Eren unceremoniously plopped himself into the empty seat next to his best friend Armin, dropping his bag at his own feet and leaning back. He was happy to make it to class before the teacher this time. It would be bad news for him if Mikasa found out that he was late again because he didn't get up on time.
"Rough morning?" Armin asked, a hint of amusement in his voice. Eren looked to his left, giving him a grimacing look that basically explained everything he was thinking without having to open his mouth. Armin gave him and empathetic look and a slight smile in return.
"She rang you out for your attendance again, didn't she?" He questioned. "Yep." Eren closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat with an exasperated sigh. "She thinks that I am not trying hard enough. That I am doing this intentionally!" He begins to rant, and Eren opens his eyes slightly to look at Armin. His eyes are trained on Eren's face, he looked mildly concerned. "It is not my fault, and it's not like I can control them." Eren said under his breath. This seemed to grab Armin's attention, as he sucked in a quick breath.
"You're talking about your nightmares, aren't you?" Armin asks. With a nod of confirmation from Eren, Armin looks down at his feet, pondering what to say next. It didn't seem like he was going to say anything anytime soon, so Eren took the chance he was given to switch the topic.
"So I hear that our class is gonna be apart of an experimental merging program . . ." Armin finally looks him back in the eye. "Eren, why won't you tell me what the dreams are? I could be of more help if you would just tell me what is wrong!" Eren's bangs fall in front of his eyes as he tilts his head down. He couldn't tell him. Armin, his best friend, whom he's known his entire life, and he could not confide his deepest and darkest nightmares to him. It was a wonder that Eren was even still sain. In his mind this was something beyond most people's comprehension, being the person he is, he did not want to burden anyone as well as keep it a secret for his own purposes; and if anyone were to find out what he was struggling with, they may think that he was bat-shit insane. Eren just wants to live his life as normally as possible and immerse himself in his music.
He was suddenly forced to look up when he heard the opening of the door to the classroom. From the doorway emerged his teacher, Mr. Hannes, who overlooks the pop and rock-based music departments. He is what students would like to call a 'cool teacher'; always making pop culture references, telling good jokes, gave little homework, and a bunch of other things as well. He was a very laid back teacher and everyone in his class was okay with him. Soon after entered Mr. Pixis: the head of the classical music department. Mr. Pixis differed greatly from Mr. Hannes, personality wise. For starters, he had a bit of a drinking problem; it is a rare occasion to see Mr. Pixis without some form of alcohol in his possession or on his person. He is also a bit stricter on his students, not that that is always a problem, it just doesn't leave much room for his students to enjoy their music unless they were insanely dedicated or committed. He did however have a good sense of humor. Eren suddenly felt a nudge on his left and leaned towards Armin.
"How do you think this merging is going to work?" Armin whispered. Eren shrugs, his eyes never leaving the two teachers at the front of the class. He himself found himself wondering how this would work out as well. What are they gonna make us do? Are we going to work with the students from the classical music department? Mr. Hannes and Mr. Pixis stood side by side at the front of the class and Mr. Hannes cleared his throat, bringing the students in the room to attention.
"You all have probably heard about the merging program that Mr. Pixis and I are heading, so I will skip the explanation of why and just tell you guys how this is going to work. . ." Mr. Hannes stops for a moment and glances down at a paper in his left hand. " Each one of you will be partnered up with another student from Mr. Pixis' classical music class. The pairs will be decided by random draw, and in your pairs you shall work together and perform three songs together. Your 'shows' shall be given only one grade over all for each performance." Eren quickly looked over to Armin and gave an excited and confused look which was received and returned by the blond.
"My students have already been briefed on all the details of this program, so if there's any confusion and you cannot reach either Mr. Hannes or myself you may refer to them. Also, for the rest of this program, classes will be held in my classroom. We will all be heading over there now for you to meet the other students, get acquainted, and choose your partner." Mr. Pixis quickly stated. He gestures towards the door and everyone stands from their seats.
Mr. Hannes quickly calls out "Be sure to grab whatever instruments you can to move to the other room. Anyone who requires the drum set must come talk to me immediately!"
Mr. Pixis turned on his heels and strided to the door, stopping at the frame to wait for the mass of students to grab their instruments. He slowly slipped his hand into his suit jacket, drawing out a small round flask. Opening it and taking a gulp, he quickly concealed it again within his jacket. Eren went to the far wall on the left where his personal guitar resided. He quickly picked up the case that held his acoustic guitar and joined the group of peers that crowded in front of the door and Mr. Pixis. Said teacher slowly scanned the mass of students before him.
"Alright, this is everyone. Let's get going." turns and walks up the hall to the right, taking a steady pace with the large group following behind. As Eren followed the group, he couldn't help but notice that Armin was nowhere to be found. He is probably talking with . Mr. Pixis rounded a corner to the right and then slid open the first door to his left. The mass of students were ushered in, and Eren followed suit, but not before he heard Armin panting and running up the hall to join him. "Do you know anyone in this class?" Eren whispered. Armin pondered the question for a while, only to give a non communal shrug.
