
"Yeah, whatever." he rolled his eyes, and led her back out to the lobby. As they walked past the desk, the man sitting there pulled harshly on Levi's sleeve, holding him back.
"Ackerman," the old man sniffed. "I trust that if I come by yours or her room later today I won't find you in each others' company."
Levi tore his arm from the man's iron grip, scoffing. "Just showing the new student around, Old Man. Don't worry about that." His scowl was deeper than usual, and he made his way back to the girl (who, surprisingly, was waiting for him).
Petra waited for him, watching the exchange between the two, and when Levi came back to her, she fell into step with his quick pace. "What was that about?"
"He wanted to make sure we're not fucking."
Petra scoffed, and he turned back to her, arching his eyebrow. This wasn't the response he usually got. It was unexpected. "What, you don't think it could happen?" he demanded. In reality, he hated to admit it, but hey, maybe his pride was hurt a little. Usually he'd get at least get a blush or a nervous laugh.
"I just met you, and so far, it seems like you're hellbent on hazing me and are plotting my murder."
He jammed his thumb into the elevator button. "I'm not." he said defensively.
"Yeah, well. Either way, I met you like, what… ten minutes ago? I don't know how quickly you usually go with other people, but I usually like to go to dinner, or at least get drinks with the person I'm going to screw."
Levi glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "Dinner then screw. Got it."
"Shut up, idiot." he could tell that her voice didn't have as much venom as she might've intended it to sound like. And maybe there was the shadow of a smile forming on the corner of her lips.
The two got out of the elevator, and as they were about to go their separate ways—Petra to her own room, and Levi debating the possibility to go find that girl again—she stopped him, pulling on the crook of his arm.
"I'm Petra, by the way."
He glanced back at her, seemingly bored, but she could've sworn she saw a faint smirk on the tips of his lips. "Welcome to Trost, Petra."
Petra had gone back into her room, revelled in the progression of modern technology, and read her book sitting in front of her fan. It was three more hours until Hanji came back (she hadn't gone clubbing, this time, at least) and by then Petra was lying on top of her unmade mattress, scrolling through Instagram.
Hanji dropped her bag to the ground, and undid her boots, glancing over at her silent roommate. It wasn't until she saw what she was looking at on her phone that she finally spoke up.
"So you've met Levi?"
Petra glanced at her, with a mixture of guilt and embarrassment. She turned the offending phone towards Hanji, begrudgingly showing her the Instagram profile of Levi Ackerman.
"How sad am I?" she asked, sighing as Hanji leaned over the gap between the beds to take the phone.
"I've seen worse." she said thoughtfully. She looked at the few photos of the familiar raven haired guy. Most of them alone. If you looked at a couple of the older ones, she was in them too.
She heard Petra groan into her pillow.
"If you didn't sleep with the guy—"
"I didn't"
"Then I don't really care what you do. I've known this guy for… seven years?"
Petra rolled over onto her stomach and stared at her in shock. "Seven?"
Hanji nodded, now checking the photos he was tagged in. Here were all the photos of him with other girls. She bet if she showed him them, he wouldn't be able to name half of them.
"We went to high school together nearby, and happened to wind up in the same college. Same thing with Erwin and Mike, though I don't suppose you'd know them."
She shook her head slightly. "Can't say I do."
Hanji sighed, and smiled. "Well," she tossed both boots to the side, and hopped onto her bed. "If you continue this trend you've started, I bet you'll be seeing a lot more of us."