In the dreary rain, the world was drained of color. The sky was gray, the sidewalk was gray, pools of rain reflected gray, and the trees were looming silhouettes in the foggy gloom. Fallen leaves turned into slippery brown mush beneath my feet. I trudged onward, feeling sicker and weaker with every leaden step. The fat drops of rain slapping my shirt made my back sting. I felt numb inside. I focused on the physical sensations, as miserable as they were, to block out my thoughts. I didn't want to think about my conversation with my mother; I just couldn't bear it right now. I zeroed in on my immediate situation, my immediate responsibility of getting to school, rather than stepping back and looking at the big picture. Really, that was the only thing I could do to keep myself from falling apart.

Abruptly, the rain stopped hitting me, even though the downpour hadn't ceased. A titanic, dark shadow fell over me. I froze in place and went rigid. A giant was standing over me. I gulped nervously. A sideways glance to my left revealed a gigantic black shoe I had seen many times before. I exhaled in relief, bringing my hand up to my chest. It was Mr. Henderson.

"Hey there," his deep voice boomed from far above my head. I turned around and looked up at the colossal man, making a strong effort to hide the hollowness in my eyes. "I was looking for you back at your dorm. I thought you might appreciate a lift to school, considering the weather." He came prepared with a gray raincoat and an umbrella.

"Absolutely! Thank you," I responded. I hoped he didn't notice how scratchy my voice sounded as I strained to raise it loud enough for him to hear me from his great height. He kneeled down, graciously offering me his hand, and I slowly lifted myself up and crawled to the center of his palm, so as not to antagonize my injuries. I was relieved to be able to sit down and rest after being on my feet for a while, because I was shaking and starting to feel dizzy. My body would take a while to recover from losing so much blood. The giant held his hand close to his chest, to keep me out of the rain. I leaned against the fabric of his suit, soaking in the warmth of his body heat.

"You're walking today? Where's your bike?" Mr. Henderson questioned innocently.

I tensed up. "Um... I didn't want to bike in the rain." It was a lame excuse, but he seemed to buy my lie. I didn't want to tell him about breaking into the principal's office, thinking he might get angry and scold me for my recklessness.

"I wanted to touch base with you and see how you've been doing," Mr. Henderson said, his words vibrating through his chest as he spoke. "How's school going?" I hesitated, not sure what to say. Should I tell him all my woes, about how my life was a total train wreck? About how my mom tried to kill me, and the principal mercilessly beat me? I wasn't in the habit of trusting the adults in my life, or spilling my guts to authority figures. As much as I trusted Mr. Henderson, and genuinely believed he had my best interests at heart, I still had a mental block holding me back from talking to him openly. This time around, as messed up as I felt inside, I wasn't sobbing my eyeballs out, at least not at the moment in front of him. I could hide my feelings and not burden him with my troubles.

"It's... been a mixed bag," I told him. Technically not a lie. "I made a friend."

"Oh, that's wonderful! I'm so happy to hear that!" He was so glad for me, with that pure kind soul of his, but I just wanted to hide under his jacket, bury myself in his chest, and cry. I forced down my violent emotions again. I didn't want to think or talk about my horrible day yesterday, I really didn't. The memory was just too painful.

"I did run into a problem with my homework assignments," I continued, as if such a comparatively trivial thing was the worst of my issues. "My assignments are too small for the teachers to read. I really could use access to a computer sized for a human, so I could print out or email my homework."

Mr. Henderson stopped. "Wait," he uttered. "You don't have a laptop?"

"No. What made you think I did?" I answered, confused.

"Your mother told me you did when we enrolled you at this school. We don't have human computers here yet," Mr. Henderson explained.

I cursed under my breath. "Well, she lied."

"Oh." He began walking again. "I'll talk to the board of directors, see if they can allocate some funds toward a computer for you, okay?" He was clearly irritated by the deception, but held his tongue.

"Oh, and another thing. Is there some way to lock the roof of the human dorm, so nobody can open it? I don't feel safe knowing I'm exposed like that," I added.

"I should be able to arrange something," the giant assured me, thinking to himself. Traveling by giant was a lot faster than me biking or walking, so we reached the main building of the school ahead of schedule. Mr. Henderson dropped me off at the cafeteria so I could get some breakfast. "I'll check in with you later. Have a good day!" he remarked kindly with a wave of his hand, striding off. I looked after him, sighing morosely, and fetched my breakfast. Maybe I would experience less physical weakness if I ate something.

The first period of the day came all too soon, and I could hardly pay attention with how cruddy my body felt. My back was burning like it was on fire. I couldn't get comfortable in my chair, and kept squirming around, but every small movement I made ricocheted up my back. I bit back my tears. To make things worse, the teacher decided today would be a great day to give us a test, which I would almost certainly fail since I hadn't learned anything in her dumb math class. Thankfully, the test was multiple choice, but I wasn't too pleased when the teacher plopped a giant scantron sheet on the floor next to my desk, telling me to mark my answers on it. At least the test questions were scaled down to a human-sized sheet of paper. I slogged through the test, finishing all the questions before getting out of my chair to sloppily mark all the answers on the scantron. Coloring in the bubbles was a laborious process that I barely had time to complete before the bell rang. The teacher came over to collect my test, scowling slightly when she glanced at my answers. I figured she could discern just by looking how off my answers were.

