I felt like I had made a terrible mistake. My heart was crushed into dust, and I had pulverized Joey's in the process. I could hardly stand to face him again after what I had so cruelly inflicted upon him. How could I do such a thing to him, to sweet, innocent Joey? Did he comprehend where I was coming from, how I felt? He saw me in the hospital after I had been injured at the hands of the giant principal, so he must understand at least to some extent. Not to mention he witnessed me nearly get eaten at the diner. I hoped he would understand.

The night was long, and I didn't sleep well. I was tossing and turning all night, and when I did manage to sleep I had troubled dreams. I had nightmares of green eyes and carnivorous teeth, giant hands crunching my bones, being swallowed alive. I faced the next day with a pit of dread in my gut and stark reflections in my head. I showered and dressed, as usual, and packed up my backpack, bringing my new laptop with me. I went outside to wait for Joey, wondering what I could possibly say to him to make things right, to soften the blow from last night. I started to wonder if he would even stop by to pick me up on his way to school, or give up and abandon me, and my chest tightened with shame. I felt even worse when I saw his lofty figure coming towards me from afar, chiding myself for ever thinking he would ignore me.

The giant came up and stood over me stiffly, not speaking. I glanced up at him, then opted to sheepishly examine his immense shoes on either side of me instead. I felt smaller than ever. Finally, he crouched down and silently offered me his hand in a conciliatory gesture. I hesitantly climbed into his palm, still too ashamed to look him in the face. As he stood up and began walking, I mustered up the courage to stare him in the eye and have an honest conversation with him again.

"Joey, I wanted to apolog-" I began.

"No," he interrupted, "You have nothing to be sorry about. I'm the one who should be apologizing to you." I met his soft chocolate eyes with mine, confused.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

He took a heavy breath. "I... acted on pure emotion last night, with no regard to your feelings. I'm sorry for just running off like that. I should have considered what was best for you, not what I would want personally." His statement was succinct, but eloquent. "I want you to be my girlfriend, but not if it means you're not making the right choice for yourself." His lips quivered. "I don't want you to be hurt because of me."

"Aww, Joey..." I said, "I don't blame you for how you reacted. It was completely understandable under the circumstances. Keep in mind, I still haven't made a decision yet. So, I might still choose to stay."

"R-really?" Joey stammered hopefully.

"Yeah," I answered, sounding more optimistic than I felt. Internally I had a weight crushing me down, the weight of a terrible choice. I glanced over at the new watch strapped to my wrist. It was a reminder of the danger I faced, but also a link to the man who could become my father. I was deeply conflicted.

We went to the cafeteria for breakfast, where Stephanie and a couple of her friends were eagerly waiting for us. "Eren!" she sang when she spotted me, bobbing up and down with manic energy, "I have some people here who want to meet you!" Her two friends smiled awkwardly. Joey collected our food and sat down at the table with all the giantesses, keeping me close to himself on the table.

"This is Lucy," Stephanie said, pointing to a busty redhead with a comely face. "And this is Selena." The other girl was darker in complexion, with silky black hair that cascaded down her shoulders.

"Hello," I greeted them, offering my hand for a finger handshake. I was proud of myself for not shrinking back or shaking when introduced to new giant people. Lucy offered me a firm digit with an elegant gleaming nail to shake. Selena was shyer, but with some encouragement from Stephanie she timidly gave me her limp finger, with a dull nail chewed down to the nub.

We chatted for a few minutes, with mostly Stephanie and Lucy gabbing on while Selena stayed quiet. Soon enough the bell rang, and Joey chauffeured me to my first class, which was math. I was confounded to see that by some miracle I had passed my math test from Monday with a B-, despite my back being bruised and flayed when I took the test.

The teacher decided to split us into groups to do sample problems. I felt panicky at this development, thinking I would be forced to approach a group of intimidating giants, or be ignored and get in trouble with the teacher for not having a group. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that several of the giant students were eager for the chance to approach and get to know me, since most of them had never talked to a human before and were curious. In a twist I didn't expect, the class period was actually a lot of fun. I made new friends while learning math simultaneously.

What was going on? Was I going native, turning into a nerd like Joey? I supposed such a transformation wouldn't be a bad thing. Plus, people were being nice to me, and I was making friends! What a great bonus! On top of that, I was happy, even content. The feeling only bloomed more when the bell rang and Joey magically appeared by my side to whisk me away to my next class. I was relieved that the awkwardness from this morning between us seemed to have dissipated, and he was recovering from the shock of the emotional blow from last night.

My next class was English. Since I had done the homework assignment from Monday, I at least had an idea of what was going on this time. I had missed Wednesday's class, so I was a little lost, but I caught up quickly. We had a test today so I got the chance to use my laptop's camera function to scale up my finished test and email it to the teacher to grade. The process went smoothly and I was pleased with the results. Other than that, the class was uneventful, and soon enough the bell rang for lunch, summoning a loyal, grinning Joey to my side. I eagerly jumped into his hand, holding his thumb for support.

