Her body was frozen right now. Complete and utter horror washing over and through her as each second passed. The feeling on her lips began to burn, sting hard, in a way that made her head ache and her legs tremble in horror. She had kissed Eren. Eren her family, Eren her brother, Eren her comrade, and Eren her lover. She doesn't know what compelled her to do it, or what made her even think it was a good idea whatsoever.
Mikasa was horrified by the look on Eren's face.
But there was something else that scared her more. That bothered her soul and churned something evil inside of her.
; it was the fact that Eren didn't like it.
Mikasa believed that if he enjoyed the kiss, and yearned for it as much as Mikasa did, she wouldn't have felt these gut wrenching emotions after.
Eren didn't enjoy it. And the look on his face spoke volumes to that. He looked like he had just committed the greatest sin ever. His green eyes petrified as he stared at Mikasa.
" No..." he mumbled, taking his first step back. " Why would you?... I'm with Y/N!"
Mikasa flinched as his voice echoed words that cut through her entire being.
The heart break and truth in Eren's words made her head spin. Her mind immediately wandering to her comrade who has had the heart of Eren's for years counting.
A girl she eats dinner with, talks amongst, fights beside. Y/N L/N.
What have I done? Came immediately to Mikasa.
" I'm so sorry..." she mumbled out so quietly.
But was she?
If Eren had given another reaction, one opposite to this, would still feel regret?
" Shit...what have I done?" Eren questioned himself with distress pouring in his tone and face.
You were right all along..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
" I think Mikasa loves you." You said to Eren with a soft smile on your face.
Eren looked at you and shrugged, as if you had said the obvious to him. " And? She knows I don't return those feelings."
You stared at your boyfriend for a bit longer. Eren had always had a habit of disregarding Mikasa and his friends feelings. Things as simple as him deciding to go off on his own instead of confiding in those who could help him. Or shutting out randomly, and refusing to share what he's feeling with the people who care to know. Who want to know. But Eren has always discarded Mikasa in a certain way, in a way that you always noticed, but really started to notice.
He always declined her gestures to show she was worried.
The idea alone of Eren being saved repulsed him. But being saved by Mikasa, repulsed him even more. It took you forever to notice that it wasn't sisterly like Eren said. Mikasa was his last family living, and she tended to be overbearing due to the fact alone.
Yet, you finally realized that it was no longer family. Yes, it took time, but you realized it. Her longing gaze wasn't worry and uncertainty, but now it was adoration, and something you saw in Eren's eyes to you. A strong emotion called Love.
" You should care." You said with a pointed look on your boyfriend. " Love is a strong emotion. We would know, and for it to not be returned....that's crushing."
Eren glanced at you, a humoring look on his face. " So this isn't jealousy, you're actually worried? Babe you have no competition on this island."
" Are you trying to say I have competition overseas?" You asked with a raised brow.
Eren laughed. A beautiful sound that left you smiling like an idiot as you watched his shoulders shake. It wasn't that funny, your joke, but you let him have it. After all, the melodic sound was rare.
" You have competition no where in this world. You're in your own lane, trust me."
You smiled at Eren's words. Though, they weren't reassuring because you never doubted his love for you.
" No but seriously." You began as your face went serious.ย " Mikasa loves you, and think about it as if it was me and you. If I didn't love you back? You love me and I just ignore you emotions because I love someone else? You'd be heartbroken right?"
Eren seemed to ponder over your words, " I would move on. Mikasa will."
" Eren."
" Fine!" He laughed. " I'll figure it out. Maybe after all of this brushes over."
You smiled, content with his words. " Promise?"
Eren looked at your pinky finger as if it was a knife, before leaning in and locking lips with you to seal a promise his way.
As Mikasa listened in, she could hear the shattering of her heart as Eren calmly discarded her. Flinging her emotions to the side as if it was nothing to him. As if it was a joke that he could die of laughter from.
You spoke about her like the mere thought of Eren returning the emotions she had for him was a joke itself.
You didn't even bother questioning whether it could've been true. Whether Eren did like Mikasa in that way. In the way she does.
