whatcha listening to? -armin arlert

eleven

c/w

alcohol use

----

"Sasha, what are you wearing?" I ask as I toss my third rejected outfit on my bed.

"No clue." She replies, sounding dejected. "Let me look through your clothes."

"Be my guest." I say, then step to the side so she can rifle through my closet. "I don't remember it being this hard to dress for a party."

"Well, you have a boy to impress." Connie says from Sasha's bed. He's curled up in the blankets on his phone, only glancing up when Sasha or I ask for his advice.

"Shush, Connie. It's not all about that because I'm having the same issue. What are you wearing anyway?" Sasha replies to him.

"A nice t-shirt and jeans." Connie answers. "I guess it is harder for girls."

"Thank you!" Sasha and I retort as we continue to sift through clothes.

-

At 10:30, we're standing on Reiner's front porch. On the walk to the party with our group, I found out that Reiner rents his house with Bertholdt and another student. I look down at my outfit, a green tank top that I had dug out of the back of my closet, and loose black jeans littered with holes. With some simple jewelry and my frat shoes, I look pretty good. Eren and Armin were coming later, so Mikasa had come over to help Sasha and I figure out what to wear. I glance over to the two of them, and acknowledge to myself that we look fantastic.

"Okay everyone! Deep breath and let's go!" Marco says as he pushes the front door open. As I step in behind Connie, I'm met with a mixture of nauseating smells. Weed mixed with cigarettes mixed with alcohol mixed with what I can only describe as bodies. I stand for a minute and take it in as Reiner comes up to greet us.

"Hey guys!" He says, and I'm surprised to not find any effect of alcohol in his demeanor.

"You not drinking?" Connie asks.

"Gotta pace myself. This is my house after all, and I don't want anything to go wrong." He replies, and again I'm surprised at his responsibility. "Drinks are in the kitchen, but snacks are up in my room, first door on the left."

"Why is the food in your room?" I question as we follow him to the kitchen.

"Well, there's a lot of people coming tonight, and I'm not trying to feed everyone. You guys are friends so you get special treatment." He replies as he pours drinks for us.

"How sweet!" Jean chants as he receives a drink from Reiner.

"Thank you." I say taking one from his outstretched hand. I grimace as I bring the cup to my lips, feeling the burn of alcohol mixed with some sort of fruit juice.

"That's all for handouts tonight, if you guys want anything else you gotta get it yourselves." Reiner says as he finishes pouring drinks and heads to the door that I can only assume is the basement.

"Well, does anyone wanna wander with me?" I ask the group, taking another sip of my drink. "It doesn't seem too crazy yet and I wanna gain my bearings before I'm obliterated."

"I'll go." Mikasa says, as the rest shake their heads.

"Okay, cool." I say to Mikasa as we head out of the kitchen. The others head to the basement where the pounding music is coming from. "I gotta finish this before I can even think about heading down there." I joke with Mikasa.

"Same, I'm glad you feel the same way. No matter how often I go out, I can't just rawdog the basement." She replies, and I laugh at her choice of words.