human punching bag

chapter 4

Jean didn’t show up to school the next day. Nick said he had a cold. I didn’t care.

“Sorry about yesterday,” Nick said when he came to pick me up. “Really.”

“It’s fine,” I said. I felt like a broken record. How many times had I said that already? “Forget it.”

Nick nodded uncertainly. He cleared his throat and slid his hands into his pockets as we rounded the corner. Our school was a little ways up the street. We usually walked because we lived so close.

“How’d the project go?” Nick asked.

“Well,” I said. Levi and I hadn’t worked on it. I wasn’t in the mood. Levi had put on some old horror movies and we watched them until we fell asleep. I ended up staying the night.

Nick didn’t need to know that, though.

“That’s good,” Nick said. I knew he wanted to ask something else. “Levi was nice to you and all, right?”

I pursed my lips.

“Why does he bother you so much?” I asked, looking up at him. “He’s nice, you know.”

“He doesn’t,” Nick said, almost defensively. I frowned at his tone.

I hummed noncommittally and looked away. People usually had a lot to say about Levi. The rumor was that he was living with Mikasa because he killed his uncle. No one found any evidence that linked Levi to the crime, but people liked to say it was only a matter of time before he got caught.

I never asked him if it was true. Mikasa never mentioned anything about it either, and we told each other everything. Well, mostly everything. She didn’t know about Jean. He was her boyfriend, after all. She seemed happy with him. I didn’t want to ruin that for her.

The rumors surrounding Levi made Nick, and many of our other classmates, uncomfortable. That’s why he was always nervous when I told him Levi and I were gonna be hanging out. If he had his way, he’d probably supervise us like a helicopter mom would watch over her children.

“You gotta be careful, Eren,” Nick said once we were closer to school. “That dude…something’s off with him.”

“Then I guess he and Jean have something in common,” I said before I could think about it. Nick exhaled quietly.

“Eren…”

“I know,” I muttered. “Whatever. Sorry.”

"Okay," Nick replied. We were at school then, so he pressed a kiss to my cheek and told me he'd see me later.

I wasn't sure that I wanted to see him later.

~end chapter 4~

Kinda short...?