Mikasa faced the ground as she listened to you and Eren kiss.
It's not impossible. She told herself. Eren could like her like she liked him. Maybe he did love her, and he just didn't know it yet.
Perhaps these thoughts is what led Mikasa to do what she did;
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Marley soldiers stalked through the city's entrance, trauma, and fear written on their faces. From what was visible, almost half of the troops were missing.
In front of the brigade were the four Warriors and the four Warrior candidates, celebrating with one another. From what you had heard, one of the candidates, Gabi Braun, had come up with the ultimate plan and beat the Mid-East Allied Forces with a raging victory.
On the other hand, the Armored Titan, Reiner Braun, had taken blows for Zeke Yeager, the Beast Titan, and sustained major injures. Though as he walked into the city's premises, you concluded that his wounds healed in an insane amount of time.
You, along with the other nurses that were on the Marleyan Medical Unit, stood in a neat line outside of the gates of the hospital. You watched with sharp eyes as the higher-ups separated the soldiers into two lines: the ones who walked away without a scratch and those who were injured, both mentally and physically.
You were ultimately given a clipboard with a list of people you were responsible for. You glanced the name and phone number of the soilder as you flipped through.
'Kruger? There is no last name listed. Strange.'
The other nurses and you began pushing our way through the mob, attempting to reach the handicapped. As you approached the troops' line-up, you noticed one of the higher-ups making a finger gun, pointing it at the soldiers, and yelling,
"BANG!"
When the unfortunate soldiers slumped to the ground and screamed in horror, you stared in disgust as the men laughed. You spoke clearly, tapping the two men on the shoulders.
"Please refrain from doing that to my patients. It isn't appreciated." The two men whipped around with glares on their faces.
"And who do you think you'r-" The two men's glares morphed into smug and flirtatious expressions. They eyed you up and down, licking their lips. Pigs.
"Well, good morning, Ms.-" One of the soldiers leaned in to read your name, which was neatly hemmed into your uniform, and you observed that when he had the chance, he peeked down your shirt. "Ms Y/n."
"Pardon me, I need to do my job." You completely ignored their obvious attempts of being sleazy assholes. The second had then grabbed your waist. "Come on, babe. We just tryin' to talk to ya." Just as he was going to tuck a piece of hair behind your ear, a voice came from behind the two men.
"There a problem here, gents?" A voice barked. It was Porco Galliard. He had his usual scowl on his face as he eyed the two soldiers. The man who was holding you quickly let you go and stepped away, along with his companion. "No, sir." The men said in unison. One of them nudged each other and signalled that they should leave.
After the two men had left, you gave a quick 'Thank You' to the Warrior and went back to your task. You saw Falco, one of the Warrior candidates and a boy you loved like your own son, helping one of the soldiers to his feet. (MORE LIKE FOOT CAUSE HE HAS ONE FOOT! GET IT?!?!? I'll leave, sorry๐ช๐ถโโ๏ธ)
You tousled the blonde's hair with your palm on his head. "Thank you very much, Falco. It's wonderful to see you again." The child was startled when he heard a voice from behind him. However, as he realized it was you, he spun around and buried his face in your stomach, hugging you tightly.
"Y/n! I missed you so much!" He exclaimed happily. You gave the boy a sincere smile and rubbed his back. Pulling away from the hug, you kneeled down.
"I need to take care of the patients here first and then I'll come by and visit you and we can play the game you taught me before you left, alright?" You compromised in a soft voice, already acknowledging you've wasted time.
But, being the sweet child he was, he nodded and smiled at you. "Yep! Y/n, I'll see you in a few minutes!" Before he left, Falco gave you one final embraceย running back to his little friends.
Knowing that Kruger was the first patient in line due to the information on the clipboard, you realized that the man that Falco had helped was Kruger. As you were about to introduce yourself to him as his nurse, he lost his balance on his lonesome crutch.
As he began to fall forward, you stuck your arms out and caught him gently on the biceps. He grunted softly, still struggling to regain his balance. Kruger then gripped your forearms and managed to push himself upright.
