A/N- Sorry that this chapter took so long to come out, I took a little bit of a break so I could get fresh new ideas in my head to continue this story, and WOW over 2K readys?! You guys are really amazing!! So without further waiting, here is chapter 16! Happy Reading! -Zenovia
Armin's POV
Chapter 16
The starting of classes came out of the blue, and none of us were prepared once so ever. I knew that the second semester of college was always harder than the first, but this semester seemed unbearable. I was already wanting to go back to New York after the first month of being back at school passed by. My schedule consisted of going to class, studying, sleeping, and then going back to class. All of my friends were feeling the hardships of their classes as well. Everyone, besides Eren. He said that he always worked his best when he was under a lot of pressure from all sorts of things. It was when he had too much free time that he started to slack off on his work. Our roles kind of changed when we would study in the library at night. He would help me with all of the overwhelming amounts of homework that I had, and I would try and keep up with him.
Although, all of the work that Eren was getting, didn't help his irritability. He started to argue with Jean more and anybody who tried to get into a conflict with him. I tried to ask him if he was doing alright. "I'm fine Armin, I think I just need something to take my anger out on, and sometimes, that just happens to be Jean." He smirked at me. I playfully rolled my eyes and tried to think of other ways for the brunette to take his anger out on, rather than our horse faced friend, as Eren likes to call him. "Well, I have nothing. Listen, why don't we go get some ice cream or something? Take our minds off of things for a little bit." I gave Eren a hopeful look. He looked back at me with his shimmering eyes, and his face lightened up a little bit. "That sounds like a great idea! Why do you always come up with amazing ideas?" He questioned me. I smirked at him, and replied with "I just have a gift I guess." I nudged his shoulder teasingly, and the both of us walked out of my dorm, and out to go relive some stress.
While sitting in the little ice cream shop, my eyes were glancing at all of the little flyers hanging off of the bulletin board. My eyes searching through all of the bright colors looking for help wanted and babysitters. I shook my head and focused my attention on the brunette in front of me. He was concentrating on the little sprinkles that decorated his chocolate sunday. "Eren, are you okay?" I asked. He looked up at me, and momentarily was pulled out of his daze. "Oh, sorry Armin, I was just thinking." He said. "Thinking about what?" I questioned him further. He shrugged his shoulders and simply replied with, "Just random stuff." I nodded my head, knowing that I shouldn't press him further. I went back to eating my ice cream cone, and staring at the bulletin board across from me. "But, I do have to ask you something." Eren said to me. I propped my head up and looked into his green eyes, a look of confusion passing through my face, wondering what he could want to ask. "What is it?" I replied. Eren took a deep breath before saying, "Alright, so when we were Skyping with each other over break, I asked you about the kiss that we shared, and you said that you had something to tell me. Can you tell me know, cause it's been a month and a half since we kissed, and I wanted to give you time to see if you would just say something to me about it first." He said seriously. My eyes widened a little bit at his spontaneous question. "Should I tell him? Do I want to risk everything?" I thought in my mind.
"Um, I was just going to ask if it was an okay kiss." I lied while putting on a fake smile. Eren chuckled a little, "Yes Armin, it was a very nice kiss, you're going to make somebody very happy someday." He winked at me. I blushed a little before looking away. "Thank you, Eren." I said simply. After we both finished our ice cream we were leaving through the doors, when a certain flyer on the bulletin board caught my attention. "Hey, Eren wait!" I grabbed the hood of his jacket to stop him from walking any further. "What's wrong?" Eren questioned me. I stared at the flyer a little longer before looking up at the brunette and smiling, "You like basketball, right?"
A week after we saw the flyer at the ice cream shop, we were heading into the college's main gym to have Eren try out for the college basketball team. "But why did it have to be basketball, Armin? Why couldn't it have been hockey or anything else?" Eren said. I chuckled a little and replied, "Because the last time you tried to step on an ice rink, you nearly killed the both of us, and it was the only sport I could think of for you to take out some of your pent up aggression. Plus you said that you played on your high school team, and you liked that!" Eren sighed a little and shrugged his shoulders, "Fine, whatever, but what if this doesn't work out? What if I suck?" He questioned me. "Then we will find something else, but we have to do something Eren, otherwise you and Jean are going to be in a hospital any day now." He sighed once again and looked at the doors of the gym, "Well, there's no turning back now." And he grudgingly opened the doors to the gym.
The gym; to put it simply, was ginormous. My voice seemed to echo throughout the whole vicinity. On the far side of the gymnasium, we could see a group of people dashing throughout the court, hoping to have the small basketball within their grasp. I could see Eren eyeing at them, his ears turning a light shade of pink, only meaning that he was getting nervous. I gently nudged him with my own shoulder, "Hey, it's gonna be alright, I know you'll do great!" I gave him a genuine smile, and we started the long walk towards the coach of the basketball team. He was an older man; named Pixis. He was very kind to the two of us, but I could also tell by his stature that he was very serious about the sport, and he played to win. He told Eren to put on his shoes and get suited up. I went to sit down on the stands and watch the rest of the team play. It looked as if there were many good players, and some, not so much. However, there was one player that really stood out from all of the others. He was on the short side; which was strange for a basketball player, but he was weaving in and out of all of the other players blocks, and when he finally got close enough to the basketball net to jump and do a layup, I was pretty sure he was going to totally biff it, but my mouth fell to the floor as he jumped a good three feet off of the ground to sink the ball in the hoop. Some of the teammates patted him on the back, but he just shrugged his shoulders and went on playing.
