Armin's bony knuckles sounded against the hard wooden door of the school counsellor's office. His stomach was churning uneasily and his mouth was dry. He had been fretting over Annie for the remainder of the weekend and now was his chance to try and help her. He knew full well that a simple visit to Miss Ral was not going to fix everything straight away. The situation was beyond that, it was complicated and things wouldn't be solved overnight, but today was the beginning.
"Come in." a kind voice called from behind the door. Armin swallowed hard and turned the door handle.
A woman with light red hair and humble brown eyes greeted him with a smile, "Oh Armin, it's nice to see you again. Is everything okay?" she turned her full attention to the teenager and beckoned for him to take a seat. Her smile faded away when she saw how drained and stressed out the blond appeared.
"No…I'm afraid nothing is okay right now." Armin mumbled, taking a seat opposite.
"Well, okay. Care to tell me what the problem is? Is this about your self-esteem?" Armin simply shook his head while trying to formulate how to explain the situation. There was a slight pause and then Miss Ral spoke again, "Have you been…self-harming again?" her voice was full of concern.
"N-no, it's not about me this time. My concerns are for a close friend of mine; well she's more than a friend actually…" Armin blushed lightly but subconsciously began to rub one of his wrists with his fingers. Unpleasant memories suddenly flashed across his mind from his freshman year. Things he had placed to the back of his mind and tried to forget.
"Okay, go ahead, when you're ready." Miss Ral said patiently.
Armin swallowed a lump in his throat, "I have a friend who is being abused by her father. At least, that's what I'm sure of. See, she hasn't told me directly but I've seen many nasty looking bruises on her body on more than one occasion. Not only that, I've heard her father yelling at her. I'm just really scared for her safety…"
"May I know her name? It's that, I won't be able to do anything if I do not know who she is" Miss Ral looked at Armin sternly, but at the same time she came across as being deeply caring.
"Annie Leonhardt, she's in the same grade as me." For some reason he had been hesitant to give her away. Armin felt guilty for going behind Annie's back but he knew it had to be done. He couldn't turn a blind eye and let the abuse continue. At this rate it didn't look like Annie was about to tell him anything. She would be so angry at him, he could just imagine it now. In fact, this could destroy everything between them, but it was for Annie's own good. He knew he had to put her above everything, and that included his own feelings.
"Thank you, Armin. Has she shown any other signs that she might be being abused? I need to know all the details before speaking with her about it".
Armin looked down to his lap and nodded, "Yes. When she first started here, she didn't eat properly. She began buying soup at the canteen after I had started to bring her food, she said she didn't want to rely on anyone. She told me she wasn't on a diet, so I always thought that was strange. I also helped her out with her studies because she was very behind. She's really smart, and after I helped her she managed to get back on track but I know it's because of the abuse that she was behind in the first place. Oh, and her mother passed away recently, I know she's suffering because of it."
"From what you have told me it does seem like there is a big problem here, and it needs to be addressed immediately. I will make sure that I get to speak with her today."
"Thanks. And Miss Ral, is it possible that I remain anonymous? I think she will be mad at me for telling anybody, she's very private."
Miss Ral nodded understandingly, "Yes, of course Armin. You did the right thing by coming here and telling me about your concerns for Annie."
"You will be able to help her, right?" Armin didn't want to question Miss Ral's abilities but he had to be reassured.
"I will do all that I can" she smiled, "now, is there anything else you would like to talk about? How have you been?"
"I've been fine." Armin had been in a much better frame of mind compared to last year. Last year, when he started high school he had no self esteem whatsoever. He got bullied and life was hell for a while, he felt so worthless. He had even begun to self-harm, but after going to see the counsellor everything got better. Not to mention the support he received from his two best friends, Eren and Mikasa. He finally saw that he wasn't worthless, and for the first time in his life he started to value himself.
"I'm glad to hear that, it looks like you've come a long way." Miss Ral beamed.
