Chapter Three
Armin ended up on the end of the row, with Annie seated on his right. On her right was Reiner, and then Bertolt. Armin wished he was next to Bertolt, who was really into the game. He'd be able to answer Armin's questions about what on earth was happening. But it would be rude to try and shout over two people.
Annie kept trying to make small talk, something she clearly wasn't very good at. Armin couldn't help but feel like the pair of them should not have been paired up in this situation, since neither of them had any idea about the sport they were watching, and therefore couldn't even have a one sided conversation about that.
But the worst thing was that every few minutes, Reiner would look over at them with this weird expression on his face. Armin couldn't quite put a name to the expression, but it was starting to annoy him a little. Why was he doing that? Armin figured that Reiner knew something he didn't and it was irking him.
After a while, Annie abruptly stood up. "I'm going to the concession stand. Do you want to come?" she asked, looking at Armin.
"Uh, sure." Armin said, rising to his feet.
"Can you get me a pretzel?" Bertolt asked, leaning around Reiner.
"Get it yourself." Annie replied.
"I'll get it for you." Armin said, stepping into the aisle and motioning for Annie to go first. He wasn't super excited to go spend some one-on-one time with Annie. They didn't really have a lot in common, and if he was being entirely honest, she was just mean sometimes. But he'd put up with almost anything to get away from Reiner and his annoying facial expressions. So, down out of the seats they went, and around behind to the concession stand. They got into the back of the line and stood quietly for a few slightly awkward moments before Armin finally spoke up, "So, uh, good seats, huh?" He wanted to cringe from how dumb his comment was.
"I don't think so. From what I understand, people usually want to be closer to the court."
"Why? You can't see everything from down there."
"Yeah, but you could get sweat on or punched in the face or something. I don't know. Guys are weird."
"Right." Armin looked down at his feet as he went quiet for a few moments. "So, are you and Reiner good friends?"
"Eh." She said, shrugging her shoulders. "We grew up together. He's alright. Bertolt's better. More quiet, less annoying. Like you."
Armin wrinkled his face in confusion as he looked at her. "Um, thanks….I think." He was pretty sure that was supposed to be a compliment, in some sort of back handed way. "So, uh, how did you end up getting asked on this adventure?"
"I asked to go." She answered simply.
Armin blinked several times. "Y-you asked to come? A- a budding interest in basketball?" His mind was reeling.
"No. I heard Reiner had tickets and asked if I could come along."
Armin was more confused than ever. Why hadn't Reiner just said that Annie had asked to come along? And why had Annie asked to come along? What the hell was going on? They reached the front of the line and Armin was even more surprised when Annie didn't order anything. Why had she wanted to come down here? Armin ordered Bertolt's pretzel, and two sodas. One for himself, and one for Reiner. Reiner hadn't asked for one, but Armin knew his friend well enough to know he'd be asking for sips of Armin's and then drink the whole thing. He was as bad as Eren, in that respect. "You sure you don't want anything?" He asked Annie.
"Yeah, I changed my mind. I'm going to the bathroom." With that, she turned on her heel and walked off.
"Your girlfriend's kind of scary." The guy working the concession stand said.
"Oh, she's-she's not my girlfriend." Armin said, collecting his things and walking away.
As he walked, he could have sworn he heard the guy say, "Well, somebody had better tell her that."
Armin climbed back up and sat in Annie's seat. He handed Bertolt his pretzel and then held out Reiner's soda towards him. "I got you a soda."
"Oh cool, thanks. I was-" Reiner started to reach for it, but Armin jerked it back away from him.
"But you don't get it until you explain just what the hell is going on tonight."
"Oh, come on, Armin."
"I'm not kidding, Reiner."
"I can't-"
"Then it's my soda." Armin locked eyes with Reiner and took a long sip.
"You suck, Armin." Reiner huffed, crossing his arms. Meanwhile, Bertolt had a shit eating grin on his face as he looked between Armin and Reiner.
"You know something." Armin said, looking at the other boy.
"Unfortunately, and I for one, am delighted that it's not working because-" He leaned in close to Reiner and said in a mock whisper, "I told you so!"
"Shut up. I'm not speaking to either one of you."
Armin was hit with a thought and looked at Bertolt. "Bertolt, switch seats with me."
"With pleasure." Bertolt replied. He stood up and slid down to the empty seat next to Armin.
"Thank you." Armin replied.
"You've got to be kidding me." Reiner groaned.
"You're just mad because your stupid plan backfired, like I told you it would." Bertolt grinned, munching on his pretzel.
