Hanji's POV

I thanked Levi for dropping me off, and once again, he stayed well after I entered the school. This time, I shrugged it off. I've begun to like that he ensures I'm in the school and no one would follow me. Constantly pushing him away because he was weird and creepy was a massive fear of mine. But now, as I see him, it was a little comforting. It was like the stories I used to read when I was a little girl. I was a princess with a bodyguard keeping me safe.

Vice Principal McLennon interrupted my morning routine with a young man at his side. The vice principal greeted me with good morning as he began introducing the man to me. "Good morning, Ms. Zoe. I was on my way to your first class of the day." The vice principal pats the young man on his shoulder with a grand smile. "Please meet our new student, Jake Furland. Jake, this is Hanji Zoe, head of the student council."

Jake walks up to me with his arm outstretched to shake my hand. There was something strange about him that I couldn't understand. With his pearly white teeth and sparkling green eyes, he had the same charm as many boys trying to ask me out. But I feel immune to that charm. Erwin had that same thing... that same charm... and it feels like whoever I would love will end up like him.

"Good morning, Hanji, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Pleasure to meet you too, Jake," I say with a forced smile on my face. "So, you just transferred here? A little late, aren't you? We're about to end the school year in 2 weeks."

Jake shrugs his shoulders, "When you gotta transfer, you gotta transfer."

Vice Principal McLennon clears his throat, "Well, I'll leave you to it, Ms. Zoe. Mr. Furland, please enjoy the rest of the school year here. I'll be going now." He began to walk back to his office, leaving me with Jake in the hallway. 

We stayed in awkward silence as we stood there with students passing us. They glared at us with hatred, and I understood why they were staring at us. We were being the idiots standing in the hall with no consideration for everyone else. 

"We should... go," I mumbled, quickly walking to the side of the hallway. "Well," I cleared my throat, beckoning Jake to answer me. "What's your first class of the day, Jake?"

"Oh!" He quickly scrambles through his pockets and pulls out a piece of folded paper. "Hang on, give me a moment." He quickly unfolds it, causing the paper to tear in some places. Jake finally unfolds it and starts staring at the schedule. His green eyes quickly scrolled through the inky lines before tapping at a certain spot. "Chemistry. I got chemistry in... 201?"

"Oh, that's next to my classroom." I say, chuckling, "Follow me. Who's the teacher?"

"Jamie... Marks?"

We began to walk to room 201 as I reminisced about Mrs. Marks's class. "Oh, she's fantastic, Jake. Mrs. Marks is so kind and generous. I bet you'll love her. She makes all her chemistry classes easy and fun to learn. She was my science teacher ever since I started school here. Oh, she's my favorite."

Jake smiles, nodding his head, "Well, I'll be glad to have her then, Hanji." I nod my head, smiling then my smile slowly grew into a frown. I don't know why... "Are you okay?"

"Hm?" He points to my face, and I felt a tear rolling down my cheek. "Oh." I quickly wiped it away and attempted to shrug it off. "It's nothing."

"It's none of my business, but Vice Principal McLennon mentioned the recent... loss. I should've been more sensitive. I'm sorry. And before you ask, for both. Both for your loss and for not being more sensitive."

"It's not your fault, Jake. Just... an unfortunate... crime. And there's no need for you to walk on eggshells around me. I rather you treat me like a normal person instead of whatever these people are treating me. And... well... you act just like him."

"I do?"

"Kind, and always eager to look toward the future. Yeah, you remind me of him."

"I apologize. The fact I bring up these memories of him-."

"It's perfectly fine, Jake. You are not Erwin, nor are you the replacement for him. You have no reason to be sorry. It's me that should apologize because I'm the one slowly breaking down in front of a new student. What a way to introduce yourself to this school, am I right?" I continued to wipe the tears away as I cleared my sore throat. "Anyways, do you mind if I change the subject?"

"I don't mind. Can I ask you about clubs?"

"Well, you have to wait until next year, Jake."

"Damn, just my luck."

*   *   *

Levi was waiting for me, as usual, in the car. I climbed into the passenger seat and before I asked him if I could go to a store, Jake came up to the car and rapped his knuckles against the window. As I clicked the button to roll the window down, Levi asked me under his breath, "Who is that?"

"A new student," I replied, "It'll be quick, okay?" I turned back to Jake with a smile, "What's up?"

"I was wondering if there's a good way to keep in contact with you. I would like to have your phone number so you can help me around the school. If that's alright."

"That's a creative way to ask for a girl's number."

"Eh, I'm not asking for any dating reasons. I want to get used to this place."

"No problem!" We quickly exchanged numbers and we waved goodbye as Levi quickly pulled out of the school parking lot. I leaned back into my seat, turning over to Levi. "Hey, can you take me to the bookstore? There's something I want to check out."

"Sure," Levi mumbles under his breath and didn't say anything else. Did I do something wrong?