I'm Only Human!

Chapter 1: Getting Settled

As the car pulled in front of a huge brick building, Matthew Craft, 14, stared out of the window from the back seat in awe at the buildings around him. Once the car came to a complete stop, Matthew stepped out, continuing to look at the buildings around him. Matthew's stepfather, an anthropomorphic giant panda named Noah Poole, followed suit, stepping out of the car, and walking to the trunk, where he fetched Matthew's backpack and luggage bag. After giving them to Matthew, Noah hugged him tight and ruffled his hair. "You'll be good, okay?" he asked. "I'm gonna miss you, my son!" Matthew smiled as he kissed his stepfather on the cheek. "I'm gonna miss you too," he replied, "but I'll make sure to keep in touch as much as I can! I love you, Dad!" Noah smiled as he and Matthew stayed in the embrace for a few more moments before pulling away. "I love you too!" he said. He then kissed Matthew on the cheek, gave him one more hug, then got back in the car, and drove off while waving goodbye. Matthew watched the car drive off, a wide smile on his face as he realized just how much his stepfather loved him, and was willing to raise him after his mother was captured, raped, and killed by a group of men from his home country. He walked toward the large brick building in front of him, which housed all the staff and security in the school, ready to start his first day of high school. When he walked through the front door, he looked all around at the lobby of the building, which was an open concept with chairs and tables strewn throughout the room. Just then, a large and muscular zebra dressed in a gray uniform walked over to him, introducing himself. "Hello, human," he said with a smile. "My name is Dexter Jordan, and I'm one of the many custodians here!" Matthew smiled as he held out his hand to shake Dexter's. "It's great to meet you too," he said. "I'm Matthew Craft, and I recently just moved here!"

"Ah, a newbie, eh?" Dexter asked with a smile, leaning on the mop he was holding, "Well, we're honored to have you here, Matthew! How about I take you to get your school schedule and your dorm assignment, then I'll show you around?" Matthew smiled and nodded his head, "That sounds great!" he said. Dexter chuckled as he then beckoned Matthew to follow him to the elevator. During the elevator ride to the top floor, Dexter explained the school, the events that took place, the students, and even the faculty of the school. "Ok, Matthew," Dexter then explained as the elevator doors opened on the top floor, "The principal's name is Thomas Ball, and when you first lay eyes on him, you might be scared as he's a Siberian Tiger, but don't be fooled by that. He's an absolute sweetheart, and the nicest animal I've ever met in all my time at this school!" He and Matthew walked down a long hallway after getting off the elevator, then he knocked on a large wooden door at the end of the hall that said "Principal Ball" beside it. "Come in," replied a deep, booming voice from the other side of the door, so Dexter instinctively opened the door, allowing Matthew to walk in. There, Matthew saw a very large and muscular Siberian Tiger sitting at a large desk against the far wall of the room looking through some paperwork. The tiger looked up when he saw Matthew and Dexter enter the room and smiled. "Ah, you must be Matthew Craft," he said as he smiled, to which Matthew nodded his head shyly as he walked closer to Thomas's desk. "Yeah," he replied, "I'm sorry, I'm just nervous." Thomas nodded reassuringly and stood up, walking around the desk and over to Matthew, where he knelt down beside him and put a large and meaty hand on his shoulder. "Don't be nervous, human," he said. "I may be large, but I'm very sweet, and I'm a gentle giant! You're very special, Matthew, and I think you'll fit in well here at Sandalwood!"

"Oh, is that the name of the school?" Matthew asked as he touched Thomas's hand as it still rested on his shoulder. Thomas nodded in reply, then stood back up and walked back around his desk, and sat down, picking up the paperwork he had been looking through earlier. "All right, Matthew," he said. "I have a lot of work to do, so since it's your first day here, I'd like you to get settled in. Mr. Atkinson is right next to me on the right side, so after you get your schedule and your dorm assignment from him, I'd like you to explore the campus a little bit, and introduce yourself to your fellow students!" Matthew nodded, said goodbye to Thomas, and followed Dexter out of the room, where he then knocked on a door that was perpendicular to the principal's office. "Come in," a voice said, higher pitched than Thomas's voice but still deep. This time, Matthew opened the door and saw a large and muscular gazelle dressed in a long-sleeved collared shirt and tie, and just like Thomas, was sitting at a desk looking through paperwork, though the pile he was looking through was much larger than the pile Thomas was looking through. Upon seeing Matthew out of the corner of his eye, he looked up from his paperwork and smiled. "Hello human!" he said, "I'm Harvey Atkinson, and I do all the school schedules and dorm assignments for all the students here. It's great to meet you!" Matthew smiled and nodded as he extended a hand. "The pleasure is all mine!" he replied with a grin. He then sat in one of the chairs in front of Harvey's desk while Harvey started typing something on his computer. "All right Matthew," he said, handing Matthew a map of the school as well as his schedule. "You're in Django Hall, which is on the west side of campus, and it's relatively close to all your classes, so don't worry about being tardy!" Matthew smiled and thanked Harvey as he took the schedule and school map, then stood up and turned to leave, but then he paused. "Wait, Mr. Atkinson," he said, "Do I also get a specific dorm room, like are you supposed to assign me a specific dorm room?" Harvey shook his head and smiled again, "No, I don't assign specific dorm rooms due to bad experiences in the past," he explained, "It's just a free for all, and you can choose any dorm room you like, as long as it's not full already of course!"