Levi's POV

I hate goodbyes, so I avoid them like the plague. Knowing that they would leave and I would most likely never see them again. But I felt the need to watch them leave. I think it was because of Hanji. I sat on a tree stump, watching all the bratty kids leaving with their parents. Some were complaining, some were in a rush to return home, and some just wanted to get their phones charged.

"Levi," I turn to see Hanji with her burger and hotdogs on her paper plate. She wore a brown bag and I could see she stuffed more than one bag of chips. We are only allowed to hand out one bag of chips, but I'm not going to report her. Not this time. Hanji smiled at me, waving her hand that held a piece of paper. "I see you're here."

"I can go where I want to go. Why does it matter if I'm here?"

She chuckles softly, handing me the paper. It was blank, but I quickly realized that it was folded in half. With her hand free, she takes a bite from her hotdog. "It doesn't matter. I'm just glad I could find you this quickly instead of hunting for you. As I heard, you're hard to find. Almost as if you are a ninja. Are you secretly a ninja?"

"If I was, I would've successfully returned home. As you can see, I have not."

"I didn't realize you had good humor." Hanji gives a small laugh. "Well, I'll be leaving in a few minutes. Just until I finished my food. Mom and Dad don't like it when I eat in the car. I think it was because of the crumbs."

"Aren't you going to say goodbye to your camp counselor and friends?"

Hanji shook her head, "Already did. Just tying up a few loose knots before leaving." She continues to take a bite from her hotdog, talking to me while chewing. It was disgusting, but I could hear what she was trying to say. "What about you?"

"Felt like coming here. None of the brats will miss you."

She takes a few seconds to chew her food properly before speaking to me again. "Of course, they would-."

"They would miss throwing insults at me."

"Huh?!" Bits of her food flew out of her mouth. "I thought you would've put the fear in them."

"I guess I'm not what you think I am." Why am I saying that? The same goes for her. She wants to get away from reality when I thought she was causing trouble for the hell of it. Camp is something that distracted her from real life.

She smiled, "I know. It's strange when you know someone after peeling a few layers." She gets up from the ground, pointing to the piece of paper in my hands. "You don't need to, but if you ever want to talk, there it is."

"What is it?"

That smirk... that smirk of hers would be forever etched on my soul. "Why don't you have a guess? I'll see you later, Levi."

"Goodbye..." I whispered under my breath as I unfolded the paper, seeing numbers. It took a few seconds to register that it was her phone number.

I spent a few minutes just staring, wondering why. I know other kids would get phone numbers, but never me. At least I can talk to her again, but the feeling of that thorn in my side kept bugging me. Do I want to acknowledge the thorn or do I want to leave it as is?

"So!" Erwin's voice startled me to the point I almost ripped the paper in half. "First time seeing you here. What changed your mind?" Then, I could feel his eyes on the paper, staring at it. "Whose number is that?"

"None of your business." I snapped, folding it back and hiding it in my phone case. I want to talk to her again... I'll acknowledge the thorn. "Besides, aren't you supposed to be watching the barbeque?"

"Jeffery is watching it. Now, back to business- whose number is that?"

"Some random girl."

The second I saw his eyes, I knew he had meddled in something he wasn't supposed to be in. "Is it Hanji's?"

"Every day," I say, shaking my fist in anger, "you had me pair up with her or invite me to places where she's always involved. I always chalked it up to coincidence, but now, I think otherwise."

Erwin scoffs, shaking his head. The 'denial' phase. "What are you talking about, Levi? You've been talking about her this entire time. And a random person gives you their number? It's not mine. And if it was another counselor, they wouldn't give their number on a piece of paper like that. And considering what today is, they are leaving today. If it's a guy, I'm sure they would give their number differently. It has to be a girl." Erwin leans against the wooden post, chuckling to himself. "And today is when Hanji goes home, right?"

There was nothing to fight against him. I just shut my mouth and walked away.

"So it is Hanji's huh? Are you going to call her?"

"It's none of your business. She probably gave me a fake one. One last prank to mess with me." But the last words I had with her seemed different. It wasn't like she wanted to mess with me for the last time. I think... she was genuine. I think this phone number is real. "I'm going to get something to eat."

"Promise me you'll call her tonight, okay?"

His last words echo in my head as I thought about it. There's no way... no way I'm going to call her. Just a simple text would do.