Alarm Clock - Ereri/Riren (Re-uploaded)

Chapter 16

Zeke: Hey little bro

I partially rolled my eyes. I knew exactly what was coming.

Me: hi

Zeke: I know I said I'd come for Christmas but we'll have to wait till summer break.

Me: Alright whatever

Zeke: I promise I'll make it up to you

But I just left him on read and refused to engage in this pathetic excuse anymore. It was becoming so annoying how he'd try to pretend like he was actually busy or like he actually intended on coming in the first place. I mean, he was busy but he wasn't so busy he couldn't even call. We all knew he was just avoiding coming home because him and Dad's relationship was rocky.

November flew by quicker than I expected and soon enough, we all found ourselves preparing for the holiday season. I did secret santa with my friends as we do every year. I got Annie and I got her a really shitty coffee mug that says "World's best dad". She would've done something similar, I can assure you that. Jean got me and he literally bought me a bottle of soy sauce. The best part about secret santa with our group was that the point was to get the worst possible gifts for your person. It has to be subtle though. I thought I was really gonna win this year but Jean really stepped up his game. Mikasa was the runner up when she gave Connie Jake Paul merch. Marco was way too sweet of course and ended up getting Armin as sea shell. That might sound bad at first until you find out that Armin's favourite place was the sea. Marco has never won and I don't think he ever will. Turns out Levi's birthday was on Christmas Day. I knew he was spending it with his friends because I saw a picture of him on one of my Instagram mutual's stories with a birthday cake and him shooing away the camera. It was also followed by a spam of awkward candid photos of him which I ended up screenshotting for blackmail later. His friend group looked about the same size as mine. I decided I would get him something as a sort of half Christmas, half birthday present. I ended up buying him something actually well thought out and he was a bit taken aback but he appreciated it in the end. He did feel bad for not getting me anything but I just told him that he would owe me on my birthday. What I got him was a philosophy book he hadn't read yet and I knew he hadn't because he was talking about how he wanted to try out that specific author soon but he never really got around to buying any of their works. We had only hung out a couple of times during the break. He even ended up coming over to my house where we played a few video games and watched a few movies he brought over. My parents were of course not home when that happened because we both kind of feared how awkward it might become.

The break was nearly over and I was determined to keep the roll I had going when I came back to school. My grades were great actually. I got my first report card back with a 3.8 GPA. My parents were of course ecstatic but I still had two more trimesters to hold up my grades and get that guitar. Levi seemed to be proud of me too. Even if he expressed it coldly, he would often say shit like "I don't know why you're so surprised Jaeger, you're one of the most clever people I know." I knew he meant it considering how much he used the words "imbecile" and "incompetent" to describe other people. Especially Jean. For some reason he really, really, REALLY hated Jean. But I couldn't blame him.

It was the end of the day, and we were all hanging out outside of the school as we waited for Connie to finish taking a piss. Alright alright. Before I continue, I guess I'm gonna tell you guys the detail you have most definitely caught onto that I left out about Armin. This is barely a grand reveal but I used to be totally in love with him. And in case you haven't guessed it by now, Armin was the guy I was in a serious relationship with. It didn't end well. But I was glad we remained friends because he was actually my first friend I made in New York. As you know, we do have occasional moments of awkwardness. However, that fight we recently had was really rare.