While he readjusted his crutch, you observed your patient. The obvious observation was he was missing a leg but he also had an eye patch on his right eye. He had long locks of brown hair that covered his eyes almost completely. His aura seemed to say he was sick of everything and everyone. Rightfully so. If you had gone into war and came back with one leg, you'd be pissed as well.
When you planned on introducing yourself again, you heard the staff leader tell everyone to move the patients into the lobby.
Your heart ached at the level of suicidal behaviour and palpable anguish in the lobby. Nobody deserved to witness their friends perish in front of their eyes or to experience the agony that the people endured.
You'd been assisting other nurses intending to other troops' wounds or guiding patients through the incessant horror movie playing in their thoughts all afternoon.
Kruger, your assigned patient, was sat in an area where treatment was not a priority, but you nevertheless made every effort to see him in a reasonable length of time.
Finally getting the opportunity to present yourself as his caretaker, you approached the guy. He was sitting with his head bowed and without moving a muscle. You'd believe he was dead if it weren't for his feeble gasps.
"Mr.Kruger? I'mย Y/n. Is it okay if I look around your body for any additional injuries?" You spoke with a pleasant tone. Slowly, the guy raised his head.
His dead, dismal glance merely locked onto you for a few moments. You observed the tiniest up-and-down movement of his neck. You kneeled in front of him, smiling, with your medication and instruments by your side.
He had a few scratches and bruises, but other than that, his leg and perhaps his eye, he was in good health. You reached up to the bandage over Kruger's eye, placing the ointments you had previously applied on the chair next to him.
As soon as they touched the sloppily put white cloth, he grasped your wrist. Despite the fact that astonishment had overtaken you, you just gave him a sweet smile. "Please allow me to replace your bandage. It's quite dirty and might infect your wound."
You stood there watching as he studied your face with a wrinkled brow. Empathy.ย That's what he had gotten from you. You weren't like the other nurses who had made comments about his looks or discriminated against him. You genuinely wanted to help him.
He let go of your wrist cautiously and let you do what you wanted. You gently peeled back the bandage and examined the wound. There was no chance of repairing his eye. It had appeared as if a bullet had gone straight through the cornea and shattered everything. All that was left was a mangled eye socket.
You took a cotton ball from the chair and dipped it in rubbing alcohol before gently dabbing his eye. At the unexpected sting, he growled softly. "I'm sorry. It'll sting a bit." You gently grabbed his jaw and tilted it to the left so you could get a better angle. You didn't seem to notice how Kruger didn't take his gaze away from you while you worked. You were so gentle when you were treating him.
You switched your attention to his leg after re-wrapping his eye with a clean bandage. But he immediately brought you to a halt. "It's alright. Another nurse already took care of it." His voice was raspy and hoarse, most likely due to the amount of screaming he endured.
You nodded and stood up, dusting your knees off. "Alright, Mr. Kruger. I'll take you to your room and let you rest. I'll check in every hour." You said as you helped Kruger to his feet.
Kruger has been entrusted to your care for a few weeks now. You didn't mind that he didn't want to chat much. You, too, were not fond of beginning discussions.
You were cleaning up Kruger's room one day when he posed an unexpected question.
"What do you think of the devils of Paradis?"
You paused in the middle of restocking his medicine cabinet. You shifted your weight to face him. He was resting casually against the pillows on his bed, his lazy gaze on you.
"Are you asking how I feel about them or if they're devils in general?" You questioned, facing him. The brunette shrugged, quietly allowing you to make the decision.
You paused for a moment. It's not like you have to consider your feelings on the Eldian race. However, you wanted to consider how to phrase it.
"Do you mind if I tell you a story, Mr. Kruger?" Your heartbeat quickened as you whispered. For a little moment, you were confronted with silence.
"No."
You sat on the tiny chair across the bed, nodding. Through the glass, you observed individuals interact with each other, placing your hands on your knees.
"I was seeing a boy three years ago. He was the kindest, brightest, and the most attractive man I'd ever met. He'd give me flowers every week, take me out on dates, and was the most wonderful guy I'd ever met. However, there was one issue." You took a break from looking out the window to glance at Kruger.
