"Mikasa sure is quieter than usual today." Jean points out to us, ignoring the fact that she happens to be sitting just a few feet away. 'Seriously Jean', I think, 'she's sitting at the same damn table'.

"Meh, looks the same to me." Eren says through mouthfuls of his sandwich. I decide to sneak a glance towards today's subject of conversation. There was Mikasa, as quiet as usual; listening to whatever Armin's nerd talk consisted of. Yup, the same as always.

"You guys think I can make her smile?" Jean asks, leaning in towards Eren and me with an idiotic smile.

"Dude, I'll fucking give ten bucks to whoever can make Mikasa laugh." Eren replies enthusiastically, encouraging Jean.

"Deal!"

Oh man, this is going to be great. I'm definitely writing this down in my comedy sketch to-do list later on.

"I'll go first; I've known her my whole life, so this should be a piece of cake." Eren says, a little too loud as he scoots himself over to sit closer to Mikasa. I try to be oblivious of the whole situation, only tilting my head slightly, just enough to see through my peripheral vision, unlike Jean who straight out stares Eren down. A huge smirk plastered on his face. It's hard to hear what Eren says through all the cafeteria noises but thankfully Mikasa's voice is loud enough to hear.

"Eren, you shouldn't make jokes like that, it's rude." She says coldly. Yeeesh, she sounds like my mom. Her face remains neutral as she turns back to continue conversing with Armin. Eren scoots back over to our group, mumbling a loud "Fuck."

Jean and I erupt into laughter, Jean obviously laughing as loud as possible on purpose to piss Eren off.

"Fuck you Jean! I'd like to see YOU fucking try!" Eren spits out in anger.

"It would be my pleasure, Eren." Jean coos as he quickly stands up and makes his way to sit in between Eren and Mikasa. He awkwardly scoots closer and closer to his victim, being as graceful as a teenage boy who's about to talk to his crush can be. If I thought Eren's attempt was funny, Jean's is sure to be hilarious. Jean gives us a confident look before turning his head towards Mikasa. Oh man, this is going to be fucking GOLD.

"I can't believe you guys are encouraging this." Marco groans, putting his face in his palms to shield his eyes from the disaster to come.

Jean is much louder than Eren when he finally decides to speak. "H-hey Mikasa." Jean starts horribly, stumbling on his words. Mikasa simply nods her head in reply. I wait in anticipation, shifting my body towards the conversation to hear Jean better.

"So-uh, fuck, hmm oh! Why did the uh ch-chicken cross the road?" I cannot believe what I'm hearing right now, he can't be fucking serious. I have to bite down hard on my lip to keep from interrupting the awkward silence with the laughter threatening to escape my lips.

"Shit," Mikasa starts "do we have a psychology test tomorrow?"

"W-what?" Jean stutters yet again.

"I haven't studied that yet. That's one of those trick questions you ask patients to check their mental state, right?" Mikasa asks, honestly confused. Wow, Jean sure knows how to fuck up real bad. The look of pure confusion on Mikasa's face is enough to bring me and Eren into a fit of laughter. Jean doesn't even reply after that, he just stands and walks back to his spot, head hanging. I laugh for about a good couple of minutes before I finally find the strength to calm down.

"There, there Jean, you tried your best." Marco comforts him, patting his back softly. Jean just stares at his lap, mumbling to himself.

"You should try it Marco!" Eren teases.

"Me? Oh no! I am not getting involved in another one of your bets." Marco replies, still rubbing soothing circles along Jean's back.

This is it; this is my chance to prove that I am the greatest comedian that ever lived. If I can get the cold, emotionless, Mikasa Ackerman to laugh, then I, Connie Springer, can fucking make anyone laugh.

"My tuuurn!" I practically sing out.

"Good luck Springer." Eren remarks sarcastically, saluting me.

"You know what Eren, I am so confident in my skills that you can fucking keep your ten bucks." I reply smoothly. I truly am a kind and humble man.

Eren laughs, "Fuck man, go ahead." he struggles to talk through his thick chuckles. "Shit, if I can't make her laugh, then no one can!"

His pestering is music to my ears. I love a good challenge and I most certainly am not about to back out now. This. This is what I'm good at. I'm the funny guy, the comedic relief. There's no doubt in my mind (okay maybe a little) that I can make Mikasa Ackerman laugh.

