The next morning I made sure to bring a backpack and pack a lunch for myself. I brought some extra potato salad for Sasha. Hopefully she'd like it. I wasn't very worried though, it seemed like she'd eat any meal that came her way. I took a quick look in the mirror before I left to make sure my hair was in place and my uniform was tidy. I did not plan on running laps this semester if I didn't have to.

    The first half of the day went by unusually quickly. I gave Sasha the potato salad in the morning and she thanked me profusely, telling me I was an "angel" for helping her out. When I walked into room 104A, I noticed the blond boy that was with Eren yesterday was also in my class. I later learned from Jean and the others that his name was Armin Arlert. Apparently he was very kind and very bright, which surprised me, considering who he hung out with all the time. I was also introduced to a burly blonde-haired boy named Reiner Braun, and a tall skinny boy known as Bertholdt Hoover. They had lunch with us today, and both appeared to be friendly enough. Maybe I wasn't going to despise this school as much as I thought. So far, things had been going pretty well.

    That is, until Shadis announced we'd be doing some practice self-defense drills. Sasha and I split from the boys after lunch to get changed into our PE uniforms. In the bathroom I met two more girls— Historia Reiss and Ymir Fritz. I had heard Reiner talking about Historia earlier that day, explaining how he was planning on asking her to the upcoming dance— which was months away I might add— but it looked to me like Ymir wasn't letting anyone near the girl. She seemed especially protective of her. I understood why. If anyone were to be an angel, it would be Historia. She had the most beautiful blue eyes that pierced your soul. She was extremely generous and selfless, offering me her hair tie when I found I had lost mine. Sure, that was only one small thing— but I could tell from the freckled brunette girl's longing expression that Historia offered much more than that.

    We all left the bathroom as a group, and we groaned with the rest of the class as we trudged outside to the field. Shadis put us in groups of two— I was partnered with Armin— and told us to start fighting after he showed us a few moves. The goal was to take the knife out of your opponent's hand. It seemed easy enough, but after a few rounds with Armin, I got bored, and both of us decided to just sit and watch everyone else.

    Out of the corner of my eye I saw Eren mocking Jean about his fighting technique. Jean was partnered with Annie Leonhart. She was extremely adept in hand-to-hand combat, so it was not surprising that Jean was losing.

    "Hey Jean!" Eren taunted, "How do you expect to get any girl after fighting like that? Hell, I don't think (Y/N) would even entertain the idea of you two together, and she's right at the bottom with you!" He cackled and looked my way, teal-green eyes glimmering with tears of laughter. I huffed. I didn't want to bother with this boy and his stupid games. I knew he was just trying to get me in trouble. But, as expected, Jean was falling right into his trap. He had his fists raised and was ready to brawl.

    Annie left the two of them behind and walked over to me and Armin.

    "Their bickering can get annoying real quick," she said as she sat down beside me. "It's good that you don't bother yourself with it, (Y/N)."

    I shrugged.

    "It's just an old rivalry of their's. It's been going on since middle school." Armin continued. "I'm not sure why Eren dragged you into it though, (Y/N)."

    "It's probably because I hit him in the face with my locker my first day here."

    "Oh! Was it—?"

    "No," I said, "It was an accident."

    "Hm. Interesting." He moved on, "Well, I'm sorry about Eren, but it's very nice to meet you, (Y/N). I hope we can talk again soon." Armin stood up. "It's time for me to go break up the fight."

    I looked back up at the boys. Jean and Eren were both equally bloody with bruises all over their bodies. I saw Eren take one last stab at Jean with the wooden knife before Armin and Mikasa pulled him away. Jean collapsed on the floor and hollered in pain.

    "I suppose I should get going as well," said Annie, "The bell's about to ring and I'm tired of this fighting."

    "Oh, Annie," I caught her leg before she left. She tensed up and looked like she expected a fight. I pulled my hand away sheepishly. "I just wanted to let you know, your fighting is amazing. If we ever do this again, I'd love for you to teach me sometime."

    "Sure," she turned away. "Anything to keep me away from Yeager and Kirschtein."

    Since I had been left by myself, I decided it was my turn to leave and help Jean up. When I made it over, I saw Historia desperately trying to lift Jean off the ground.

    "Please!" she struggled underneath his weight, "We have to get him to the infirmary!"

    Jean groaned. I lightly tapped Historia and asked her to step aside as I pulled Jean's back off the ground so he was sitting upright. I propped him up over my shoulder and started towards the nurse's office. Reiner offered to help, but I told him I was fine on my own. Instead, I asked him to tell Shadis why I wasn't present for the rest of class.

    "Are you okay?" I grunted as I dragged Jean across campus.

    "Yeah," he mumbled. "Stupid Yeager— how could he be such an asshole to a girl he's only met once. I mean, I understand why he hates me so much, but you? You haven't done anything that terrible."

    "Ah, well," I mused, "I guess that's just how it is sometimes. I honestly don't mind. With the way he treats everyone else, I probably wouldn't have been friends with him anyway."

    "That still... doesn't give him... the right..." Jean struggled with his words as he phased in and out of consciousness. He nestled his head into my neck and his breathing slowed. Man, wooden knife or not, Eren must have stabbed him pretty hard.

    Finally, I reached the infirmary. I hurled Jean onto the table as smoothly as I could and waited for him to wake up. His hair was a complete mess, and tiny beads of sweat were forming on his forehead. I dabbed his face with a wet towel and looked at him adoringly. What a wimp. Being smashed so easily by Eren. I chucked and tousled his hair. It fell back into place. Already, Jean was looking much better. I stayed by his side while he slept, until Eren stepped into the room.

    He was bleeding pretty badly too. I looked behind him for Mikasa, but she was nowhere to be found. He met my eyes and gave me a dirty look as he searched for a towel. I stood up and handed him a clean one: "Here."

    He didn't take it. "Why do you even bother?" he retorted.

    "Excuse me?" I stepped back.

    "What does it matter to you that I'm bleeding? I just beat the shit out of your friend, not to mention I've been insulting you left and right all day."

    "Hm?" I knew Eren had made a few comments once or twice, but I hadn't heard anything particularly offensive.

    "Are you kidding me?" He laughed sarcastically, "Do you even know why Horse-Face and I were fighting?"

    I looked at Eren, confused.

    "It was because I was slandering you in front of everyone. Jeez. You really are an idiot."

    "Well, it was nice of Jean to defend me. Shows that not everyone at this school is a raging dickhead." I glared at him. "Just take the towel already. It's not like you're accepting my hand in marriage." I threw it at him.

    He caught it and stumbled over to the sink to get it wet. 

    "You know," I added, "I'm not sure how you could even throw an accurate insult in, considering you never even bothered to introduce yourself to me."

    "That's the thing I guess," he retorted, "it's almost like I didn't care enough to ask."

    I jumped towards him and swept my foot underneath him, causing him to face-plant on the floor. His teal-green eyes looked up at me, burning with hatred.

    I blew him a kiss. "Maybe you should."

    I walked back over to Jean to give him a light tap on the head before I left the two of them behind.