"He was Eldian. Although he was born here in Marley, his grandparents and father had escaped Paradis. But it didn't matter to me. I didn't care if he was Eldian, Marleyan or a tree. I saw him for who he was." You reached into your breast pocket and pulled out a photograph. You flicked it over to the man.
You and the Eldian teenย were depicted in a brown-toned photograph. As he kissed you on the cheek, you were brightly smiling. Kruger looked at how beautiful your smile was and how your eyes shone through paper. He also observed the boy's arm was adorned with the infamous white armband.
"One day, we went on a date for our two year anniversary. It was in a beautiful posy field and was a sunny day." Your voice cracked slightly while recalling the tragedy.
"Someone had tipped off the police about our relationship and it was apparently such a problem that the police had to interrupt and take him away." Tears threatened to pour as you met Kruger's stare.
"I haven't seen him in a year. I hope every day he'll walk into my home so we could just hold each other. But I already know that's never going to happen." You hoped the tears would somehow soak back into your body as you gazed up at the ceiling.
"I remember just sitting in my room, staring at my walls for hours. I couldn't stop thinking about how much I despised Marley. I even started to hate myself and blamed myself." Kruger, although not saying anything, had given you his full attention.
"It had gotten so bad that I tried to end my life. I couldn't deal with the guilt I had brought upon myself. Or I guess I couldn't deal with the fact that I was born Marleyan and had some sort of role in the suffering of millions of Eldians over the world." You stood up abruptly, clearing your throat.
"I realized I have to check something with the staff. I hope that answered your question. Please try to get some rest." You gave the man a smile and left the room, leaving Kruger to think about your story. The agony and hatred in your eyes reminded him of someone.
The person who was staring at himself in the mirror.
Being apart of a group chat that you didn't interact with wasn't fun. There was a lot of Group Chats in Paradis High. Each group chat was for a certain thing, specific topic, and was made for a certain reason. The most known kids, both boys and girlsโwere invited and added to group chats. For some it was an amazing thing, and it highlighted the beauty of popularity. It showed the peak of popularity. You would get to be invited to parties, like Historia's Reiss yearly summer mansion party for example. Or you would be invited to sport games, like Jean Kirstien who plays basketball, and Eren himself. Then the other people on the team as well, since they weren't the only athletic boys in the school. So it was no surprise to Eren when he was added to the group chat years ago, and he still thinks about why he hasn't left it.
So like every lunch time, Eren sat at the table, taking his phone off of Do Not Disturb. A series ofย notifications blew up on his phone. Almost every social app he had was ringing with alerts.
But it was a certain group chat that he decided to checkout first.
Opening the group chat, Eren was not surprised to see that it was still dinging with new text messages. There was a conversation happening between a variety of people, and Eren's first thought was to scroll up to the beginning of his English Period.ย
Eren wasn't really sure what he would find as he skimmed through the text messages. Most of it was trash talk, but nothing too severe. It was mostly people describing their class and how boring it was. Or it was people talking about the latest gossip from days ago or maybe last night.
Eren was close to clicking off his phone and visiting another app, but then he saw Historia's name for the first time in the conversation.
Eren narrowed his eyes, glancing up to see if Armin and Mikasa would be on their way yet.
When he didn't see them, he continued reading the messages.
It was no surprise to Eren when he saw that Historia Reiss was badmouthing everyone in their English Class. And of course, Ymirโa fellow popular girl in Historia's clique, who is also rumoured of hooking up with Historia before, was agreeing with her the moment Historia got in the chat.
Eren saw the text messages and furrowed his brows at what he read.
" Not some weird bitch was trying to chat with me like she's on my level"
Eren scoffed, shaking his head as another paragraph of hers was below.
" Who names their kid Jodie?! Lmao anyone know about her?"
Eren pushed his eyes to read more past Historia's message. He read Ymir's message to agree with finding out who Jodie was.
Then he read as a couple other people joined the conversation, and how they immediately fed into Historia's bull.
