My mind went numb. I couldn't properly process or understand what my mother had just told me. Giants? I had heard of them, of course. I knew of their existence. But I had never seen one before, since they didn't live anywhere near us. I never thought in a million years I'd ever come into contact with one for real. They seemed to exist more in fantasy than reality. And yet, here my mom was, telling me that I was now enrolled in a school full of giants. I gulped nervously.

She opened the door with an agitated creak, as if the door hinges were rusty from disuse. Bright sunlight flooded into the darkness, momentarily blinding us. Covering my eyes with the shadow of my hand, I stepped out into the light. As my eyes slowly adjusted to the change, I saw a vast expanse of concrete that made up a giant sidewalk. Before I could feast my eyes on anything else, my mom pulled on my sleeve and guided me to some big, weirdly-shaped metal poles that were alongside the tremendous wall.

I was confused at first, as to what I was looking at. I had no frame of reference for any of these foreign designs. Next to the poles was a big black thing as large as a van, partially obscured by black cloth that draped high into the sky, out of my vision. Upon closer inspection, I saw the object was soft like leather. It shifted slightly, as if alive, and my heart stopped. The realization hit me like a bucket of ice water. I was looking at a shoe. A gigantic shoe. I slowly, fearfully cast my eyes skyward. The metal poles were the legs of a bench. And sitting on the bench... must have been a giant. I couldn't see him, only the great pillar of his leg, because the underside of the bench was blocking my view of the rest of him.

"Mr. Henderson? Is that you?" my mother called up to the sky, projecting her voice as best she could.

The giant shoe moved, and I couldn't help but squeal in terror and gripped my mom for protection like a small child. How was she not afraid? Had she been around giants before? She seemed oblivious to my fright. The wood of the bench squeaked and a great shadow fell over us. I broke into a cold sweat as I stared up. Looming above us, hundreds of feet high, taller even than the wall of stone, was a giant man. He was dressed smartly in a black business suit and tie. He was looking down at us, standing like tiny insects on the concrete between his two massive shoes. I felt like I was going to faint.

"Hello there," he said in a booming sonorous voice that made me tremble. He crouched down on one knee to be closer to our level. Seeing such a gargantuan being lower himself down, seeming to grow even larger as he got closer, filled me with panic, and I nearly fell over backwards flat on my rear end. "Yes, I'm Mr. Henderson. And you must be Eren." His eyes, a coffee-brown color, met mine and my heart seized into my throat. I couldn't speak, couldn't move: I was terrified.

"She's never been around giants before, so she's a little shy," my mom explained. A little shy? Was she joking? My mom directed her attention to me. "This nice giant is the vice principal of your new school. We can't drive through the giant side of town in a human car, so he's going to take you the rest of the way to your school." She spoke calmly, as if this was a perfectly normal thing, to hand your unsuspecting child off to a giant. I could only gape at her in horror.

The giant laid his enormous hand flat on the ground, palm up, and invited me to climb up with an encouraging gesture of his fingers, thick and tall as trees. There was no way I was getting into his hand. My mother must have gone insane, thinking this was safe and rational. I desperately wanted to run but my legs were rooted to the spot, paralyzed in place like a tiny creature trying to avoid the attention of a monstrous predator.

I studied the giant's face with wild, frightened eyes. He had neatly-trimmed, light brown hair, ears that stuck out slightly on the sides of his head, a bold nose, a gentle smile with polished white teeth, and a hint of stubble on his chin. If not for his ridiculous size, I might have believed, based on his physiognomy, that he was a normal, kind, affable gentleman. But this was no ordinary man, no ordinary situation. He could easily crush me to a pulp in his huge hand if he wished. I shuddered and shrank behind my mother further. The giant's smile faded as he realized how frightened I was.

"Are you alright, Eren?" he asked me in that substantial, loud voice of his, that rang in my ears. My mouth went dry and I failed to make the slightest sound.

"She's just being dramatic. This one's a handful, let me tell you," my mother chuckled. I would have found her comment almost comical, if I weren't so scared, considering I could literally fit in the giant's hand, making me a "handful" indeed. "Just pick her up yourself. She'll raise a fuss, but you can deal with that." A bolt of terror shot through me at the thought of that giant hand snatching me up by force.

His eyebrows knitted together in uncertainty. "Are you sure? I really don't want to scare her..."

"Yes, just do it," my mother confirmed. She looked at me with a smirk. I realized she was enjoying this, seeing me meek and afraid, knocking me down a peg from my usual rebellious, smart-ass attitude. The wrath that lay dormant within me flared up. I couldn't give her that satisfaction. If she could be fearless, so could I. Through my own pride and anger, I finally worked up the gumption to speak.

