I was scared.

My heart was beating so fast I felt as though it would rip right through my chest. But I was here. I was finally here.

"Hey, Jeannie, what's up? Why did you wanna see me here?"

My face was hot and I knew the blush would stand out against my pale skin. I inhaled and looked into his intense green eyes, gaining a moment of courage.

"I, uh... I just wanted to hang out is all." I was never good at lying.

"Then why not invite Mikasa or Armin as well?" He tilted his head to the side.God, he's perfect.

I sighed and looked away from him. "Eren, I needed to tell you something. And I can't do it if they're both here."

It was time.

"The truth is...I like you. I like you a lot, so much that I can't stand it. I want to be your girlfriend. I want to go on stupid dates with you and hold your hand and all the gross stuff that boyfriends and girlfriends do."

I wish I didn't look up to his face, to those green eyes. Those green eyes that screamed rejection. He was never good at hiding what he was thinking.

"Jeannie, I...I don't...I don't know what to say."

Too late. I knew what you wanted to say. I couldn't stop myself.

"It's because of Mikasa, right?" I screamed at him. "You're more interested in her, aren't you? What does she have that I don't? I'm just as good as her!" My eyes stung; I was about to cry. "She's all you ever noticed."

He wasn't happy about that. I'd never seen those green eyes look so angry before, especially directed towards me. It hurt to see that.

He took a step forward. "What's your problem? You knew I liked her; why are you acting like this? Jeannie, this isn-"

"Just shut the hell up, you trash!" I was beyond reason. Oh god, he looked hurt. It wasn't supposed to end up like this. "Why do you want someone who's so clingy?"

Why did I fuck it up?

Why did I fuck everything up?

"And what makes you think I want to have a girlfriend with a horse face?"

I shoot out of bed. Did I seriously dream about that shit again? I rub my eyes a few times before turning to look at my alarm. Great, waking up five minutes before my alarm even goes off. I shift to my night stand and just turn the thing off. At least I'm spared from that disgusting noise.

I let out a big yawn as I stretch, hearing a couple of bones crack. Besides, who fucking has dreams about getting rejected by a douchebag anyway? Most people have dreams of their past lives or something. You know, cool things like meeting a half snake monster or fighting supernatural demons and saving the world.

I sit in my bed for a few more minutes before reluctantly moving my amazing and warm covers off of me. I step onto my plush rug that has fortunately saved me from the freezing cold hardwood floor. It, however, doesn't save me from the loud creaking it makes as I walk across it. Gotta love old homes. I hear my mom moving around downstairs as I head into the bathroom and begin my morning routine. Which consists of staring at myself in the mirror and eventually brushing my teeth.

I head straight back into my room, trying to make as little noise as possible. I don't want my mom knowing I'm up just yet. Today's a big day and she'll be crying all over me. I really don't want that right now. It's too early, you know?

Oh, yeah, I guess I should mention I start secondary school today. Not only that, I'm starting at Trost Secondary school, one of the most prestigious schools around. But I'll get to that later.

I rummage through my dresser and closet a little until I find something appropriate to wear. I happen to pick the usual: an olive green top with black jeans. Green is my favorite color, by the way. Expect me to wear it a lot. I finish the look off with a plain black vest before tending to my hair. Not much work is needed in that department, since half of it is shaved off.

I love my shaved hair, but I can't say the same for my mom, who cried over it when she first saw it. She didn't care that I dyed it blonde, she just doesn't understand the shaved look.

Oh well, her loss. My hair is amazing.

And speaking of my mom, I can hear her loud footsteps coming up the stairs. She comes bustling into my room.

"Jeanne-bo, you need to hurry up. I made you breakfast and you need to eat it before you leave."

I sigh. "All right, I'll be downstairs in a minute don't worry."

She lingers in my doorway, giving me a concerned look before turning to leave finally. "Just hurry up, please. You can't skip out on breakfast; monsieur omelette is waiting for you." I groan loudly. She's done this since I was a child. Calling the fucking food "monsieur omelette." Dammit mom, I literally just turned fifteen yesterday, stop talking to me like I'm five.

Yeah, lucky me. My birthday will always fall on the first week of school, sometimes even the first day. I heard that some cultures used to start school in September but nope, here in Rose country we start in April.

I finish dealing with my hair, grab my bag, and head downstairs into the kitchen. I actually smile seeing the omelet on the table despite not really wanting to sit down and eat. "It looks good, maman. But...shouldn't you be at work already? I really don't want you to be in trouble."

She waves at me dismissively. "Oh please, Jeanne-bo, I'm the owner. I can go in whenever I want." I give her a concerned look. "Don't worry sweetheart, I asked Sylvie to come in early and open up for me. I told her about your big day." My mom's smiling at me. That sweet, proud mother smile. Oh no, here come the waterworks. She walks over to me and hugs me, sniffling a little. "Oh my beautiful little Jeanne-bo. I'm so proud of you. You're an intelligent and talented young woman." She pets the part of my hair that's still there. Incredible.

I manage to wiggle free of her grasp and head over to the table and eat. I'll never outright admit it but I love Mom's omelets. I start eating it fast, wanting to hurry up and get out before my mom starts crying again. She moves about the kitchen and cleans her mess up as I eat.

I finish up and basically have to rush out before she grabs on to me again. Our house is also connected to mom's bakery so when I leave, I enter the store. I wave shyly to Sylvie, Mom's old friend and employee. She's older but she's pretty nice. As I leave the store, I turn around and see Mom has followed me. I give her a small wave and she returns it. She'll be fine. By the time she gets to work it'll be busy and she'll have more to worry about than just me.

Did I mention that I live right in the heart of the Trost district? No? Well shit. Yeah, I love downtown where it's an interesting mix of urban and really old houses and apartments. Like the kind of houses that are built upwards. Something like mine, where it's a three story building and the ground floor is mom's little shop. Of course, not all places here have shops connected to them like ours.

I walk briskly through the city. It's actually pretty chilly this morning and I didn't even think to bring a hoodie. At least I live relatively close to the school so the walk there isn't too bad. I notice a couple of groups of kids heading the same way as me but I avoid being anywhere near them.

I don't know them and they'll probably just annoy me.

I turn the corner up ahead after walking on a straight path for about ten minutes. I look up and there it is in all its glory, Trost Secondary. I've passed by this school a number of times but it feels different now. It feels a little more intimidating and daunting. This school is colossal.

I stop walking real quick to retrieve my schedule from my bag. Hey, I just don't want to look like those lost new kids with their noses in a piece of paper and not paying attention to where I'm going. Besides, it's just not cool at all. All right so...I've been assigned to classroom number 104. Sounds good I guess? I promptly stuff the paper back in my bag and keep walking.