Eren clicked his phone off with a shake of his head. He already knew where that conversation went, and what everyone was now thinking about the girl named Jodie in his class.
Eren had known Historia Reiss since he was 12, but never really started talking to her until he was 15 ish. She wasn't always mean from the start, but Eren could definitely say she wasn't a real friend.
She often spoke to people in a overly soft and fake voice to get what she wanted. She used her looks to an advantage, and often brought other confident people around her down.
Historia was liked by mostly everyone, and that boosted her ego and self confidence by a lot. Next thing Eren knew, was that the summer of going to 8th Grade, and Historia Reiss had an obvious and disgusting personality change.
Her superior complex, and growth in physical appearance built her popularity.
Eren was popular too around the 8th grade, but he didn't change up on his friendsโArmin and Mikasa for popularity. The two friends which he still has today. He might've lost his temper, and usual fire, but that was because of the endless effort he put into getting and maintaining that Centre position he has on the Football Team.
He was not a snotty popular rich kid. And Eren didn't participate in any bullying around the school. He simply didn't have time for that
Just like how he doesn't have time to argue about a sport. Maybe Eren would've joined that argument today if he was 15 again, he would've defended football with his life, but he's changed.
An example can be how he didn't tell anyone to defend him with the whole football situation. He had nothing to do with that.
But Jodie was right when she said he won't speak up on it. He was a bystander, and that was equivalent to the bully.
" Eren!"
Eren lazily lifted his gaze, sitting up from his unconscious slouch in the chair.
" Armin? Mikasa? You guys brought the food already?" His eyes landed on the the packet of Chinese cuisines.
The Chinese small restaurant was the closest place for students at Paradis High to go and grab food. If you were a student especially, the food only cost 5 dollars for the combo. But the packeted shrimp, spring rolls, and etc. came for 2 for 5 dollars.
" Not that much time has passed by you know?" Armin said with his brows furrowed at Eren. " And plus, the restaurant is the first thing right down the street."
Eren nodded his head, feeling dumb that he even asked to begin with. But with the somewhat reassuring shrug Armin gave him, he didn't dwell too much on it.
" Thanks guys," Eren said, accepting the food.
" Thank Mikasa, she bought it this time."
Mikasa shrugged, sitting down on one side of Eren.
Mikasa Ackerman has been friends with Eren Jaeger and Armin Artlet since she was around 9 or 10. Eren Jaeger was one of the first friends she made. She lived in the country side growing up so she wasn't the most social person. Growing up Mikasa has always been right behind Eren. From when he wanted to be successful at the sport he was introduced to during his younger years called " Football", and Mikasa too had an athletic side with Volleyball.
While Eren was the most popular one in their group, Mikasa also had her fair share of popularity. A year ago, she was tied in with the business majors in school who happened to be working on a project in the field of modeling.
Mikasa took up the offer to be one of the groups model, and the successful result of her and that group, resulted to her being an occasional model for Garageโthe clothing store.
That was enough to gain her popularity.
Being one of Eren Jaegers best friends that accompanied him everyday was also another reason for her popularity. Mikasa Ackerman was in some group chats, but she refused to chat or talk with much people. Especially Historia Reiss, or any other popular snob.
She just didn't swing that way.
Then there is Armin Artlet. Known for being the smartest student in their grade, and the best player on the chess team. He is also supposed to be the graduating class Valedictorian, and there's no doubt about it.ย Besides his brains and handsome yet delicate appeal, Armin wasn't all that fetishized.
But he had to say, his ultimate gain in popularity started with people thinking he and Historia were siblings.
Then it was because he was close with Eren Jaeger. Eren who he's been friends with since he was 7 or 8.
" Eren you seem lost in thought." Mikasa called out, taking a bite of her food.
Eren swallowed, ready to deny, but Armin also had caught on.
" Yeah you seem pretty off today. Is it practice or...."
Eren could feel eyes on him around the cafeteria, but he shrugged it off like he planned on doing with this question.
" No it's nothing. I'm good, just a little sore and tired."
