"What rumors?" Joey inquired, becoming progressively more baffled. Like me, he was used to being left alone, not having random girls come up and talk to him.

"You didn't hear!? Everybody's talking about it! I can't believe you don't know!" she exclaimed, practically salivating at the mouth over spreading the juicy gossip.

"Hear what?" I asked, perhaps more forcefully than what was polite. Her exaggerated stalling was beginning to wear on my nerves.

She looked down at me and gasped. "It can talk?! That's so cool!" I bristled at her remark. Her unfortunate use of the word "it" instead of "she" jogged my memory. I recalled now where I had heard her voice. She was one of the group of students who had opened the roof on the human dormitory, violated my boundaries, and rudely rifled through my personal belongings, while I hid under the sink like a coward. Regardless of whether her misuse of words was intentional or just naivety, I was nevertheless still offended.

"Yes, I can talk. And I'm a person, not a thing, if you don't mind. Don't refer to me as an 'it,'" I snapped as I crossed my arms. I retroactively felt a minor twinge of regret for my harshness; maybe I was being unfair to her.

However, the giantess was unfazed by the asperity of my tone, if not entirely oblivious. "Wow! Amazing!" she shouted eagerly. I had to admit, her bubbly personality was infectious, and I found myself warming up to her, as much as she grated on me.

"Anyways, what were you saying before?" Joey asked her, in an attempt to guide her back on track. I noticed he wrapped his hand around me protectively and drew me closer to him, as if worried for my safety. I felt a burst of loving gratitude towards him for his concern.

"Oh yeah, I was just about to tell you! The principal was fired!" she proclaimed. "One of the students saw him clean out his office and leave, and reportedly he was pissed!" She bumped the table with her fist for dramatic effect, making me jump. Joey gripped me tighter in his hand. "But here's where it gets interesting. Whoever saw him claims he was cursing and raving about some human student making him lose his job."

Joey and I exchanged looks. I was relieved I wouldn't have to deal with the principal being at the school anymore, but I didn't like the idea of making an enemy out of an evil, sadistic giant like him. I realized then where Mr. Henderson had been all this time. He had all the components he needed to prove the principal's crime: a kid in the hospital, video feed from the camera, a bloody fishhook, fragments of my broken phone, even my missing bike still in the principal's office. Against the avalanche of evidence, the principal would have no way to exculpate himself or defend his inexcusable actions.

"So I'm dying to know, what did you do to get him sacked? You can tell me!" the giantess urged, leaning in closer.

I shook my head, not wanting her to spread my dirty laundry, so to speak, all over the school. "I don't really want to say, sorry. It's a very painful and personal matter."

She pouted with disappointment. "Well, at least confirm this little tidbit for me. Is it true you were in the hospital? Plenty of folks saw Joey here rushing you out in a medical emergency the other day."

"Yeah..." I admitted begrudgingly. There was no way for me to deny that rumor. She bobbed her head knowingly. I was certain she, and everybody else, had already connected the dots, and she just wanted confirmation and more details to converse about with her friends.

"While I'm here... I've never seen a real live human before, in person. Do you mind if I... take a closer look at you? I'm very curious," the giantess requested, toning down her hyperactive manic energy a bit. "Humans are a rare sight on this side of the wall, and I've never been lucky enough to interact with one."

"Alright," I agreed, huffing excessively. I knew from what I had observed from her that her request was sincere. I recalled what Mr. Henderson had told me a while back, about my duty as a sort of ambassador for humanity. She, and others, needed to learn that I was a person that deserved the same basic respect as everybody else, regardless of how small I was in comparison. I forced myself to smile as I stepped out of Joey's grasp. I could tell Joey was reluctant to let me go. I inhaled deeply to center myself and made a concerted effort not to shake with apprehension. Even though I didn't think the giantess would hurt me, or had any malicious intent, I had experienced enough tortures at the hands of giants that I was still frightened of being grabbed by anyone I didn't really know or trust.

I decided to more formally introduce myself. "My name's Eren, what's yours?" Even though we obviously wouldn't be able to shake hands, I still held out my hand in a friendly gesture.

"I'm Stephanie," she answered. She offered me the tip of her finger to shake, like a handshake. She had slim, graceful, feminine hands. I observed her nails were neatly manicured and polished, and painted a bright, happy pink. At one point, my nails had been black, but most of the polish had chipped off after all the rough stuff I had been through as of late. Maintaining my nails had been far from my list of priorities. I reached up and shook the tip of her finger in greeting, feeling a bit silly. Stephanie squealed with girlish delight, startling me, but I quickly regained my composure.

"Oh my gosh, you're so cute!" she gushed. "I just can't stand it!" I suppressed my urge to roll my eyes and grumble at her. In an unexpected move, she scooped me up in her hand and I almost shouted at her to stop, but was able to hold myself back. She handled me a bit rougher than I would've liked, but I had to remind myself she had never held a human before, and probably didn't know any better. She examined me with fascination and twirled around my arms and legs with her gigantic fingers as if I were some inanimate plaything. I used all my willpower to remain patient and not unleash my explosive temper on her.