I finally enter the school grounds and all of a sudden I feel hyperaware of my actions. I see a few groups of kids scattered around and chatting. Some girls to my left giggle. Shit, shit, I hope they're not giggling at me. Fuck this noise. I hurry up and try to get into the school quickly. So far, I haven't seen anyone I know yet. Good.

The first thing you see upon entering this school is a huge foyer where, again, different groups of students are just hanging around and chatting. I mean, I know I'm here a little early than I need to but still, you guys should just go talk in your classrooms.

As I stride across the foyer something catches my eye. There's a poor girl against the lockers being bullied by...oh no, is that Ymir? Shit, that's Ymir. Oh that girl is dead; you know she's dead. Ymir is an upperclassmen and I think she's about seventeen. The only reason I know her is because she used to babysit me. She was never one with gentleness or kindness. Well, if she was, she had a really funny way of showing it...with constant headlocks and noogies.

Anyway, she's got this poor girl backed up into the lockers, looming over her. The other girl is a little shorter and has a bushy ponytail. Hmm, guess I can call her 'ponytail girl'. She doesn't have any other striking features. Suddenly, a tiny blonde girl enters the fray and wedges herself in between Ymir and the ponytail girl. Rest in peace, tiny blonde girl. I will tell your story to th- What!? Ymir backs off and argues a little with the tiny blonde girl. However, it's clear that Ymir isn't really putting up a fight. Eventually, she just shrugs and walks away.

The whole time these events happened, I realize that I've just been standing right in the middle of the foyer. Good job, me, let's be a little more obvious next time.

Whatever.

I continue walking through the foyer ignoring whatever ponytail girl and tiny blonde girl are doing. I reach the first set of hallways and realize this all the teacher's rooms and general offices. Well, shit. I backtrack a little and enter into a different hallway. These classes are labeled 110-114. Amazing, I have to try a different set of halls. I didn't realize this school also doubled as a maze. I exit these hallways and head back to the main foyer. I lean against a wall and try to scope the area without looking too obvious that I'm hopelessly lost. Kind of. In a way.

At least I know my classroom number, right? I reach in my pocket and pull out my phone to check the time. It's 8:15. Shit, only fifteen minutes left 'till class starts. Well...no that's actually not too bad. I'll make it. I look around real quick to see if anyone's noticed that I was a little lost. No one is looking my way. In fact, some other people are looking terribly lost. I smirk before heading off to one of the hallways on my left.

Dear god, please be the right one. I check the sign on the wall. Yes, these are classrooms 100-104. Jeanne Kirstein, you are amazing.

It only took three tries.

...We're not going to talk about this.

I walk down the hall, passing the other classrooms and finally reach mine. Room 104. I take a deep breath and walk inside without stopping. Some of the kids turn and look at me but not all. I take a moment to look around. These classrooms are really small, though; no wonder the damn school is so big. I think it can only fit like eighteen ki-

Oh my god. Oh my dear lord in heaven you have got to be shitting me.

I'm unable to stop myself from shouting. I'm also unable to stop myself from running over to this fucker and grabbing him by the collar.

"Eren fucking Jäger. Who the hell let you into this school?!" Saying that I'm furious would be the understatement of the year. I'm livid beyond all comprehension.

"Jeannie back off holy fuck!" He wrenches my hands from his collar and glares back at me. "Calm down, you almost ripped my fucking clothes."

"I don't give a damn about your clothes! You're not supposed to be here! Get out already!" My vision is going red and my blood is pulsing. It's too early in the morning for me to get this angry but the mere sight of this fucker sends me into an incomprehensible rage.

"Hey, I passed the entrance exam fair and square." We're in each other's faces now, my golden amber eyes versus his bright green ones.

I open my mouth to shout out more insults but Mikasa swoops in between us and effectively cuts me off. She turns to me first and gives me a warning look before turning to Eren. "It's not even nine in the morning and you're already fighting."

Eren gestures frantically at me. "Did you not see her come after me first?"

"I don't care who attacked first, you need to stop."

Eren grumbles and glances back to me. "Jeanne, you're really going to need to stop pulling this shit all the time. I was actually excited to see you in here but now you just fucked that up. Learn how to be an adult for a change." He turns around and goes back to his seat next to the window. Mikasa sits next to him and I think Armin is sitting right behind him. Tch, whatever, like I care about the golden trio. I turn around myself and sit on the opposite side of the classroom away from that bastard, closest to the door. I throw my bag on the desk and just lay my head down. This is literally going to be the worst four years of my life. I can't believe I have to be stuck with that asshole and his group.

Where is a falling piano when I need one?

As I keep my head down, I hear more students walking in and chatting. Oh god, I think I even hear Thomas's voice. How the hell did he get in this school? Dumbass couldn't even write his way out of a box; there's no way he passed that test. Whatever, I just keep my head down until I hear someone plop down next to me.

"Hey, are you okay?" Her voice is in my right ear. I shoot up immediately and almost fall out of my chair. Dammit, hasn't anyone ever heard of personal space?

Oh shit. It's ponytail girl! In my class and sitting next to me.

I should start calling her the girl that lived. Because she was lucky someone came and stopped Ymir.

I realize that I've been doing nothing but stare at her while I have my own monologue about what to call her. She still looks concerned, but seems a little nervous. "A-Are you okay?" She repeats softly.

I readjust my position on my chair and try to answer her properly. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. I'm perfectly normal, by the way."

"Okay...uh, you just looked a little sad." She holds her hand out to me. "My name is Sasha Braus. I'm from the Dauper district in Rose country." She's smiling so wide. Is she even all there in the head?

I find myself shaking her hand regardless of my thoughts. "Uh, hi, I'm Jeanne Kirstein. I was born and raised here in Trost." I gesture down to the ground.

Her eyes light up and she grabs my hand with both of hers. "Oh my god! Kirstein as in, like, the bakery down the road?"

Oh no.

"Yeah, it's my mom's store." She starts bouncing up and down. I'm trying so hard to ignore all the looks we're getting from the other classmates but it's insanely difficult. People who know me or at least those who have lived here long enough know not to bring this up. And yet here she is announcing it for the entire classroom. I tug her hands down and bring her closer to me and look her dead in the eyes. "Don't go parading this information around. I can't even begin to tell you how embarrassing it is for me."

She raised an eyebrow and moves her head to the side. "Why? I'd love it if my father owned a bakery. It would be so cool!" I frown.

