Repetitively, every day during lunch, I would sit on the same squeaky bench at the same empty table. I would be chewing on the exact same veggie sandwich with a side of the exact same tomato soup, and I'd drink some water with it. That oh so salty water. Chatter flowed all throughout the building. I know it's kind of rude but I liked to eavesdrop in on other people's conversations. That is how I knew all of the basic gossip going around. The only issue with this was that I just did not get the full detail of the conversation in which I was listening. The time after lunch was my favorite time of the day. It was free time, also known as the free period of the day. During this time, everyone could do whatever they pleased. It was a good few hours of your own time before dinner would start. During my free time, I would spend these hours either sleeping or dipping into whatever novel I could get my hands on.

Finally, onto the dinner portion of my day. To my right, was the table in which Bertolt Hoover, Reiner Braun, and Annie Leonhart sat. They were the tough group of trainees that made all of us appear mediocre in comparison. Before I was where Eren Yaeger, Mikasa Ackerman, Jean Kirstein, Armin Arlert, and Marco Bodt sat. What I knew about them, at this point in time, was that they were a group of fairly average trainees. Some were more determined than others and excelled in the physical portions of our training and others were more focused on the knowledge part of the course. I could relate the groups that people were in, in the mess hall, to a modern-day cafeteria. Everyone fit into their own group and then there was me. To be honest, it kind of hurt when I thought that nobody liked me. It stung to think that none of these people saw me fit enough to join their group of friends.

When I finished my meal which consisted of barely mashed potatoes, a slab of vegetables, some thick gravy, and, of course, some water, I stood up, hearing another goodbye from the same bench. How nice of it to care about me. During these lonely times, I counted on my only friend to talk to me. That would be the bench that I sat on. After cleaning up, I decided to go back to my cabin. I had had enough of hearing about how Jean was in love with Mikasa.

I walked out of the door that was being opened by a stampede of people exiting the building. Watching and being a part of this would make you want to relate the exiting of people from the mess hall to pouring water out of a glass. They would just burst out all at once, like water flowing out of a dam, maybe. I walked up the hill and noticed that the sky was darkening significantly earlier than usual. The talkative people around me ruined the silence that I loved so much. I did not think that anyone else enjoyed some peace and quiet, except for me. Then, I started to overhear a conversation behind me.

"Can't you guys just try to be a bit quieter?", a familiar voice questioned from behind me. "Why? It's our free period too and we can spend it, however, we want too!", another voice hollered.

"But it's also mine and I want to read-"

"Armin, the world doesn't revolve around you. Go find another place to read if you don't want to be in our room".

I had finally put the pieces of the puzzle together. I figured that the higher sounding voice was Armin and that the lower one was Eren. The two were arguing over how they would like to spend their free time. I assumed that an incident must have occurred, earlier that day.

I understood how Armin must have been feeling. Just like me, he wanted to indulge in a little bit of silence. Eren speedily ran past me and Mikasa was, no surprise, not too far behind him, leaving Armin all on his own. My mind raced. Should I say something? If so, what should I say? Should I invite him to my cabin? No, that would not be allowed. Boys stay on their side of the camp. But at the same time, it would be rude of me to not offer him some help when I'm perfectly able to, I pondered. I figured that the trip would have been a waste if I did not interact with anyone so I declared that I would offer my cabin's serenity to him. He seemed pretty approachable so it would not be much of a problem to socialize with him. I suddenly noticed that the separate pathways were starting just a bit before me. They lead separate ways to the boy's and girl's cabins.

It took a lot in me to get the courage to talk to Armin. Thoughts like: "What if the people in this time dislike like me?" and "How do I start conversations, again?", ran through my mind. But regardless of my excessively nervous thoughts, I planned to approach him before it was too late. I slowed down my walking to match the pace of Armin. By now, he was then walking by my side and did not seem to notice me. "H-Hey, Armin", I stuttered nervously. He swung his head up, hair moving to the right of his face, and looked at me.

"You're Y/N, right? Pardon me if I'm wrong, I'm not so great with names", Armin responded. I was surprised that he knew my name. It was the first time in months that I had heard my own name. It was a bit of a shock but it felt right. "No, no, that's me. No worries at all." I answered, feeling calmer than before. Just the way he spoke to me felt very natural. He was a great conversationist.

"Oh, ok", he mumbled. "I heard that you were looking for somewhere quiet to read. Sorry, I heard a bit of your predicament going on behind me", I stated blandly. Armin looked down and watched his feet moving. It was almost like he was embarrassed about wanting to read in peace. "Yeah, Eren is always loud with Connie and some other boys so I can never concentrate. I mean, I can't sit outside because it's far too cold and windy now. Gosh, I don't really know what to do anymore and the worst thing is that I'm at the best part of my book-", he froze and looked at me quickly before his head dropped again.

"Sorry, I'm blabbing on and on about my problems. You don't need to hear them", Armin apologized. "No, no!" I began, "that's exactly why I came to talk to you in the first place. I was wondering if you'd like to come to my cabin during the free period if you need some quiet. I'm always reading on my own in there so you wouldn't be disturbed."

"Oh no, I couldn't. I mean, it's nice of you to think of me but boys aren't allowed in the girl's cabins. And also, I'd be being selfish if I said yes because I'd be taking up your free time and that's unfair to you."

"I promise you wouldn't at all. And I'm also in my cabin by myself. I guess I was the odd one out when I joined the trainee corps and the other girl's cabins were packed to the brim. So, I was put into my cabin all alone. It's nice 'cause it's far away from the other girls' cabins. It's pretty remote", I told him confidently. "R-Really? Uh, I don't know. How about I think about it for a bit", he cautiously replied, trying not to make any promises. After all, I was only a stranger to him, at this point in time.

"Sounds good. Just know that you can come by anytime that you want some quiet. I'm always there during the free period", I told him kindly. He smiled at me warmly. It was nice for someone to finally acknowledge me. As we reached the fork in the pathway, we parted our ways onto different paths and he waved at me shakily. I waved back at him and then realized that I had forgotten to tell him where my cabin was and which number it was.

"Armin", I screeched through the dark. "Yes", he responded quickly. The wind began to blow fiercely and it was a bit hard to hear anything. "My cabin is a few yards away from the boys washing area! It has the number fifteen on it", I yelled out, above the powerful winds.