I bounce up out of my seat, rubbing my now sweaty palms on my jeans. I sit next to Mikasa and decide to start off with some small talk.

"Hey Mikasa, how are ya?" Smooth. She turns her head to look at me. Shit, she's scary.

"I'm fine. And you?" She says, sounding bored.

"I'm doing great! Thanks for asking!" I give her my best smile. First step to being a successful comedian is to always warm up to the audience first. Build up to your joke or jokes and stay confident at all times.

I give her a few seconds of silence, trying to decide which one of my clever jokes to use. I lean in close enough so that only she can hear and give her one of my best one liners. It's only a matter of seconds before she's pulling up her scarf towards her nose, trying desperately to hide the loud chuckles that escape her now smiling lips.

Holy shit, I actually did it. Wow, her laugh sure is cute. I decide to hit her with another joke, encouraging more laughter. Her laughs become louder, and I'm pretty sure I just heard her snort. Cute. I turn my head to look at my friends, who all stare in disbelief. I truly am amazing.

Mikasa finally settles down, looking absolutely embarrassed, and kind of pissed. Oh. Oh no. Oh shit. I'm so fucking dead! She stares at me for what feels like hours, her checks red and eyebrows furrowed. That's it, time to say goodbye to all my loved ones. I start on my will.

Dear family and friends,

I would like to give all my possessions to-

"You're pretty funny, Connie," Mikasa says, back to her cool and collected demeanor.

"T-thanks! I wanted to practice my one liners so I thought I'd try one on you!" I respond nervously.

"Not bad." She says flatly. Holy crap, did she just smile at me? I swear I saw her mouth twitch up.

"Well uh, thanks for letting me try one on ya, see ya later!" And with that I walk back to my awe stricken friends. "No need for applause gentlemen! I'll be here all night." I boast, letting my now high self-esteem take control.

"How did yo- WHAT?!" Jean yells in disbelief.

"I'm sorry I ever doubted you Con-man." Eren apologizes, shock still evident on his face. I do the honors of bowing as they applaud quietly, so to not bring any suspicion. I give each of them a high-five, trying to ignore the fact that Mikasa's laugh is still echoing in my ears, and most definitely ignoring the image of her adorable smile. Shit. Did I just say adorable? I never really realized how pretty she is until now. I mean, sure that's all Jean ever talks about but I never really paid it much attention. It's not like I've never had a crush on a girl or have never found any of them cute. Sasha and I dated for a while. It was awkward though, like dating my fucking sister. She's still my best friend though and I plan on keeping it that way. Who else is going to laugh at my new material?

Mikasa's smile flashes in my mind again. Ugh, having crushes is gross. I've talked to Mikasa before so why am I so worked up now? Sure she's pretty, but I'm like a 7 and she's totes a level 10 hottie.

As I walk to my math class, and all throughout the rest of the day, up to the point where I find myself tucked in bed, only one though was on my mind. Fuck, I've got a crush on Mikasa Ackerman.

The next few days go on uneventfully, well, except for the fact that I've had some sort of epiphany about my new found crush on Mikasa. Sasha and I sit side by side in the cafeteria, her munching the only thing piercing the silence around us. Jean has a project, and Marco has to work on his essay for Lit, so it's just me and Sasha, whom I am trying desperately to keep from eating my chips.

"You sure are quiet today." Sasha tells me through her stuffed mouth.

"Eh, I don't know, just thinking 'bout stuff." Mikasa's smile to be exact, but I leave that part out. Shit, I hardly know her and here I am thinking all this lame ass cheesy stuff. 'I should try and talk to her again', I muse.

I'm pretty sure there's some unspoken rule about having to at least know ten facts about someone before they're aloud to become your crush. I only have like five. The first being her full name, that's a handy one. The second is her being Eren's step-sister, so I better be an extra kiss ass to him. Numbers three and four consists of the undeniable fact that she has the most beautiful smile and laugh ever. And lastly, that she is waaay out of my fucking league. I sigh loudly at the last horrible truth.