And if this morning couldn't get any worse, well, it just fucking did.

A short guy with a buzz cut came and sat down behind Sasha and he was just staring at us. Is he...? Is he fucking blushing? "Oh, sorry guys, don't let me ruin your love fest. It's kinda hot, to be honest."

Love fest...? I turn back to Sasha and realize not only are we both holding hands - well, her two hands are over mine - but our faces are really close to each other's. I pull back immediately and turn to face the bald kid. "Look here, fucker, don't assume shit like that." I try to give him my most menacing glare. It kind of works.

He holds his hands up in defense. "Whoa, whoa, I'm really sorry." Sasha is giggling the entire time. I'm glad she thinks this is funny.

As I say a few more derogatory words about buzz cuts to this boy, tiny blonde girl sits right next to him. I immediately turn my attention to her. Apparently Sasha did the same as she's now thrown herself onto tiny blonde girl's half of the desk, clutching onto her hands. "Thank you so much for saving me! Are you a god? You must be God because of how kind and righteous you are!" How in the hell can you act like that and not feel any sort of embarrassment?

I gently remove Sasha from her desk and turn to ask her a question. "How do you know Ymir? She would never stop for anyone unless she really liked them."

The tiny blonde smiles at me. "Oh, that's because I'm her girlfriend."

How those two got together I will never understand. They seem like polar opposites. "And I'm really sorry about her attacking you earlier," she says to Sasha. "Ymir gets easily jealous sometimes and she completely overreacted. I promise that she won't do it again, though." She then jumps as if she just remembered something. "I'm sorry, I should introduce myself. My name is Historia Reiss. I just moved to Trost over the break from Sina country."

We look at her in awe. Why the hell would you choose dinky little Trost over the districts in Sina? Maybe she just wanted to be closer to Ymir? How the fuck did they even meet?

Just then, the bald guy next to her speaks up as well, thinking he's a part of our little group. Fucking nerd. "Yo, the name's Connie Springer. I'm from the Ragako district in the southern part of Rose country."

Sasha smiles at him and talks next. "Oh hey, that's close to where I'm from!" She introduces herself to Connie and Historia and then all three turn their attention towards me. I give them my name and that I'm from Trost. Of course, they immediately talk about my mom's bakery. I swear that establishment will haunt me for the rest of my life.

When I look back up at the class, I notice that all the seats are taken up, except for the one next to Armin. It seems that we're going to have a late student in the class. I can't wait to see their stupid face. Everyone is just idly chatting as the bell signifying the beginning of the day goes off. Wait...where is our teacher? They should have definitely been here by now.

Fifteen minutes pass by before our teacher finally appears. And holy shit, is he a big man. He hurries over to the desk on the opposite wall from mine and sets his briefcase down. Oh god, and I should mention that disaster of an outfit he's wearing. He has on khakis that are clearly too short for him. Sorry, but most companies don't make clothes in size 'colossal'. And to top it all off, he's got a musty, old beige colored tweed jacket. This man looks absolutely hysterical. He doesn't say a word or look at any of us as he gets himself ready. Kind of interesting how a teacher is late the first day. I think this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I will cherish this memory.

After a few minutes, he straightens up and clears his throat. "Good morning, honor students. My name is Mike Zacharius and I will be both your homeroom teacher and mathematics teacher for your entire time at Trost Secondary. Whether that be for today only or the entire four years is up to you. Now if you will give me a mome- ponytail girl to my left, please put the candy away; I can smell it from here." He glances over to Sasha and flares his nostrils. Damn, I didn't even notice her grab the candy and I'm sitting right next to her. This teacher has an amazing sense of smell. He has a titanic size nose to boot.

Maybe he has...titan olfactory skills. Hmm.

Sasha points to herself in a state of pure confusion. The teacher simply nods at her and she hastily shoves her candy back into her bag. Afterwards, she puts her head down in shame and tries to ignore a few snickers from Connie. "All right, now without any further interruptions, allow me call the roll. I'll only do this for the first week until I learn all your names and faces."

He grabs his attendance sheet and moves to the middle of the room. "Ackerman?" Mikasa raises her hand silently and he checks her off. "Arlert?" Armin mimics Mikasa's movements and vocalizes his presence. He calls Sasha's name next and she offers a small squeak to note her presence. He then calls Mina, Hannah and...Dazzmond? His name is Dazzmond?

"No last name?" Mike calls out.

"Uh n-no sir, but please, just call me Dazz," he speaks up, obviously nervous and embarrassed by his name.

Mike jots down a note and continues calling out names. When he says "Jäger" I immediately cringe and send a glare Eren's way. However, he doesn't look at my direction. Damn you, look at me while I'm angry at you.

Next up is Franz and then me. Of course, I'm too busy fuming over Eren to respond quickly, and Mike calls my name out one more time. Sasha gently taps me on the shoulder. "Uhm he's calling you."

I snap my head up quickly to face the front of the classroom. "Shit, here!" Mike gives me an unimpressed look and continues calling out the rest of the names. I cover my face in an attempt to hide the bright red blush that has crept onto my face. It's only the morning and I have embarrassed myself more times than I can even count.

"Hm, it's a little strange to have only seventeen kids in the class, but I'm not one who arranges these things. All right, since homeroom time has obviously passed us, let us begin your first day of geometry." Mike takes out his instructor's version of our textbook, which, by the way, we had to buy, and tells us to open up to the introduction.

Today is going to be a long day. Seriously, who puts math first?

Forty five minutes of geometry felt more like three hours of suffering. Now, I'm not that bad at math, however Mike likes to not only drill us with a multitude of information but also create his own problems for us. And I think...I think I caught him sniffing at a few students. I just...?

Once his time is over, he thanks us for our attention and hard work and leaves, ducking his head under the doorway as he does. And now we have a five minute break until our next teacher comes in. I hear a few sighs and tired yawns behind me. I guess others are already exhausted by Mike's strenuous teaching. I know I am and poor Sasha next to me has her head shoved in her geometry textbook.

I nudge her not so gently. "Hey, get up. It's not naptime." I look behind me and see that Connie is doing the same. What a bunch of idiots. I jump slightly as I turn to face the front again because Armin is now in front of me desk. He waves shyly. "Hey, Jeanne, I'm glad to see you in this class. Did you enjoy your break?"

Now I might hate Eren's guts and might be kind of jealous of Mikasa but I never found it in me to dislike Armin, despite his association with those two. I sigh and answer him quietly, "It was all right, nothing too eventful, yeah?"

