To Be Tall...

Chapter 10

"Our facility has the best resources to help Omega's get through their heats in a calm and supportive environment without having to worry about getting attacked or having to... um... Well, having to spend their heat in the hospital. Most people hate it in there because it's shut off from the rest of the world and makes it seem like their locked up for simply going into heat but... um..." Ms. Patricia said in a professional tour guide fashion as she led Keith across the vast lawn leading towards the Omega dorms, Keith glancing back to look at his parents and Nicholas who were standing just beyond the gate watching him, but she was losing steam as she went through her routine explanation about what the Omega dorms were all about realizing she had actually caused an Omega to go into one of those closed off hospital rooms.

"I'm alright, really. I barely remember anything," Keith said with a shrug and a smile, hoping to make her feel better, but it actually seemed to make her feel worse. She was the faculty advisor here, the one that was supposed to help guide her students as they ventured out on their own as their own adults, yet here Keith was trying to lift her spirits after all he had gone through. "Seriously, I understand why you sent me away. Especially if what you say is true, that people have tried to break in here to get at the Omega's. You're just doing your job," Keith said but that only seemed to make her feel worse but she continued on with her tour as they neared the dorm building.

The dorm was just one large building with a large wall down the middle to separate the girls from the boys. There were two long hallways on either side of the wall where the dorm rooms could be seen and a staircase leading up to even more rooms. In the middle of such rooms was a round office space where faculty were working, a few helping students at the moment helping them find their classes and even going over what to do when preparing for their heat to come. There were also plenty of couches and chairs sitting around the large open space that wasn't occupied by the front desk so kids could sit around to talk or even study if they so chose. There was only three ways to get from one side of the dorms to the other; Go out the front door and enter the other, hop over the faculty desk and go through their door, or there was a long shutter door that opened and closed like an accordion so all the students could mingle together, supervised of course, but that only happens during holidays if they want to throw a party. Then again, most people go out to party so they haven't opened the shutter door in months.

"The boys dorm is on the left, girls on the right. You're allowed to go into the girls dorm if you need to talk to faculty and can't find anyone on your side or if one of the girls invites you over but you will have to sign-in at the desk and sign-out when you leave. Shall we?" Ms. Patricia said as she came over to the boys side and opened one of the double doors for him only to stop short as she realized Keith wasn't going to easily fit through the one door which was rather smaller, and thinner, since most Omega's were small and thin. Keith was the exact opposite who smiled sheepishly at her before reaching down to open the other door, carefully ducking through and emerging on the other side. "Right. I've got to remember how... big you are," Patricia murmured to herself, Keith chuckling as he promised her it was alright and that he was used to getting through doorways that were much too small for him as she led him over to the front desk area. "We have maps of the whole campus here with markers that let you know where your classes are and also has special markers showing you where it's safe to hide, so to speak, in case you go into heat and can't get back here to the campus. There are special zones throughout the campus where you can lock yourself in and call for help so our trusty Omega medical team can transport you back here," Ms. Patricia explained and seemed blissfully unaware of all the stares they were getting.

There weren't that many people in the common room, most people either out and about checking out the campus or going out on the town, that or opting to hang out in their rooms then sit out in the open, but there was at least three students and six faculty who all watched and marveled as Keith's large hulking figure ducked under the doorframe before standing back up to his full height of seven feet. Thankfully the common room ceiling was high above his head as the glass walls that looked out at the front lawn stretched up to the second story where the other rooms were. Keith got that deer in headlights look on his face as he noticed everyone staring at him, a few in fear he saw, which had him taking a step back only to bump into the glass wall unable to move any further.