Mikasa narrowed her eyes at him, and Erenย knew from her pointed look that she wasn't going to let this go. Mikass peeled her sharp gaze off of Eren, pulling her phone out of her jacket pocket with one hand, and proceeding to go on it with that clean one.
Suddenly, a series of dings erupted from her phone.
Eren couldn't help the sigh of exhaustion that escaped from him.
Mikasa's eyes narrowed at her phone screen, immediately tapping stuff as her eyes darted over something. It was as if she was reading.
" Who's Jodie?"
The question came quicker than Eren expected.
Eren shook his head, " Some girl in my English period. I guess she rubbed Historia and them the wrong way."
Eren shrugged his shoulders as Mikasa took her eyes off of him. He wasn't sure if she was content with his answer, but he had food to eat.
" What does it say?" Armin asked. Peeking his head over Mikasa's shoulder to see her phone.
Mikasa kept quiet for a moment, before answering: " Well...it seems like Historia and them have found a new target to attack. Apparently she disrespected Historia and...Eren?"
" She didn't offend me." Eren denied.
" And I tried to talk to her and she didn't want to hear it. Not my problem, I can't do anything else."
" Well what did you say to her?" Armin asked with furrowed brows.
" I tried to give her a heads up about Historia, Ymir, and all those girls behavior. I also tried to apologize, but she shut it down." Eren bit into his shrimp with a shrug of his shoulders.
Mikasa didn't respond to Eren, and neither did Armin.
Armin just averted his eyes to his coconut shrimp, and his brows were still drawn close together. He seemed to be pondering over something, and it was the face Armin made when he was putting pieces together.
" Mikasa," he started, turning to her.
" What did you say was her name again?"
Mikasa glanced at Armin from the side of her eye, before scrolling on her phone.
" It says that her name is Jodie." She answered.
" Jodie L/N."
" Jodie...." Armin repeated.
Eren cocked an eyebrow at Armin. " What? Do you know her or something?"
To their surprise, Armin nodded his head.
" Yeah. I was in a group project with her recently. We had to do this research project for Science class, and she animated and edited all the information I gathered. We got the highest mark for that. It was actually the highest mark I've ever gotten in science."
Eren looked away. " What, so she's smart?"
Armin nodded. " She's good with technology. But she's also really nice. She's friends with Sasha Braus and Connie Springer."
"โ She got Historia mad? What did she say Eren?"
Mikasa clicked her phone off, picking a spring roll off her plate. " Yeah. From the way Armin explained her, she doesn't seem all too much like a bitch. So how did she manage to piss off all the popular people?"
Eren thought back to the words of Jodie, and remembered how she spoke facts by accident.
" She said something along the lines of; Common sense has nothing to do with popularity. Seems like all of you lack common sense immensely. It was something following that." Eren refrained a grin from coming onto his face when he repeated the words.
Mikasa raised her brow, " So she didn't say it to Historia?"
" No. But she said it after Historia said some next shit about the people in the class being lame."
Armin let out a small nervous laugh. " Well she's not lying....But that's also not enough for Historia to want to bully her."
" Yeah...."
Armin shook his head in disapproval.
" But even so, Jodie isn't the type to be bullied. So I doubt it I'll work."
The next two periods of Jodie's class the previous day, weren't anything too special. She didn't have to encounter or be in a class dominated by popular people. And if there was popular people in her classroom, it was one person at least. They were rather quiet, since they worked better as aย group than by themselves. Gym with Mr. Ackerman was her first period after lunch, and Calculus was her last. Jodie had nothing to worry about. Popular kids usually skipped gym, especially a lot of the pretty girls who weren't know for athletics. So walking into Paradis High the next day wasn't anything special.
Her first period, science class with Ms. Hange Zoรซ, went by pretty quickly. The last presentations for the group projects were presented, and Jodie was sure that her and Armin Arlert still had the best project video.
But then English class came, and Jodie L/N wasn't one to skip class. She sure wouldn't because of some popular kids either.