Armin nods and smiles at me. "Well, that can still be good in a way. Oh, here I have this for you." He reaches in his pocket and pulls out an envelope with my name on it.

"Here, happy one day late birthday, Jeanne. You don't have to open it right now but whenever you get a chance. Uh, I guess I'll talk to you later." I slowly reach for the envelope and quietly thank him. He returns to his desk just in time for our second teacher to come barreling into the classroom. I stuff the envelope away in my bag and prepare for the next forty five minutes. I pray that this teacher is normal.

"Good morning, class! How are you all today? Good, I hope. My name is Hanji Zoë and I'm the head of department of science in this school. You guys are so lucky to have me." Well, this teacher is probably as far from normal as anyone could be.

"Oh, I'd also like to say that I prefer neutral pronouns, such as they or them. So no calling me Ms. Zoë or Mr. Zoë. Hanji is perfectly okay!" They scatter their notes and textbook onto the once-clean teacher's desk. The rest of the class takes out their textbooks and try to keep up with our teacher's sporadic movements and overall energy. I mean, seriously, it's like 9:40 in the morning; please calm down.

They call roll, mainly to learn our names and faces and we finally begin our life science class, which is just a variety of sciences in one class, such as astronomy and meteorology. I'm pretty sure I won't need this at all, ever. Nevertheless, I take out my notes and try my best to follow along because this teacher is moving at light speed.

Once again, the teacher crams us with an immense amount of information and we're left in our seats contemplating whether or not we made a wrong choice in entering this school. We're going to have these same teachers for the next four years. I don't even think I can stand them for that long. Once Hanji leaves, we have yet another five minute break. Two classes down, four more to go.

It's going to be a very long day.

The next class is history with Dot Pixis. He's the eldest of the teachers we've had so far and he took things a lot slower than the other two. However, he kept taking small sips out a little flask he had hidden in his jacket. I'm surprised he's still working here because of that and I think a few students were very concerned.

After another forty-five minutes of hearing an old man go off on a rant about how our government works, we finally make it to our fourth period, the elective period. This is the first of two classes where we actually leave our classroom, and we each got to pick our elective, so we don't all share the same class.

Students begin to murmur as they check their schedules and see if the others have the same elective. Mine is art and I'm pretty damn sure I won't see any of these people in there. Good, I'm looking forward to forty five minutes of peace and quiet away from them and Eren. I quietly gather my bag and head out of the room first. As soon as I leave the class, I realize that I only have five minutes to find a classroom that I've never been too. I hurry my pace down the hall and back into the main foyer that's now crowded with other first year students chatting and scurrying along. A few people bump into me and apologize but despite this I still shoot them a glare. I maneuver my way through the crowd to the other side of the foyer.

I have no idea where I'm going and I feel myself getting frustrated. I can at least rule out a couple of hallways, the obvious ones being where our normal classrooms are located, the halls with the offices and one of these new ones looks like it leads to a gym. I take a deep breath and head straight to the hallway directly in front of me. I remember from my schedule that the elective classes have a letter before the class number and I'm relieved to see that these rooms have letters.

As I make my way down the hall, I see someone from my class. I think her name is Hannah? She peers up from her paper and smiles at me, looking very relieved. She walks over to me. "Oh thank goodness...Jeanne is it?" I simply nod. "You wouldn't happen to know where the art room is, would you? I'm in Petra Ral's class."

I look at her wide-eyed. "Oh, that's actually the class I'm heading to next. I guess we can find it together." She seems nice and she hasn't done anything terrible to me yet so there's no point in being hostile...yet. She thanks me a few times and we both weave through the groups of students.

We find the room on our left and quickly go in. Hannah tugs slightly on my sleeve. "Do you mind if I sit by you? I get a little nervous around people I don't really know." Despite my desire to be alone, I tell her I don't mind. We find a table with two open seats and I take the time to scope out the room. Thankfully no one else here is from my class so that's a plus. The teacher is sitting at the front, presumably going over her notes. She seems very young to be a teacher, though. She's a petite woman with reddish hair and overall appears friendly.

The bell signals the start of the class and our teacher looks up at us eagerly, not even trying to hide her smile. "Good morning, everyone. Wow, it's really great to see this many students for art. My name is Petra Ral and I'll be your art teacher for this semester." She gives us a slight nod and begins talking about the basics of the class and what she expects from us.

About ten minutes into the class, she gives us our first assignment, which is to simply sketch what is in front of us. This is exactly where I belong and this is the exact kind of art I feel the most comfortable creating. I try not to make it too public, especially around my mother, but I sketch as much as I can in my room. I have a few sketchbooks filled up with doodles and sketches of whatever I thought was interesting, whether it be a random stranger standing outside or a random object in my room.

This is what I want to do. Get through secondary school, get to an amazing art university in Sina, become a famous artist, and live the rest of my life in comfort and wealth. I just want an easy life.

For my sketch, I choose to draw my bag. It's on hand and I can show off my skill to the teacher. Ms. Ral quietly walks around the room, observing the other students' art and giving helpful comments here and there. She finally gets to mine and Hannah's table and takes a look at my work. I'm not too fast at drawing but I'm not too slow either, so I've got enough detail down for her to see what I can do. She stays a few minutes longer than she did with the others. I slowly glance up to see her smiling.

"You're doing such a lovely job, Jeanne. I love how subtle your lines are and how well you've modeled part of the bag. I guess I need to keep my eye out for you." I am completely stunned. Never once did I expect to get such a compliment, especially with how much I generally hate my drawings sometimes. I stutter out a reply. "Th-thank you." She nods and continues hovering over the other students. I'm completely frozen. A few people glance up in my direction and I simply keep my head down at my paper, trying to conceal the blush I know that has crept onto my face.

The rest of the period goes smoothly and I even chat a little bit with Hannah. She really isn't that bad. She has a habit of talking a lot, though, and I find out that she thinks that Franz guy in our class is cute.

Now it's finally time for lunch. I can't believe the school day is just about halfway over, although art class is the one class I wish could have lasted longer. I take my time walking back to class because honestly, I forgot to pack a lunch. Looks like I'll have to wait till I get home and stuff my face. I'm one of the last ones to get back to the classroom and I find that everyone is seated in different places getting to know one another. Sasha, Connie, and Historia have remained in their places, at least. I throw myself into my chair and put my head down on the desk. Historia gives me a concerned look. "Did you bring a lunch today, Jeanne?"

"No, I forgot about it this morning while I was prying myself from my mother's clutches."

She doesn't laugh at that. She's giving me the same look that my mother does when I skip meals sometimes. "Here, please eat this. I'd feel bad if you went hungry, especially since we have gym next period." She hands me an apple. I sigh and take it from her.