"I have." Armin returned the smile and stood up, "Well, I had better go to class."
Miss Ral nodded and Armin left the office. He felt relieved that the issue had finally been addressed to someone in authority. This was only the beginning, but he had faith.
It was during math class when a note was handed to Annie. She had been daydreaming and not even heard someone enter the room. What have I done wrong this time? She wondered. Before reading what was on the note, she could only guess that it was going to tell her to visit the principal's office. I missed one class this morning and this is what I get. However, as Annie's pale blue eyes scanned over the words on the piece of paper, she was suddenly met with confusion.
"Annie Leonhardt, please go to see the school counsellor, Miss Ral, at the beginning of break. Her office is at 212."
Annie suddenly felt uncomfortable and irritated, School counsellor? Why the hell would I need to see her? She quickly crumpled up the piece of paper and stuffed it into her pocket out of sight.
Armin who sat beside her, watched nervously. It appeared like she was already angry at the idea. He hadn't really been able to speak with her properly today. She had turned up half way through math class, sat beside him, and not really said much except for a small greeting. The teacher in this class did not allow them to speak, either. However, from what Armin could gather about her mood from her body language and so on, he got the impression that she felt slightly shy and maybe awkward about the kiss they had shared. Although, he couldn't be fully sure of that. Annie had always been a bit of a mystery to him, and maybe that was why he was so drawn to her in the first place.
When class was over, Annie stuffed her things into her bag, "I have to go somewhere, I'll see you later."
Armin was surprised to see a faint smile on her face before she walked off. As soon as she disappeared, Armin felt extremely anxious. He hoped that Annie would accept help from Miss Ral, but he couldn't help fear the worst. He knew Annie too well. She was so independent and mistrusting to the point where she couldn't even tell him about her problems.
Annie concluded that this must be some kind of mistake, a mistake that she needed to put right. She knocked once on the door and heard a sweet voice call from inside. The blonde stepped in and did not bother to close the door behind her,
"Hello, you must be Annie?" Please take a sea—"
"This is some kind of mistake, I don't need to be here." Annie interrupted brashly.
Miss Ral shook her head slowly and smiled, "No, it's not a mistake. I just want to have a little chat with you. Please come and sit down."
"How do you even know who I am?" Annie snapped, wondering how this woman had even heard of her, because Annie for sure hadn't seen her before. The blonde closed the door but ignored the instruction to sit down.
"Oh I'm sorry, I haven't fully introduced myself have I? I'm the school counsellor, Petra Ral. You can call me Miss Ral or Petra, whatever makes you feel comfortable. Now, I understand that you may be going through a hard time right now and I'm here to help."
"That didn't answer my question." the blonde stated bluntly and folded her arms across her chest. Miss Ral swallowed hard, knowing this was going to be difficult.
"As the school counsellor, my job is to help students. I'm notified when a pupil has shown signs of having problems. I'm not going to force you to talk, and I'm not being nosy either. All I want to do is help. I'd like to let you know that everything you tell me in here will be completely confidential."
"What do you know about me?" Annie asked while scowling at the redhead. She didn't feel comfortable when someone had the upper-hand on her, and this woman clearly knew something.
"L-look, I'm getting the feeling that you think I'm out to get you, and I can assure you I'm not. I just want to help—"
"I don't need your help. I think I have an idea of what is going on here, someone came and told you something about me, right?" Annie's blue eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Yes. Someone extremely kind and caring came to tell me that they are very concerned about you. You don't need to suffer alone in silence anymore, Annie."
"Who was it?" Annie could feel herself becoming angrier by the second.
"I'm afraid I can't tell you that information." Miss Ral stated firmly, no longer smiling.