"That won't be necessary," I hastily interrupted, pulling out of my cowering pose behind my mom. My voice sounded squeaky and tremulous to my own ears. I took a few shaky steps toward the giant's hand, still resting flat on the ground. He waited patiently while I collected myself. My heart was pounding against my ribs like it was trying to break through them. I tried to steady my rapid breathing, to keep myself from hyperventilating. Licking my lips, I took the plunge. I gripped the giant's titanic thumb for support and heaved my body up into his hand.

His skin was surprisingly soft and warm to the touch. I scurried over to the center of his palm and made myself comfortable, as best I could. I felt very self-conscious as to how small and inferior I was compared to him, and I'm sure he could feel me quaking uncontrollably in his hand. His fingers curled inward slightly, hanging over my head, and for a terrifying moment I thought he was going to close his hand around me like a trap. Instead, he cupped me in his palm and gingerly raised up his hand, being very careful not to move too quickly. I saw him collect my bags in his other hand. The bags looked absurdly miniscule in comparison, even smaller than the tips of his fingers. He dropped them into his pants pocket.

"Say goodbye to your mom," the giant instructed. "You might not see her, or any other humans, for a long time."

I crawled over to a gap between his fingers and waved down at her, triumphant at overcoming my fear. I really showed her! I wanted to rub it in her face. She looked up at me, appearing small from so far down below, and returned the gesture with a flick of her wrist. Her eyes were watery with tears, which surprised me. Was she actually sad to see me go? She wasn't doing this just to make me miserable? As always, I felt some regret at my vindictiveness. I watched briefly as she turned away and headed for the door in the wall where we had entered.

"Okay, I'm going to lift you up now. Are you ready?" the giant boomed from above. I retreated to the middle of his palm so I wouldn't fall off, and nodded, hugging my knees to my chest. Even though I had acted brave, I was still scared, and now that my confident mother wasn't there to shield me, I felt more alone and vulnerable than ever. The gigantic platform of flesh I was sitting on shot up, making my stomach drop, as the colossus ascended to his full, incredible height. I swear I was so high up that the weather became colder and windier, and he was only holding me up level with his chest. I peered over the side of his hand and suffered a wave of vertigo at the monumental distance from the ground. I struggled not to panic.

The giant began to walk. Although he tried his best to keep his hand steady, I still rocked queasily from the bounce in his lengthy strides. While he wasn't moving at a fast pace by his standards, a single step of his probably equaled hundreds of human steps, so the scenery passed by quickly. Everything around us—cars, trees, buildings, other giants—was immense beyond reason and truly overwhelming. My head was spinning. I couldn't imagine living in a giant world on such a vast scale, but this was my life now. I had no warning, no time to mentally prepare myself. Internally, I cursed my mom for not telling me sooner.

"The school isn't far from the dividing wall. It's within walking distance. Well, for me at least—maybe not for you," the giant expounded. "You're actually our first human student." Great. As if I didn't feel insecure enough as it was, now I knew I'd be completely on my own.

"We wanted to sign up more humans to join us, but we had some trouble with our recruitment efforts." Gee, I couldn't possibly imagine why. "Believe it or not, most humans are still afraid of giants." Oh, really? I would've never guessed! I couldn't help but roll my eyes at how oblivious he was, but of course he failed to notice my saucy gesture, since I was so tiny. I was feeling more and more insignificant by the second.

"You're very brave to come here, you know that?" he continued. Not like I had a choice in the matter, otherwise I'd be gone in a heartbeat. When I didn't respond to any of his comments, the giant eventually lapsed into silence. In the distance, I saw a giant iron gate, flanked on both sides by walls of lush green hedges. As we approached, I could make out metal letters above the gate that read "Saint Christopher High School."

"Here we are," the giant announced, opening the huge gate with his free hand. As expected, the campus was massive. The main building was an impressive sight, constructed of solid stone bricks, much like the wall I had passed through earlier. Sidewalks edged with grass and trees crisscrossed the ground, converging to a central plaza with a fountain in the middle. Two long narrow buildings, which I presumed were the dormitories, lined each side of the large space. Behind the school in the distance, I could see an open field, a basketball court, and a track for athletic activities and events. I wondered to myself how I would get around, with everything being so big. I would have to trek miles just to go from classroom to classroom.