"You don't have to do that. I would have been fine."

Connie butts in this time. Glad to know my mistake of not bringing in food is one of the most taboo things around. "Yeah you need to eat something because I heard we have coach Shadis for gym. People say he's the worst one around."

Sasha shudders at the thought, taking a big bite of her sandwich. "What do people say?"

Connie leans forward. "They say on the first day he makes you run the entire class, and if you stop, he'll write you up and keep you for the rest of day. All you can do is run."

Sasha looks absolutely terrified, but Historia and I give him a skeptical look. "Really? So he's gonna keep us from our other classes because we can't run for an hour?" I take a bite of the apple.

Connie nods his head. "Yeah, some of the upperclassmen told me that."

"Right...and if the upperclassmen told you there was a pool on the fifth floor would you go around asking about that?"

Connie and Sasha jump up in surprise. "There's a pool on the fifth floor?" they shout in unison.

I have never face palmed so fast in my entire life. "There's not even a fifth floor, you idiots!"

Connie groans. "Then why would you even say that?"

"It's a prank that the upperclassmen play on unsuspecting first years like you. You're welcome, by the way. I just saved you from embarrassment."

Connie grumbles in response and shoves a few chips in his mouth.

It's hard to believe that we have to change into our gym uniforms and participate on our first day. I remember back in primary we had the first two days as a free period. Maybe those rumors that Connie heard are somewhat true? No, what the fuck Jeanne, don't buy into gossip like that. Maybe this is just life in secondary school. It's time to put your big girl panties on.

...Did I just fucking say that?

I hurry up and change to my gym uniform and we're instructed to meet outside. Dammit, it's too cold for this. April in Trost is still very cold and very damp. Shit, and I think it just rained like a day or two ago. There's going to be goddamn mud everywhere.

The girls file outside at the same time the boys do so. I glance over a bit and realize how tiny Connie actually is. That is hilarious. From what I can see, I'm a good 4-5 inches taller. You can never tell someone's height while they're sitting down. I also noticed back in the locker room that Sasha is the same height as me so that's something. I look around some more and see Eren. I shoot him a disgusted look but, unfortunately, my eyes get a little distracted. I trail down to his uncovered legs and wow, they're just...they're just so well shaped and toned and so...

Oh my fucking God.

What have I done. Mistakes were made. Very grave mistakes.

I look away, blushing furiously and begin berating myself. He is the enemy; I can't slip up like that. As I wallow in my self-loathing, Sasha gives me a weird look. It's a strange cross between sympathy and wanting to laugh. No doubt in my mind she'll ask me about this later. I wish a piano would fall on me right now.

Coach Shadis walks over to our group, looking incredibly intimidating. This man is looming over us, scanning us with his hardened eyes. No one can even stand up straight; we're all scared shitless.

That piano would be great right about now.

"All right, listen up, students!" he calls out in a booming voice. A few of us flinch. He narrows his eyes at us. "I am your instructor, Keith Shadis, and I will make damn sure that none of you will ever slack off in this class. Am I understood?"

None of us are brave enough to speak up so we settle for giving him a nod. He doesn't appreciate that. I think I even see his eye twitch a little. "I said am I understood?" he yells louder.

"Y-Yes sir!" This man is not a gym instructor; he's a goddamn drill sergeant.

He tells us to line up side by side to start our class off with some stretching. All goes well until Thomas, a few rows away, accidentally smacks his hand while stretching right into Dazz's face. I want to feel bad for him because the guy doesn't seem to get a break in his bad luck but I can't help but almost laugh at his bloody nose. Shadis sends him off to the infirmary and sends Thomas out to run his laps early. Oh no, I'm starting to think Connie is right about the running the whole time. My lungs are already crying.

After our set of stretches, he sends us out into the track. Today's exercise is to test our endurance and see how long we can run for.

Connie was right. The bald son of a bitch was right.

Coach Shadis makes it sound like he'll give us a break and that this is all part of training for a fitness test coming up in a few weeks. A test on running and speed. I don't want to make any mistakes in case he was lying out his ass to trick us. He blows his whistle and signals our time to run. Sasha and I stay close together the whole time.

The entirety of gym was hell, living hell. No matter how much you pace yourself, running is still a bitch. My lungs were on fire.

That and I think I also got Sasha and Connie in trouble. That's kind of funny though. Basically what happened was I ran close to another group and hid behind them so I could walk and catch my breath. Sasha and Connie saw me doing this and got the bright idea of following me and mimicking me. It worked well for some time until Shadis caught them walking. I panicked so hard that I ran away from them so I didn't get caught.

From that point on, Shadis personally followed behind them making sure that they don't stop running. I ran alone the rest of the way.

Back in the locker room, Sasha clung to me almost in tears. She was going on about how horrible I was for leaving her and that I should have been punished too. I had to quickly remind her that she didn't have to copy me, and if she chooses to copy me in the future, she should do it correctly. She called me mean again so, not wanting to argue anymore, I promised to give her some free pastries from my mom's shop.

She was instantly appeased.

We're back in the classroom now waiting for our final lesson of the day. It's grammar and comprehension. I've never heard of this class before but if it's anything like the literature classes we had in primary then it shouldn't be too bad, right?

The door to the classroom flies open. Everyone looks up, alert, bracing for what's to come. We all are surprised with what we see: a tiny man with an angry expression and a weird undercut. Seriously, his expression is somewhere between that of a serial killer and someone who has a stick shoved so far up their ass. He sets his things down neatly in the teacher's desk, completely opposite of how he entered the room. He looks at the desk in disgust and rearranges a few items to his liking. He also wipes his hand across the desk.

"Oi, did you all have an instructor by the name of Hanji?" A few us bod our head. "Tch, I can tell. All right, I'm not big on introductions so let's get on with it. My name is Levi. Don't ever refer to me by my surname." This one is almost as intimidating as Shadis but at least he's not killing us with physical education. He scans the room briefly and purposefully skips Eren and Mikasa's table. I take a small peek in their direction and notice that Mikasa is very tense. That is a sight I've rarely seen, so I wonder if she's familiar with Levi? Who knows. He probably looked at Eren the wrong way and she's getting territorial. I never really understood her, nor do I want to.

Am I really that jealous? Whatever.

Levi goes on to explain what exactly this course offers and what it is. We find out that he's one of the few teachers in Rose country that teaches it and shows his disgust with the lack of grammar being taught in school. He tells us that literature courses are somewhat useless without learning the basics of grammar.

