Authors Note- Thank you to everybody who has been reading! I love writing this story so much and I have so much planned for it in the future. So here is Chapter 5, and don't worry, this chapter will be much longer and it will have the Halloween party ;) -Zenovia
Armin's POV
Chapter 5
I couldn't seem to wipe the smile off of my face the day before the Halloween party. Things in my life had finally taken a turn for the better. In the matter of only a few months, I had a person who I could easily call my best friend, I finally realized that I was gay, and I was going to my first ever party in a matter of only a few hours. Life seemed simple and easy for once. There was no pressure to pretend like I was okay, or to pretend like I was something I wasn't. I could look in the mirror and not be ashamed of who I was.
For the special holiday, the college decided that it was okay if the students and faculty dressed up for the occasion. So many thoughts went into picking who I would be this year. The choice had to be perfect. I was standing in my dorm room with Eren, trying to decide what I would be. "Armin? Why do you love Halloween so much?" Eren said. "Well, there are multiple reasons why I like it, for one, you get to eat as much candy as you want and nobody can tell you otherwise. Another reason is because I love the idea of being somebody else for a single night, to be able to leave your own identity and take somebody else's, and one of the main reasons why I like it so much is because when I was still in high school, I was involved in Pep Band, and each year, we would get to play at a tournament football game on Halloween night. Our band director was cool enough to let us dress up for the holiday and everybody loved it! Halloween came just in time for me some years, whenever I felt like I was beginning to sink into a depression, Halloween saved me from drowning any further. It showed me that life could be exciting and fun, and that sometimes, being somebody else for a single night, wasn't such a bad thing. Ever since then, I have been infatuated with the holiday."
Eren just smiled at me as I rambled on about the certain holiday. "I think that is absolutely amazing Armin, and your band director sounds really cool." Eren said. "Yeah she was. But come on Eren, you are supposed to help me pick out who I am going to be!" I exclaimed. Eren laughed at my eagerness "Alright, calm down there Blondie, well has there been anything that you have been totally obsessed with during the year?" Eren asked. I tried to think of what my interests took a turn for this year, then an idea finally popped into my head "I have been loving all of the Avengers movies this year! I love Captain America and Hawkeye a lot!" Eren looked up and down at me with eager eyes. I suddenly felt my cheeks growing warmer. Eren just staring at me like this caused the ocean currents to erupt inside my stomach. I tried to keep all of my emotions under control.
"I think you could totally pull off a more skinnier version of Captain America. I know a person who could totally make the costume really form fitting so it will accent all of your assets in all the right ways." Eren smirked. I giggled at his comment "I don't really have any good assets when it comes to my body." I chuckled. "Oh bullshit Armin, there are plenty of good things about your body. You may be skinny, but I have seen some hidden abs whenever your shirt hikes up. And your calves are really big since you skate everywhere you go...and you have a pretty nice ass." Eren winked at that last comment. In that moment I could have passed out from the lack of oxygen in my blood. Even though I was always a well spoken person, I had no words to try and make up for what Eren just said. All I did was stare at him, with my sapphire eyes, trying my hardest to keep from having my brain burst a fuse. "Um...I...uh...thank you?" I muttered out. Eren just kept laughing. "Well lets go to the costume shop downtown and pick out a Captain America costume for you." Eren said. "Are you going to dress up for tomorrow?" I asked. "Yeah, but my costume is really easy to make so I will just make it tonight when I head back to my dorm." Eren replied. I looked up at him with eager eyes, "Weeell" I dragged out. "Well what?" "Who are you going to be for Halloween?!" I asked.
Suddenly, Eren's cheeks started to turn pink and his eyes seem transfixed on the carpet. "Eren, is something wrong?" I asked. "No, nothings wrong, it's just my costume is a little embarrassing, and I'm probably too old to even try." Eren remarked. "Aww, come on Eren, you are talking to the nineteen, skinny, college boy who is dressing up as the strong, independent, Captain America. You can't really surprise me with what you want to be." I said to the brunette. Eren gave a little sigh, and then said, "Alright, I will tell you, but you have to promise not to laugh at me!" I nodded my head. "I...I'm dressing up as Percy Jackson..." My eyes lit up with excitement. "Oh my god Eren, that is so cool! You can totally pull it off! I love that book series so much. Why did you think that I would laugh at you for wanting to be Percy Jackson?" I said. Eren just shrugged his shoulders. "I guess just because everybody calls it a 'Kids Series' and its an easy read."
I sighed as I looked into his saddened emerald eyes. "Listen, Eren, it doesn't matter if it's a kids story. Every single book that we read has a story in it. It shouldn't matter if it's a children's tale, or a teen romance novel. They are all stories in the end. We are all stories. We should live life to what we choose it to be. We can be the knights in shining armor, or the mysterious wizards, or we can even be that amazing side character that everybody loves. Stories are stories, and sure, there are some that might not add up to others, but they are still stories. All stories have their differences, so why shouldn't we?"
Eren finally lifted his head and stared at me for a few seconds with his emerald eyes, until he smiled and said "Armin Arlert, you have a way with words that makes me want to swoon." I just smiled back and giggled. "Thank you Eren, but if anybody makes a remark just try and ignore them because your costume will be awesome Eren. I replied.
