The First Meeting

Bertholdt Fubar took one last glance back at his mother and father, who gave him encouraging smiles and waves, before he turned to the doors which would lead to a twelve year experience that most people have their own unique names for. Prison, jail, Hell-the names all had the same source. Bertholdt had been dreading this day, the first day of a 7-hour torture session for the duration of his youth. Taking a deep breath, the tall, 6-year-old boy with dark hair, tan skin and olive green eyes pushed the doors open and stepped into Hayden Peak Elementary School. Knowing his classroom number was 1b, he made his way to the first graders' hall and scoured the area for his assigned class.

Upon seeing the confused look on the boy's face, the vice principal Hanji Zoë quickly stepped up to him and offered her assistance.

"Hello there young man!" She boomed excitedly. "Can I help you with anything?"

Bertholdt blushed. "Oh u-um...I can't quite find my class..." He stared down at the floor and scuffed his sneaker on the tile.

Miss Zoë gave him a wide grin. "Ah, well if you tell me your room number I can help you out with that!"

"1b." He still didn't bring his eyes to meet hers.

Gently placing her hand on his shoulder, the spunky woman directed him to the classroom door which was situated between two others just across the hall from where they stood. "Your class is just over there, you have Mr. Ackerman as your teacher!" She gave him a wide grin before gently shoving him in that direction, and he stumbled forward a bit. He gulped, then proceeded to his class which he entered slowly, glancing in as to check that no one was watching.

Seeing that no one was really sitting yet and all of his fellow classmates were lined up around the edge of his class, he took it upon himself and joined them at the back, in hopes that no one would notice him.

The teacher, Mr. Ackerman, was a very short and angry-looking man. He had an undercut on his black hair, a cravat where most teachers would have a tie or a bow, and was currently leaning against the whiteboard at the front of the class with his arms crossed, looking at all of the students expectantly. He made the atmosphere a little tense with his lack of speech, simply waiting for the rest of the students to file in. The bell rang after another good 5 minutes, and the second it did, he, stood up to address the class.

"Good morning everyone. My name is Mr. Ackerman. I will be your teacher for the duration of the school year. I would like to formally welcome you all to first grade!" He spoke with an almost monotone, and his eyebrows remained forever furrowed, though his lips made enough expressions to make up for the lack which plagued those other two.

He continued to sit behind the computer at his desk, and turn on the overhead projector with a small white remote. As it whirred to life, Bertholdt's gaze wandered around the room at his fellow classmates, scoping out who might be potential bullies. Most of the other students remained silent and simply watched Mr. Ackerman fiddle with the computer, but there were a few spunky ones he took note of.

The first being an average-looking boy with intensely green eyes and messy brown hair. He was very tough and angry, so Bertholdt made a mental note to avoid him. He was with an Asian girl with long black hair and a red scarf, as well as a very small and skinny boy with a blond bowl-cut. Those two probably wouldn't be problematic, but they were with the angry boy so Bert was a little weary.

The next trouble maker was a skinny boy with a shaved head whose clothes were all out of order and had dirt all over him, as well as a bunch of scrapes on his knees. He was wildly talking to a long haired brunette who had her hair in a messy pony tail and was munching on a bag of potato chips. She was distantly paying attention to what the bald boy was blabbering about but seemed more focused on her chips.

There was a tall (though not nearly as tall as Bertholdt) boy who also had an undercut, but his shorter hair was a dark brown while his long hair was dirty blond. He had been saying something mean to the angry boy who in turn growled back at him, though with tears forming at the corners of his eyes. Yet another boy with a short undercut (what was with that hairstyle?) and freckles all over the bridge of his nose and under his eyes was tugging at the taller boy's shirt and telling him to stop, to no avail.

The last few students he noticed started with a blond boy who had broad shoulders and looked really tough. He was taller than the dual-hair-colored boy but still shorter than Bertholdt. He was leaning against the wall with one arm and blabbing incessantly to a very small girl with long blonde hair and big blue eyes, who was looking up at him with a sort of terrified face. A tomboyish girl with brown hair in a short ponytail and tan skin like Bertholdt's stood behind the short blonde and gave a very angry glare to the blond boy. The last girl was also extremely short, a little taller than the other blonde, had her bleach hair up in a spiky bun with her bangs hanging in her face. She had piercing blue eyes and a very bored expression on her face. She stood a little behind the large blond boy, looking as if she would rather be anywhere else.