So here she sat, listening to her teacher speak on a new group project that requires reading a book from a typical Intermediate, and Junior Elementary school library. As far as Jodie knows, the task is to dig deep into what your chosen book really was trying to portray. Figure out a message that the targeted age group couldn't have gotten.
She had her mind set on The Hunger Games Series.
" A lot of you guys are going to go for popular romance booksโ"
The class began to make noises of agreement that had Jodie shaking her head. The teacher laughed though, before silencing the class to further explain.
" And you can do that, but think about whether or not there is a deep message that the targeted audience might not have understood or really picked up on."
Jodie shifted in her seat, the feeling of multiple pairs of eyes on her made her skin crawl. Ever since Jodie walked in the school building, and parted ways with Connie and Sasha, she's been feeling more eyes on her than she's ever felt.
It was not because she looked pretty today. She wore low waisted True Religion Jeans with a black tight top, and black air forces. Jodie was not being looked at for her very basic and not so stylish clothing.
She immediately concluded that Historia, Eren maybe, and plenty others in her English Class had already spread the information about her from yesterday's situation.
She cleared her throat and continued to hold her gaze on the teacher.
" So I'm not going to give you guys a collection of books,"
" Thank God," some people grumbled.
The teacher grinned. " Because I want to see what you guys can come up with. I'll be giving you guys a rubric to follow accordingly though."
Jodie glanced around the classroom, and she could see that some people were already having side conversations either about the assignment, or something totally different. She wouldn't be surprised if it was the latter.
Putting her hand up slowly, Jodie swallowed as she felt the sensation of eyes on her again.
" Yes Jodie?" The teacher quickly picked her, a smile on his face.
The class quieted down at the mention of her name. Jodie was sure she wasn't imagining that.
" Um...is this group work, partner work, or single?"
The teacher took a step back, looking to face the whole class. " Good question! So I don't want to pick partnerships, but I do think that it would be great if you guys could work in groups of 2."
It was better than a whole group. Jodie knows that she hates group work, especially in Paradise High.
But still, she did not want to do group work in her English class of all classes.ย
But nevertheless, she nodded her head.
" So," the teacher clapped his hands together.
" Find your partners."
With those words, majority of the class scurried. Only a good couple people remaining still in their seats, while avoiding the encouraging eye contact with the teacher. Jodie was apart of that couple people.
Jodie did not wish to be partners with anyone, especially since she had to pick people. She had no friends in her English class, and ever since yesterday, this is the class she dreads the most.
She could hear mixed voices of various girls, the deep laughs of boys, and the off topic conversations that she chose to not listen to.
I'll use my regular technique. Jodie told herself.
That technique consisted of waiting till each partnership was formed, and there was no more students available. After doing that, she would confront the teacher, tell him that all students were in a partnership, and she would quickly add that she didn't mind working by herself.
She just had to wait it out. That was step one to her technique.
So with that being said, Jodie pulled out her phone, ready to pass time.ย She could hear Historia's distant voice saying something. She didn't sound to happy with her tone. Jodie forced herself to not listen, and occupied herself on Tiktok.
Not that Jodie was exactly counting, but she wasn't even able to get past 6 videos when she was interrupted.
A figure stood over her. A masculine figure she noted before she glanced up. Jodie felt a bile rise in her throat as she slowly peeled her eyes off of her phone. With each second her eyes scanned over the figures body, Jodie's brain immediately thought of a certain someone in her class.
Eren Jaeger. And she was indeed correct.
Today, Eren was dressed in grey joggers and a white regular shirt. His hair was down too, framing his face. Jodie cleared her throat, yanking her mind away from the appearance of Eren Jaeger.
" Can I help you?" She asked with a low voice.
" We're partners."
Jodie literally reclined in her seat. Her eyes darting around the classroom in search of any camera or phone on her. When she saw nothing, she looked back at Eren like he was crazy.
" Excuse me?" She asked, completely appalled.
Eren raised his brow questioningly, " You don't have a partner."
" For a reason," Jodie quickly added. " I rather be partners with no one, than someone who won't ever try and do work."
" My student average is a 87."