"You know when I make a comment on the lack of conversation, that's your cue to start talking." Sasha tells me, clearly annoyed with my silence, but I can't find myself to care and shrug my shoulders. My eyes stalk the cafeteria, looking to find Mikasa's whereabouts. To my surprise she sits alone, no one willing to dare sit with her. Except maybe me. I begin to contemplate the idea of seriously going to join her.

"Sasha, I'm going to go sit with Mikasa, don't wait up for me." Sasha is just as surprised by my statement as I am. She does a spit take, her lunch now soaked in juice.

"W-WHAT?!" She chokes out through the coughing fit caused by the juice that betrayed her throat. I don't give her the chance to question me any further. My feet take control and I find myself walking towards the lonely Mikasa. I take a deep ragged breath, trying to find my courage. Shit, I really didn't think this through, but hey, I'm a doer not a thinker.

I take a seat across from Mikasa, being as quiet as I can. She has some sort of super hearing though because her head automatically shoots up the second I sit myself down. She stares at me and then returns to the book in her hands. "Hey! You looked kind of lonely so I'd thought I'd join ya." I try to sound as non-threatening as possible. For the first time, being cautious with the words that come out of my mouth. She doesn't reply so I take the liberty to try again. "Where are Eren and Armin?"

I finally get a reply, thank you Jesus! "Armin's helping Eren with his physics project." Simple and to the point, and there will definitely be no elaboration. This is hard, 'think Connie, think!' All I want is to see that smile of hers again but Mikasa isn't the most cooperative person when it comes to simple conversation. I notice her food tray in front of her, only half eaten. I'm struck with sudden inspiration.

I quickly grab the orange and begin to peel it, just enough so that I'm able to get two orange slices. Mikasa gives me a death stare, and I can tell she's about to say something but I already have my props ready. I quickly put the orange slices up to my eyebrows and muster up the deepest voice I can get.

"I'M PRINCIPLE ERWIN SMITH AND MY EYEBROWS ARE AS THICK AS MY DICK!" Mikasa chokes from shock, pulling up her scarf as she begins to giggle adorably. Man I never want that laughter to stop. So I grab a napkin and tuck it into my shirt like a bib, ditching the orange slices.

"AYE STOP LAUGHING BRAT!" I yell as I get out of my seat, falling to my knees at an attempt to look shorter. I walk on my knees while I cross my arms across my chest. That definitely gets her to laugh louder. Soon enough the cute snorts that I've fallen for startup as well. Her laughter ends abruptly and she's suddenly staring straight at me. No. Straight behind me.

"Connie Springer! You sure do enjoy detention don't you? And I'm surprised at you miss Ackerman, detention for you both!" Levi. Shit. I look back to see Mikasa's reaction but her face is unreadable. She must fucking hate my guts right now. I've ruined everything, all I wanted was to get her to smile just once and now I'll probably end up dead, buried where no one can find my body.

Levi stomps away, muttering to himself, claiming that he isn't even that short. I stand up, off my knees and turn to look up at Mikasa again. Sigh, I'm really going to miss her laugh. I watch her eyes, following them to where Levi has left the cafeteria. She starts to laugh again the second Levi is out of sight. I just stare, with my mouth gaping as she rips the napkin from where I tucked it, and tucks it into her own shirt. My eyes go even wider when she clears her through, preparing herself.

"IM LEVI AND I LIKE THAT IM SHORT 'CAUSE I GET TO HAVE ERWINS ASS IN MY FACE ALL DAY!" She says in the most unbelievably monotone voice. I laugh. I laugh so hard I fall to the floor clenching at my sides, the familiar pain that comes from laughing too hard hitting me. I try and gasp for air but end up laughing even louder when I hear Mikasa's beginning chortles. I look up to see that numerous people have started to stare. Mikasa notices soon as well and quickly hides her now red face in her scarf. I get up off the floor, take the napkin and stuff it quickly into my pocket.

"That was pretty good, but put some emotion into it next time." I say chuckling.

She gives me a simple nod.

I'm still in shock at how out of character that was for her. Here was the most serious person on the planet, making an ass joke as if it was the most natural thing on earth. It's rare to see her smile, and her laughing is just unheard of, but here I am, hearing it as clear as day.

"Sorry I got you in trouble." I mumble, still kind of worried, rubbing the back of my neck.

"It's fine. Levi needs to learn to lighten up." She responds.