"I'll give you a tour in a moment," the vice principal stated as he carried me over to the main building. "First, you need to meet with the principal." We entered through the double doors into a wide hallway lined with classrooms. As we passed by, I saw a blur of giant teachers and students. While some eyes drifted absently to the vice principal, nobody seemed to notice me, the little speck of a person riding in his hand. Perhaps that was for the best, because I imagined I didn't look so hot, as consumed by anxiety as I was.

We made it to the corner of the building with the administration staff. The giant knocked on the wooden door to the principal's office.

"Come in," a gruff voice answered. The vice principal obeyed, bringing me into the office and setting me down on the expansive landscape of the principal's gigantic polished mahogany desk. I stumbled slightly at the transition from squishy skin to solid wood. I couldn't stop myself from cowering and trembling as I stared up at the new giant towering high over me. He was intimidating, to say the least, with stern features, broad shoulders, and a powerful build. He had black hair parted neatly to the side, complimented by thick eyebrows and a goatee. Just like the vice principal, he wore a black suit that suggested power and wealth. He looked down his nose at me with a severe expression.

"You must be our new student," he remarked in a resonating bass rumble. I managed to nod wordlessly in response.

"This is Eren," the vice principal clarified.

The principal shot him a withering glare. "Right." He looked back down at me. "I'm Principal Greenwood. Welcome to our school." Despite his words, his impassive tone didn't make me feel very welcome at all. "Since the school day is almost over, you'll start your first day tomorrow, at 8 AM sharp. You're expected to wear your school uniform, which I have for you here, during school hours." He opened one of the drawers in his giant desk and removed a parcel of clothes that looked tiny in his roomy hands. He carelessly dropped the bundle in front of me. I peeked inside and made a face. The uniforms consisted of forest green shirts and pants, of a bland unisex design.

The principal, seeing my reaction, set his huge hands on the desk on either side of me and leaned his hulking weight forward over me. "Is there a problem?" He radiated overwhelming menace with his immense presence.

I swallowed hard. "N-n-no, no problem," I squeaked.

The giant bent down closer, his face alone dwarfing my whole being. I could feel his hot breath on my body. The wooden desk groaned under his mass. "We're not adverse to utilizing corporal punishment at this institution. Step out of line, and you will regret it." He straightened up, illustrating again to me just how ridiculously tall he really was. "I never wanted to enroll humans here, but the board of directors said otherwise." He exhaled a gust of wind from enormous lungs.

"Another thing I should mention," he added, returning to his stony demeanor. "We don't allow cell phones at this establishment. So you'll need to relinquish yours to me immediately." He held his gargantuan hand out in front of me expectantly.

I stared at it, then up, way up, at his serious countenance. I didn't want to give up my phone. I already felt scared and isolated, and not being able to text my friends or call the people I knew sounded like a nightmare. Despite my powerlessness in the situation, I crossed my arms. "No."

His dramatic eyebrows folded down in anger. Before I knew what was happening, he plucked me up off the desk between his thumb and forefinger and held me up high in the air, deliberately applying pressure between his fingers in a threatening gesture. "I won't ask you again," he growled, holding out his hand again. "Give it to me."

Now, I'm the rebellious type, and if this were a normal situation, with an authority figure of regular size, I would have resisted further and thrown a fit. However, in this case I must confess I was beyond terrified. I was terrified of giants, of their mountainous stature and strength. No human principal would lay a hand on me or threaten me with physical violence. The giant could easily send me plummeting from this height, or crush my ribcage between his fingers with a light pinch. Not only that, but he could probably act with impunity and claim it was an accident. Nobody would believe me, a disobedient teenager, over a respectable administrator. Plus, being so small in comparison, I felt my life would be inherently valued less, and viewed as inconsequential, among these great behemoths.

Shaking violently, I reached my hand into my pocket and fumbled around for my phone. I pulled it out and surrendered it to the wide surface of his hand below. He enveloped the device in his fist and it disappeared into the drawer in his desk. He set me back down on the desk and I collapsed to my hands and knees, breathing hard and dripping with cold sweat.

"Do you have any questions for me before I dismiss you?" the principal asked, as if nothing had happened. Maybe from his perspective, picking me up and collecting my phone was nothing. I had a lot of questions, but I was too frightened and out of breath to talk. My heart was beating as fast as hummingbird wings and I felt lightheaded.

When I didn't say anything, the principal motioned to his second-in-command to take me away. The vice principal scooped me up in his hands and walked out, holding me up to his chest. I pressed up against the fabric of his suit and huddled into a ball, trembling uncontrollably.