The Month Of May

Chapter 9

SHE DIDN'T LOOK VERY EXCITED TO SEE ME.

When I mentioned that Annie could join the military tomorrow, her expression brightened considerably. But before that, she looked almost..disgusted.

Well, I couldn't blame her. I was disgusting after our workout. Mr. Shadis really pushed me past my
limits; while everyone else could handle it rather easily, I had to gasp for breath every five seconds. Dripping in sweat, I had tried to maintain a positive outlook, even as I was yelled at constantly.

"That's great news," Annie nodded, a relieved look on her face. She ran a hand through her shoulder length blonde hair, which, now that I looked, was slightly damp. She must have taken a shower like I had suggested, and I was glad that she was feeling
fresh. I hated being dirty. "Armin...Was it a pain to get me enrolled?"

"Not really, but I didn't know your last name. All they asked me for was your name, hair, and eye color," I told her. Her icy blue irises widened slightly as I mentioned the last part.

"Eye color? What did you tell them?"

"Blue...?" What else was I supposed to say? I didn't think that eye color really mattered, so what was she freaking out about? I chuckled slightly at the memory, though. "She asked if we were related. Blonde hair, blue eyes..."

"Oh my gosh. You have blue eyes," Annie suddenly realized, a dumbstruck look on her face. I raised my brow, confused. Normally, they were the first thing anyone noticed about me, why had it taken her so long to see?

"Uh, yeah?"

"How did I not notice?" She muttered, more to herself than me. Annie fiddled with the ring on her finger, a distracted and annoyed look on her now cold features. "How the hell did I not see?"

"Annie, you're starting to freak me out.." I slowly said, wanting to back out of this conversation. What was so special about blue eyes? Maybe she was just weirded out by the color..? No way. No one got this excited about eye color. I was missing something. "What's wrong?"

"It's just that...ugh. Armin, I've never met anyone else who has had blue eyes before," Annie played with the ends of her pale blonde hair. She was clearly hiding something, but I needed to respect her boundaries. "I mean, think about it. Have you?"

"Um, besides you? Actually...no," I admitted. I had never really put any thought into my eye color, and no one really mentioned it either until now. "That's kinda weird. I guess it's just really rare."

Come to think about it, she was right. Maybe there was a reason I had been so attracted to her eye color. Most people knew there was a dwindling lack of Asian people, but no one really mentioned the lack of blue eyed people...

Eh, whatever. She was overthinking it, probably. If the government didn't mention it, how dangerous could it be? Erwin Smith was a righteous man who was just trying to save us. Annie was just some girl I had met on the street, what could she know?

"...Armin," Annie looked like she wanted to say something, but was biting her tongue. I cocked my head to the side, confused.

"What?" I questioned. "You can tell me. I promise I'll listen, and I won't judge you."

"I just..." Annie closed her eyes, a sigh escaping her lips. "I want to sleep. I just want to go start training tomorrow."

"...Okay," I obliged, grabbing my clothes from my drawer so that I could take a shower. She slipped the covers on over herself, turning around so she could face me. "Goodnight, Annie. I'll wake you up when it's time."

"Goodnight, Armin...Until tomorrow."