I'm really starting to hate the bell; it interrupts, sending us to our last class of the day. Damn, I still really want to keep talking to Mikasa. She's surprisingly really cool.

"Hey, let's walk to class together." I suggest. I should really start thinking before I speak. Luckily she seems to still be in a good mood and gives me a nod in agreement. We walk in awkward silence towards our math class together. I'm used to detention but knowing that I got Mikasa in trouble too is really starting to bother me. Mikasa isn't much of a conversation starter, so I'm surprised when she decides to be the first to break the silence.

"How did you learn to do that?" She questions me.

"What? Make jokes?" I ask back, honestly confused by her question. Another silent nod. "I don't know," I play with the straps of my backpack, trying to avoid making eye contact, "I've just always liked making people laugh and jokes are the easiest way. There's different kind of jokes too, like the first time I made you laugh, those are one liners. Then what I just did during lunch are impersonations. There are also run-on jokes, puns and sketches. The last two are my favorites." I ramble, always getting passionate when it comes to comedy. Shit, I hope I'm not boring her.

"Hmm, I didn't know there was a science to it." She concludes, considering my words as we walk into class. We end up sitting together, 'way to go Connie!' I give myself a mental high-five.

"Yeah, puns are super fun." I add.

"What's a pun?"

Hmmm, how do I explain puns to a girl I am just now finding out actually has a sense of humor? I try to stick to a simple explanation.

"Well, it's a play on words. You change the definition or sound of a word or words by replacing it with the subject or somet-Ugh- you know what let me just show you." I grab a pencil from my backpack and break the leaded side. "Wow, having a broken pencil sure is POINT-less."

Yes, I just broke my pencil for the sake of a pun; I am very passionate about puns. "Oooh." Mikasa nods in understanding, a small smile on her lips. Damn even the smallest of smiles on her face are pretty. "I see. It's pointless because it won't be able to write, but it's also lacking a physical point, thus creating a double meaning, very clever." She explains, much better than my own attempt at an explanation.

Eventually Mr. Oluo decides to finally join us for class. Fucking teachers always showing up late to their own classes when we're forced to show up in less than three minutes. The moment he opens his mouth I blank out, boredom consuming me in less than five seconds. I amuse myself by trying to see how many dicks I can draw on my notebook before class ends. I'm suddenly very hyper aware of the fact that Mikasa's sitting a few feet away and move my notebook more towards the side. Hoping she doesn't see how immature I am. Though using orange slices as makeshift eyebrows isn't very mature either.

I continue to doodle in my notebook until class ends. 'Should I wait for Mikasa?' I ask myself, 'we both have detention anyways.'

"You're quite the artist." Mikasa says sarcastically. Holy cow, she's capable of sarcasm too? Hot damn.

I struggle to put on my backpack, thinking of an excuse for my immaturity. "Oh that?" I chuckle nervously. "That was just- um, fuck, t-there's no explaining that is there?" I sigh, coming to terms with the fact that there is absolutely no explanation for the 121 dicks drawn in my notebook. Yes I counted.

"You're very strange Connie." She tells me, as if I didn't know that already.

"L-let's get going, don't want Levi to extend our jail time, do we?" I try desperately to change the subject.

We walk in silence yet again, making our way to the end of the crowded hallway where detention is held. "Sorry," I apologize again, "I feel really shitty about the whole detention thing." still worried as hell. Fuck I just really want her to like me. Having crushes suck. Follow my advice when I say, never ever have a crush.

"It's fine." she says, but then surprises me when she strays from her usual one sentence response. "Connie, you're an idiot, but I find you very amusing. Therefore I'm having a very hard time being upset at you, as I should be, given the circumstances." Even the way she talks is pretty. 'Holy shit she doesn't hate me!' I gasp internally, 'she thinks I'm funny!'.

We walk into the detention room where Levi waits for us in the corner desk. Dozens of perfectly placed posters of muscles and organs sit on the walls, each the exact same distance apart from each other. This isn't even Levi's classroom but I'm pretty sure he had something to do with the cleanliness of the room. Mikasa quietly sits down. I sit down a desk behind her, following the one desk distance rule of detention.

"Hope you brats think long and hard about your actions, and come up with some better jokes!" He growls at us, but the threat leans more towards me. Levi stands to make his way to the door, going to lock it. He stares at us the whole time, not trusting us for a second. The moment he sits back down there's a knock at the door, inducing a few curses from the already grumpy Levi. He opens the door for Ymir, late as always.