Mr. Ackerman finally stood up again, then pulled down the projector screen and a blank seating chart was made visible for the students to see. He gestured at the desks. "I will allow you to sit where you would like for the entire year. However, you have to agree to obey my rules," the class nodded excitedly. "First, you are not allowed to talk while I am talking. If you have a question or something you need to say, please raise your hand and I will call on you. Second, do not leave the room without asking to do so. I had a major problem with my students last year for some reason with them just getting up and leaving to go to the bathroom or something. I don't want to see any of you doing that, am I clear?" A chorus of nods and 'Okay's. "Just raise your hand guys, it's not that hard. My last rule is that you respect yourselves, your classmates, and the school's property. Respect is a major thing in my class and I won't tolerate anything less. As long as you follow these three simple rules I will allow you to sit wherever you would like. Now then, with that out of the way, I'll give you guys five minutes to get to where you want to sit. Please think about who you want to sit by because the seat you pick is where you'll be at the rest of the year. Once you're all settled, I'll fill out this chart with your locations. Ready? Go!"

The room quickly became chaotic as the students scrambled to find their seats, shoving past each other to get to the best ones. Bertholdt idly stood by and watched them in their fury, as if they were soldiers on a battlefield slaughtering one another for the glory of victory. He wanted a seat towards the back, so he made his way to that area. The desks were aligned in rows facing the front of the room, but were pushed together in an organized manner. He noticed that the blonde girl with her hair in a bun had taken the further most seat in the back right corner of the class, so he sat himself one seat away just to give her the space she looked like she wanted. Her gaze slowly drifted over to him as he hung his backpack on the back of his chair and folded his hands neatly in his lap. He started sweating nervously when her gaze didn't shift. He felt like her eyes were boring into his soul.

Suddenly there was a loud thunk! in the seat on the left next to him and his head quickly snapped around to see what it was. Surprised, his eyes were met with those of the big blond boy who had been earlier flirting with the tiny blonde girl. He had surprisingly golden eyes and there was a bit of a red mark on his cheek. "Hi there, I'm Reiner!" He boldly announced, jabbing his hand in Bertholdt's direction.

The taller boy recoiled a bit, before realizing he only meant a friendly handshake. "U-um hi, I'm Bert-tholdt," he stuttered, before meekly returning the handshake. His cheeks flushed red and he was sweating even more now.

"That stupid Ymir girl chased me away from my Christa!" Reiner said angrily, as he watched the short blonde and the tall brunette who had taken it upon themselves to sit on the opposite side of the room from the big blond. He then turned back around to smile at Bertholdt, whose sweating only got more intense because of this. He didn't know what to do, or say-what did this kid want?

Then he heard the bleach-blonde girl shifting, so he looked back over to see what she was doing. She had hung her backpack in a similar manner to Bertholdt's on the back of the chair in between them, then graciously moved herself into that seat. She brushed her bangs behind her ear and looked up at the taller boy, then back at Reiner, who watched her with an eyebrow cocked. "I thought you two losers looked lonely so I decided to keep you company," was the only explanation they got from her, and her gaze just shifted back down to her desk. Bertholdt hadn't noticed before but she had been scribbling in a sketchbook, a picture of herself and what looked like an older man.

Reiner then spoke up again. "Yeah and everybody else here is dumb so I wanted to sit by you!" He added with a smile and Bertholdt flushed a little bit. "Oh and that's Annie," he added, pointing to the girl on Bertholdt's right. She said nothing, but nodded her head a little bit before resuming her picture.

Mr. Ackerman spoke again, drawing the class's attention. "Alright everyone, as you can see I have placed you in your seats up here on the seating chart according to where you are right now. This is your seat for the rest of the year unless I change you, so you better behave!" He proceeded to pick up a stack of papers off his desk and hand the exact amount to each row as he walked along, informing them to "Pass it down." When the papers reached Bertholdt's row, he looked down at his to see what their first assignment was. It was one of those get-to-know-your-classmates papers, and he thought the assignment would be pointless for him because to be honest he didn't really want to be anyone's friend. Maybe Reiner and Annie but that was about it.

The teacher instructed the class that they would have to get up and fill out the paper, and fill out certain things like 'who has been to Texas' or 'who can play piano' and things like that. Everyone rose from their seats and ambled about the classroom, walking up to each other and asking those questions.

Bertholdt supposed the assignment was good for learning who you would be with for the year, because he learned the names of the children he had picked out earlier. The angry boy with green eyes was named Eren, the Asian girl was Mikasa, their small blond friend was Armin, the bald boy was Connie, the girl with the chips was Sasha, the dual-hair-colored boy was Jean, his freckled friend was Marco, the short blonde Reiner was flirting with was Christa, and the tan-skinned tomboy with her was Ymir. Bertholdt considered that he should give them all a chance before truly judging whether or not to avoid or ignore them, and he did.

