Accidentally on Purpose

Partners

                          I was sitting in class as I nervously waited for Mr. Levi to pass out the test scores to my table. As he walked by, he handed my paper to me and all I could see was a colossal C- in red font. I quickly pushed my paper into my notebook while trying to make sure I did not let anyone see my grade. "Okay class" said the very short yet intimidating teacher, "please look at the back of your test. You will notice that at the top of the page I have written the name of another student in the class. This student will be your partner for the next assignment." I grabbed my paper and flipped to the back. My eyes opened as wide as possible as I noticed the name on my paper was none other than my next door neighbor, Jean Kirschtein. This was the last thing I wanted. The bell rang and I started grabbing my things. I felt a muscular yet soft hand touch my shoulder. "Well, man. It looks like we're partners" said Jean. "I guess so." I said quietly and avoiding eye contact. "Look, I'm sorry about last night." Jean sighed. I glared at my notebook while putting my things away. "Look" Jean huffed "This project is a huge percent of our grade so we're going to have to get along. It's the least we could do considering we are suite-mates. Besides..." he said looking down at the bright red marks on my test "It looks like you could use the help." I quickly tried to come up with a witty comeback but stopped myself after seeing the huge red A+ on his paper. "Fine" I sighed while jotting down my number on a sheet of paper "but one more remark like that one last night and I'll be requesting a new partner." Jean to his credit had the decency to at least look slightly ashamed as he quickly nodded and took the paper from my hand. "Will do." He said with his usual cocky smirk "See you later, Bodt" he said with a smile.

                    I walked up to the door of Jean's dorm. I checked my watch, noticing I was 10 minutes early. Oh well I thought to myself. After knocking on the door, I go to knock again but the door immediately swung open to reveal a flushed and half-naked jean standing in front of me with only a towel keeping him from exposing himself. His hair was damp with beads of water rolling down his neck and chest. I could not stop staring. "Sorry, man. I just got back from practice" the toned boy said ", Come in". I walked in and sat down in one of the chairs at the only desk in the room. Jean started to change. I swiftly turned around so I could not see him. I began looking around the room. I glanced to Eren's bed and noticed several pictures of him and Mikasa; a few including my own roommate, Armin, as well. "It's disturbing how many pictures he has" Jean said with a laugh. I turned around to see him fully dressed. "She is all he talks about" he said. I chuckled and began grabbing my things out of my bag. "Okay" I said, "the assignment is for us to interview each other and then interview the others parents. We have to figure out how personality traits are passed down through offspring." "So basically nature versus nurture" Jean said. I could tell that Jean was academically inclined. I could still feel the light blush on my cheeks from our earlier encounter. "So I guess I'll start" Jean said, "How long have your parents been married?". "17 years" I responded. "How did they meet?". "They've known each other since middle school and they started dating in high school. They got married quickly after." I said. "Well, obviously that's not true for you. Have you ever dated before?" he said with a laugh. I was not expecting him to ask me that. "No" I muttered while looking down at the ground. I could feel my face blush even more. "Sorry that was rude of me" Jean responded "I've actually never dated either." I was astonished. "Really?" I said "When you transferred here, everyone talked about how popular you were with the girls at Marley High". Now it was Jean's turn to blush. "I went on a few dates but never anything serious. The people there were super annoying." he said. "You're obviously popular with the girls here, and Reiner, so why haven't you dated yet?" I proposed. "I guess no one has peaked my interest" he blushed. I could not believe he had never dated. "So what about your parents?" I asked. "My dad remarried when I was young so it has just been my mom and I" said Jean. Throughout the night, we answered what questions we could and joked around a bit. I could not help but notice that he was actually funny, smart, and kind once you broke through his jock shell. We finished around ten and decided to call in a night.

Once I made it back to my room, I showered and crawled into bed. I should probably plan another day to work on the assignment I thought before pulling out my phone to send another text.

                       After sending the last text I double checked all of my alarms and decided to call it a night. I sat on the bed and with a final thought: Maybe working with him won't be as bad as I thought.