He turns towards the whiteboard and begins giving us our first set of notes for the class. While he writes, he tells us we won't even need our textbook because of how much he despises it. Great! I'm glad we won't need our most expensive textbook of the set. I might keep it around just in case. Levi moves on to tell us that all our exams will come from his lectures, whether they are put on the board or verbal. Which means we have to pay attention to his class.

Let's also not forget we will also have multiple writing assignments to prove our understanding of the lectures.

And to make matters far worse, which is amazing to think that it could get worse, Levi's handwriting is equivalent to that of a child's scrawl. I can barely make out any of the words, so I look over at Sasha to see if she has any luck. Her scrunched up face and squinting eyes say it all. We're doomed in this class.

My left hand has never hurt so much in my life. Levi writes an insane amount of notes on the board and I think we can safely rename the whiteboard to the blackboard because of how much is written up there. I massage my hand for a bit when the bell rings and signifies our final homeroom period. So we start off with Mike in our first homeroom and finish off with Levi. I don't think that's fair in the slightest.

For these last ten minutes or so, we don't have to do anything at all. I think we just have these parts for student and teacher interaction but I'm sure no one wants to interact with this teacher. Levi checks the time on his watch and clears his throat. "I know all of you are familiar with cleaning up after classes, am I correct? From now on I'm going to pick two of you to stay back each day and clean up. I will also be monitoring you for quality."

Eren makes a fatal mistake in sighing a little too loud. Levi turns on him immediately and says, "it looks like Jäger just volunteered to stay back every day this week. I'll just need to find one other person for today." Eren's face is priceless as he looks up at Levi. Mikasa's hand shoots up immediately. "I will stay back with him today." Levi glances over to her and stays silent, thinking over her proposal.

"All right, fine. It makes my job easier anyway. Don't make me regret this decision."

Another bell rings to signify the end of the homeroom period. All the students are free to go off to their clubs or home now. We start to gather our bags until Levi glares at us and gestures for us to sit back down.

"Who the hell do you think you all are? I am the teacher so I will dismiss you, not the bell."

We quickly get back into our seats and wait patiently for this short angry man to free us from hell. I don't dare look up at him because I've seen these kinds of teachers before. Always so damn offended that we leave when the school wants us to leave. We sit for about two or three minutes before he dismisses us all except for Eren and Mikasa.

Sasha and I are first ones out of classroom with Connie and Historia trailing behind us. Sasha holds onto my bag and uses me as I weave through the sea of other children. We make it into the foyer where Historia stops and asks us three if we wanted to swap numbers. Sasha and Connie smile and immediately take out their phones and trade numbers. Historia looks to me, smiling. I sigh and slowly take out my phone.

Historia is really nice. You just can't say no to that face. I also don't want Ymir coming after me because I denied her girlfriend's request. She thanks me and leaves our little group. I gesture for the other two to follow me and we finally get out to the front gates of the school. Sasha speaks up, "Hey, maybe all of us should exchange numbers. I really like you guys and, well, with how difficult those classes are I would need all the help I could get!" Connie nods in agreement and I can't help but smile a little. We get each other's numbers and I start to walk away when Sasha calls out to me.

"Hey! Can we come by your mom's bakery? We should totally hang out!"

I raise an eyebrow at her. "If I catch you two in there today I'm throwing you out. Save it for another time." I walk away swiftly before she has time to speak again.

Well, I managed to make some friends today and absolutely no enemies. That's a first. I wonder how long I'll be able to keep this lucky streak up. I walk along the main road again on the way to my home and my wonderful, comfy bed. I yawn on the way just thinking about it.

Homework can wait until later tonight.

The second day of school isn't eventful at all and is almost identical to the first. Well, without as many embarrassing moments.

But on the third day, Sasha and I notice something peculiar. Connie hasn't shown up for homeroom yet.

I turn to Sasha. "Do you think he dropped out?"

She shrugs but looks very concerned. "I hope not! He's not allowed to drop out." The pout on her face is amusing. I open my mouth to say something else but Sasha grabs onto my arm before I can get a word out. "Today at some point we have to find him and beat him up. Are you with me, friend?" Now as much fun as it sounds to double team the bald shorty, I shake my head.

"Just give it a rest; he might show up later. Don't freak out so much." Behind us, Mike clears his throat and signals the beginning of class. Still no sight of Connie. Sasha's extreme concern for the boy has started to rub off on me because I find myself wondering where he'll he is while I'm trying to take notes. In the corner of my eye, I see Sasha sneaking texts on her phone whenever Mike has his back turned.

I wonder if he can smell phones...?

By the time our first class ends at about 9:30, we still see no sign of Connie, and apparently Sasha has been texting him all morning. Her messages varied from asking where he is to telling him he's horrible for skipping. You'd think they were almost a couple with how she texts him. When she checks her phone again for the millionth time, she sighs when she sees no reply. I offer her my condolences in the form of shaking my head at her in shame. She sticks her tongue at me.

About halfway through our second class, around 10 or so, Sasha jumps slightly from her phone vibrating on her lap. Thankfully Hanji is too preoccupied in her thorough explanation of why Pluto should never have been declassified as a planet. It's difficult keeping a straight face at how much they gesture and flail their arms when speaking excitedly. Sasha slides her phone onto my lap and gestures for me to read.

I look back and forth between her and the phone a few times before giving in and reading. Oh joy, Connie is alive after all.

Connie you're horrible

where r u?

u can't skip out like this!

cooonnnnniiiieeeeee

Those are a few of Sasha's millions of messages. I scroll down a little to see what Connie has to say for his tragic mistake.

hOLy sHIt!

Damn yo im really sorry

I slept in brah

fuck me sideways

As I hand back the phone, another text pops up from Connie.

hey its pretty cool to have two hot girls asking 4 me lol

I roll my eyes so hard. I take the liberty of responding for Sasha.

shut the fuck up u nerd

nobody wants ur bald head

Content with the insult, I hand the phone back to Sasha just in time for Hanji to finish their long winded rant. They now begin talking about an upcoming lab meeting next week as an introduction to the lab rooms. Sasha nudges me with her elbow. I slowly turn my head to the side and look at her. "What is it, Sasha?" I whisper angrily.

Uh oh, her face. She's plotting something and I'm not sure I'm ready for this. Sasha raises her eyebrows. "We should skip and head over to Connie's house." I stare at her incredulously. Who in their right mind would be so stupid to even consider something like that?

It's the third day.

And she wants to skip class all because the bald fuck boy couldn't get out of bed this morning. But I'm conflicted because I really don't want to stay here. I guess it sounds fun. But shouldn't Connie's parents be home? Shouldn't they rush his ass to school now?

