Chasing Summer

You Could Be My Unintended Choice

I was awake long before the alarm clock was set to go off at five in the morning. By that time, I had already drunk down two steaming cups of coffee, showered, and dressed in jeans, my white Kill Your Television T-shirt, and worn in combat boots. For having only slept for three hours, I was feeling pretty good and pumped up. I knew this feeling had nothing to do with the amount of caffeine I had consumed, but had everything to do with the fact that I'd be seeing Eren soon. Just thinking of his smile made me smile, and that was a rarity in itself. It should've been considered a National holiday, because it only ever happened once every year (if that). Yet, nowadays, it seemed to be happening all the time.

Will you look at that: Levi is smiling!

Yes, I was smiling, because I was happy in a way that made it difficult not to smile. Was this what it felt like to have a crush on someone: Like everything was beautiful and right in the world, so why not smile about it? Why not share your undiluted happiness with everyone you came into contact with? And here I thought I was a fool for no one, but apparently I was quite the fool for Eren. Even with that knowledge under my belt, it still felt nice, if just a bit terrifying, as well.

When the alarm did go off at five, I plopped down on the foot of Jean's bed, waiting for him to wake up to the obnoxious sound. It took him a while to rouse from his deep sleep, the beeping of the alarm sounding louder and louder, and more annoying as time went on. Soon enough, though, Jean groaned like he was Frankenstein coming to life. Then his hand shot out from beneath his thick, beige blanket to dart from left to right until it landed on the offending object that had woken him up.

As silence filled the room once again, his head slid out from under the blanket like a turtle's head would slide out of its shell. He blinked several times, saw me sitting there, and then mumbled in a serious tone, "Satan has risen." I smacked him on the calf. "And he's short and mean."

"Get the fuck up," I said, giving his calf another smack, this time a little too hard. He tucked his leg under his body after that, protecting it from my sudden attacks. "We have to be at Petra's house in an hour. We can't be late, because afterwards we have to pick up Eren, and then head to school."

"Coach Smith won't leave without you, so give me another twelve years, and I'll be good to go."

"I made pancakes." I taunted him with the one thing he couldn't resist, even at this ungodly hour: food. Jean was a food whore.

He shot up as though I had administered an electric shock. "Did I say twelve years? I meant twelve seconds, baby. I'm here. I'm ready."

"Just shut up and go eat. Then get in the shower. You smell like ass."

He lifted his faded grey T-shirt to his nose and inhaled. "I smell like heaven!"

"If heaven smelt like ass."

After he lumbered out of bed, which took him a lot longer than it should have, I walked into the living room to double check that I had packed everything I'd need for a weekend in Trost. When I saw that I wasn't missing anything essential, I hoisted the strap of the duffel bag over my shoulder, and went out front to toss it into Petra's truck.

The second I was out of the house, the cold breeze pressed in on me, making me wish I had a jacket with a built in heater. Looking up, I saw that the sun was hidden behind a thick layer of clouds that seemed to swallow up the sky, but for the first time in a long time, it didn't bother me. Neither did the darkness that surrounded me, or the frigid, dry wind that rubbed my cheeks raw.

Petra's truck was parked out on the street, a bulk of orange in the dark. It was a 1964 Chevrolet pickup truck. Her uncle, who was about the only relative she had that gave a real damn about her, had restored it. He had given it to her on her fifteenth birthday, and her dad had been royally pissed off about it, because he had wanted that truck for years. The douchebag didn't deserve it, and I would never forget the face he made when his brother handed over the keys to his only daughter.