You only agreed to him taking you home because you didn't want to get stuck at the school until midnight. Tomorrow is the first day of classes and you'd like to get ready before hand and to finish unpacking your room.
"Okay wait," you stop walking and he does the same. He turns back to look at you, waiting for you to speak. "Tell me your name so I don't feel like I'm getting a ride from a stranger."
"That didn't take long," he chuckles. "My names Eren Jaeger."
You pull your lips into a thin line and then continue walking towards the parking lot. "Okay, let's go."
"My truck is over here," he laughs and points behind him which is the opposite direction you're walking.
You shake off the slight embarrassment and continue following him over to an old four door Ford truck. It's black and well taken care of for how old it is.
"After you," he opens the door and you grab onto the handle to pull yourself up into the seat.
You look around the inside of the truck as he throws his bag into the bed. It's reasonably clean. At least void of any trash. There's bits of turf scattered on the floor and some leaves, but other than that it's well taken care of.
It smells like those black ice air fresheners and when your eyes scan over the dashboard, you spot the black tree hanging from the rear-view mirror. You're not surprised by his choice since most guys prefer that scent.
Eren opens the drivers door and hops in, setting his wallet in a small cubby in the dashboard. The seat you share is fit for three people and stretches across from door to door. There's lots of leg space due to the dashboard being disconnected from the seat. Most cars have a center console, but due to when the truck was manufactured, it's not the case.
"What neighborhood do you live in?" He sticks the key into the ignition and starts the truck. The engine roars to life and the noise cuts you off from speaking. After it idles out, you're able to answer his question.
"It's the one in the eastern part of town," you try to remember the name of the gated community, but come up short. "I don't know the na-"
"It's okay, I know it." He puts the truck into gear and presses down on the gas, gently propelling you both forward and out of the parking lot. "It's the only gated community in this town."
"Oh," you glance out the window and take one last look at the high school before it's out of view . "How long have you lived here?"
"My whole life. My dad was raised here and so was my grandpa," he grips the steering wheel with one hand while leaning his head on the other thats resting on the window. "My dad played for the Titans and so I am too."
"Just because your dad did?"
"Well no," Eren takes a quick glance over at you. "I play because I'm good at it and it's fun."
"It's just because you said you are also playing because he did," you point out.
"I play for myself," he states bluntly, leaving no room for you to question him anymore. It's quiet again and you don't really feel like making small talk, so you watch the farm land pass by as you get closer to your neighborhood.
"How do you feel about moving your senior year?" Eren breaks the silence with a question you hadn't seen coming. It's odd for some stranger to be curious about your feeling on a personal matter.
You sit up straighter and adjust your legs so one is crossed over the other. "It's whatever."
"You don't seem all that happy with it," he laughs.
"It's not exactly my choice in the end, so I might as well just accept it. It's just one year and then I can make my own choices," you let out a deep breath that seems to relax you.
"I take it you're going to college?" He smiles condescendingly, like he thinks you're some kind of goody-goody.
You folds your hands into your lap and look at the road in front of you, seeing Eren turn down the street that leads to your neighborhood. "No, I'm going to travel abroad after I graduate."
"Hmm, interesting. I would've thought you wanted to go be a lawyer or doctor," Eren slows down as he approaches the key pad. He puts a four digit code in and the gate opens.
"How did you know the code?" You question curiously. He doesn't answer you. Instead, he just smiles and continues driving forward. "I take it you want to go to college for football and then play for the NFL?"
"Yeah, I'm going pro," he nods. "So when that does happen, make sure to brag to your friends that you know a NFL player."
You hold back your laugh. "You do know my dad coached for college teams...right? I've already met plenty."
"It's down here, right?" He turns down a street that leads to your house.
"Mhmm," you nod. "How'd you know?"
"Everyone talks when a family moves in to town. Specially when it's in the gated community. The boosters like to recruit new donors for the football program so they keep an eye out on who's coming into town."
"That's a little much, don't you think?" You cringe at the thought of people knocking on your door asking for you to donate to the football program.
"It's just how the town is," Eren pulls into the wrong driveway and shuts off his car. You turn around and look across the street at your house.
"Eren, I actually live over there." You point back behind you.
Eren opens his door, but pauses at your statement. He then finishes getting out and turns around to face you. "I know. This is my house. You have working legs so I'm sure you can manage to get home okay."
You're left sitting there with a stunned expression as he grabs his bag from the back of his truck and heads into his house. Once he's out of sight, you pull yourself together and get out of his vehicle.
You shut the door and examine his house. It's pretty identical to yours, structure wise, but is a different color. As you stand there, you can't help but wonder if he knew exactly where you lived the entire time. That's why he offered to take you home because all he was doing was talking himself home. But you wonder why he asked for directions and acted like he didn't know when you got in the car.
Not wanting to look creepy by standing in his driveway, you take yourself home. You push open the front door and walk inside the unpacked house.