"Let me guess," Annie paused and felt like kicking the woman in the face for not telling her the information she felt like she had a right to know. The violent thoughts scared her but she shook them off and continued, "It was Armin Arlert." The blonde felt a sickening feeling at the pit of her stomach, she felt so betrayed. Armin had gone behind her back and told the school counsellor what he had worked out. She knew it was Armin, no one else would have known. She felt so upset and furious at the same. How could Armin be so sneaky to tell a complete stranger something so personal about her!? Why didn't he at least confront her about it first? The look on Miss Ral's face confirmed it. He had told. Annie was fuming and dashed out of the office.
"Wait, Annie…!" Miss Ral called out to her but it was too late, Annie was already gone.
The blonde felt overwhelmed by a mixture of emotions, anger first and foremost but she also felt like crying her eyes out. Everything was exposed now, it was all over. She completely ignored orders barked at her from teachers to stop running through the hallway. Eventually she got outside and her eyes scanned her surroundings, she was so worked up that she didn't even feel the cold for once. When she saw Armin by the benches laughing with not just Eren and Mikasa, but Sasha, Connie, Christa and Ymir she saw red. The blonde rushed over to him, and by the time he had noticed her approaching, it was too late. Armin's eyes widened,
"A-Annie?"
Annie's fist raised and smashed into Armin's shoulder before he could even blink. A yelp escaped his mouth as he fell slightly backwards at the harsh impact of Annie's punch, but managed to keep his balance. He was just thankful that he was wearing a thick coat to soften the blow, but it didn't really do that much to ease the pain that shot through his shoulder and down his arm. Annie could feel everyone's eyes on her but she had gone past the point of caring.
"Why did you go behind my back and tell!?" she screamed it, there was silence all around her as everyone's eyes were drawn towards her and Armin, completely and utterly dumbfounded. Most of them had barely even heard Annie speak before. The girl stared into Armin's eyes and she could see that she had really hurt him. Guilt began to creep up on her but she was still so angry.
"I..." Armin looked like a kicked puppy, and before he could try and explain, Eren intervened.
"What the fuck is wrong with you!?" he grabbed Annie's arm and roughly turned her to face him. As the blonde looked up at Eren, she looked absolutely furious.
"Get your hands off of me." Annie demanded and kicked Eren in the shin.
The boy immediately released her arm and let out a gasp in pain, "Crazy bitch!"
Armin looked from Eren to Annie in desperation, unable to do anything. He was frozen in the spot and completely speechless. It was all happening so fast. He then noticed that Annie had balled her fist and was about to punch Eren, this time Armin had seen it coming and quickly tried to stop her.
"N-No Annie!" it was clear that Armin's pleas were going to do little to stop the raging blonde.
However, just in time, Mikasa came between them. She grabbed hold of Annie's wrist and backed her up against a wall. The taller girl was extremely strong. It may as well have been her father who had pinned her.
"Don't even think about laying another finger on Eren, do you understand me? If you dare do it again, I'll make you regret the day you were born." Mikasa hissed and her black eyes shone with pure anger.
"Let go of me." Annie gritted her teeth but felt tears slide down her cheeks before she was able to stop them. She cursed at herself for showing weakness at a time like this. Mikasa eyed her cautiously, "I SAID LET GO!" the blonde shouted and was tempted to start thrashing. This girl wasn't her father, she could fight back all she wanted and probably could inflict some damage.
"Mikasa please let her go!" Armin came to Mikasa's side and gave her a stern look. This was all his fault. He knew it, and would take the blame. Mikasa looked at Armin and then looked back at the smaller blonde. She released Annie but gave her a warning look as she did so.
Annie made no hesitation to run from scene, the sheer speed of her action meant that nobody was able to chase after her and actually catch up with her.
What have I done? Tears were streaming down her face and she could barely see where she was going. I punched him…I'm as bad as my father. I'm disgusting. Annie's thoughts were going down the drain and fast. Suddenly she bashed into something hard, it completely snapped her away from her negative train of thought. Hands rushed out to stop her from falling to the ground and the blonde looked up. She quickly wiped the tears from her face, and scowled at whoever it was who was in her way.