While I question everything to myself, Sasha has been texting Connie again and she whispers to me, "He is basically begging us to come over. Come on, we'll leave right after this class."

A small voice in my head says 'no' but my heart says get the fuck out of this school. It's actually screaming at me. I reluctantly nod to Sasha. "Fine, I'll go. But we need to be fast, okay?" Sasha smiles back at me and starts to slowly pack her bag.

Once Hanji's class is over and they leave the room, Sasha and I gather our things and slip out. The hallways are eerily quiet now without any students hanging around. They're all sitting in class like good little angels, not like us. We peek our heads around corners just in case a teacher or Pixis should walk by. The coast is clear so we beeline for the foyer. My heart is pounding and adrenaline is pumping through me. I'm only skipping class but it feels like I've just robbed a bank. I glance at Sasha and she seems to be fine, albeit giggling a lot. I swat at her shoulder to stop her but she ends up giggling even harder.

I guess it's contagious because I can't help but giggle as well.

"Sasha, we're not out of the school yet. We need to focus." We rush quickly through the foyer and out to the school grounds. Over to my left I see coach Shadis out with a class. His back is turned to us but he could turn around at any moment. Shit, what do we do? As I question myself, Sasha tugs on my bag and rushes me behind a bush. "We can't hide behind here forever!"

She throws her hand over my mouth to silence me. She raises a finger to her mouth and tells me to be quiet.

Sasha looks over the bush and watches Shadis carefully. I can hear him shouting from here and it almost sounds like...like its getting quieter? "Come on, let's go now!" She pulls me to my feet and holds onto my wrist as she leads across the grounds and past the school gate. We're free from school and I feel a mix of excitement and despair. Sasha starts leading me down the main road but I stop her.

"Sasha, we can't go that way; my mom's store is there!" I panic at the thought of my mother seeing me skip school. She would never ever let me live it down. Not to mention the amount of trouble I would be in and my father would probably give me a four hour lecture about it over the phone.

Sasha pauses for a moment and thinks. I hope she doesn't hurt herself. "Well, you've lived here all your life, yeah? Do you know a better way to the school's dormitories? We literally have to pass your mom's store."

I stand there at a loss of what to do. We've come this far and not its all fucked up. I sigh. "We would need to turn around and take the back roads. It will take longer but I really don't want to get caught by my mom." She nods and we turn around, pass the school again, and head towards the alleys linking to the main road. There's still a lot of people around, of course, but none of them recognize me, thankfully. While I'm carefully mapping out the area in my head, Sasha is taking her time and sightseeing. There's not much to see since it's all just buildings close together and windows and people. Trost can be really boring, okay?

We exit the alley ways and are back on the main road. Good news is that we've completely passed my mom's shop. Bad news is that we didn't pass it by much and there's still a good chance of me being seen by one of mom's friends. I tell Sasha to walk quickly down the sidewalk. It doesn't make sense for the school's dormitories to be a damn fifteen to twenty minute walk away from the school. Then it dawns on me. Doesn't Sasha live at the dorms too? Shouldn't she fucking know where it is?

"I thought you were only living here because of the school. Don't you live at the dorms?" I ask angrily.

She shakes her head. "Nope! I have an aunt who lives here so I'm just staying with her. My dad never wants to be near Trost. He says it's awful." She smiles awkwardly. "N-No offense to you, I mean."

I just shrug and roll my eyes. "It's not a big deal. Come on, let's go see what the bald one wants." I gesture for the dorms and we head inside. We come upon a lounge area to our left and we see our tiny friend hanging out on one of the couches, browsing his phone. The fucker is still in his pajamas and looking like a complete slob.

He looks up when we approach and hops up from the couch. "Hey, guys you actually came! Did you have trouble sneaking out?"

I open my mouth to complain but Sasha speaks over me. "Nope! None at all. We almost ran into Shadis but he left in time."

I start wishing I never left. It feels awkward just standing here with two people I barely know. Connie gestures towards the stairs. "Ready to head up? I swear my room isn't that bad yet." I cringe slightly from his words but follow him reluctantly.

He was right. He has a disgusting habit of being right all the time. His room is pretty decent aside from a few dirty shirts tossed to the side and some school notes on the floor. I look around the room some more. This is actually pretty spacious from what I've heard. And he doesn't share the room with anyone so that's a plus I guess. Connie shrugs. "So what should we do?"

I am shocked. "You begged us to skip class and you don't even know what you wanted to fucking do?"

He puts his hands up in defense. "Hey I was just lonely and didn't feel like coming to school."

Before I have a chance to wrap my fingers around that shorty' neck, Sasha comes in between and suggests that we all watch a movie together. Connie's eyes light up immediately and he dashes over to a box near his TV and starts picking out random movies. I sigh and find a place in his bed to sit down while Sasha meanders over to his DVD box, gushing over the movies he has.

They end up selecting the entire Saw series. It turns out that Connie and Sasha are huge fans of horror films, to my dismay. When they ask for my approval, I gulp and reluctantly agree. I can't let them know that I can't stand horror films, especially the ones with an immense amount of gore.

Well, it's time. I watch with anxious eyes as they set up the film.

We got through the first two films when Sasha and Connie decided that they were hungry. I don't know how. How can you eat after...after THAT? Unfortunately, they know that I'm not good with horror films due to my constant yelping and covering my eyes. Sasha laughed at me and Connie smirked like the little bastard he is. They're both bastards.

After much discussion, they decide on Taco Bell for lunch. I seriously don't think I can stomach anything but I can hear the rumbles of protest. I guess I should try and eat something. And of course we have to fucking leave and risk getting caught again.

Connie settles for a hoodie over his T-shirt and keeps his plaid pajama bottoms on. Fucking slob. I berate him for his life choices and he simply brushes me off. All three of us head out of the dorms and back out to the streets to Taco Bell. It's not close to my mom's store so I'm safe. We chat for awhile on the way and I realize that these two bastards are actually funny, when they're not being fucking idiots. Once we reach the place, Sasha bounds in, quickly followed by Connie and I.

As predicted, Sasha orders a fuck ton of food and surprisingly Connie does the same. I haven't fully recovered from the gory shit so I settle for a quesadilla. We sit down at one of the tables and I watch as they devour their meals at record speed. I can't help by smile. I should stop that somehow. I take out my phone real quick and check the time. My heart almost skips a beat to see that not only has school just ended but...I have two missed calls from my mom and a voicemail waiting. I stare at my phone for a long time and I think Sasha and Connie both notice.

