A/N

Please don't hate me because I used google translate. I apologize that I don't speak French. I wish that I did.

The building where my class was wasn't that big. Actually, I almost couldn't find it, which meant that when I got there I was hurrying to get inside and find a seat as soon as possible. Luckily for me, there was one empty seat right next to the door, which I was quick to claim. In the seat directly next to the me (on my left; the door was to my right) sat a guy who was somewhat small in stature and had blonde hair in a bob that came down almost to his shoulders. He turned his head to look at me, and for a moment I was reminded of Christa, one of the girls who'd helped me move in.

A few minutes after the professor -who said their name was Hannes- had started talking (it was about lesson and homework itineraries that were going to be handed out, I think), I scribbled out a short note on a piece of paper and handed it to the blonde beside me.

"Hi, I don't think we've met. I'm Eren." Normally I wouldn't use such proper grammar on a note, but this was the first time I'd ever talked to this person, so I wanted to be polite, and that meant using things such as capitalization, commas, and apostrophes.

A moment later, I had it back. "Um. Hi Eren. I'm Armin." I could tell from his response that he hadn't been expecting a total stranger to pass him a note, but I couldn't blame him.

But wait. Hadn't Marco said that his roommate was named Armin? "Armin Arlert?"

His eyes widened a little when he read the note, and I couldn't tell if it was from surprise, alarm, or both. Also, in his reply (probably because of the unexpectedness of a stranger knowing his name), he had completely disregarded the proper grammar that (apparently) we'd both been trying to use. "Uh yeah how do you know my name"

"Your roommate told me about you. our dorms are across the hall from each other"

"Marco told you about me? What did he say?"

"Only good things" I sent back. "He said that you like video games alot but youre also kind of a genius"

"Oh okay. Well I do like video games so I guess you can count Marco as a credible source of information. Or not. That sounded weird. Sorry."

"Its fine." Okay yeah, this kid was probably pretty smart, because it wasn't often that I heard (or read, in this case) anyone say the word "credible", let alone apologize for it afterwards. "So, whatre you going to college for?"

His answer took a while, and when I read it, I wasn't surprised as to why. That coconut might as well have written a fucking essay. "Well, I'm double majoring in physics and psychology, and I'm also double minoring in language and math. I'm going to try to get a Ph.D. in either physics or psychology and teaching degrees in the rest. It's gonna be a lot of work, but I think itll be worth it in the long run. I'm not entirely sure where I want to go after I graduate though. Wherever the jobs are I guess. I just want to get a steady teaching job somewhere"

I read it all, then replied, "Damn man, that's long" followed by a few hastily scribbled sentences about what I was doing in college. I was majoring in biology (mostly because my dad wanted me to), minoring in music (which I was a lot more enthusiastic about), I also wanted to be a teacher, and wait, there's a class called language? I pulled out my class schedule before realizing how much of an idiot I really was. Yes, there was a class called language, and I was scheduled to take it (more specifically, I was taking French). I had it right after this one.

Armin and I passed notes for a while longer, until he suggested that we just exchange phone numbers. I agreed and punched him into my phone after giving him mine, saving his name in my contacts as "blonde coconut". The other contacts I had in my phone were my parents, Mikasa, some old friends from high school, Jean (his contact name was Horse), and Marco (his contact was Mexican Freckles, and I'd gotten his number when we were at the coffee shop).

I sent Armin a quick text, hoping to continue conversing with him. "So, what sort of stuff is there to do around here?"

He answered fairly quickly. "Well, theres lots of goof restaurants and theres a pretty cool concert hall just off of campus. I go sometimes. Theres a lot of good bands. Theres also at least one frat party every Friday."

"That sounds cool. Is there one this weekend?" It had really piqued my interest when Armin had mentioned parties, I wouldn't lie.

"yeah, I think so. I wasnt planning on going tho"

"you should. I think I want to go but I want someone to go with me so im not alone." I felt a bit disappointed that Armin didn't want to go, even though I didn't even know him that well. I was quick to send him another text, however. "but you don't have to if you don't want to. im not going to force you"

I heard him chuckle quietly before I got his reply. "its okay. i might go. i havent been to one yet, so itll probly be pretty fun if i do actually gi" another text was sent a few seconds later. "go"

I quietly snickered at his typo before replying. "do you know where it is"

He took a moment before he answered. "yah but its kinda hard to explain where its at. youd probly be better off just finding someone to go with whos been to one before"

I rolled my eyes before answering, trying to make it seem as sarcastic as I possibly could with a text. "Yeah, because that's going to be so easy"

"maybe. you never know"

"sure. because im totally going to, i dunno,nwalk out of this class and bump into some guy to go with."

"ill bet you 10 bucks that you do"

I smirked. "youre on, but dont back out when you owe me $10"

"I wont because im not going to owe you anything"

"we'll see"

At that point, we pretty much stopped talking, and I tried to listen to the professor talk more about what we were going to do this year. After we were dismissed until the next day we had this class (which was three days from now; on Thursday), and I hurried to stuff my belongings back into my bag and get out the door.