"Are you okay?" a concerned voice asked. It was that of Reiner's, the guy who usually harassed her in the hallways. She noticed Reiner's tall friend was looking down at her with a worried expression on his face, too.
"Get out of my way." Annie snapped.
"I know we've not always seen eye-to-eye, but you look really upset. Are you okay? What happened?
"Does it look like I'm okay? Now move the fuck out of my way, and maybe then I'll actually be alright."
"R-Reiner…just do as she wants" Bertholdt piped up.
"Fine. Okay." Reiner stepped back with his hands raised and Annie made her way out of the school premises. She would just go home, she didn't care anymore. If the school wanted to contact her father, so be it.
I can't believe what I did. I hit him. I kicked his best friend. I caused a scene in front of a shit load of people. But he went behind my back…
The anger had worn off by this point and Annie was left with all the other negative feelings. Her thoughts were all over the place and she felt despair consume her as she walked back home. The blonde was shaking and she tried hard to stop thinking about it, but she couldn't.
I should stop being so fucking stupid, he didn't do it out of spite. He only had my best interests at heart; I know that because it was written all over his face. Why did I have to act like a bitch? Why do I always act like a bitch? Was I born like this…? Is it just who I am? I'm really no better than Dad. How does Armin even like me? Or, how did he like me? He most likely doesn't anymore. In fact, he probably hates me…it's a shame because that means I'll never get to kiss him again, or feel the warmth of his hugs. But I only have myself to blame. I've always turned down the help that's been there for me the whole time. How fucking stupid, because I really need it! I admit it! I'm not that strong, I'm a weak. I can't go on like this anymore, but it's too late now.
"I don't know what to do…" Annie mumbled to herself.
The bell rang signalling the end of break, but Eren wanted answers. "What the hell was that, Armin? She's a fucking psycho!" the brunet's shin still hurt from where Annie had kicked him, and it was likely to bruise.
Armin didn't answer.
"Armin! Answer me, why did she go all psycho just now?"
"Eren…you fail to understand," Armin stopped mid in his tracks, not even caring that he'd be late to his next class.
"What? Fail to understand that she's a psycho bitch who needs to be locked up!? I could report her for assault."
"She's being abused by her father! Don't you see? No, of course you wouldn't. I'm the only one to ever try and make her feel welcome in this school, the rest of you were quick to judge her and label her as a bad person." Armin couldn't control the tears that had started to fall from his eyes.
"W-what?" Eren's stomach dropped. He suddenly felt terrible and awkward.
"She has bruises all over her body. And remember when she never brought lunch with her? It's because her father probably never gave her the money for it. She told me her mother died of cancer…and now she's had to endure abuse from her father for god only knows how long!" Armin sniffed and brought a hand to wipe away the tears from his eyes. "I…I love her, and I've not been able to do anything for her!" he sniffed again and tried his best to stop crying.
By this point Eren's eyes were wide; he didn't even know what to say. "Armin I had no idea…I'm sorry. If…If I had known, I would have tried to be nicer to her, well at least less of a jerk. But, this still doesn't explain why she punched you at break…"
"I went to the school counsellor today. Obviously she knew it was me who told. She's never wanted to tell anybody what's going on. I don't know why…"
"Wait…you love her?" Eren shook his head after just catching on to what Armin had said back there.
Realising his own words, the blond's face suddenly flushed red, "Y-yeah, I do… She's really not what you see at first glance, she's so much deeper. She's one of the most beautiful people both inside and out that I've ever met." There was silence between them for several moments, Eren didn't know what to say and Armin spoke again, "…Eren please don't tell anyone about Annie. Even if people ask you about what happened at break, please don't."
"I wouldn't." Eren stated firmly.
"I bet she feels terrible right now." Armin looked down to his feet.
"Well now that the school counsellor knows what's going on, we can all help her. She'll be okay for sure."
"Nothing is ever that simple, but I really hope so."