The two entered the large music room in awe. It was similar to their usual classroom, but very different at the same time. For instance, it was twice the size. It was big, open, and organized to perfection. The far wall, across from the door, was left as a huge pane glass window that gave a beautiful view of the school grounds, and a more open feeling to the room. All the instruments organized accordingly along the back walls were well taken care of, all very clean. But what stood out most about the was at the far right corner in the front. There stood two massive grand pianos, side by side, and one was being played. A large group of students, some from the classical music department but mostly the students from the pop and rock department's, crowded around the grand piano closest to the large window. Piano music rang all around the room, a sort of intense and intricate melody. In Eren's perspective, it was almost hypnotic; as if each note was drawing him into some unknown world that was not his own. Eren and Armin planted themselves on the wall space nearest to them and listened to the piano being played so proficiently. Eren's revere did not last long, as something rather large shoved him over into Armin. He quickly looked over with fire in his eyes to see who had shoved him.
"Beat it Jaeger!" There stood Jean, smirking at Eren with his arms folded across his chest in meager triumph. Eren immediately straightened and got in Jeans' face "I'm gonna knock your teeth in Jean, if you don't move!"
"I'd like to see you try!" Jean snickered. "You couldn't even move a pebble if your life depended on it!" Eren was ready to lunge at the arrogant man, but was stopped by Armin grabbing his shoulder.
"Cut it out Jean. You both will get in trouble this time if catches you two fighting, and in a new class setting nonetheless!" Eren slowly backed away, but his eyes never left Jeans', staring him down in challenge.
walked to the crowd of students and dismissed them to their respective areas. Once all students had dispersed, a man of small stature was able to be seen. His crop cut raven hair had a slight sheen to it, and even though he was short, his body seemed well-built and muscular. The man finished his piece , and the room became still as the music and the chatter from the air died down. He stood up and turned to face who stood to his left, shaking his outstretched hand.
"Your piece has turned out beautifully, Levi. You have created a masterpiece." congratulated Levi, and he seemed passive as he received the high praise.
"Now, please go and join your peers, Levi." With that the student walked over to the high-rise of seats and sat in the first seat closest to the window, next to two other students. One with bright blonde hair and thick well-kept eyebrows, Seriously though, those things could turn themselves into caterpillars and crawl off his face, and the second one with dark brown hair pulled back into a messy ponytail and glasses. The one with the glasses stretched across where the blonde one was sitting to say something to Levi, who seemed very disinterested with whatever they were saying. Eren watched the whole scene play before him, but his attention was mostly directed to the ravenette, staring out the large window with a vacant look in his eyes.
and both stood at the front of the room as cleared his throat, calling the room to attention.
"Now then, we will begin by choosing your partners. This will be done randomly, by drawing names. So, alphabetically, we will call up each student from class and each student will draw a piece of paper from this" held up glass fishbowl that had been painted over with black paint. "And for my students, once you hear your name called, you will join your partner and find a place in the room or in the hall to talk, get to know one another, and figure out what you will be doing for your presentations." then stepped forward.
"We will provide each of you a package on your assignment when you come up. Now let's get started." reached behind and grabbed a blue binder, opening it and reading off the names.
"Armin Arlert" Armin stiffened at the calling of his name, and reluctantly went to the front of the class where held the fishbowl out to him. Armin nervously stuck his hand in and quickly pulled out a piece of folded paper. Opening it looked at the sheet announcing the name written on it.
"Erwin Smith" The blonde student who sat beside Levi stood up and walked to the front, shaking hands with a very nervous Armin. Both students received a package of paper from then walked towards the door. Before exiting, Armin glanced over to Eren, and Eren smiled and gave a thumbs up to reassure him.
As kept reading off names it became more clear to Eren that his name was soon to come up. That kid Levi hasn't been picked yet either. Eren glanced over at the ravenette, who was still looking out the window, and just admired him from afar. Keeping in mind that Eren was very aware of his own sexuality. He had known for a while that he found little sexual attraction to girls since he was in his last years of middle school when his friend Mikasa had confessed to him. Finding out that he was gay, however, did not happen until high school. But whatever he felt for this ravenette seemed so much deeper than mere sexual attraction to him. It felt almost like a connection; transcending above all else, and this intrigued the 19-year-old.
"Eren Jaeger" Eren quickly snapped to attention as called his name and pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against, briskly walking to the front of the room. The anxiety of being the center of attention was not lost with Eren, as he could feel his pulse rise and hear the loud thump of his heart in his ears. Every sound was lost as he could only he the loud sound. Standing in front of he could vaguely make out his voice, "Are you alright ?" Eren in response gave a slight nod as he stretched his hand into the fishbowl. His fingers brushed many folded pieces of paper and in a second his hand retracted: a folded piece of paper in hand. He opened and held out the small piece of paper to , who read the name written on it out loud. That name, whether Eren or not, would change the course of his life. Forever.
"Levi Ackerman."
A/N: Sup everybody! So this is my first time posting any of my work; and I want to put it out there, that if anybody has any helpful criticism, advice, or just comments on my story and how I could make it any better in its grammar or format I would appreciate it SO very much. :)
Also, just some things that I want to say about this story: first, this idea was slightly influenced by other types of FF that I have read, but also by a lot of modern music lyrics. So this will have quite a few references to songs. Second, I do know exactly where I want this story to go, however, I am pretty slow about figuring out the progression to each of the plot points that I have. In lue of that, my updating will be slow, but I will also make it clear that I am only posting this story because I intend to complete it; so it will get done eventually!
And with that being said I do hope that you will enjoy the rest of the story that is to come! I hope to make the chapter's longer than this one so there will be more covered in the story.
Ciao, Adios, Au revoir, Sayonara, and Goodbye! :)