"I wish someone would tell me what this plan was." Armin muttered as he stood and slid down to sit in Bertolt's now vacated seat.
"That we can't do, as we are sworn to secrecy under penalty of a very painful death." Bertolt said, taking the extra soda that Armin had left there and taking a sip.
"Are you serious? That wasn't for you." Reiner said in a voice that sounded an awful lot like he was whining.
"Well, it certainly wasn't for you." Bertolt smirked.
All three boys grew quiet as Annie returned. She stared each one in the face for a moment before silently returning to her seat. They all sat quietly for a few more moments, watching each other out of the corners of their eyes. Suddenly, Annie grabbed the soda out of Bertolt's hand. "Mine now." She said, taking a sip. Bertolt just grinned in response.
A few minutes later, Reiner started reaching towards the soda Armin had put in the cup holder. Quick as lightening, Armin reached out and smacked Reiner's hand. "Ow! What the hell, Armin?" Reiner exclaimed, pulling his hand back.
"I told you no." Armin heard Annie laugh.
"You suck." Reiner said, crossing his arms.
"So, you've said."
They all sat quietly for a few more moments before Reiner spoke up again. "Annie, can I have a sip of your's?"
"Fuck off." She replied.
"Oh, come on! That was supposed to be mine!"
"Sucks." She said simply, shrugging her shoulders.
"You guys are the worst friends! Are you seriously going to make me go get my own soda?"
Armin found himself making eye contact with Annie around Reiner. She had a mischievous glint in her eyes that matched the smirk on Armin's mouth. "Yes." They said in unison.
"Don't bother. The game's just about over." Bertolt chimed in.
"Oh thank god." Annie said, rising to her feet.
"It's almost like you don't like basketball, Annie." Bertolt said in a teasing tone.
"Shut up." She replied.
Soon enough, they were standing outside. Annie had managed to sidle her way up next to Armin. "This was fun. We should hang out again sometime."
Armin just looked at her. "Uh, sure." He finally replied. "Maybe not basketball, though."
Annie cracked a rare smile. "No, definitely not basketball."
Armin gave her a small smile. "Yeah. Well, I've got to get home. My grandfather's going to kill me for being out this late." He nodded to her and Bertolt. "So, good night."
"Right. Night, Armin. See you tomorrow." Bertolt smiled, clapping Armin on the shoulder.
Armin turned and started walking towards the bus stop. Reiner fell into step alongside him. "So, are you going to tell me what all this was about?"
"No." Reiner replied.
"Fine. I'll figure it out on my own. Thought you were my friend. I guess we're not as close as I thought."
"Oh, don't do that." Reiner groaned as the bus pulled up.
"I'll do what I like." Armin said, climbing onto the bus, "And you can sit by yourself."
"Seriously? All of this was to help out a friend."
"Not me." Armin said, sitting down next to an older lady so that Reiner couldn't sit next to him.
"You're being a dick, Armin. I think you've been spending too much time around Eren." Reiner sat in the seat behind Armin.
Armin spun around to look at Reiner. "I'll have you know that I have my own distinct personality. Just because I'm not a pushover this evening doesn't mean I've become someone else."
Suddenly, the lady next to him and patted him on the leg. Armin spun back around to look at her. "That's right, sweetheart. Don't let this big brute take your autonomy away from you, sweet one."
Armin banged his head back against the seat. This old lady thought he was a girl. He took a deep breath and gave her a smile. "Thank you, ma'am." It wasn't worth it to try and correct her. Instead, he just spun around to look back at Reiner. Clearly, the other boy had taken offense to being called a brute. "And I'm not over this feeling that you were trying to set me up for something, and I don't appreciate being kept in the dark."
"It doesn't matter."
"I beg to differ."
"Why are you being to argumentative?"
"This poor thing is just trying to tell you how she feels, and you're completely ignoring her feelings." The lady next to Armin chimed in. "You're the one being a jerk, young man."
Armin repressed a sigh. This was not the first time he'd been mistaken for a girl. "Exactly what she said." He said, nodding seriously. "Stop ignoring my feelings, you big jerk." Armin had to admit, the look on Reiner's face was priceless. He clearly didn't know how to react to what had just happened. Armin was glad they were at his stop. "So, I guess I'll talk to you tomorrow, if you stop acting like a big, fat jerk." He rose to his feet. "Good night, ma'am." He added, nodding his head to the woman before climbing off the bus. As it pulled away, he could see the woman lecturing Reiner. This had been a weird night overall. He couldn't wait to tell Eren and Mikasa about it.