The teacher then clapped his hands and ordered the students to return to their seats, which they did hastily. He then collected their papers and informed them that this paper would just be participation points, so as long as they actually did it they'd get s good grade. He then picked up another thin stack of papers off of his tidy desk, and after flipping through and seeing there weren't enough for the whole class, he excused himself to the copy room to get the rest. The second Mr. Ackerman left the room, all of the students burst into conversation, chatting each other up and getting to know one another better.

Reiner turned in his desk to look at Bertholdt and Annie, who had her cheek in her hand and was giving a bored stare to the other two. Reiner then picked up the conversation again excitedly. "So where do you live, Bertholdt?" He asked curiously.

"Oh, um...just down the road a little bit. My backyard is right across the street from the junior high," Bertl replied sheepishly, starting another small nervous sweat from being stared at by the two blondes.

"Oh that's cool! I live just down the road from this school. We moved here last year! So what do you like to do for fun?" Reiner had a wide grin on his face.

"I uh, like to watch Sesame Street and I like to ride my bike...I also am learning how to roller blade. I just moved here too a couple of weeks ago, so I haven't really made any friends yet," Bertl hoped he didn't sound too lame.

Reiner's grin never faltered. "That's cool! I like Sesame Street and riding my bike too! I've made some friends-I like Christa and Connie and Eren and..." He gave a glance over his shoulder at the bleach blonde girl staring at them. "Even Annie. But hey if you don't have any friends then me and her could be friends for you!"

Bertholdt was a bit surprised by this. They were offering to be his friends? He turned to look at Annie and she simply nodded in agreement. He didn't know what to say or do. He simply sat there, dumbfounded, looking back and forth between them with a bewildered expression. Not knowing what else to say or do, he nodded his head politely and squeaked, "O-okay...yeah sure."

"Great!" Reiner boomed, grinning even wider. Mr. Ackerman returned just then with the stack of papers, waving them in his hand for all to see before passing them out and continuing into a lesson about reading. Bertholdt couldn't help but smile a little as the day progressed, and he was more than grateful to have his new friends.

That night after his parents had picked him up and they were all eating dinner, his father laid the usual question down on the table. "So how was your first day of school, Bertl?"

Twirling his spaghetti with his fork, Bertholdt looked up at his father who was a very tall and slim man, with a bit of a beard forming on his jaw. "It was good," Bertholdt replied nonchalantly, feeling sort of bored with his food.

"Did you make any new friends?" His mother chimed in. She was a petite woman with a perfect body, tan skin, and long, luxurious dark hair.

Bertholdt nodded. "Yeah. There's a boy named Reiner and a girl named Annie. They're both blondes and they're nice. My teacher seems okay too. His name is Mr. Ackerman."

"That's good," his father rasped. He had the voice of a 10-year smoker, and coughed constantly from the tar buildup in his lungs. He had also been diagnosed with chronic emphysema, and the doctors had only given him a few years left to live. The Fubars never spoke about this however, as it was a subject they preferred not to address. And, even though he knew this, Mr. Fubar still smoked religiously, claiming to his wife whenever she confronted him about it that "He didn't have long left to live anyways so he might as well make the best of it." Once they were finished with dinner, his father excused himself to go outside for a minute while Bertholdt helped his mother wash the dishes. Once he heard the front door close and he knew his father was out there smoking, Bertholdt gave a heavy sigh.

"What's eating at you?" His mother asked as she was scrubbing down the pot she had used for the tomato sauce.

"I just wish Daddy didn't smoke all the time," he said wistfully, staring at the plate in his hand with a sad expression.

Mrs. Fubar set the pot down, and looked at her son with her brows furrowed. After a minute, she gently grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him into a tight hug. Tears beginning to form at the corners of her eyes, she gave a small nod. "Me too, Bertl. Me too."

She let the hug sink in before rising up again, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. "Now then. I think it's beginning to be your bedtime, young man. What do you think?"

Bertholdt gave a small laugh. "Aw no, momma! I want to stay up tonight!"

The slim woman chuckled a little, then replied cheerfully, "Alright, here's what I'll do. If you help me finish these dishes I'll let you stay up until nine tonight for being a good helper and for braving your first day at school. And we can even make some popcorn and watch a movie. But we have to get the dishes done fast though-what do you say?"

Bertholdt nodded in agreement rapidly just as his father came in from smoking. "I'll second that!" He bellowed while giving his wife and child a happy smile. They couldn't help but return the grin and soon all three members of their small family were frantically washing, drying, and putting away the dishes. They all then agreed on watching Spirit-Stallion of the Cimarron, a favorite of Bertholdt's. Mrs. Fubar made popcorn and joined her boys on the couch as they all cuddled up and enjoyed the film. Bertholdt felt safe and secure snuggled between his parents and for that moment, all was right and well with the world, and he wished it would never change.

Alas, all good things have to come to an end, and the young boy was counting the hours until this one did.