I didn't dwell too much on the test, though, as I was well past the point of caring. I braved the crowded halls again to make it to my next class, sidling up to the wall to avoid getting kicked or stepped on. My physical condition was deteriorating, and I had to stop and lean against the wall for support halfway there as a tsunami of vertigo overcame me. Once the unpleasant sensation passed, I forced myself to keep going, but I was a minute late to class. The English teacher shot me a glare as I stumbled in, but didn't say anything, so I heaved myself to my seat. Yet again, I struggled to focus on the lesson as the teacher droned on about some influential work of literature that I didn't care about. I hunched over in my seat and wiped cold sweat off my forehead. I wasn't sure if I could make it much longer through the day. I might have even blacked out once or twice during the lesson, but I wasn't too sure as I was a little delirious by this point. Mercifully, the bell rang without me having to do anything except sit there. The teacher assigned some homework, a passage to read from the textbook and a short essay.

It was time for lunch, and I desperately hoped that the break would allow me to nurse myself back to health and prevent me from passing out. Once the room and the halls cleared out a bit, I stumbled to my feet and dragged myself to the lunchroom. Distances felt so much farther without my bike, and when I felt so tired and lightheaded. The ground was firm and solid, yet I felt as if I were trudging through wet cement. I grabbed my lunch and sat down at one of the human tables, taking rapid, shallow breaths.

"Eren!" I looked up to the sound of my name to see Joey standing over me. I had been so out of it, I hadn't even noticed his approach. I smiled weakly. "Want to join me for lunch?"

"Of course," I answered, my voice cracking slightly. Joey didn't seem to notice as he bent down to my level to pick me up. I stepped up into his hand with my lunch and settled into his palm. He gently lifted me up, balancing his lunch tray with his other hand, and carried me over to a less noisy corner of the lunchroom.

"I usually eat over here," he informed me, allowing me to climb out of his hand onto the table and sitting down himself. "So, I've been dying to know, did you get your phone? Did you get to talk to your mom? If so, what did she say?" I forgot I had told him about my plan, and felt a twinge of regret, since I didn't really want to talk about it.

"Yeah... I did gain access to my phone, and was able to talk to her. It didn't go well," I lamented. Tears pricked the corners of my eyes as I struggled to hold it all in. "If you don't mind, I'd rather not discuss it right now."

"Oh. I'm so sorry," Joey responded dolefully. He became quiet as he ate his lunch. I took a few bites of my food, but I couldn't stomach much with how sickened I felt. After a little while he tried making casual conversation with me, but I was hardly listening, and mostly replied with monosyllabic grunts. I was feeling worse and worse, and couldn't focus on anything. My vision was beginning to gray at the edges.

I suddenly became aware that Joey's face was very close, close enough that I could reach out and touch the bridge of his nose if I was so inclined. "Eren, are you okay? You seem out of it. You've barely touched your food or spoken more than a few words," Joey observed. "And you're looking very pale. Are you feeling ill?" I could confirm with my ghostly reflection in his glasses.

"Uh... I have been a bit under the weather, yes," I mumbled. His chocolate eyes searched mine in a way that pierced my heart. Tears welled up in my eyes again, and I quickly turned away so Joey wouldn't see.

"What's that on your back? There's a red stain or something on your shirt," Joey inquired. I cringed. Before I could think of a good answer, I felt his massive fingers gently touch my back. Unfortunately, with how sensitive my wounds were, his touch instantly stung me with pain. I reflexively shrieked and flinched away. Joey, not expecting this reaction, recoiled his hand back with a look of shock.

"Eren, are you hurt?" he asked in a serious tone. I looked up at him and the tears started to flow; I couldn't hold them back any longer. "Let me see," he insisted. I hesitated. "Come on, show me," he urged again. Realistically, I recognized that I couldn't deny what had happened any longer. Feeling cornered, I turned so my back was facing him and gripped my multiple layers of shirts, which by now were saturated with fluid. I lifted up my clothing to reveal the grisly, inflamed slashes and the hideous bruise that covered my entire back.

Joey gasped in horror. "Oh my God." His mouth gaped open and his eyes bulged wide. "Eren, what happened?! We need to get you to a hospital!" I didn't respond, just cried harder. Joey encircled me with his gigantic hands, gingerly lifting me up off the table in a way that didn't antagonize my injuries. Cupping me carefully in his palms, he hastily walked out of the cafeteria. I finally succumbed to the dizziness I had been suffering from all day and blacked out in his hands.