"I've always been enchanted by the idea of little people," she prattled on, "So to see one and hold one, in the flesh, it's captivating..." Her hazel eyes shined with passion. I fought the urge to squirm in her grip. Finally, to my relief, she released me, returning me to Joey. "Sorry for being grabby," she apologized, "I just found it difficult to contain myself. You're so cool, Eren!"

Despite myself, my face flushed at her praise. "Thanks..." I mumbled.

"And nobody would dare mess with you now! You've done us a great favor, eliminating those jerks, first Trent, then the principal. Now if we could just get rid of that creep Drake, this school would be so much better!"

"Who's Drake?" I asked. Joey and Stephanie both simultaneously made a face at the mention of his name. Apparently he was notorious.

"That guy over there," Joey directed, subtly pointing so the target of his derision wouldn't see. "The one with the buzzcut." I followed his finger to a table across the room where a couple of seedy-looking characters were sitting. My blood ran cold. I recognized this Drake fellow. He was the one who had found me alone outside while I was smoking and taken me to his bed. I literally had to set his bed on fire to escape. My stomach churned at the recollection. He didn't look our way, thankfully, but even from across the room I could see his icy blue eyes and the formidable muscles on his athletic frame. He was stooped over the table as he ate his breakfast, arguing with another student and glowering.

"He's hit on virtually every girl at this school," Stephanie informed me, "and can't seem to keep his hands to himself. He groped me at a party once, and tried to get me drunk to convince me to sleep with him. Such a creep. I hate him." Her normally cheerful demeanor wilted when she thought about him.

"Most of the boys don't like him either," Joey interjected bitterly. "He thinks he's better than the rest of us because of his strength and pushes us around. He doesn't even refer to me by name, just calls me a nerd." He shrugged. "I guess he's not wrong, but it still bothers me."

"Great," I muttered sarcastically, "just great." The last thing I needed was more attention and a nasty, perverted, giant bully aggressively stalking me. Just then, the bell rang, warning us the first period of the day was almost upon us.

"It was nice meeting you," Stephanie said, getting up from the table. "See ya later!" She skipped off to class.

"I'll walk you to your first class, Eren," Joey suggested, picking me up gently off the table. I had missed two days from being in the hospital, so today was Thursday, with periods four through six. I had history and chemistry, then a free period to end out the day. I could scarcely believe the week was almost over already, and I had hardly been to class. I still had my homework assignments from last week stuffed in my backpack, the ones that Joey had helped me type up, that had been due on Tuesday. I hoped my teachers were understanding of my situation; I didn't want to get yelled at for something that wasn't even my fault.

Joey dropped me off at my first class, setting me down in my seat and giving me a small pat with his thumb before hurrying off so he wouldn't be late for his first class. The history teacher immediately came over and kneeled down to speak to me. I grimaced, expecting an earful about what a bad student I was.

"I heard what happened," the giant murmured in a low voice, so other students wouldn't overhear the conversation. "Are you doing okay?"

Surprised about his concern for me, I answered, "I'm doing much better, thanks." I unzipped my backpack and struggled to pull out my essay, typed up on a gigantic sheet of paper. "I'm sorry this is late, but obviously I wasn't able to turn it in on time. I tried my best." The teacher delicately took the thickly folded sheet from me, which looked no bigger than a postage stamp pinched between his fingers. He unfolded the page, full of creases, and briefly perused it.

"Good job, Eren," he praised. "You know, your best is fine. It's all anyone can ask for, after all." He gave me an understanding look and smiled kindly. I hid my astonishment. I wasn't used to teachers actually being nice to me. Usually they were beyond irritated by my shenanigans. Maybe being a good student wasn't as overrated as I thought.

Class started, and I felt motivated to pay attention for once. I even took notes! The class material was new and interesting, since I had no prior knowledge of giant history. The period flew by as I became absorbed in the lesson. Before I knew it, the bell rang. As I waited for the giant students to clear out, Joey graciously swooped in faster than I believed possible to whisk me off to my next class. The history teacher nodded his approval of the arrangement as Joey happily walked out with me safely contained in his palm. Of course Joey would be popular with all the teachers, being the bookworm that he was. I hoped some of that goodwill would rub off on me by proxy.

My next class was chemistry, and the experience was similar. The teacher was surprisingly nice to me, even with my overdue homework. I was amazed how much easier it was to understand the lecture when my mind wasn't fogged over with agony and despair. Certainly, I still had a lot to be sad about, but I didn't let those feelings intrude on the good day I was having. I could mope and ruminate on my problems later. The class breezed by with rapid speed, and before I knew it Joey was standing over me to take me to lunch. I was relieved that, for once, things seemed to be going right for me. At least for now.