Often // Attack On Titan

Chapter 4

"Eren, how has school been?"
The family had been sat around the table in silence, awkward silence. It was obvious nobody wanted to be there, especially Eren.
"It's okay, I'm still almost failing," he said, picking at the food on his plate. His father sighed and put his cutlery down.
"Have you tried a tutor?" He turned to his wife, who nodded her head.
"We've tried everything," she said, Eren knew that his mother thought he was a screw up - she didn't even do anything to hide it.
"Mom, there was something I wanted to say about tutoring. My friend Connie goes to these after school classes-" his mother cut him off with a 'no chance' and Eren sighed. His father held up his hand and Eren continued.
"Well," his mother glared at him,"it's cheap and I would definitely go,"
His father thought for a moment and then nodded in approval.
"I'll give you the money to go, son," he stated, earning an appalled gasp from his mother.
"He's not worth it anymore, honey," she said, to which Grisha shook his head.
"Yes he is, this is a last chance, Eren. Use it wisely," he reached into his inside pocket and pulled out a couple of ten pound notes.
"Thank you dad," Eren said, taking the money gratefully.

Eren sat across the desk from his father, a blank piece of paper between them.
"What are you struggling with?" His father said, tapping on the table with a mechanical pencil. Eren wasn't really struggling with a certain subject, he just always forgot what he learned.
"I can't remember lessons or how to work things out, I can do them when I know it though," he said, to which his father nodded in understanding. Then, he started drawing a diagram with sections leading off, all different maths questions.
"So, Eren. Can you write which formula goes under which?" His father asked, handing him the pencil. Eren could remember them but not which heading they'd go under. He tried his best, scribbling away and snapping the led countless times.
"Good," his father remarked," but only these two aren't switched," he continued, pointing to two that Eren had always remembered. "How do you remember them?"

After half an hour of discussing patterns to remember facts and such, Eren's father stated that he had to leave for a conference and left the boy alone with his mother. He ran upstairs to grab his phone and texted Connie, asking for the details and where to meet him. The next time the tutoring class would be on was the day after, Monday. What Eren was feeling couldn't only be defined as excitement, but gladness. Glad that he would maybe enjoy a way to learn, glad that he'd be with one of his close friends and also that he would be out of reach of his mother.

[.....]

Eren shivered and pulled up his scarf to cover his mouth and nose, should it be this cold in October? His hands sunk back into the warmth of his coat pockets, shaking from the temperature. His bag bobbed up and down on his back with every movement his long legs made, textbooks jostling about in his black rucksack. He hadn't walked with Connie due to him being preoccupied, so Eren made his way over to the building where he would have his class. He was early when he got there, meaning that he ended up standing there, looking like an actual ice cube until Connie came. Eren huffed loudly and checked the time on his phone. 4:32, eight minutes until the class started.

"Bloody hell, it's freezing," Eren heard and turned to see Connie trudging towards him. "Sorry, I just had to hand something in to my physics teacher."
That was a lie, Eren had seen him run off with Sasha like no one was watching.
"Miss Braus?" He asked nonchalantly, to which Connie laughed nervously and said 'woops'.

"Hello! You must be Eren," a woman took Eren's hand and shook it vigorously. He stood in front of the class and looked a little dazed by the end of the 'hand shake'.
"Uh, yes. Where should I sit?" He enquired, seeing Connie dramatically pointing to the empty chair beside him. His arms waved about in the air as he 'whisper-shouted' his name. The teacher didn't even look at the availability before responding with a sigh.
"I suppose next to Connie," she said, gesturing for him to sit with her hand. Eren smiled a little and made his way over to the desk.
"Aye," Connie cheered (at a whisper of course) as Eren took his seat and kicked his bag underneath the table.

The tutoring flew by and before he knew it, Eren had completed his work.
"Finished already?" The tutor said as he handed over the work.
"Yes, I understood it easily," he said and it wasn't a lie, he had remembered the notes from the beginning of the workbook.
"Okay Mr Smartypants. I'd give you another work book, but since I don't have anymore today - you're free to go!" She sang, beaming at Eren while she tucked his sheets into a folder.
"Thank you, miss," Eren called, raising a hand and heading towards the door.
"See you Wednesday," she said, as Eren shut the door behind him.

The queue was, surprisingly, not that that long and the cafe was warm; Eren had no problem waiting for coffee. Connie had not finished yet and Eren thought he would buy him a coffee to thank him for the introduction. The shop's windows had steamed up and Eren could hardly see out of them. There weren't many people in the shop - a man in a suit, a group of schoolgirls, a young looking woman and Eren himself.
"That'll be £5.40 please, sir," the barista said with a smile. She seemed to be around Eren's age and had probably started her shift after school, perhaps it was the same school - she looked familiar. Eren rummaged through his blazer pocket and pulled out a ten pound note. The barista thanked him and gave him his change, which he left in the tip jar before leaving the store.

"Thanks," Connie smiled as he took the steaming cup from Eren's hands. They had began to walk back and it looked as though any second, the heavens would open and flood everything. "So, are you coming back for next lesson?" Connie asked, taking a sip of his coffee. Eren nodded and drank some of his own. He laughed and looked at Connie.
"I saw that kid you were talking about." Connie seemed a bit confused at Eren's laughter but then grinned.
"More like he was talking about," he remarked and Eren laughed again. Then Connie sighed and took his other hand out of his pocket. "You know Eren, it's like you've started to come back. It seemed like you were the one who was," he paused to think of a suitable word. "Gone. We all really missed you, you know?" His words made Eren think a little bit. Who was his existence affecting besides himself? Eren couldn't think of anything to say, just an apology.
I'm sorry, I've been really selfish," he said, looking at the floor. Connie reached over and playfully punched his arm.
"Dude, don't be so serious!" He laughed,  rolling his eyes a little bit.
"Sorry," Eren replied with a grin. "How's things with Sasha?" He said with a smirk.

•••

Hello! Thank you so much for over sixty views! It might not seem like a lot, but it really means a lot to me!! See you next chapter!