"Why am I not surprised? Another extension on your detention Ymir. I swear it's like you kids enjoy spending your time in awkward silence with me." Levi lectures.

My eyes find their way to the back of Mikasa's head as soon as Ymir sits herself down, the entertainment now over. Her hair shines under the flickering florescent lights of the classroom. She really rocks short hair, most people preferred her hair when it was longer, but I bet she could shave it and still look fucking hot as hell. I brush my hands along the stubble of my buzz cut at the thought. Hmm, I wonder if she prefers short or long hair. Maybe I should grow my hair out. A screeching ring blares from the classroom phone as I contemplate my newest hairstyle.

"Hello?" Weird how peoples voices always tend to get higher when they talk to someone new on the phone. Levi is not an exception. "Now?" His voice goes back down to its usual octave, must be Erwin. "I'm busy. No. Bu-fine, but you fucking owe me eyebrows." And with that Levi hangs up, obviously annoyed. He stands up and proceeds to stare us down for a good minute or two. He may be short, but he is fucking scary as shit. Fuck, short people are scary in general. Sure, I may be shorter than Levi but I don't let my height give me a short-temper. Ha-ha, get it SHORT temper? Man I have got to stop making internal monologue puns.

"I know it's hard for you dumbbells, but don't do anything stupid while I'm gone, or ill extend all of your detentions." He threatens us. We all shake our heads in agreement and he rushes out, slamming the door behind him unnecessarily.

"Igottagotakeadump!" Ymir shouts as she runs out the door a second later. It's just me, and Mikasa, perfect.

I tap her shoulder softly until she turns her body to look at me. "H-hey" I supply, not really sure what to say, and honestly just wanting to start a conversation. I hate awkward silences.

"Hi." She replies, staring into my soul with dark cold eyes. I quickly shift my eyes, not quite yet brave enough to make eye contact. I find my hands to be quite interesting and pick at the nail of my thumb mindlessly.

"Why are you so quiet all the time?" I blurt out. Well that wasn't what I was planning on saying at all! Why she got to make me so damn nervous? I'm acting worse than fucking Jean, and that's saying something!

She shrugs her shoulders. "I don't have anything to say."

"Okay but seriously, you look fucking depressed all the time. Why are you so serious? I know Annie does it 'cause she's just emotionally fucked up or some shit, but you're fucking cool as hell." Wow, my brain is sucking right now.

"I don't see what there is to be so happy about." She answers plainly.

"But yet you find me funny, of all people?" I continue to pester her. She gives me a small nod and an even smaller smile.

"Why are you so happy all the time? That big grin you always have on your face makes you look stupid." She asks me. Damn, she's fucking sassy. I like it.

"Because, there's no point in being all sad when I have such awesome friends. There's always something awesome going on, like yesterday Eren totally farted in economics class. It was fucking hilarious!" I chuckle, remembering Eren's angry and embarrassed face.

"Understandable." Is all I get.

She rests her elbow on the edge of the desk, resting her chin on her hand. This time she doesn't look bored, just neutral, probably in thought. I can't keep myself from staring at her, watching her eyes closely as they scan the posters on the room. Her dark eyelashes fluttering in the most hypnotizing way each time her eyes move or blink. I quickly look away when she looks over at me. Shit, I hope she didn't catch me staring.

Like the holy saint he is, Levi comes back into the room, saving my poor embarrassed ass. "Where's Ymir?" he spares no time in noticing the absence of a tall freckled girl with an attitude. He sighs loudly, "I'll be back." and walks towards the door for about the sixth time today.

"She's probably making out with Christa." I muse, to which Mikasa just nods. Doesn't her head hurt from all that nodding? She must need a break from all that talking. She's probably talked more today than she's ever had in a whole year. I really want to talk to her again, but the fear of annoying her stops me each time I try to open my mouth.

Ymir and Levi walk in a few minutes later. "Making out with miss Reiss while you're supposed to be in detention is a new low for you Ymir. Poor girl, I have no idea how she puts up with you." Levi lectures her. They then sit at their previous sits, both probably annoyed at one other.

