SOMEBODY'S WATCHING ME

1 | new moon

sussex, south east england
23.07.2022
ante meridiem

"shit," he cussed out, rummaging around in his signature black bag. the jade-eyed boy was in disbelief. it was ackerman's literary class and he couldn't find a pen, how stupid of him. if he didn't take notes in his class, eren was bound to fall behind within seconds.

usually, he'd steal one of mikasa, but she was out protesting female rights regarding the new abortion law change at a rally. with a window to his left, he glanced over to his right and looked at the delinquent next to him. her icy blue eyes stared ahead blankly, ignoring his presence. 

"annie, do you have a spare pen?"

blankly staring ahead, she blinked, "no."

feeling dread shot through his bones, he turned to behind him, hoping someone could spare him a pen.

there you sat. loose [hair colour] strands tucked behind a baseball cap, he could only see your plump pink lips, the rest concealed by the black cap. a black face mask was pulled down to your chin as you silently took notes.

he hadn't seen you before.

"hey, i'm sorry, do you have a spare pencil at all?" he sheepishly asked, his forest green eyes studying your face. you had perked up at the noise but kept your head down. with one swift motion, you pulled the mask up, leaning over to your pencil case and pulled out a mechanical pencil. 

"here," you voice was quiet, yet held so much authority. he hadn't heard a voice like yours before. it was soothing to listen to.

"you're an angel, thank you," he took the pencil from your left hand and spun around, quickly jotting down what he had already missed. 

he felt your gaze on the back of his head but simply ignored it, focusing on his studies. 

it wasn't long before the bell rung, signalling the next lesson. ackerman had dismissed the class as everyone began to pack up. eren turned behind him, ready to thank you but you were gone. lucky. people in the back are always quickest to leave.

he shrugged, pocketing the mechanical pencil, internally reminding himself to seek you out later and return it. he went on with the rest of his day without a thought of you.

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sussex, south east england
24.07.2022
ante meridiem

the next day, eren walked into his literary class, noticing you tucked away in the back corner. mikasa rose a brow at him walking towards you. mikasa had never personally spoken to you, nor knew anything about you.

"hey," he greeted friendly, dropping his bag by his seat.

your mask was pulled up and cap was on tightly. eren managed to get a glimpse of your eyes. a brilliant shade of [eye colour], upturned and almost cat-like in shape. he noticed you had long eyelashes, whether they were natural or not, he couldn't tell.

"hello," your voice rumbled softly. 

"i just wanted to thank you, here," he held the familiar mechanical pencil out to you. you paused, eyes staring at his hands.

shaking your head, a few strands came loose from your ponytail. "it's no problem. you can keep it." 

eren wasn't able to persist as ackerman had began his lecture, informing the class of a new assignment and the rubric, making mikasa tug him into his seat. class dragged by for eren, he didn't even know where to begin with the new assignment. it was quite possibly the worst, poetry. 

at the end of the class, minutes before the bell rung, he took a deep breath, raised his eyes to face you. your eyes were already on him. he felt his stomach flip, yet he forced the words out, "would you like to eat lunch with my friends and i?"

you were quiet for a moment. he couldn't read the expression in your eyes. "okay."

he grinned at your affirmation, "i'll see you later, meet us at the cafeteria." the bell rung as you left the class. eren watched as you slipped out of the class.

"who's that?" mikasa asked, a brow raised.

eren went to respond, but the words halted in his mouth. he didn't even know your name. he was embarrassed, "um, i don't know..."

mikasa gave him an odd look, "then why did you offer for her to sit with us?"

he sighed, eyebrows furrowed, "do i need a reason? she seem's lonely." mikasa seemed unsure with his answer but let it go, the two of them splitting to go to their next subject.

before he knew it, the bell signalling lunch had rung making you pop back into his mind. he was intrigued to see you interact with his friends, let alone himself. to the eye, you seemed introverted, quiet, but when you spoke to him, your words were nothing like that. 

eren grabbed his lunch before sitting down, saying hello to armin and mikasa who were already seated. usually connie and sasha sat with them, but he'd received a text from them saying something along the lines of free food.

"oh, hey [name], what are you doing here?" armin looked up from the book that was in between his fingers. armin and you both shared advanced mathematics with smith. although you had never spoken much to each other, he'd call you a friend.

[name], that was your name. he quite liked it.

your eyes moved from armin to the german boy, "eren kindly offered for me to join you all for lunch."

"oh, did he?" armin's suspecting blue orbs flashed towards eren who was beside him. eren remained quiet, only offering a small smile to the two. how did you know his name? you'd never spoke before, and nor did he state it. he was relatively popular, he'd leave it as that.

"mikasa, right?" she nodded at your words, "i recall seeing you at a protest not too long ago, for the murder of sarah everard."

mikasa's eyes lit up at the sound of feminism, "oh! were you there?"

your head nodded, "just was passing by but ended getting caught up in everything." mikasa then proceeded to ramble about the recent roe v. wade case before mentioning how she attended the black lives matter protests. as the goth girl muttered on about everything, eren's eyes couldn't but wonder over to you.

you weren't eating which made him curious already. nor had you lowered your mask. maybe you were just anxious about getting covid? it took him a moment before he realised you were staring back at him, the corners of your eyes scrunched up from smiling underneath the mask.

he flushed in embarrassment, fuck. 

armin elbowed him, "nice one," he snorted quietly only making eren further flushed. the blond could read eren like a book sometimes. it was so obvious. 

mikasa paused in her rant about unjust and discriminatory prisoner treatment, "i hope i'm not stopping you from eating...?"

you dismissed her concern with a wave of your hand, "not at all, i'm simply not hungry. please continue."

"oh! okay, did you know that in australia since 1991, there have been more than 400 Aboriginal deaths in custody with zero convictions recorded..." she continued to rant on about the topic, with armin and eren chiming in here or there.

soon enough, the bell had rung, causing everyone to begin to pack up. you briefly said goodbye to the three before walking off without their replies.

"she sure is different," eren commented, watching her walk out the room. she seemed to blend easily within crowds, it was like no one noticed her presence there.

"she's cool," mikasa nodded in approval, a smile growing on her face, "i wonder if she's a lesbian, or maybe bi?"

armin nodded at mikasa, shrugging a little, "yeah, bi vibes."

the day had passed before eren knew it and he was on the train home. mikasa had volleyball practice and didn't accompany him home. eren didn't mind too much usually, putting music on loudly.

however, today, he felt a little uneasy, almost if someone was watching him.