Senior Year [ SNK / EREJEAN ]

Prologue

He was frustrating.

Yes, Eren Jaeger was indeed frustrating.

Jean couldn't explain it-- maybe it was that cocky grin he so often possessed upon his lips; or perhaps his temper, and maybe even the way he tended to find an opportunity to brag about something everyday.

Jean wouldn't say that he disliked Eren-- despised was more like it. Ever since the first day of freshman year in high school, he and Eren had been enemies.

Jean remembered it clearly-- the day it all started. They were placed in the same homeroom on the first day of freshman year, and incidentally happened to be sitting across from each other too. At first, Jean thought that he and Eren would be able to become good friends, as he was new in the town and didn't know anybody else-- but that was not the case. In fact, that was the complete opposite of what actually happened in the end.

The first day carried on like normal, with the homeroom teacher talking about how high-school was going to be very different from middle school, gave them a tour around and a map, the usual. After the students' schedules were distributed, the teacher decided that it would be time for introductions. Jean, of course, was against this decision. He had thought to himself at the time, "if high-school and middle school are so different, then why do we still have to do these stupid, mandatory introductions?" However, as much as he wanted to raise his hand and protest, he knew that one opposing opinion out of twenty-five others would not matter... But, on the bright side, this would give him a chance to see what kind of person Eren was, and if he was friend-worthy.

"Alright, students!" The young teacher clapped her hands together and flashed a smile, showing off her shiny white teeth-- possibly cosmetically altered in some way. "Face the person across from you. If you don't have anyone sitting there, then stand up and I'll move to you another table." She scanned the room with narrowed eyes, but everyone was already paired up. Breathing a sigh of relief-- grateful that she would be spared from that minor yet annoying task of placing students-- she once again continued speaking in a chirpy voice. "Say your name, and give the other person a few facts about yourself. What you like to do, what your favorite movies or books are, anything you like! Get going now, class."

Jean folded his hands in his lap, staring indifferently at the brunet boy in front of him. Eren stared straight back at him, his turquoise-green eyes unreadable. His lips were turned upwards into a half-smile, and his eyebrows were raised. "You first." He spoke, his voice loud and clear, much to Jean's surprise.

"Nah, you can go first." Jean hadn't had even time to think up a few facts about himself yet, and the teacher would be walking around to check and see if everybody was actually participating.

"I'm not going first. Can you just go first..?" Eren's half-smile had faded, and his lips were now creased into a thin frown. If only a girl was sitting across from him, he thought to himself. Most of the girls he'd met in his middle school were all talkative-- at least around him. They'd always find a way to compliment him on something; mostly his interesting eye color, though. "..please." He added seconds later, not wanting to seem rude or stuck-up.

This time, Jean exhaled roughly through his nose and mouth. "Dude, I can't go first. I don't have any facts yet, and she's--" Jean pointed at the teacher, who was quickly approaching their table. "--walking around to check if we're communicating or not."

"Oh my god! Look, it's not that hard, just make up something.. Anything that pops up in your mind first." Eren rolled his eyes, absent-mindedly picking at the sleeve of his green sweatshirt, pulling some of the stray strings out. Before he actually spoke to Jean, he thought he would turn out to be a pretty friendly guy, not like a jock or someone extremely geeky-- just somewhere in-between; someone with a good personality.. Oh boy, how he was wrong about things.

"Oh yeah? If it's 'not that hard', then why don't you just make up something?" Jean snuck a glance over Eren's shoulder. The teacher left another group, where the two boys sitting there were seen enthusiastically talking to each other. "Guess that isn't happening here.." Jean's thoughts echoed in his head and he groaned inwardly, watching the teacher now speaking to the group in front of theirs. It wouldn't take more than few more minutes before she arrived at their table.

"Fine." Eren's voice suddenly broke through Jean's barrier of thoughts. He suddenly shot up out of his seat, his chair creating a banging sound as it hit the table's wooden legs. His face was scrunched up with a look of disdain-- or possibly something else. Jean couldn't really tell; he was too surprised at that point. "Hi," Eren spat out the word, as if he had just eaten a large piece of rotten food. "My name's Eren Jaeger, and I really dislike people like you."