Boarding School for Giants (G/T)

Part 9

Mr. Henderson dropped me off at the human dormitory and left. The sun was spent, swathing the campus in the velvety darkness of night. Towering streetlamps provided sparks of light to weakly illuminate the sidewalks in a soft glow. Insects that presented as nothing more than sentient white specks floated around the lights. Crickets chirped enthusiastically, providing a soothing ambience.

The night was calm, but inside I was churning with desperate turmoil. Fate must be playing some sort of cruel trick on me. If I had any doubts that my mother didn't want me anymore, they had been cast aside. I just couldn't believe it, couldn't accept it. My life was falling apart before my eyes. I wasn't sure if I could make it through another day here, alone, much less an entire year of school and beyond. I felt as if I were imprisoned within my own personal twisted version of purgatory, atoning for my past wrongs. Sighing heavily, I went inside and prepared for my day tomorrow.

At least tomorrow was Friday. I just had to get through one day of school and then I'd have the weekend to cool off. A whole weekend of hiding out in this building, praying that nobody would open the roof and torment me or steal me away. Ugh. I'd have to find a secret place somewhere else on campus to hide out, some place where only a human could fit and no giants would find me. It would also be advantageous to have a spot to hide within the dormitory. Scanning my surroundings, I checked the cabinet beneath the sink. The small compartment underneath wasn't the most comfortable, but I could fit inside if necessary. I made a mental note to remember the cramped space if I got in a pinch.

Next, I looked over my class schedule for tomorrow. The school worked off an alternating schedule, with six total class periods, three per day. Friday, the odd day out, rotated on a weekly basis. This week's Friday consisted of periods four through six. Since I didn't have PE, my sixth period was an empty slot, meaning I just had to get through two classes, history and chemistry, and then I could leave. I could manage that, hopefully. Being optimistic wasn't in my nature, but I made an exception in this case. I couldn't allow myself to imagine all the horrible ways that my day could go wrong, or else I'd have another mental breakdown. Trying to drown out all the troubled thoughts rattling around in my brain, I went to bed.

When I woke up the next morning, my legs were very sore. My muscles had been worked a lot more than usual traversing the giant campus, and I had never biked so much in my life. I groaned and stretched and rolled out of bed. After I got dressed and was all ready to go, I collected up the textbooks I would need into my backpack and stepped outside, after checking that the coast was clear. I hopped on my bike and began the long journey to the giant school.

I considered myself lucky that I actually enjoyed biking, because otherwise I would have been even more miserable than I already was. I just wished my legs weren't hurting as much as they were. Since I had left early, there weren't too many giants out and about yet. They were fortunate enough to be able to stumble out of bed and take a few steps to get to school, as opposed to biking a marathon like me. I was very skittish, giving everyone I saw a wide berth, especially after my little accident yesterday where I had scraped my knees.

I eventually succeeded in my quest to reach the cafeteria, which had opened for breakfast only a few minutes earlier. My food wasn't there, so I waited around nervously. After my terrible interaction with that one student in the cafeteria, I was on high alert, fearful of any eyes that may wander my way. Right now, most of the students filing in were waiting in line for their breakfast, so nobody was looking at me. Distracted, I didn't notice the lunch lady who stepped around the counter with my breakfast until she was practically right on top of me.

"Excuse me, dear," the plump elderly women announced her presence, kneeling over me. I squeaked in surprise and jumped back about five feet. "Oh, I didn't mean to startle you. Here's your breakfast sweetie." She held out a small brown paper bag pinched between two gloved fingers, being careful not to smash the contents.