He was phenomenal. I knew just after watching him for a good five minutes, that he must have been playing basketball his whole life, and he was a shoo-in to make the team. However, as I sat on the stands watching the boy make basket after basket, I got a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. Not like the kind that I get with Eren, but the kind that almost makes me sick to my stomach. The longer I stared at him, I was sure that I knew him. He looked so familiar to me, but yet, I knew for a fact that I have never met the basketball player before.
After a little bit more waiting, Eren finally emerged from the locker room, all dressed up in his basketball clothes. Pixis started seeing how well he matched up to all of the other players. I smiled like a proud mom as Eren made basket after basket, swerving away from everybody, and avoiding from being boxed in. I could tell that Eren was getting pretty worn out after a good thirty minutes of the tryouts, and when I thought that it was all over, it only got harder from there on out. Eren was finally paired up with the mysterious basketball player. I could tell that Eren looked a little intimidated by him, but he wasn't going to let that get to his head. The two were jogging down the court, Eren with the ball in his hand, and the other boy trying to steal it from him. I was sitting on the edge of my seat to see what was about to happen, and when it did, my heart jumped out of my chest. Eren was behind the three point line and the shorter boy was jumping up to block him, but Eren somehow maneuvered around him and made a perfect shot from the three point line. After his feet touched the ground, Eren put his hands on his knees and tried to even out his breathing. Everyone in the room went silent for a solid minute, all of them were trying to process what just happened I guess. The raven haired boy then went up to Eren, shook his hand, and said, "Welcome to the team."
Once it was time for a break, I raced out to hug Eren the second I saw him. "Eren that was amazing! Why didn't you tell me you could play like that?" Eren was sweating profusely and stuttered out, "I-I didn't know that I could play that well until I played with that guy over there." He gestured towards the shorter boy at the water fountain. "Something just kicked me into high gear, and I felt like if I didn't try my hardest with that guy, it was all over." Eren shook his head in amazement.
After tryouts were over, Coach Pixis came over to Eren and me while he was getting his gear packed up. "Alright kid, I know that I don't normally do this, but I'm just gonna say that you're already on the team. I couldn't pass up that much talent when I saw you play today. Practice starts next week. Be here by four in the afternoon. Nice job today." He patted Eren on the shoulder. Eren looked at me for a quick second, right before he pulled my whole body in for a tight embrace. "Oh my gosh, Armin! This is insane. Thank you so much for making me tryout. You're the best friend anyone could ask for." I blushed a little while he was hugging me. "Oh come on Eren, all I did was make you sign up, you did the actual playing." I looked up at him, and bit my lip and smiled. However, before Eren could say anything else, we were both engulfed by the group of basketball players. I somehow got pushed out of the group and tried to look for Eren in the mess of six feet tall boys. I could hear a lot of "Congrats man!" and "Welcome to the team!" from all of them. Soon after all of the havoc ended, one of the guys asked Eren if he wanted to come with them to go get a bite to eat and hang out. Eren looked at me, and gave me a sympathetic look, but I just waved him off and mouthed the word "Go!" He gave me a bright smile and winked at me. As I was leaving to walk out the doors of the gym, I turned my back and saw the raven haired boy in the corner of my eye. My skin instantly decorated itself in goosebumps and a shiver went down my spine. I walked out the doors, pulling my winter jacket just the slightest bit tighter around me.
I walked all the way back to my dorm, and the second I got into the small room, I collapsed on my bed. Once I put my head on my pillow, I could already feel sleep trying to pull me under. I complied with my bodies wishes, and finally found myself falling into my dream world. Although, because the universe hates me, instead of having a peaceful nap, I was given a terrifying nightmare. I was running again. It was on the same path, and everything around me was familiar. My blood was pumping as if somebody were chasing after me. As I was running, I tried to look for a way out, to try and wake myself up from this terrorizing vision. Then, in the middle of the sidewalk, there stood a red door. It's aura was somehow demanding me to turn the doorknob, and walk through its menacing atmosphere. And with me having no control over my body or anything, I didn't really have a choice to turn around. I struggled to turn the knob, my hands shaking in fright. When finally, I opened the door to an unnerving darkness. I stuck my head through the door, and then my whole body went into the desolate room. The door behind me violently shut closed. My heart was trying to jump out of my chest at this point as I observed my surroundings. It wasn't until then that I noticed pages of ripped up paper, trailing the ground, leading to nowhere. I took a step towards the papers, and soon realized that they were ripped up pages from my notebook that Eren got me. The only difference was, they were covered in splattered blood. I already knew that if I looked down at my damned wrist, I would see the three tender cuts, so I decided to ignore them this time around.