"Now, I want complete silence for the last ten minutes of detention, so no talking!" he practically yells, he must have given up putting up with our shit by now.

Boredom finds me and the silence makes my head hurt. I shuffle around in my backpack, looking for something to keep me occupied, and find a slip of paper and pen. I write out a note, and as stealth like as possible, tap on Mikasa's shoulder and deliver it.

Im bored

Lets play a game C;

I watch her take out a pen from her sack and quickly write out a response. She passes it to me, smoothly using an under hand approach to hide the action from Levi's sight, being as nonchalant as possible.

What Kind?

Oh my gosh, even her writing is cute. For some reason this makes me blush like an idiot.

I say the 1st part of a joke

& then u finsh 4 me & then we swich

I pass the note up, becoming slightly better at being sneaky. I wait eagerly for her reply, practically jumping up and down in my seat.

Okay

I giggle quietly as I read the one word response and quickly write out the first half of my joke.

why does levi lik 2 clean so much?

I smile at all the great punch lines that could be used, but absolutely nothing compares to the response I end up getting.

Because he likes the smell of shit so much

he cleans it just to be near it.

I burst out into booming laughter, but quickly start fake coughing to try and hide the outburst. I mumble a quick "sorry" towards Levi who just rolls his eyes.

WTF wow that was SO bad

ur turn btw

We continue to play until only a few minutes of detention remain. A clever idea hits me and I don't even have time to think it through before I'm writing it out and passing it forward.

Ayeeee what did Mikasa say

when Connie asked her out?

I clench my eyes closed, praying that I don't get punched in the face or killed. It isn't until I feel something brush my finger that I open my eyes and find the slip of paper on my desk.

I don't see how that's supposed to

have a funny response?

I was hoping for a yes or no answer but before I can write out an explanation that says I was trying to be smooth, Mikasa's hand finds the paper and she quickly takes it back. She writes quickly, I see her pause before she commences again. She hesitates as she hands me the paper, her hand almost seems to be shaking, but I dismiss it quickly. That's not like her; she's probably just cold or something.

My turn.

What did Connie say when Mikasa's reply

to the previously asked question is a yes?

Holy. Fucking. SHIT. Is this for real? I gasp loudly and start my fake coughing again just in case.

?ARE YOU FOR REAL RIGHT NOW?

I'm not joking, even though that

is the purpose of this game.

Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit! HOLY FUCKING SHIT DICK RIDING A UNICORN!

DUDE im lik in shock rite now

WTF holy shit

Such a gentlemen.

Srry butt im lik dead rite now

How are we supposed to go out on our

date if your dead?

Damn it. I squeal internally like the manly grown up I am. My brain is still trying to make sense of what the fuck just happened. I honestly didn't think she would say yes, fuck I didn't even mean to fucking write that, what the fuck. How did this even happen? Honestly, if Mikasa were to be with anyone I would think it would at least be Eren even if that is weird as fuck but still. Not me. Noooope, I am the last person on this planet I would ever think she would say yes to. Fuck she has said no to Jean so many times, why me? I mean sure I'm a handsome devil but I also know I'm the biggest dumb ass at this whole fucking school. I let my confusion take control of my next response.

WHY?

Haha, don't you want me to say yes?

Besides you make me laugh. :)

A fucking smiley face? My cheeks should not be as hot as they are now and not be melting my face off. I scream internally once more, and bang my head on the desk, hard, in a failed attempt to wake myself up from this obvious dream.

"All right you bad excuses for the future of tomorrow, get out of here! Don't let me catch you being idiots again, except you Ymir. You have two more weeks of detention to make up." Levi says, dismissing us finally.

I stay in my seat for a few minutes, still in shock. Mikasa's already walking out the door when I finally come to terms with what has just happened. I almost trip on my own feet trying to catch up with her, but she's gone before I can reach her. I hold the note where the evidence of our conversation is written. I don't dare let it go, not as I walk to my rusty truck, not as I put it into reverse and drive home, not as I greet my mother and sister when I arrive, and most certainly not as I lay in bed, replaying the whole day in my mind. It isn't until I fall asleep that my hand unclenches. If it wasn't for my unconscious mind and my resting fingers, I'd keep it tight in my hand for fear of it disappearing. For fear of waking up, and having it all been a dream.