crush culture | jean kirstein

chapter five

You leave the library as soon as evening arrives. You take the route to your locker to drop off your books and prepare your things for tomorrow's classes.

"Hey, (Y/N)!"

You turn your head. To your surprise, Reiner Braun stands at the end of the hallway, waving, as his best friend Bertholdt Hoover, the guy from Art who helped you clean the paint thinner off the floor, shyly stands behind him. Horror consumes you and confusion fills your head as the pair walks towards you.

"Oh. Hey."

It's the only reply your mind can think of before fully malfunctioning. You stand still on your spot as your hands freeze and stay on top of your History book inside your locker. There isn't anything playing in your mind besides the funny Window shut down music, but even then, you still can't bring yourself to laugh because Reiner and Bertholdt are approaching you fast.

Ah, you're doomed.

"(Y/N), it's been a while," Reiner greets. There is an awkward tension between you both and you can tell that the blond is trying his best to knock it off. "How's life?"

You stop yourself from rolling your eyes at the remembrance of Jean.

"It's going just fine," you half lie. "Uh, what's up with yours?"

"Nothing much, but we've got a problem and we're trying to see if you can help in any way."

"What is it?"

"Bertholdt here," said guy lets out a yelp as Reiner pulls him towards you, "has a crush on somebody. But you know him, yeah? He needs help on how to approach the girl."

No wonder why they turned to you. You know for a fact that Reiner would never strike a conversation with you considering your awkward history with each other, but he's the type to make sacrifices for his friends and Bertholdt seems to be in need as of the moment.

You stop yourself from snorting. In need of pussy.

But their reasoning doesn't push you to help. You don't feel convinced enough to lend a hand because you have your suspicions. You wonder why Reiner turned to you out of all people.

"What do you want me to do?"

Reiner flicks Bertholdt's forehead. The taller boy hisses in pain.

"Just talk things out with each other, teach this awkward lamppost how to talk to a girl since you're one yourself."

"I'm not an expert in that field."

"You were the expert poet in fifth grade," Reiner reasons in a singsong with a smirk on his face. You pale.

"You're not here to send this girl a letter, are you?"

"A letter? No." You exhale with relief. Things are going well between Jean and Mikasa so it's not something that you should worry about, but you don't think you can assist another person with the entire love letter ordeal. One is enough. "I dragged Bertholdt here because I trust you in getting him to confess. I think you and him would get along with each other pretty well, too."

Reiner's eyes sparkle as he meets his friend's eyes. Bertholdt slightly stiffens and withers under Reiner's hold, but the fright in his form disappears when he looks down at you.

And by down, you mean down at you. Bertholdt is probably the tallest student in your high school and perhaps the most quiet, too. He is the complete 180 to Reiner's boisterous personality, so it's quite interesting to see the pair get along very well. They seem like brothers. Not by looks or by blood, but by heart.

"We sit beside each other in Art," you say before Bertholdt does. You extend your hand. "It's nice to formally meet you. Thank you for also helping me with the paint thinner three days ago."

A small smile cracks on the tall boy's face. He shakes your hand.

"You're welcome, (Y/N). I-It's nice to meet you, too," he says back. He pushes Reiner's arm on his shoulder away and inches closer to you. He whispers, "I'm sorry for Reiner's behavior. I don't think you're close friends to begin with, so I think you're surprised—"

"Don't worry about it." You lightly giggle. "He's a good friend for helping you get whoever this girl is."

"Ha, yeah."

You break the handshake. Bertholdt drops his hand and watches you pack your things before closing your locker and tossing the key in your bag.

"So who's the lucky girl?"

"Oh, about her." Reiner clears his throat. "I'll talk to you about the whole thing after school, is that alright? Bertholdt and I have somewhere to go."

Your eyes slightly narrow at Reiner and the quick change in his behavior. It's suspicious and weird, like it isn't the Reiner you know at all, but you shrug and forget about your suspicions. You're probably just exhausted after a long day in school. You think it's best for you to go home. "As long as I don't have to write any love letters or poems, I'm in on this. I'll talk to you guys later."

Reiner shoots you a thumbs up. "Thanks! I'll message you by six."

As he and Bertholdt wave goodbye with the latter being poorly dragged by his best friend, you calmly walk out of the building and hop on your bike to ride your way home. But before you start pedaling, you see someone in the corner of your eye—a tall blond boy exiting the Chemistry laboratory in a lab gown and a pair of safety goggles. He holds a test tube rack with caution and closes the lab door with his shoulder.

You identify this person to be someone you know, and as you start to pedal your way out of campus, you exhale out of exhaustion. Your two "exes" just showed up and made an appearance in front of you in not even a five-minute interval and, oh boy, you are worn out from head to toe. You think you might crash on the street if you continue to think about them.

First Reiner Braun with a special request, then Colt Grice who sees you biking your way out of campus.

Today is a very weird day.