Jodie didn't look impressed. " Do you know how much popular kids pay nerds to do their work?"
" โDone by me." Eren included with a shake of his head. " Quit insisting that I'm some bad guy. You don't know me."
" And I don't wish to with all due respect."
Eren stared at her for a moment, and Jodie believed that this was a recap of what happened yesterday at lunch. Eren would stare at her, maybe longer than last time, and would proceed to walk away.
But no, he remained in his place. Deep turquoise eyes boring into Jodie's honey brown ones.
" We're going to be partners," Eren said, slowly turning to an angle. " We'll just have to arrange a time that works for the both of us."
Jodie refused to let him have it. " For youโyou mean. I'm always free, I'm sure you can't relate."
Eren scoffed. He looked like he was about to say something, but the teacher began speaking before he could.
" Okay guys! I've given more than enough time to arrange partners, so everyone return to their original seats."
Eren spared Jodie a look before walking away from her desk. Quickly going back to his placement, and scattering into place with everyone else. Jodie couldn't help but slump in her seat.
Eren Jaeger chose to be partners with her of all people, and she didn't understand why.
Is he trying to embarrass me? Jodie thought to herself. Because if he is, I'm not going to let my walls down for that. I refuse.
Turning to the white board, the teacher began to write out a title that read; Group Partners.
" Okay...now that we have our partner groupsย somewhat decided, we need to record our groups. That way I can start mild assessing."
When he was finished writing on the board, he turned to face the class.
" So can each person from the partnership come write down you and your group partners name? I'll release a doc later where you guys can state your books. More than one partnership can do one book by the way."
Slowly, people began slowly dragging themselves up from there seats. Sluggishly making their way to the bored to write their name, as well as their group partners.
Jodie shifted in her seat, poking her head out to glance at Eren. To her surprise he was already staring at her. Many people laughed at the partnerships being written down. Fellow popular kids laughing at the fact that the two class clown boys were in a group.
โLooks exciting, because no work was going to get done.
Jodie raised a brow at Eren as more and more names were being written out on the board. Eren stared back at her with furrowed brows, seemingly lost by the intensity of her gaze.
" What?" he mouthed.
Historia Reiss walked up to the front of her class. Grabbing the marker with a shit eating grin, Jodie watched as she wrote down her name in cursive handwriting that looked unreal. Before writing down a name nobody really recognized beside her own. It didn't take long for people to start hollering when they realized why that was.
Historia will have the " nobody" do all the work.
" Shit," Jodie cursed under her breath when Historia turned back to face the class.
She could've sworn they made eye contact, and a glint shown in Historia's eyes. But it was gone when she retreated back to her seat, the shouts and comedic laughs following her back.
With sharp eyes, Jodie snapped her gaze to Eren with even more intensity than before.
Jodie did not think about why Eren was already staring at her when they made eye contact. All she knew was that she was not embarrassing herself up there. With a aggressive nod of her head, Jodie roughly swung her head in the direction of the board.
It sure didn't take long for Eren to catch on with what she was saying.
โYou're writing down our names. Go!
Those were the words to Jodie's motions.
Eren, like everyone else, slowly got up from his seat. Making his way to the front of the class as eyes followed him. The cheers for Historia went down as everyone focused on what Eren Jaeger was about to write down for his partner.
Was it going to be a girl? A boy? Was it going to be Historia? Everyone wanted to know.
No one knew what he was writing, or what was written until he stepped back from the board. Snapping the marker lid on, Eren handed the marker to the teacher before walking back to his desk.
As Eren walked by, Jodie made eye contact with him, and she could faintly see the grin on his face.
~Jodie and Eren~
That was what was written on the board.
For some reason, Jodie wanted to smile, but the silence in the room kept her from doing such.
It was a small action that differed Eren from Historia entirely. Eren didn't plan on being with his partnerโJodie L/Nโ for her to get all the work done, but because he genuinely decided to. And him putting her name ahead of him really showed his and Historia's differences.
Jodie couldn't suppress her grin.
This was interesting, and not even the hate filled glare of Historia Reiss could ruin this.