When we got back from the costume shop with my oversize Captain America costume, we went to Eren's friends dorm room to try and tailor it. "Hey Eren, why did we have to get McDonald's even though the food isn't for us?" I questioned. "It's a peace offering." Eren said casually, like he had gone through this ordeal a million times before. "Just hold out the food the second she answers the door and don't ask any questions, okay?" I just nodded my head. I got more anxious the closer we got to her dorm. Was she some type of monster, or was she on some kind of weight loss program and this was her 'Cheat Day', or did she just have a love for food? All of my thoughts were soon answered when Eren knocked on the door. I was met with a beautiful looking auburn haired girl. She had huge brown eyes, and it looked like her mouth was drooling a little bit when she saw what we were holding. Then without us speaking any words, the auburn haired girl said "Alright, I accept your offering, you can come in."
I was greeted with a messy room that was filled with sewing needles, fabric, and multiple sketches of paper that were filled up with ideas for future clothing apparel all over the blue walls. "Wow." Was all that I could say. I went to speak to the tailor about her sketches, but she was already fully indulged with the burger and fries that Eren and I bought her. Eren spoke for me. "Armin, this is my friend Sasha. Sasha, this is Armin." Sasha wiped the crumbs off of her chin, "So, this is the famous Armin?" She put her hands on her hips and examined me as if I was her own personal model. "Just so you know Armin, whenever I see Eren, all he can talk about is you. Armin this and Armin that. It can be exhausting sometimes." Sasha grinned at me. Her brown eyes flashed a mischievous flash of light. I knew in that moment that I should not mess with this girl, because it looks like she could easily make trouble with just the touch of her finger. "Sasha! Stop over exaggerating." Eren's cheeks were flushed pink, and he was staring at Sasha like he was plotting her murder.
"Anyways, it's nice to meet you Armin. I can see that you want me to help you with your costume?" She motioned to the unopened Captain America costume in my hands. "Oh, yes! That would be great! Can you really tailor it that well?" I inquired the auburn haired girl. She quickly stuck a sewing needle in her little push pin bracelet, and lifted her chin like she was a part of royalty. "Don't underestimate me. You will be surprised with what I can do with only a needle and some thread. Now get undressed behind this." She pulled out a little privacy screen, and motioned for me to go and change. I was a little leery of doing it at first, just because Eren was in the room and I would have passed out from embarrassment if he happened to look behind to see me changing, but luckily, that didn't happen.
I stepped out from the screen and Sasha immediately started to stick pins everywhere. Then she took another step back and grabbed the little helmet that was part of the costume and tossed it on her bed. She started to scruff up my hair, and it looked like it was windblown, but in all the right ways. I looked like a dangerous biker, with my hair tousled like this. "Lose the helmet. With your hair like this, you look more sexy." Sasha said. "Wouldn't you agree, Eren?" She smiled a little mischievous grin. Eren just nodded his head, but I could tell that he secretly want to strangle Sasha. I just giggled at the situation. Eren and Sasha must have been friends for quite a while for Sasha to know how to push Eren's buttons like this.
"Alright Armin, I can probably get this done before noon tomorrow. Is that alright?" Sasha said. "That sounds great, I don't have a class until 12:30 anyways, so how much will this cost?" I quickly pulled out my wallet, but Sasha waved my hand away. "I don't accept money from friends, and besides, you got me food. So that's payment enough." She grinned at me. She already considered me a friend even though we just met. Even though the girl standing in front of me seemed a little spastic and uncontrollable, she was definitely sweet at heart, and was very considerate.
While Eren was walking me back to my dorm, he was talking about even though Sasha seemed like she was trouble, there was another person who had the same mindset as her. "We call them the 'Mischievous Manipulators'." "Who is the other person in the duo?" I asked. "Connie Springer. He is her 'Kind of, Sort of' boyfriend. Whenever we ask one of them about their "relationship" they just dismiss us, and try and change the subject as fast as they can. I think that they are secretly dating behind our back, but they would never admit to that." Eren concluded. "Although, as much as they hate talking about their own romance, they love getting involved in other people's affairs. I know that you know who Marco and Jean are. Well, a few months before the two started dating, Sasha and Connie would form up plans to try and get the two together because it was so obvious that they had a thing for each other, they just wouldn't admit it to themselves. So Connie and Sasha wrote fake love letters to them, tried to send fake Valentines, and even went as far as trying to make the two meet up for a date, without knowing that the other person was there. So I'm warning you now Blondie," Eren stopped walking and stared directly into my eyes. He had a very serious look on his face, as if he was afraid for my well being. "Never, let Connie or Sasha find out who you are crushing on because then, you can kiss your sanity goodbye."
I went to bed that night with Eren's warnings still running through my mind. "What happened if they did find out about my crush on Eren? Would they really go to those extreme measures like they did with Jean and Marco? Would they tell Eren about my dirty, little, secret?" I tried to relax my brain. I put some music on, the song was "Let Her Go" by Passenger. The sweet tune of the song finally calmed my mind enough for my eyes to slowly start to droop, and before I knew it, I was pulled away into my sleep.
