"Sara..." I hear a distant voice. "Sara. Sara! Sarai!"
"Huh!?" I quickly get up from my sleep. Everyone at our table is staring at me. I must have fallen asleep during breakfast. I rest my head on my hand and start drooping again.
"Hey, Sara, what were you doing last night that made you this sleepy?" Jean asks. I open my eyes slightly and look at him.
"I was...." I yawn. "Cleaning up till...." Another yawn, "...four in the morning..." I lay my head down on the table when he asks another question.
"Why were you cleaning that late?"
"It was beca-"
"The Corporal..." I look up at Eren who interrupted me. "Corporal Levi made you clean, right!?" I look at him, then nod. "What did you do to get the Clean-Freak in him come out?" He asked, amused.
I yawn, but before I can answer, Armin does so for me. "She dropped a tray filled with cups of coffee..." Everyone stares at me and starts laughing.
"Really Sara!?" Jean asks. "How clumsy can you be?" Everyone is still laughing, though I don't care. I'm too tired to care. Just as sleep reclaims my mind, though, Jean talks out loud. "Speak of the devil..." At this comment I sit up straight and pale up, all sleep leaving me completely. I'm scared of turning around.
"Cadet." I tense up at the sound of his voice. "Outside, now!" He says in an almost demanding voice. I look at Armin and mouth the words Help me. He gives me an apologetic look. I look down and stand up. I head out the door. Once outside, the Corporal starts walking, I follow behind.
I'm a bit more than 10 feet away from him, not wanting to be too close to the scary Corporal. I continue following him until we reach the place that I had to clean last night. I gulp, I know he's mad, I must've not cleaned the way he wanted it. He opens the door and ushers me inside. I step inside and he walks around. I'm looking at the spotless ground, but if Eren was right, if the Corporal was a clean-freak, then not a single spot would pass his eye. I waited, waited to hear that cold, irritated voice directed at me, and then, I heard it.
"What is that pile of trash over there, Cadet!?" I looked up to see where he was pointing. All the cleaning supplies was out on the ground. Oh, yeah, I fell asleep while cleaning and I forgot to pick all that stuff up. I hurried to that spot, picked it all up and took it to the storage room.
In the storage room, I saw a small window. It was high, but low enough for me to reach. I could jump out and run off. But then that would bring me more trouble later on with the scary Corporal. I decided against it. I went back to the room where the Corporal was at. He seemed to be inspectioning every single nook and crack. I stood there, quietly, waiting for him to finish and to tell me how I did. After a while, he stood straight and looked at me. I looked down. I probably did something wrong, I probably missed a spot. I stood there, an endless silence emanating from the both of us. Then, I saw a pair of boots in front of me. I winced. Oh no....
I felt a hand on my shoulder, and then heard a voice say, "Good job, Cadet." He then squeezed my shoulder a bit and left. As soon as the door clicked, signifying its closing, I fell to the ground, a deep red in my face.
This was the first time he complimented me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I go back when I'm absolutely positive that I'm not red anymore. I sit next to Armin, who is the first to notice my return. "How did it go, Sara?" He asked. "What did he say?"
I was looking down at the food, but not moving. I could still feel his hand on my shoulder. Why? I did not know. "He said I did a good job...." I whisper as a reply.
"What?" Eren's voice rang out in our small table, everyone stopped to stare at him. "He said you did a good job?" I nodded and he looked astonished. "He's never said that to anyone about how they clean. Wow, Sara! Are you a clean-freak, too?" He asked. Everyone laughed and I just shook my head, still dazzled by the fact that I had been told that by the Corporal.
"No, Eren, she's not a clean-freak..." Armin started, "She just has a bit of OCD." Everyone stares at me and I quickly shake my head, not believing it was true.
"No I don't!" I say as loud as I can muster, which is not that loud.
"Okay, so wanting to make sure not a single thing was out of place is not being a perfectionist?" Armin asked with a smile of amusement. I looked down and burned up in embarrassment. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder, reminding me of the Corporal, making my face heat up more. But when I looked up, it was Hanji.
"Sorry Sara, but Armin's right, you have a bit of an OCD problem." She smiles and everyone at our table laughs again. I get a bit annoyed, but then just smile. I didn't believe them, but it didn't seem to matter to them. At least we were having fun.
"Hey, Sara, Eren said that the Corporal is a clean-freak, and you have an OCD problem, wouldn't that make you the perfect pair!?" Jean said. It took me a while to take in what he said, and when it finally sunk in, my face turned a deep red, and everyone in our table laughed. Why did they like teasing me so much?
