I cant think of much for this chapter so it's kinda shorter than the previous few!

—.—

Armin was leaning against the counter by the cash register. There were only three or four people in the big pizza parlour and he was really, really bored. "Sir?!" He yelled from behind the counter.

"Hm, what?" Mr. Shadis demanded from the back room.

"When does the shop close again?" Armin asked.

There was a pause and a rustle of papers. "Eight! Now, go clean the tables, Arlert!"

"Yessir!" Armin shot up and was about to grab the rag and cleaner from under the counter when he heard the door open.

A family of four walked in the parlour. The father and son had hazel hair and the women had blonde, but out of the entire family the father seemed like the odd one out. He had brown eyes and the others had blue. He had olive skin while everyone else had a slightly paler tone. They took a few paces closer and he saw the figures more clearly. "Annie?" He asked.

Annie's eyes widened. "Arlert, what are you doing here?"

"I work here," he responded, waving to his uniform shirt.

"Well!" The woman beside Annie looked up and down the menu on the wall. "We'll get...a medium pepperoni pizza. I'll take a sprite. James?"

The man directed his eyes to the menu. "I'll have a coke."

The woman nudged the short boy in front of her. An annoyed look spread on his face; one that reminded him of Annie. "Root beer."

Annie looked away from Armin. "I'll just have a coke."

Armin grinned. "Alright. One minute please." The blond boy moved to the drink dispenser behind the counter and pulled four cups from the stack beside it. He filled the cups with the desired drinks and put the lids over them, followed by the straws. He handed them to the four behind the counter. "I'll get your pizza started now. Please, take a seat while you wait. I'll call you when its finished."

The woman nodded and the four started to leave. She tugged at Annie's sleeve. "Why don't you wait for the pizza?" She winked.

Annie rolled her eyes and shook off her arm. She walked back to the counter and looked up at him. "Hey."

He smiled at her. "Hi."

"So," she looked around. "Why did you choose to work here? I'm sure anyone with your talents could get a job elsewhere."

He shook his head. "No, not really. How is reading a talent?" He laughed.

The blonde girl rolled her eyes, but has a faint trace of a smile on her face, which was nice to see.

"So that's your family, I presume?"

"Well," she made a face. "That's my mother."

Armin raised an eyebrow. "So that isn't your father?"

"No way. I look nothing like him, first of all. And second, I just met him today. He's my mothers new husband."

"Oh..." Armin trailed off. How could he respond to that? "Well you and your brother seem a lot alike, from what I collected. What do you know about him?"

She tapped her fingers on the counter. "His name is Damian. He looks around ten or eleven years old, if I guessed right about the year he was born."

"The year he was born?" Armin questioned. "Why did you phrase it like that?"

"My mother left my father and I when I was six." She stated. "She got married within the year and sent me a letter. Didn't read it obviously, or I wouldn't be wondering." Annie leaned against the counter. "So by the time he was born I would have been seven. It's been about eleven years since then."

Armin counted the years. "You're eighteen?" He got a nod in response. "But you're in grade eleven, how are you eighteen? Unless you—"

"I didn't fail." She glared at him. "My father didn't put me in school the year my mother left. We didn't have enough money because he kept spending it on—" her eyes widened and she shut her mouth.

Armin looked at her worriedly. "Hey, Annie. Are you okay?"

She nodded. "Is...is the pizza ready yet? The sooner we eat the sooner I can go home."

"Oh, umm I'll go look." He walked to the big oven, but not before seeing Annie's face. Her eyes looked pain, like she recalled a bad memory. Armin looked at the pizza and pulled it out of the oven. He put it on a big plate and handed it to Annie. She gave him a short 'thanks' before starting to walk away. "Hey, Annie?"

She paused and turned around to look at him. "Yeah?"

"Are...are you sure you're okay?"

Something flashed through her eyes, but it was gone as quick as it came. It looked sad, or was it hatred? He couldn't pinpoint any emotion. It was gone too quickly. "I'll fine, Armin. Stop worrying." Then she turned and walked to her family.

Armin looked at a loss for words. He wished she didn't just push him away like that, but another thought crossed his mind. Did she just say my first name?

—.—

Cute? Sorry these chapters are coming out so late. What did you think?

My wifi was broken so the next chapter is already in the making! It may not be out for a little while though sorry :(

Review? :D