Joey stroked me with his thumb, and opened his mouth to say something when suddenly he was shoved into the wall. He grunted as his shoulder slammed up against the solid surface and shielded me with his hands as best he could, so I wouldn't get hurt. I bounced against his fingers but was left unscathed. Joey groaned and curled his body around me instinctively to protect from another attack.

"So, the nerd thinks he has himself a girlfriend," a repugnant voice snarled. I knew that vile voice, and my stomach dropped. Drake. The giant brute grabbed Joey's shoulder and flipped him back against the wall violently, pinning him down with a muscled arm. With me in the protective cage of his fingers, clasped against his torso, Joey couldn't fight back. He grimaced in pain while the taller, stronger giant sneered down at him. Drake's icy blue eyes drifted down to me; he glared at me with a rapacious leer that chilled me down to the marrow of my bones.

"Hey there, baby. I missed you," he sneered. I recoiled in disgust, a feeling that only intensified when he winked at me and licked his lips hungrily.

"Stop it," Joey rasped through his physical discomfort, his glasses askew on his face. Drake's blue eyes hardened into shards of ice when he glanced back up at Joey.

"Oh yeah?" Drake said. "And what are you gonna do to stop me?" He pressed his full weight into his thick arm on Joey's chest, making the poor boy wheeze as he struggled to breathe. I could only watch in horror, powerless to stop him.

"That's right. Nothing," Drake growled. Those eyes, cold as glaciers in the Arctic, rotated back down to me. Drake reached over with his free hand, huge and menacing, and wrenched apart Joey's fingers. I shrieked in terror as he pried me out of Joey's hands. Joey tried his best to resist, but then went limp, defeated. The giant bully threw him to the ground and kicked him in the belly, sniggering. Joey coughed and retched, crunching up in agony.

"Help! Hel-" I screamed, but Drake covered my mouth with his finger to shut me up and clenched his fist around me tighter.

"None of that," he scolded. "You're my girlfriend now, and you'll do as I say. Or else." His threat made me cease my squirming as I froze up under his chilling gaze. There was nothing I could do. Nothing. I could resist, fight back, bite his fingers, curse him out, but he would simply crush me in his fist like the tiny creature I was. Or do something worse, something unthinkable. I shuddered, feeling hopelessness drip into my heart. Joey couldn't protect me from every horror in this world.

"Let her go!" a shrill voice cried. Stephanie! The giant finger covering my mouth loosened momentarily from the distraction; I writhed and twisted my head around to see Stephanie with her big group of giantess friends.

"Stephanie, help me!" I screeched before I was engulfed in the giant's fist again. Drake gave me a painful warning squeeze and I became rigid with fear.

"Let her go! Let her go!" several giantess voices chanted. Drake was suddenly surrounded by a crowd of students in the hallway, outnumbered. My new friends I made in math class had joined in too. "Let her go! Let her go!" The frenzied mob closed in and Drake took a step back, stumbling over Joey's body collapsed on the floor. He backed up to the wall and shrank down, as if the crowd were draining his power away. He was plainly unsettled by all the unwanted attention that had disrupted his plans to clandestinely steal me away.

Finally, Drake scowled. "Fine." He reluctantly reached out his fist and deposited me in Stephanie's waiting hands. "Bitches," he muttered, and scurried off in disgrace. The crowd of students cheered. I sighed in relief, slumping into the giantess's hand. A couple of students helped a battered Joey back up to his feet, propping him up against the wall until he could regain his footing on his own. He groaned, straightened out his clothes, and wiped strings of saliva and bile off his chin from his gagging fit.

"Thank you," I said, feeling the tears run down my face. "Thank you so much." That situation could have become so much worse if she hadn't shown up.

Stephanie grinned. "What are friends for, after all? We'll always have your back!" I looked around at all the giant faces around me, some familiar, such as Lucy and Selena, and some new. I had friends. I had people who cared about me and wouldn't let me fall. I wiped up my tears and smiled. "Let's get some lunch!" Stephanie shouted in a rallying cry, raising her fist, and the group of students hollered in agreement and charged into the lunchroom, full of victorious energy from their conquest.

Rather than follow her friends, Stephanie turned to Joey, who was still recovering from the beating he had endured. He gripped his midsection with one hand, and his eyes looked dead inside, but he was able to stand firmly on his own now. "Here," she said, handing me back to Joey. She was more understanding of my needs than I initially gave her credit for. "When you two lovebirds are ready, you're free to join us in the lunchroom." She skipped off to give us some privacy.

Joey was burning with shame. "I'm sorry, Eren," he apologized, massaging the growing bruises on his chest and belly. "I wasn't able to protect you." His eyes shined behind his glasses, and I realized he was struggling to hold back tears.

"It's okay, Joey," I reassured him, trying my best to calm him down. "Nothing bad happened to me. I'm not hurt. It's okay."

A pregnant pause. "Maybe... it would be better if you didn't stay," Joey said, barely above a whisper, his voice a weakened whine. With that excruciating remark hanging over us, dripping with despair, he trudged into the lunchroom with me in tow, utterly vanquished.