Once I was out, I didn't get very far before I crashed into someone and fell to the ground, and suddenly I was very very afraid for the well-being of my ten dollars. My bag had landed a few feet away from me, and as I sat up I could see someone (whom I could only assume was the person I'd run into) bending over to pick it up.

I quickly pushed myself up off of the ground, walking towards him to say he didn't need to help me. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you. You don't need to pick that up, I could do it. It's really fine. I'm sorry-"

He straightened up, holding my bag in his hands, and cut me off. "It's fine, but stop talking so much. You're rambling, and it's annoying."

My eyes went wide when I realized who this was. If I remembered his name correctly, this was Levi from the coffee shop just this morning. "Uh, okay... and thanks. But aren't you..."

He cut me off (again) before I could finish my thought. "The asshole from the coffee shop? Yeah. And you're the brat who listens to other people's conversations without their permission."

I crossed my arms behind my back, nervously shuffling my feet and looking at the ground, not even knowing why I should be nervous. I did want my backpack though, so... "I didn't say you were an asshole... I'm sorry for butting into your business. But um... Can I have my backpack back?"

"That depends. Are you going to another class or were you just in that much of a hurry to get back to your dorm? That is, assuming you do have a dorm." He crossed his arms, holding my bag in one hand and tapping one of his feet impatiently.

"Yeah, I have a dorm, but no, that wasn't where I was going. I have another class."

"Which one?" His tone was impatient.

"Language. French."

"That's where I'm going too, so I'm going to keep this," he uncrossed his arms and gestured to his bag, "until we get there."

Why was this guy being so nice? "Oh... okay. I guess. Should we um... go then?"

"Yeah." He turned and started walking away from me, in the direction of the class building, and I followed him, forgetting about my car for the time being. I could always come back for it later. As we walked, he must have noticed my nervous demeanor, because he stopped and looked at me, saying, "Kid, you don't need to be afraid of me. I may have made a shitty first impression, but I'm not as much of a dick as you've probably made me out to be."

I had stopped walking, too, and I brought my gaze up so that I was looking at him instead of his shoes. Damn, I thought. He's actually pretty handsome. Just as suddenly as I had been fearful for my ten dollars, I couldn't give fewer fucks about them. I would let this guy take me to a party any time. "Oh... Okay. I'll try."

"You do that." With that, he turned and began walking away from me again, the two of us soon arriving at the location of our (apparently) shared class. At that moment, I realized that I still wasn't entirely sure what his name was.

"Oh, hey, hold on. Your name is Levi, right?"

He didn't stop walking as he answered. "Yeah. I would ask how you knew, but you probably heard when you were snooping on my conversations."

"Oh, shut up, I said I was sorry. And plus, it's not like there was a ton of other noise in there to keep me from hearing everything you guys were talking about."

"That's better."

I was confused. "What's better?"

"Earlier you were acting like a scared little kid who's afraid to talk to an adult. Just now, you sounded a lot more like what you're probably like. I told you to stop being scared of me, and you did. Thanks for that, I guess."

"Oh, okay. You're welcome." Just then, we arrived at the building for the class.

As we entered, the professor greeted us in French. "Salut! comment ça va aujourd'hui?"

Much to my surprise, Levi answered him in the same language. "Pas aussi bien que je le voudrais. Je fus interrompu sur mon chemin à cette classe par ce gosse ici." He gestured to me as he spoke, which made me wonder what he was saying.

The professor understood however, and seemed just as surprised as I had that Levi could speak the language that was supposed to be taught to him over the course of the next few years. "Tu parle français?"

Levi rolled his eyes before answering. "Bien sûr, semble de cette façon, ne serait-il?"

The professor laughed, and answered him in English. "Yes, it would. But, for future reference," she pointed finger at him in fake accusation, "don't sass me."

"Yeah, okay." From what I could tell, Levi had to try not to roll his eyes again.

"Well anyway, it's nice to meet you, even though I don't quite understand why you would need to take a class for a language you already speak. I'm Rico Brzenska."

"That doesn't sound very French."

"That's because it isn't." She straightened up some papers on a podium at the front of the room.

"Oh." Of course it wasn't. I was just an idiot.

"I'll bet you feel real smart now." Levi's tone was flat; bored, almost.

"Oh, shut up." I cursed myself for speaking up and I felt my face get a bit hot.

"I don't think I will, actually."

"Fuck you."

"Hey! Watch your language in my classroom!" Oh. I'd forgotten that Ms. Br-... Ms. Bre-... Ms. B was still there.

"Sorry, Ms. uh... Is it okay if I call you Ms. B?

She shrugged. "Il n'a pas d'importance pour moi."

"Uhh..." I turned to Levi for help. "What'd she say?"

"She's fine with it." Then, again in French, he spoke to Ms. B. "Allez-vous le faire toute l'année?"

I had no idea what they were saying, but from Ms. B's tone I could tell she was pretending to not know what Levi was talking about. "Faites ce que toute l'année?"

At this point, other students began arriving. Levi payed them no mind however, and kept talking. "Parlant en français à confondre ceux qui ne l'ont pas appris."

Ms. B shrugged. "Peut-être je le ferai." Then, speaking in English once more, she said, "now take your seats. You're blocking the way for other students to get into the room."