"Hey, Jeanne? What's up? You look like you've just seen a ghost." Sasha at least sounds concerned, unlike Connie who spits out, "Did you get a message from Jigsaw?" I'm going to punch that fucking smirk off his face. But first, there's something more important to attend to. Like seeing why my mother has been calling me. And speak of the goddamn devil she's calling me right now. I slip away from the table and shakily answer the phone.

"H-Hello?" I brace for impact.

"Jeanne Kirstein, where on earth are you? I've been waiting by your school to come see you and I was told you aren't here?" I'm frozen in place and I can't seem to find anything to say. Of course, my mother takes the silence as a personal offense and screams at me some more. "Where in the hell are you?"

I gulp. "I-I'm out with friends. I'm only...only like ten minutes from the store."

"Come back home this instant." She hangs up and I'm left standing there just staring at the floor.

After a few moments, Sasha comes over to me and gently places a hand on my shoulder. "Are you all right? Jeanne, you look like you're going to cry."

I shake my head. "My m-mom wants me to come back now. I-I'll see you guys tomorrow." I stuff my phone back into my pocket, grab my bag from the chair, and leave.

"What are you thinking? Skipping school already? It's only the third day, Jeanne!" My mother shouts at me. It's been like this for ten minutes now and I haven't been able to get a word in. I'm not so much scared anymore as I'm furious. I don't back down in arguments; they only make me more confrontational.

"Just leave it alone, maman. It's not a big deal. It was only one day."

I interrupt her and she doesn't like that. "It is a big deal. You finally get into the school of your dreams and here you are wasting your chance at being successful."

"It was only one fucking day!"

"Don't you dare speak to me like that. I am your mother. My god, Jeanne, I can't wait for your father to hear about this. Squandering your chance at a good life."

That's it. I've had it; I'm done with this argument. I get up and head for my room with my mother in tow. She's yelling at me to come back but I'm ignoring her. It was just a small, one time mistake. Why can't she just fuck off.

I reach the sanctuary that is my room but my mother is right here with me. "Don't walk away from me while I talk to you, Jeanne. You did something stupid so you have no choice but to do as I say!"

"Get the fuck out of my room, old hag!" I turn on her and she backs away through the door and I slam it in her face. My vision is red from how furious I am. I hear her stomp off, cursing my name but I don't care right now.

She'll probably bring this up later as well but I don't care.

I don't fucking care.

On that night, my mother and I managed to calm down enough to reach an agreement of me being grounded for a week. Well, I didn't agree but I wasn't in the mood to fight anymore.

Thursday was rainy and uneventful. The skies mourned for me and my new punishment. Sasha and Connie apologized to me constantly that day and Sasha even offered me half of her lunch.

A very rare even indeed. I accepted it graciously.

After school, I came straight home and my mother was pleased to see that I had listened to her. I'm not stupid. I'm not going to go around acting like a fool when I'm already in trouble. The worst part about the punishment is that she told my father. So I'm expecting a phone call from him sometime this weekend.

I should quickly mention that my dad is currently stationed at Stohess in Sina country. One of the few requirements of his military service.

I'm not sure what's worse though. Him lecturing me in person or on the phone. At least on the phone he can't see me roll my eyes.

Today is Friday and it's still rainy and cold out.

I had a difficult time getting out of my warm, comfy bed. The covers had never felt so warm and soft in my life. I get up, do my routine, and put on one of my father's sweatshirts that I stole from his room. He only lives with us for half of the year so I doubt he'd even notice it was gone.

It's nice and baggy and it makes me feel safe.

I go downstairs to search for an umbrella because I'll be damned if I get soaked before even reaching the school. The first thing that I notice is that mom is down at the shop. Friday mornings are always so busy for us. She left me a note saying she made me lunch and I find myself getting a little more excited than I should. I grab it and head out.

Mom waves at me as I pass her and I give her a small nod in response. She's still incredibly angry with me.

I make it to school just fine and a little wet. When I reach the class, Sasha bounds up and hugs me, telling me I'm such an amazing friend. I politely tell her to stop hugging me and that she's a weirdo.

Because she's the biggest weirdo in the world.

I sit down and close my eyes. I just want this day to be over with quickly. The bell rings at the beginning of homeroom and once again Mike is late. This is like the third time this week. Aren't teachers supposed to be amazingly punctual? Maybe he's not coming in today? You can't just show up late after getting kids' hopes up, making them think you're not coming in.

It's not until about ten minutes later he shows up with...with a new student or somebody? I'm not sure but this kid looks so out of place. His clothes look almost like hand me downs. Everyone in the class has quieted down to glance or stare at the newcomer. He's avoiding eye contact with the class and only focusing on what Mike is telling him but he looks extremely worried. From what I know about Mike, he seems quite happy despite not showing it on his face.

After handing the boy a few papers, Mike clears his throat to get our attention. He stands a head taller than the boy and places a hand firmly on his shoulder. The boy moves to face the class and offers a nervous smile. Jesus, look at all those freckles, how the fuck old are you? It's like, he looks like a person our age but he's got such a baby face and really big brown eyes. They probably look bigger now because of how nervous he is.

"Class, is like to introduce you to our newest student. We'll finally have the even eighteen that we were supposed to in the beginning." He gestures for the boy to speak up, taking his hand off his shoulder.

"G-Good morning everyone! My name is Marco Bodt and I recently moved here from Jinae. Uh, I hope to get along with you all and that all of us our successful!" What a fucking dork. I guess he's one of those goody two shoes honor students. I hate those kinds of people. Before he move to sit down next to Armin, Mike stands closer to him. Marco shrinks away awkwardly and Mike...did he just sniff him?

I think he just sniffed Marco.

Mike pulls back and smiles approvingly. "You lived in deep rural area, didn't you? Did you, by chance, live on a farm?" Marco nods weakly and Mike chuckles. He tells Marco to take his seat and that class is about to begin.

Marco takes a quick survey of the room and stops when he looks at me. He's looking right at me.

What the fuck, Marco? You wanna fight? Stop fucking staring, you freckled rube.

I look back at him and he blushes. This whole time he's also been walking to the seat next to Armin but not paying attention because the fucker won't stop looking at me. Tch, whatever. I've entertained this for far too long, so I look away.

Next thing I hear is a yelp and thud. I turn around quickly to see what happened and it turns out that Marco tripped over something and fell over. He's scratching the back of his head nervously as Eren and Armin come to his aid.

I can't believe this.

I can't fucking believe we have another idiot in this circus of a classroom.

Welcome to Trost Secondary's freak show.