Chapter Text
“What kind of school, looks like this?” Eren spoke to himself as he looked upwards towards the large building in front of him. The school was large, almost too large and was made of brick. There was one large building in the middle surrounded by smaller buildings. All of them being made of the same reddish brown brick. The only decorations being the white paint on the edges. Ignoring the curious looks he was getting, Eren made his way to the large white doors that led into the school.
The inside was very clean, almost sterile, which isn’t common in schools. Eren studied the off-white walls, taking in all the details that he could see. The hallway was long and tall. Further down the hallway, there was an opening which led to some classrooms. Next to the opening, large stairs which went upwards carried you to more classrooms and from the signs Eren has seen so far, the school resources store. Past the stairs, Eren could see a glass door with large letters printed stark white on the transparent glass which spelt ‘OFFICE’.
While walking down the hallway Eren looked at all the passing students. He could see the groups forming as friends met up with each other before the bell for class. The teenager silently wondered to himself about whether he could make friends or not. Soon he found himself outside the office doors, with nerves that he managed to pick up along the way.
Pushing the glass doors open, he immediately made eye contact with the receptionist who was on the phone to an assumed parent. The receptionist smiled kindly at the teenager before continuing with her conversation. Eren waited patiently for the woman to finish her conversation before he said anything. The brunette entertained himself with his backpack straps in the meantime.
After another 5 minutes, the woman placed the phone down onto the phone holder. While lost in his thoughts, Eren didn’t hear the woman finish her phone call. Only when she called out to him did he snap out thoughts, cutting off his fiddling.
“I’m sorry?”
The woman smiled at him again before repeating her words. “I asked you if you are the new student. Your mother called me a few minutes ago to tell me about your arrival. You are Eren Jaeger, right?” The receptionist started to look through some files on the desk, picking out a single one before setting it down and opening the file up.
“Yes, that’s me.” The brunette confirmed as he watched the older woman search through the papers. He could see the names of different students going in alphabetical order.
“Okay, here you go. Your timetable. I’ll write you a note to let your form tutor know your situation, okay? I’m pretty sure they already know though, so it should be okay. I’ll still write you a note, just in case.” The woman passed the boy a piece of paper with a timetable on top.
Eren briefly glanced over the paper before reading his Monday schedule.
EREN JAEGER| FORM: 13A | FORM ROOM: 104 | FORM TUTOR: MR. K SHADIS
Monday
08:40-09:00 Form
09:00-10:00 Religious Studies|Room 145| Mrs. K-Agama
10:00-11:00 Mathematics | Room 156 | Mr. Wiskunde
Break
11:20-12:20 Spanish | Room 015 | Miss. Isbaanish
12:20-01:20 Physics | Room 157 | Mr. Fizika
Lunch
02:10-02:15 Form
02:15-03:15 Music | Room 014 | Miss. Glazba
A sigh escaped through the brunette’s lips once he saw his first lesson. R.S so early in the morning?
“Yes, unfortunately.” The receptionist replied. The smile on her face grew slightly at one side, showing her amusement.
Oh crap, did I say that out loud? Whoops.
Eren guessed his face betrayed his thoughts because the receptionist laughed and waved a hand towards him.
“Get to class Mr. Jaeger. The bell had gone a few minutes ago.”
With those final words, Eren took off towards his form room. Or well, the direction he hoped it was in.
~~
After a lifetime of wandering the empty halls, Eren finally reached room 104. The teenager breathed out in relief before taking a deep breath again to calm his raging nerves. Who would’ve thought the Eren Jaeger would get nervous about something? Especially since he had gone through this time and time again.
After counting to 5 in his head, the green-eyed boy pushed the white door open without looking through the glass in the middle. Take it like a man Jaeger.
All movement stopped in the class and Eren felt the blood pump to his face. God dammit.
Without looking towards the seats and fellow students, Eren strode straight to his tutor.
The man was tall, but old. He had wrinkles for days and deeply sunken eyes that gave him both a tired look and a demon look to his eyes. Eren felt fear course through his veins. Never piss this one off Was his immediate thought.
“Are you the new one? Where have you been?” The man’s voice was husky, as if he spent the majority of his time yelling. Which Eren would bet all of his money on, that he probably did.
“Yes sir, I had to go the office to get my timetable, but I got lost on my way here. Sorry for being late.” Eren suddenly got the urge to salute to the man.
“Whatever, sit down wherever. I’m Mr. Keith Shadish, but you will call me either ‘sir’ or ‘Mr. Shadish’.” The man waved a hand towards the general direction of the chairs before turning to the board to get his first class for the day started. Stupid bag of wrinkles couldn’t even be nice to me for the first day.
Eren walked through the maze of chairs before reaching the back. He didn’t dare to look into anyone’s face. The heat in his cheeks told him he was embarrassed enough, no need to take it further. The teenager set his bag down underneath the table before sitting behind the desk. The only available space was next to a blonde with a haircut that made them resemble a coconut.
The student smiled politely at Eren, causing the brunette to smile back automatically.
“Hello, I’m Armin. It’s very nice to meet you.” The blonde coconut puts out a hand while they introduce themselves. They smile at Eren, and it almost seems nervous. Their whole aura gives out the impression of a helpless bunny but Eren can see more. In their eyes, there is sharp calculations going on constantly and it makes the brunette feel vulnerable.
“Hi Armin, I’m Eren. Nice to meet you too.” They shake each other’s hands briefly before letting go.
“I hope you will enjoy your time at Trost Academy!” Armin smiled brightly, causing Eren to squint slightly at the brightness.
“Oh, uhm... Thanks.” Eren smiled back awkwardly, not used to seeing such a bright personality so early. Or being so social either.
“No problem, I hope I can help you as much as possible. You can ask me anything.”
Eren nodded once before looking down at the desk. It seemed new, but that was most likely because of the cleaners. Eren hoped they got paid enough to have a job like this. Who would want to clean a school for a bad salary? No thanks.
Taking out his timetable again, Eren stared blankly at the sheet. He had seen many different versions of this timetable, but this one would be his last one. Moving was nothing new to him. But staying in one place was. Once his parents had told him this was their last move, he had looked at them incredulously. But it was true. They were not going anywhere anymore. Eren had to learn the way how this school worked quickly to be able to fit in. So he could finally gain some friends. So I don’t have to be alone anymore.
The brunette suddenly remembered the words of his mother before the move. The words popping up in his current situation fit perfectly.
“New School equals New Rules.” If you want to fit in, you’ve got to play by the rules.
And for once, Eren was willing to play the game.
TBC