crush culture | jean kirstein

chapter seven

Nothing can ever beat the refreshing smell of ground coffee beans after a long disastrous morning—you woke up earlier in the day at 8 a.m. because your subconscious told you to. It's unusual for you to wake up at an ungodly hour, but you guess it was the anxiety of meeting Bertholdt that prompted you to get out of bed early.

So after some time of preparation, you arrive at the café dressed up. The signature smell of Starbucks coffee fills your nostrils and lifts your mood a ton, washing you with a wave of confidence as you stride in the establishment and scan the many occupied seats for Bertholdt. After a few moments of searching, you see him seated at the near back of the room, sipping his drink and melting into the warmth of his navy blue hoodie and letting his head loll to the side, clearly bored out of his mind.

"Hey," you greet with a friendly smile as you approach him. Bertholdt looks up from his coffee and returns your gesture after getting surprised by your arrival.

"Hi, good afternoon," he greets back. He motions to the empty seat in front of him and you gladly settle down. "I ordered you a drink. I hope you don't mind."

As you place your bag on your lap, Bertholdt pushes a venti macchiato towards you. You search your bag for a metal straw and proceed to take a joyful sip of the drink.

"Thank you for this," you say after the first gulp. Although you aren't a big fan of macchiatos, you're thankful that Bertholdt didn't do you dirty with the order.

"You're welcome." He sips his drink (a venti Coffee Jelly) and asks: "How are you?"

"I'm fine," you answer. "More than fine, actually. It's not everyday that I get to order a Starbucks drink and get it for free. Thank you for this again, Bertholdt!" You mix your drink with a twirl of your straw. "So, you and Reiner called me here because you need help to get a girl, right? What's up with that?"

"Oh, yeah! That," Bertholdt stammers. "I like someone but I don't know how to talk to her. I'm not good with women."

You do your best to hold back a snort. His last sentence rings a bell. Suddenly, you're reminded of Jean and wonder how he's doing at the moment. He will pick you up in five hours and you estimate your meet-up with Bertholdt to end by four. Given this, you will have just enough time to freshen up before Jean shows up. You smile, pleased at your plan, and shift your attention back to the boy in front of you.

"That's because you're overly nervous. Relax a bit and don't sweat over it," you advise. "I know you like her, but if you keep getting flustered then you might mess up. Just go with the flow and treat her like a friend."

"You're right." He grabs a tissue paper and starts to play with it. "But if it's hard to approach her, then keeping a connection will be harder. I don't think I have a chance anyway."

"If you think that way, then you shouldn't be asking me and Reiner for help in the first place. This is still the start, so don't be too harsh on yourself." What you just said was word vomit, but you did have a point. Bertholdt couldn't possibly be putting effort to talk to you if he didn't believe that he would be able to capture this girl's heart. Besides being the "love poem master," you're still puzzled why he and Reiner would specifically ask you for help. If Bertholdt didn't want to send his mystery girl a love letter, then why did he go to you?

You aren't close to begin with—but to be fair, you've been through hell together in Art class, which could have given him the go signal to turn to you for help. The idea warms you. He seems like a fun guy to be friends with.

"I think I only have a small chance, but it might be worth the shot. Will you help me?"

"I'm already here, am I not?" You take another sip of your macchiato. "Tell me stuff about her. What's she like? Have you guys talked before? Is she popular? Actually, wait a second. Who even is she?"