"Welcome home," your step mom greets you with a bright smile. "How was practice?"
"Hot," you sigh with exhaustion. "I forgot it's always hotter on the field."
She turns around and heads towards the kitchen. "Do you want me to make you a smoothie? I just unpacked the blender."
"Yes please," you pull out a bar stool and sit down at the kitchen island, folding your arms over the cold surface to cool yourself off. "Have you just been unpacking?"
"Yeah, I want to at least get the kitchen done so I can cook dinner for you guys," she pulls out some frozen pineapple that she picked up yesterday at the grocery store. "How about you go wash up and then when you come back down I'll have this ready for you."
"Okay," you hop down from your seat and head up the stairs to your room.
You've been moved in for three days, but you haven't unpacked much. There's piles of bags and boxes resting against the wall that you should probably deal with before school starts tomorrow, otherwise you'll be frantically trying to find things.
Taking your stepmoms advice, you head into the bathroom that's connected to your room and turn on the shower, making sure it's not hot. Usually you prefer scolding temperature, but with the weather here you need to get cooled down.
The house is nice and you appreciate the bathroom all to yourself, but you worry about how hard your dad has to work to afford such a nice place. You've always been well-off due to his employment, but it comes at a cost.
The only time you get to spend time with him is at practice which is why you asked to start managing when you became a freshman. His coaching always comes first, and you hold some resentment because of that. Not because you wish he paid more attention to you, but because when you lost your mom to cancer when you were just entering middle school, your father was barely around. You realize and understand that his way of dealing with her illness was escaping into coaching. He would rather distract himself from what was really happening than face it head on.
You're happy your mother was an understanding woman as well, otherwise it would hurt you more to think she was sad he was hardly around. Which you're sure she was, but she also told him it was okay. That she had you to keep her company.
In the end, you were by her side and holding her hand. She had passed away in her sleep while you were reading to her. It's not a memory you like to think about, but you're content with the fact she wasn't alone. But your dad won't ever forgive himself for not being around. You know because he's never smiled the same way he used to. Before your mom got sick. Maybe this bee coaching job will be good for him.
You finish your shower and change into some cotton shorts and a plain black t-shirt and brush out your wet hair. You then head back downstairs and find your smoothie sitting on the counter and your stepmom nowhere to be found.
Beside the glass is a note, so you pick it up and read it.
I'll be back soon. I'm bringing your dad dinner since he's working late. Xoxo
She's only been married to your dad for about two years, but she's a very kind woman and she truly loves your father. She also enjoys being a stay-at-home mom, which is what he wanted since he's busy all the time. It was hard to adjust at first, just because you still miss your mom and it's odd to see him with another woman, but if he's happy, you're happy. You can't just expect him to never remarry or date. Plus, at least Heather is a good woman who loves him for him and not his money.
You set the note back down and take yourself out to the back yard where a hammock is set up under a small group of trees. You lay down in the shade and sip on your pina colada smoothie.
As the sun is starting to lower in the sky, the slight breeze brings comforting coolness. Although it's still hot, the wind is a nice relief.
You suppose after this you should probably unpack your room...
~
You did end up managing to unpack most of your stuff. At least the important items that is. You got your clothes put away and all of your school supplies and you set your decorations up to make yourself feel more comfortable in a new place.
It's now almost nine and you're tired, so you get ready for bed and set your backpack by your door and hang your outfit up in your bathroom for in the morning.
Once you're situated, you grab your phone from the bedside table and slide down into bed with the lights off and ac running.
You're not sure where the curiosity came from, but you searched up Eren's name on google. The first thing to pop up was his record breaking season last year. As a junior he broke school records and even two state ones. Looks like it was for the most touchdowns in one season and the most yards ran in a season. He has some other impressive stats and you can now see why he is so cocky. At least he can back up his arrogance, unlike most jocks.
The article has an image, so you click on the link and wait for it to load. After it does, you scroll down to find the picture. The picture is of him after a game, his hair all wet and tangled from the sweat and from wearing his helmet. He's smiling like he's the happiest person in the world and you can't help but smile too. It's contagious.
The smile he's shown you isn't the same though. It's sad looking and weak, like he's forcing it. Maybe he's just tired after practice or having a bad day, but who knows. It's not like you're his best friend. You've only known him for like five minutes, so it's not your place to speculate.
You exit out of the article and set your phone down, leaving you in complete darkness. The blinds are open, so you're able to see part of the night sky from your bed. The sky is much more clear out here than in the city which you appreciate. You love looking at the stars.
Deciding you shouldn't let your mind wonder too much, you set your alarm and roll over in bed, laying flat on your stomach.
Tomorrow is a big day and you want as much rest as possible. Social interactions take a lot out of you and you're sure a small town high school is going to be curious about it's new student who is also the coaches daughter and a manager for the team.
As much as you want to think positively, nothing about the first day of school excites you.
Nothing at all.
~•~
Thanks for reading :)
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