"Are you sure you want to do this?" Armin voiced his anxiety with his glowing blue eyes.

"We talked about this, Armin. I'm sure. I need to do this." Eren replied, not sharing a look with his blond friend. "Promise you'll keep a secret, though, alright? I'm worried that Mikasa might find out."

Armin sighed. "Yeah, I know you are. I promise I'll be quiet, if you promise to be safe."

Eren actually turned to his friend this time. He smiled, lightly punching his arm. "Promise. Stop worrying about me, man. I should be worried about you. Don't you have entrance exams coming up? How are you feeling about those?"

Armin watxhed the ground move beneath his feet. "I'm not going to lie, Eren. I'm nervous. This is life changing for me."

Eren laughed. "Oh please, you're the smartest guy I know. The smartest kid at school, probably. You'll ace the exams, no doubt."

Armin visibly gulped. "I-I know I have a good chance but..." He trailed off. "I'm just worried that if I mess up I'll have to..."

Eren thought for a second. Armin was a genius really, in simple terms. There's no reason for him to worry. Any college in the country would accept him like that, and he could easily go around the world. The thing is, this was the best university in the state, and it was really close to Eren and Mikasa. If he didn't get in, he knew that his friends would never let him go to a worse college just so he could be near them and he'd have to move away.

"I know that the reason you're so nervous is because of the locatation. Because of me and Mikasa." Eren said, filling the silence that Armin left. "But you don't have to worry. You'll do great, and you'll stay with us. I promise."

Armin chuckled. "How can you promise something like that?"

Eren pushed Armin ahead of him and stared to propell him forward with a silly, zigzagging run, causing Armin to laugh. "I'll call you. Constantly. Three pm or three am, I'll call just to yell at you to study."

They ran on the sidewalk like little kids, laughing and talking until they were out of breath. They walked the rest of the way until they reached Armin's house, and Eren walked the rest of his way to his apartment.

After climbing four flights of stairs, Eren dropped his heavy backpack on the floor. He threw his keys on the table and watched in anticipation as they came inches close to sliding off onto the floor. After taking off his shoes, he strudded over to the old, black leather couch where Mikasa was already seated.

He flopped face down on the cool leather and let out a muted groan which vibrates through the whole couch.

"How was school?" Mikasa said, sheepishly. Eren turned onto his back and looked up at the boring, popcorn celling.

"Funny." He replied. "Me and Armin went to the library to get some books for first day of school tomorrow."

Mikasa stares blankly at the television screen and Eren could see by her eyes she wasn't paying attention. "I'm really glad you decided to go, Eren. This will really pay off in the future."

"I'm still getting a job, Mikasa. It'll be on campus, though."

Mikasa turned to face him and slammed her head o one of the cushions. "You don't need to do that! Really, I can handle us both just fine. You need to study."

Eren rolled his eyes and sat up to meet Mikasa's. "No, you need to study more than I do. I'm taking general studies. I'm not even sure what I'm going to do yet. But you do. And if you can handle both of us, then so can I."

Mikasa sighed in defeat. "Fine. If you're going to be so stubborn, then all I can do is keep you in check."

Eren's cheeks felt like they were on fire. He was worried now. The truth was that he told Mikasa that he was going to community college so she wouldn't find out about his embarrassing job. He also roped in the story that he'll get a campus job, because he'll need a way to explain all the incoming money. But everytime they talked about this subject, his heart dropped to the ground from the fear of Mikasa catching him in all the lies.

"What do you mean, keep me in check?"

Mikasa averted her gaze to the screen again. "I'll chat with your professors, your peers, your new co-workers and boss. Just to make sure you're able to be successful."

Eren knew he couldn't let this happen. There's no way he'll pull any of it off, even if he printed out fake tests and asked friends to lie for him, something would go wrong. He had to provent this.

"Like hell you would." He raised his voice, and Mikasa snapped her head to him. "I'm an adult. I don't need your suppervision. All of this is ridiculous. I know you only want the best for me, but this won't do any good. Plus, don't you trust me to tell you if I'm struggling?"

Mikasa sighed. "I guess, I do. But I just want to make sure you're alright." She said, and Eren sighed in relief that his lie worked so well. She put her hand on his. "Please, Eren. Please tell me if you need help. I won't be able to live with myself if you don't let me help you."

Eren nodded in return, and held his sisters hand as the background noise from the news chanel all faded together with outside traffic.

The next morning Eren made sure to wake up the same time as his sister to make it seem like he was getting ready for his first day. She wished him good luck before she left and even made him a nice boxed lunch. After she left, he thought of going back to sleep but he figured that since he was up he might as well get things done.

He put on a clean, button up, checkered shirt and a loose blue tie to match his jeans. He brought his wallet and his keys and stuffed the bus pass behind his clear phone case for the old iphone 4. He got a bite of some cold chicken from the fridge before running out of the door.

The bus ride was short in reality but it seemed like forever and a half in Eren's head. Here he was, a fresh high school graduate (barely, he only managed to complete high school with Armin's help) on his way to the worst interview of his life, for the worst job he could imagine.

Eren had many jobs before. From fast-food places to store clerks and anything in between. He subbed for the school janitor for two weeks one time, but he got fired after stealing food from the cafeteria, plus a two-week detention. Whatever he did, he never could keep a job down. This really was his last option, because he knew that there was no way that he was actually going to college. So, he's going to do the one thing that he has a chance in, thanks to a friend on the inside.

He was going to become a male stripper.