PEER PRESSURE • Eren Jaeger

001 a virgin who can't drive

Eren

★

"Eren," said Carla, "we're here."

Eren sat up straight as they passed through the main gate of Trost in a caravan of unassuming vehicles, rooftops glaring under the noonday sun. Freshmen and parents lugged suitcases and boxes heaped with bedding, posing for photos before the redbrick dormitories with the shameless glee of tourists. Trost, after all, was no easy pre-uni to get into.

"Junior year, son," Grisha said. "This is going to be momentum for college, and college will be momentum for life. So take it seriously, okay?"

Amid welcome signs from the administration, student banners interjected END ELDIAN INEQUALITY, DEFUND THE MILITARY POLICE, and MARLEY = SAFETY SCHOOL.

A concerto pounded in Eren's chest as they made landfall upon the hallowed ground. He checked in under a white tent full of his classmates and received his room key as well as a bulky orientation packet. His parents made the effort to carry his luggage to his room, not that he brought much.

As he approached the dormitory hall, a blonde boy with glasses emerged. Seeing Eren and his parents with their hands full, a grin broke out on his face as he held the door.

"Had a good summer, Eren?"

"Armin, if watering the lawn and walking dogs for cash counts as good, then yes," he said. His parents went ahead to leave the boys to their conversation, walking to the dorms side-by-side. "What about you?"

"Went to Cosplay Con. Saw a great Tifa Lockhart cosplay. I paid her to step on me, wanna see a pic?"

"Mm, no thanks," Eren said. God, what a loser. But they'd been best friends since freshman year after he rescued Armin from getting shoved into a locker, and it wasn't as though Eren was miles better. "Maybe some other time."

Armin started outlining plans for finding a date for prom, but Eren was only half listening, because through the thickening mass of humanity crowding the hallway, he could see you.

You were standing beside your boyfriend, Colt Grice, in a semicircle with your friends — Historia Reiss, Ymir Yumiru, Reiner Braun, and Bertholdt Hoover. Hitch Dreyse lingered behind you and Historia, technically in the group but not part of the group. Your group was at the top of the food chain, the untouchable ones who were well-liked and known by everyone in the huge school.

You were holding Colt's old cream-colored coat, folded in your arms like he'd given it to you but you hadn't worn it. Your eyes were crinkling at the corners, shoulders bent forward as you laughed at something he said. Colt was holding your volleyball bag.

When you noticed Carla and Grisha approaching, you turned and politely nodded, ignoring the boys behind them. The rest of the group watched.

"Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Jaeger," you said. "It's nice to see you again."

Lies. You lived right next to them but never spoke to Eren anymore. You just didn't want your friends to think otherwise. The rest of the group smiled at Eren's parents behind you, but they looked more like sneers. Eren didn't know what they were thinking, and admittedly, it made his palms sweat.

"You should visit," Grisha said. He pointed a thumb at the hunched teen boy behind him. "This guy hasn't seen you in so long."

You smiled, another polite simper that didn't reach your eyes. Your nose had the faintest streak of unabsorbed sunscreen, a sign that you were going to be playing sports outside later. That, or you were going to watch Colt run track on the bleachers and probably make out under them.