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Levi turned and walked into one of the rows of seats, choosing a place and sitting down.

I would have gone to a different part of the room to sit, but Levi still had my backpack, so I was practically forced to sit by him. Sure, I could've just grabbed it and went, but judging from the way that Levi was holding it, I wouldn't have been able to do that. He had it on his lap, and his arms were wrapped around it almost protectively. Damn.

I sat down beside Levi and crossed my arms over my chest. "Can I have my bag back please?"

"Sure." He tossed it onto my lap, and I quickly uncrossed my arms and snatched at it to prevent it from falling to the floor. I sent a fake-angry look towards Levi, and was surprised to see a ghost of a smile on his face. I couldn't tell if it was a genuine smile or not, because almost as soon as I looked his way, Levi's face returned to its normal stony look, and his tone hadn't changed from its previous deadpan.

"Thanks."

"No problem." He seemed to be contemplating something, and I had no idea of what. That is, of course, until he said it (but I couldn't be sure; he might not be talking about what he'd been thinking, after all). "Would you be interested in going to a party this Friday?"

Fuck, I thought. There goes my ten dollars. "Sure, why?" I pretended to have not heard about it previously, and from what I could tell, I did a damn good job. "Is there one?"

"Yeah. There is. Hanji - one of my friends that you probably saw at the coffee shop - wants me to go, but I wasn't so sure. But, now that I think about it, it may not be so bad if... If someone were to go with me?"

What the fuck. Is he seriously asking me to go to a party with him? Earlier, he seemed kind of like a douchebag, but now he's being... nice? This is weird. I didn't even know Levi very well, but I could guess that this wasn't like him. I could also guess that the slight pink tint of his cheeks and his averted eyes weren't like him either. "A-are you serious?"

I must have accidentally sounded offended, because Levi's tone became cautious. "Yeah? I mean, if you don't want to go, it's fine... And you're probably wondering why I pretty much just asked you out even though we literally only met three hours ago."

"Yeah, kind of." I wouldn't lie, I was surprised.

"Well, you see," Levi laced his fingers together, and it seemed as if his thumbs had suddenly become very interesting. "I don't really know either. To be honest, you're a brat."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are." He looked back at me, and his face was back to being stoic and seemingly void of emotion. It reminded me a lot of Mikasa. "You are, and I don't know why I wanted to ask you out, but I just did. So deal with it. And before you ask," he pointed an accusing finger at me. "I don't believe in that reincarnation shit, so it's not like I asked because I think I remember you or something."

"I wasn't going to say anything about reincarnation." I really wasn't. Sure, I believed in it, but it wasn't like I was going to go searching for someone I'd known in a past life or something. I didn't care about that. If I'd had any past lives, I sure as hell didn't remember anything from them, so I wasn't about to bring it up in conversation. "But, I guess I'm flattered that you asked me? I haven't been asked on many dates before."

"I never said it was a date, you brat."

"I'm not a brat, and yes, you kind of did. You said, and I quote, "you're probably wondering why I pretty much just asked you out," so, yeah."

"Shut up."

I decided to repeat what he'd said earlier. "I don't think I will, actually."

He seemed to catch on, and his expression cracked into a smirk. "Fuck you."

"Hey, Ms. B isn't going to tell us to watch our language this time."

"Maybe she should."

"Nah, I think I'd prefer if she didn't." I jokingly stuck my tongue out at Levi.

"Me too. But, you need to answer my question."

"What question?"

Levi rolled his eyes. "Are you really that dumb?"

"Apparently."

"Ugh." He let out an exasperated sigh before continuing. "Will you go to that party?"

"Sure."

He turned and started pulling out his books, mumbling, "thanks. I'll pick you up before the party Friday then."

I raised an eyebrow. "But... you don't know where my dorm is."

"I probably will by the time Friday comes along. In the meantime, you should give me your number."

"Wow, someone's eager."

"Shut up, brat."

I put up two hands defensively. "Okay, okay. Sorry. Where's your phone?"

He gave it to me, and I put my number into his contacts, letting him do the same with his number and my phone. At that point, Ms. B started teaching, and Levi said that I should pay attention so that he and I could eventually hold some kind of conversation in his (apparently) native language. I was strangely okay with the fact that this man would be taking me to my first college party in just four days.

But, I realized, I owed Armin ten bucks because of it.

A/N

here's chapter four!

Translations (again, I apologize that they're probably not perfect because I had to use google translate):

salut! comment ça va aujourd'hui? - hello! how are you today?

Pas aussi bien que je le voudrais. Je fus interrompu sur mon chemin à cette classe par ce gosse ici. - Not as well as I would like. I was interrupted on my way to this class by this brat here.

Tu parle français? - you speak french?

Bien sûr, semble de cette façon, ne serait-il? - sure would seem that way, wouldn't it?

Il n'a pas d'importance pour moi - it doesn't matter to me

Allez-vous le faire toute l'année? - are you going to do that all year?

Faites ce que toute l'année? - do what all year?

Parlant en français à confondre ceux qui ne l'ont pas appris. - speak in French to confuse those who haven't learned it.

peut-être je le ferai. - perhaps I will.