I continued to walk down the treacherous path. Following all of the bloody pieces of paper lining the ground. I advanced through all of the clouded darkness, until I was greeted by the same bathroom that I once stood in long before. The mirror wasn't fogged up this time, and instead it was sparkling clean. I looked deep in my reflection, just waiting for something to pop out and awake me. Although, something disturbing did happen while looking in the mirror. My reflection didn't seem to be copying my movements anymore. Instead, it was slowly crying. Soft tears streaming down it's face. I was entranced by what was happening, that when it suddenly started screaming, I jumped back so forcefully, that I landed on the ground. It's voice was my voice. It was as if it was speaking to somebody else, but another figure wasn't seen anywhere. It was screaming the same thing over and over, as if there was a scratch in CD, making it run over the line multiple times. "Why can't you see that!?" Is what it was yelling. I looked back up at the image, all of my color in my face, now slowly draining at the horrifying scene. But it only got worse. The image started to flicker like an old TV screen. It was quick at first, but once I realized what it was showing, my blood ran cold. It was the shadowed man. The one who has haunted almost every single one of my dreams, one way or another. I stepped away from the mirror, trying to distant myself from the figure, but when I took a step back, I was free falling, all while hearing the ravenous voices speaking the same sentence.
I woke up hyperventilating. I walked out into the hallway for a good fifteen minutes, trying to catch my breath, and my sanity. None of my dreams were adding up. The only similarity that they all shared, was that tormenting figure. I unlocked my phone, and saw that I had a new message from Eren.
From Eren: Hey, I just got done hanging out with the guys, you wanna hang out?
I typed back a quick reply, hoping he would answer soon because I didn't know if I could stand being alone after having a dream like that.
To Eren: That would be great actually! Come as quickly as possible...
From Eren: Yeah, are you okay Blondie?
I chuckled a little at him calling me by my nickname, now feeling my heartbeat come back down to a steady pace in my chest.
To Eren: Really bad nightmare...probably one of the worst...
From Eren: I'm on my way right now...and I'm bringing snacks!
I locked my phone and waited for Eren to meet me outside my dorm room, not really wanting to go in there alone right now. Once he got there, he pulled me into a tight hug. I quickly closed my eyes, trying to stop whatever tears I could feel squirming to get out. I took a deep shaky breath in, and I felt Eren start to gently rub my back to comfort me. "Shh, it's alright. It was just a dream. I'm right here." He pulled me out of his arms, and then put a gentle kiss on the top of my temple. "Feel a little better?" His green eyes shimmering in concern. I nodded my head, and then we both walked into my small room.
Eren started talking all about all of the guys on the basketball team the second he settled down. He got along with almost all of his teammates, especially a guy named Farlan Church. The only person that he didn't like was a guy named Nile, who tried to control the teammates when they were having fun. "That sounds amazing Eren! I'm so happy you're enjoying basketball!" I said after all of my bearings were in order. "Yeah, but I still felt guilty about leaving you today." He said with a somber expression across his face. "Hey, you can hang out with other people besides me! It's not like I'm going to get jealous or something. I'm just happy that you are socializing! I can already tell that you're less paranoid." I told the brunette. He simply just smiled at me and shared the small blanket with me.
I then flashbacked to the strange raven haired boy that Eren went up against at tryouts today. "Hey, did you ever find out the person's name that you went up against today?" I asked Eren. Eren furrowed his brows, trying to think who the person was. "Oh yeah! He's actually pretty cool, intimidating as hell, but pretty cool. The whole team calls him the 'Clean Freak' because apparently if the basketball team ever throws a party or something, he will always be the one to start randomly cleaning in the middle of the party, and after. He's very stoic too, and he doesn't talk all that much, but we don't really care. He's good at basketball so we all respect him. Once the season actually starts, most of the team is certain that he'll be named captain this year. Which could be interesting, but most of the team is looking forward to it." Eren finished. "Well, did you at least get his name?" I asked him. Eren chuckled a little, "Well, that's a good question. All of us are pretty sure that he came from France at one point in his life, and so he told everybody to call him Rivaille, but since none of us could pronounce that, he decided to just go with the English version, which is Levi." Eren explained. I gave him a confused look, "So he doesn't like have a last name on his basketball jersey? It just says 'Levi'?" Eren chuckled a little, "Yeah, just Levi."
A/N-Wow guys, I'm so sorry that this chapter took so long to come out, but I have been having to do real life stuff :( and also school starts in like a week, so I don't know how much I will be able to update...I'm hoping at least once a week. But anyways, I finally introduced Levi!!! Comment what you think is going to happen or what freaky dreams are going to happen next to my poor little Armin :( And also thank you guys so much for over 2,000 reads on this story! I love you all so much! Happy Reading! -Zenovia