Page After Page

Chapter one

I took a sip of my coffee. It was warm and it tasted better than the coffee I'm capable of making at my dorm room. The refreshingly warm beverage smoothly went down my throat, calming my nerves. Smiling, I put the cup down and got my sketch book out from my brown bag and placed it on the table. I nibbled on the end of my pencil as I thought about what to draw.

I only have one week left. One week. But I can't think of anything. I sigh and look at the window next to me. It was fall. The sun was golden brown as it set. The trees were swaying, and wind was blowing. Dead leaves danced as it passed by couples feet. An old man and it's dog were on a bench playing fetch. It's beautiful. But I don't feel as though Ms. Rall would like me making another environment piece.

I took my mind off my classes and looked back at what I was doing before. My pencil is still nibbled. My coffee is still barely drunken from. My sketch book is still blank, aside from small bits of my eraser I chewed on. I blew the pile of pink debris off of the table and placed my pencil on the top of my ear.

I moaned and lay my head down on the table. My blond hair covers my eyes and touches the tip of my nose. It's grown so long, I need a haircut already. I could feel someone looking at me. I noticed that it was a girl who sat two tables from mine. I looked back at her, and our eyes only met for a few seconds as she turned her head away and resumed to what she had been doing.

She had blond hair pulled up, a white hoodie, and on the back is what I can assume is a green unicorn. Maybe it was a highschool logo. She was doing something, but I was too far away to make anything out.

Out of curiosity, I stood up with my sketch book and my pencil and walked over to her. When I got there, she was writing in a worn out black notebook. At first I thought it was just a diary, but through the stanzas, I could tell that they were either songs or poems.

"May I sit down?" I asked. The girl looked up at me with a face that made me feel different and strange, though she looked back down and started writing again. "Sure." She responded. Her voice was feminine but somehow low, and made her sound older than what she looked like. Placing my sketch book on the table, I pulled out the chair across from her and sat down.

"I saw you looking at me. What's your name?" I asked. She placed her pencil down and closed her book. Afterwords she put it in a blue/white purse."Annie. Annie Leonheart. Yours?"

"Armin. Armin Arlert." I smiled. I placed my head on my hand and looked at Annie smugly. Annie returned the favor and smiled back. And when she did, it showed dimples I've never seen in her. Annie's eyes reflected her surroundings like glass and her shoulders were up. The light from the setting sun escaped the trees blockade, entering the cafe and glowed on her, making her almost looking like a goddess from a greek movie. In that moment, I could hear myself thinking how beautiful she was, her sky blue eyes showing no signs of clouds, her crimson plump red lips like ripe cherries, and her cheeks tinted pink as though she purpusly added makeup to her naturally ethereal face.

"Are you a highschooler?"

Annie stopped smiling, her face turning back to what it originally looked like. "Yeah, Sina Highschool. How about you? High schooler also?" I laughed at the question."University student actually. I'm in my second semester attending Shiganshina."  Annie's eyes widen at my response. "Damn. You look like a dropped out senior." I shrugged and scratched the back of my head. "My criminal activity gets in the way of my school life. Have you seen me in the gang robbery last light? I was in the backround wearing a turtleneck. Too dangerous for school." I say sarcastically. Annie laughs and arches her chair back. Her lips curl into a smile where she showes her snow white teeth. Her eyes closed exposes her long eyelashes and pale eye lids. Her hair gets a little messy while her shoulders jump up and down, but she still looks cute. Her laugh is music to my ears, it's smooth like the coffee I drunk, and it dies down when she sees me staring at her. She waves her hand at me repeadly until she flicks my nose, which totally suprised me. "Hey!" Annie laughs again, but not as hard as last time.

I yawn, my right hand over my mouth and the other one stretching. She smiles genuinely and pulls some hair from her face and places it behind her ear. "Your funny, Armin." She says. I freeze and my eyes look at Annie burning up. I pretend not to notice, but I start feeling my cheeks burn up also. I place my arms on the table and I look outside to find it's already dark.

"Oh, shit. I have to go. My roommate is probably done studying from the library, and I need to get dinner." I pick up my sketch book and close it, putting it in my brown bag. I stand up and walk to the door. I turn back at Annie who is looking at me. "Goodbye Armin." She says with disappointment in her throat. " What's so sad? Don't worry .We'll meet here tomorrow. 4:00 p.m." I turn back around and open the door, hearing the bell jingle as I got out.

**********

"Is dinner ready?" Berthodt said as he got out of the shower, steam escaping from the bathroom and unto the living room. He's in a blank tank top and jeans with a dog tag. Some water from his hair drips down to the floor, but he cleans it up with his sock. "Yeah." I sit down on one side of the table and Berthodt walks over and sits down across from me. We say our daily prayers and eat in silence. I stop for a moment, and Berthodt looks at me in confusion. "What's wrong Armin?" I shake my head and reply with an 'I'm fine' and 'I'm full' and go to my bed only a couple of yards away. I sit down and take out the sketch book from before. I open up to a clear page and get out my pencil. Going to the pocket  where it has always been, I don't feel it's presence when I pass my hand through the spot. Shit. I forgot my pencil ay the cafe. I sigh and get up, approaching my bed room desk and grab my spares. As I walk back to my bed and start sketching, Berthodt sits down next to me and looks at my work. "Who is that girl?"

"Her name is Annie Leonheart. I met her at a cafe while you were studying." I say as I brush away eraser shavings and look at my work. Though just a sketch, the picture seemed to just pop out of the paper. Like the smile I put on her smooth, pale, face made the sound of her soft laugh, and the shoulders that went up and down actually moved. But something didn't feel right. Maybe it was her nose, or her eyes. Something about the hoodie behind her neck looked as though it had to many wrinkles. Or her eyelashes, were they too short?

"Armin, my god. You usually don't put that much effort unto your sketches. This one looks like a full blown drawing you could give to Ms. Rall probably by tomorrow." I shrugged and continued. "Probably. But I'm going to add color to it and meet Annie again. Maybe she'll let me paint infront of her."

Bertholdt rubbed his chin like an investigator and stifled a chuckle. "Haha, I get it." He murmured. I looked at him. What does he get? "Huh?" Was all I could say back. "Armin, you like her. You should know that by now. You talking about her, drawing her, haven't you ever watched movies?" Bertholdt smiled widely and slapped my back. "Yeah right Bert. She's a highschooler. No way in hell her parents would accept me. She doesn't even show any signs of love. No rapidly beating heart that sounds so loud a person could hear it right across the table. No nervous studdering or twiddling thumbs. No awkward moments or silent conversations. Nothing." I closed my sketch book and place it on the desk along with my pencil. "Sure, Sure." Bertholdt says slyly. I roll my eyes and lie down on my bed, pulling the covers over me. I turn off the lights, and as Berthodt went to sleep, I could feel my heart racing, my cheeks hot, and how awkward tomorrow might be.

A/N

Did you like the first chapter? I hoped you did. I'm not really going to have a daily post thing. Because of school, I can never make promises. I'll  try to post at least 1-2 more chapters by the last day of break.

Thank you for reading this first chapter, this story is not going to be long, but I'll still enjoy it. So........bai!