Polar (Erejean)

Unlucky

Life isn't fair.

That's something I grasped at pretty early on in life. Why is it that some people are born into a life of luxury, whilst others have to work overtime just to survive? Sure, hard work and talent can get you somewhere in life, but a lot of the time it's just down to plain luck. That's just how it is - whether you like it or not.

So, where do I fit in on life's lucky draw? Well, I live in Britain - lucky. I have two close friends who care about me deeply - lucky. My mother passed away two years ago- well, I'm sure that one can explain itself.

Still, some people would argue that I'm still lucky regardless of what happens in my life, simply because of where I live. Don't get me wrong, I am incredibly grateful that I live in a country where I'm able to share my views freely and have access to free healthcare, but I still think it's pretty rational for me to not be all that thrilled given my situation.

That said, I really can't stand people who think that no one living in a first world country has the right to ever be sad at all. They're the type of people who throw around the "Africa card" - as I call it - at least five times each day. You know what I'm talking about; people who respond to any negative comment you have with something along the lines of "oh, but at least you're not a starving child in Africa!" God, I hate that.

I'll tell you something right now; Someone is always going to have it worse than you. However, that doesn't make a shitty situation any less shit. Appreciate what you do have, of course, but know that your reactions to events in your life are valid.

Speaking of shitty situations, I'm actually on my way to one right now. My maths teacher, Mr Ackerman, had told me to come and see him at the start of lunch. I was sure there was no way I could be in any trouble over anything, but he wasn't exactly the type of person to request your attendance just to give you good news.

I got to his room just as the bell for lunch rang, knowing better than to show up late. The students from his class took a few moments to shuffle their way out of the room but once they were all gone I was able to slip my way inside.

"You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Ah, Eren," he responded, moving over to lean back against his desk before gesturing to the space in front of him. "Take a seat. We're still waiting for someone."

Someone else was supposed to be coming? Christ, what was this talk even going to be about?

"Alright," I mumbled, making my way over to the student's desk in front of where he was standing and taking a seat. Thankfully, it wasn't too long before the third person was coming in and closing the door behind themselves. Though, unthankfully, the person who had walked in was none other than Jean Kirstein.

You have got to be kidding me.

Okay, so maybe I had never actually had a proper conversation with the guy before but, fuck, there was a reason for that. From what I had seen and heard, he was a total egotistical asshole who had everything handed to him his entire life. I mean, he lived up in Shinganshina Estate, for fucks sake. His parents probably had more money than I would ever be able to get in a lifetime.

"Take a seat, Kirstein."

The blonde reluctantly made his way over to us, his arms folded as he leaned back against the desk to the right of where I was sitting. Even his school uniform looked more expensive than mine, and we were wearing basically the exact same thing.  "What's all this about?"

Ackerman folded his arms and directed his gaze back at him. "This is about the results of your maths GCSE resit," he answered, to which the other just rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I know, I failed. So?"

"So," he practically growled out, "you're only here for another six months and then you'll be finished with school completely. That means you only have one shot left of actually passing this exam."

Figured that he was the type of person to not care about school at all.

"Uh, Sir," I started awkwardly. "What does this have to do with me, exactly?"

"You, Eren, are going to be tutoring him," he answered. I just raised my brows, hoping he'd say he was just kidding. Mr Ackerman wasn't really the type to kid around, though.

It was obvious that Jean wasn't all that thrilled about the situation, either, as you could very clearly hear him mutter "for fucks sake" under his breath.

"I didn't think you'd be excited, so I thought I could give the both of you some motivation," the teacher continued. "It's obvious that Kirstein doesn't care about whether or not he actually passes this exam. So, in six weeks I'm going to give you a mock exam. If there's no improvement, then I'm taking Eren's name off of the Edgewood program-"

"What?" I interrupted, my voice raised as I stood up. "That's not fair!"

Jean looked between us. "Isn't Edgewood that University-"

"It's my dream university," I snapped, shifting my gaze over to Jean. "I'm supposed to be going there in April for a course. They're going to be offering some of the people going unconditional placements," I explained, before looking back at Mr Ackerman. "Sir, I have to go on that course."

"Then I suggest you and Kirstein start working," he said simply. "Remember, you've got six weeks to make a good enough improvement."

I opened my mouth to continue arguing but I knew it was pointless. There was no arguing with someone like Mr Ackerman; you'd be an idiot to even attempt it. Jean seemed to at least know this already, as he was already walking out the door. Well, either he knew arguing was pointless or he didn't even care enough to attempt it. Or both.

God, I was fucked.

I quickly made my way out of the class, having to jog a little to catch up with the ass-fuck that I was supposed to start tutoring. "Hey," I called after him. No response. "Hey!"

He turned around, then, his arms folded. "What?"

"What do you mean, 'what'? We have to organise this tutoring shit."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm not wasting my time with that. I'm only going to end up failing again, anyway."

"If you fail, I'm going to get kicked off my program."

"Not my problem," he shrugged, then tried to start walking off again. I had to grab onto his wrist to stop him from leaving.

"You think I want to spend my free time teaching you? I'm not happy about this either but we've got to do it."

Jean just glared at me for a few moments, looking as though he was considering whether or not to start throwing punches in my direction. Eventually, he just sighed, tugging his wrist free from my grip. "Alright, fine," he mumbled. "When are you free?"

I raised my brows, a little surprised he had actually given in. "After school today."

"Same here, I guess. If you're making me do this, though, I at least want to do it somewhere I'm comfortable. If you meet me outside the sixth form centre after school, I'll give you a lift to my place."

"Sure thing," I nodded and, after a short silence between the two of us, we went our separate ways.

Yeah. Life isn't fair.