Forever Yours

Chapter II

Marco looked the boy's eyes, being met with a seemingly emotionless gaze. After a long and painfully awkward moment, the boy smirked.

"Fine then, freckles. I'll take you up on that offer. Tell me how to open this damn locker."

"A-alright," Marco replied, taken a bit off guard. "I'm Marco, by the way. I don't seem to recognize you... are you new here?"

"Yeah. Jean Kirstein, the new guy." Something in his voice betrayed a sense of cynicism behind his words. Perhaps he's just worried about how he'll fit in, Marco thought.

"Well, I'm sure you'll be fine here! And I can help you if you ever need it. As for the lockers, you have to spin once for the first turn, then twice for the second and third turns." Marco struggled not to stammer, running a hand through his hair out of fear.

"Ah, thanks," Jean said, turning his back on Marco so that he could open his locker. "So, what's in it for you, huh?"

"What's... in it for me?" Marco tilted his head, staring at Jean. This guy seemed overly suspicious, angry and bitter.

"Yeah. What are you hoping to get from helping me?" Jean asked, pulling things out of his backpack and haphazardly shoving them into his locker. "Or are you doing this out of the kindness of your heart?"

Marco was taken aback. "I-I just wanted to help." He forced a smile. "I don't want anything from you."

"Mm. Alright, well, I gotta get to class then. See ya, Freckles." Jean lightly punched Marco in the shoulder before heading off.

Marco watched the boy leave. He was rude, but Marco felt himself drawn to him. Perhaps it was simply shallow, an attraction to Jean's looks. He shook his head. It was best to just get that out of his mind. This was not the right guy to crush on.

In fact, Marco felt a bit guilty. Jean clearly didn't trust Marco's motives, and Marco couldn't help but wonder if he really was being selfish. Was it self-centered to help someone just because he felt drawn to them? No, it was natural. Everybody did it. Besides, even if he hadn't felt that way towards Jean, he would have offered to help him anyways.

Having already attended to his locker, which actually happened to be across from Jean's, Marco set off to find his next class. AP World History with Mr. Sommers. Marco had heard that Mr. Sommers didn't really like to teach his students much himself, and as a result many of his former students had complained about not understanding the course. Marco wondered if he would have to teach himself the material.

Once he got to the classroom, he opened the door and walked to the teacher to be given his seat assignment.

"Just sit wherever," the red-faced man said, shrugging. Marco looked around to find an available seat. He decided on an out-of-the-way seat in the back, scanning the classroom for any familiar faces. At the front of the classroom, Marco's good friend Armin sat with Eren and Mikasa, discussing the school year ahead. As the minutes approached the time for class to start, more people filed in, and Marco lay his head down on the desk to take a nap until class began.

He found himself roughly shaken awake by a hand on his shoulder. "Oi, Freckles, wake up. Class is about to start."

Marco raised his head and found himself looking into Jean's eyes.

"By the way, pretty much all of the other seats here are taken. Mind if I sit here?" He tapped the desk next to Marco's.

"Sure. Thanks for waking me up, by the way," Marco smiled softly at Jean.

Jean just grunted.

an: I already had this chapter written I just forgot to publish it today soooooooo yeah also woweee what am I doing