I was woken up by a regular telephone ring going off on my phone. I groaned, and sluggishly picked up the phone, not bothering to check to see who it was. "Hello?" I said groggily. "ARMIN!" The other side of the phone blasted with the sound of Sasha's voice. "Hey listen I know that it's only like 11:30, but I was wondering if you could come to the lunch hall and pick up the costume now. I have to go run some last minute errands and I wasn't going to have time to give it to you by noon. Sorry for the short notice." I sluggishly got out of bed and wiped the sleep out of my eyes "Yeah, I can come and get it. But Sasha, how did you get my phone number?" I asked. "Oh, Eren gave it to me before I called you, see you in like five minutes. BYE!" She shouted into the phone.
I got out of bed and quickly put some jeans on and a crappy t-shirt on. I grabbed my skateboard and rode to meet Sasha at the lunch hall. When I got there, I saw that Sasha had what looked like some type of zombie makeup on. Then realization finally set in. Today was Halloween! Suddenly, all of my sleepiness went away and I rushed over to Sasha and grabbed the costume. "Now if there is anything wrong with the costume just call me. But hey, are you going to Jean and Marco's party tonight?" "Oh yeah! What time does that start?" I asked. "Anywhere between seven and eight tonight. But I have got to go, Connie wants me to run errands with him. Bye Armin! See you tonight!" Sasha zoomed off and I was left standing in the middle of the lunch hall, holding my new, tailored, costume. Excitement started to bubble in the pit of my stomach, and I rode with all my might back to my room to try on the costume.
When I was putting it on, it looked as if Sasha made some color adjustments to it. The brighter blues, where now darker than usual and the reds were darker as well, but the white was much brighter to bring out all of the other colors. When I looked back in the mirror, I gasped. I didn't even realize that it was my body in the costume. My stomach looked like it was toned and my arm muscles looked more defined. My legs looked as if I had recently run a marathon. I looked like a totally different person, but in all the right ways. And not to brag, but my ass looked very defined. I felt a touch of embarrassment at the thought of walking into the party and have everybody staring at me and my newly formed body. While I was admiring my new costume, I heard a knock at the door and I went to answer it. Before I could look to see who it was, I heard a gasp. "Oh...wow...Armin, you look...you look great." The voice belonged to Eren. I smiled at him and invited him into the room. It wasn't until then that I realized that Eren had his costume on as well. He had on a bright orange shirt on with the words 'Camp Half Blood' with a well drawn on Pegasus. His hair also looked a little windswept, but in the sexiest way possible. His muscles seemed to protrude out of the shirt a little. He was also wearing a beaded necklace and just some normal shorts. "Your costume is amazing Eren!" I said to the brunette. "Thanks." Eren replied. The both of us started talking about the party and then Eren walked me to my first class of the day. When walking around campus, I noticed that most people were dressed up for the holiday. There were many witches, vampires, superheroes, zombies, and naughty nurses.
After Eren and I departed, I walked into the English building for all of my afternoon and night classes. Although, I could hardly pay attention in any of them. I just wanted to go to the party tonight and have fun with all of my new friends. I was jumping up and down in my seat when my last night class ended. I skated back to my room where Eren was going to pick me up and drive us to Marco and Jean's apartment. When I got to my room Eren was already sitting outside the door and then we made our way to Eren's truck to head to the party.
When the two of us got to the apartment, we saw that it was decorated head-to-toe with fake cobwebs and plastic skulls everywhere. I spotted Marco near the punch table. His costume looked pretty much like his normal clothes, until he turned his head. He had lots of professional movie makeup on, but only on half of his face. Part of his face was untouched, but the other side, had what looked like, blood, torn skin, muscles, and bones. The same went for half of his chest and his legs were fine. He looked absolutely grotesque. "Armin! Wow I love your Captain America costume! Oh let me introduce you to everybody."
It only took a few minutes to meet everyone but they all seem very nice and friendly. There was Krista and her girlfriend Ymir. Then there was a trio, they were Annie, Bertholdt, and Reiner. There was also a chemistry major named Hanji, and her friend Erwin. And then I finally got to meet Connie. He was as hyper and chaotic as Eren described. He was dressed up as Aang from Avatar. Although, as much as Connie was spastic, he was very funny and tried to make things less awkward for me by cracking up jokes every now-and-then.
This is what I had dreamed for many years of my life. To be able to hang out with friends and have a nice time with everybody. The room was filled with laughter and excitement that seemed to make the air around me feel warm and inviting. It felt so unreal to me that I was included in all of these festivities, but while I am standing in the middle of the living room, waiting for the movie to start, everything is starting to look clearer for me. It's like I can finally breath again. It's like a dream. Everything is starting to fit together slowly, and I couldn't contain my excitement for what is next to come in my story. I had always thought that my tale was a sad and tragic one, but I am standing here, and everything seems almost like paradise, and I feel almost normal.
Authors note-Sorry this took so long to write. Right now I am out of town, so I should get more time to write. Hopefully the next chapter will be up tomorrow! And it will be a continuation of the Halloween Party. Thanks everybody. Happy Reading!-Zenovia