Mr. Henderson dropped me off at the human dormitory and left. The sun was spent, swathing the campus in the velvety darkness of night. Towering streetlamps provided sparks of light to weakly illuminate the sidewalks in a soft glow. Insects that presented as nothing more than sentient white specks floated around the lights. Crickets chirped enthusiastically, providing a soothing ambience.

The night was calm, but inside I was churning with desperate turmoil. Fate must be playing some sort of cruel trick on me. If I had any doubts that my mother didn't want me anymore, they had been cast aside. I just couldn't believe it, couldn't accept it. My life was falling apart before my eyes. I wasn't sure if I could make it through another day here, alone, much less an entire year of school and beyond. I felt as if I were imprisoned within my own personal twisted version of purgatory, atoning for my past wrongs. Sighing heavily, I went inside and prepared for my day tomorrow.

At least tomorrow was Friday. I just had to get through one day of school and then I'd have the weekend to cool off. A whole weekend of hiding out in this building, praying that nobody would open the roof and torment me or steal me away. Ugh. I'd have to find a secret place somewhere else on campus to hide out, some place where only a human could fit and no giants would find me. It would also be advantageous to have a spot to hide within the dormitory. Scanning my surroundings, I checked the cabinet beneath the sink. The small compartment underneath wasn't the most comfortable, but I could fit inside if necessary. I made a mental note to remember the cramped space if I got in a pinch.

Next, I looked over my class schedule for tomorrow. The school worked off an alternating schedule, with six total class periods, three per day. Friday, the odd day out, rotated on a weekly basis. This week's Friday consisted of periods four through six. Since I didn't have PE, my sixth period was an empty slot, meaning I just had to get through two classes, history and chemistry, and then I could leave. I could manage that, hopefully. Being optimistic wasn't in my nature, but I made an exception in this case. I couldn't allow myself to imagine all the horrible ways that my day could go wrong, or else I'd have another mental breakdown. Trying to drown out all the troubled thoughts rattling around in my brain, I went to bed.

When I woke up the next morning, my legs were very sore. My muscles had been worked a lot more than usual traversing the giant campus, and I had never biked so much in my life. I groaned and stretched and rolled out of bed. After I got dressed and was all ready to go, I collected up the textbooks I would need into my backpack and stepped outside, after checking that the coast was clear. I hopped on my bike and began the long journey to the giant school.

I considered myself lucky that I actually enjoyed biking, because otherwise I would have been even more miserable than I already was. I just wished my legs weren't hurting as much as they were. Since I had left early, there weren't too many giants out and about yet. They were fortunate enough to be able to stumble out of bed and take a few steps to get to school, as opposed to biking a marathon like me. I was very skittish, giving everyone I saw a wide berth, especially after my little accident yesterday where I had scraped my knees.

I eventually succeeded in my quest to reach the cafeteria, which had opened for breakfast only a few minutes earlier. My food wasn't there, so I waited around nervously. After my terrible interaction with that one student in the cafeteria, I was on high alert, fearful of any eyes that may wander my way. Right now, most of the students filing in were waiting in line for their breakfast, so nobody was looking at me. Distracted, I didn't notice the lunch lady who stepped around the counter with my breakfast until she was practically right on top of me.

"Excuse me, dear," the plump elderly women announced her presence, kneeling over me. I squeaked in surprise and jumped back about five feet. "Oh, I didn't mean to startle you. Here's your breakfast sweetie." She held out a small brown paper bag pinched between two gloved fingers, being careful not to smash the contents.

"T-thanks," I managed to respond. I took the bag from her fingers and looked up at her with wide eyes.

"Also, I apologize for not having your meals ready for you on your first day. There was a miscommunication, and nobody told us there was a human attending the school," she explained to me, smiling kindly. "If anything like that happens again, don't be afraid to come talk to one of us in the kitchen, alright?"

"Okay," I uttered, barely above a whisper. She returned to her full height and walked off, and I stood there holding the bag, stunned that somebody had actually been nice to me. I opened the bag, revealing a tasty-looking breakfast burrito, a cup of chopped fruit, and a carton of chocolate milk. I marveled at the thought that giant hands had been able to meticulously craft my tiny human meal. The sentiment was kind of sweet, considering the staff could have just cut up some giant food and sloppily thrown something together, rather than carefully wrapping up a mini burrito.

I was about to sit down and partake in my repast, but I noticed some giant students shooting subtle glances my way. I didn't want any attention or trouble, so I exited the cafeteria to find a more secluded spot to eat. I decided to go to the library. I snuck inside and parked my bike just inside the door where it wouldn't get kicked or stepped on. I walked over to one of the human-sized tables and made myself comfortable, taking a big satisfying bite out of the breakfast burrito.

A giant pair of black high-heeled shoes clicked down loudly next to me. I looked up with my cheeks puffed full of food. My eyes traced a sleek pair of feminine legs wrapped in a tight pencil skirt, topped with a white blouse, up to a stern face with glasses. I could only assume she was the librarian. I swallowed and nearly choked.

The giantess aggressively cleared her throat. "Just what do you think you're doing?" she asked angrily. I was at a loss for words and stared up at her blankly. She pointed at a sign on the wall, miles above my head where I had completely missed it. "No food or drink allowed," she recited, glaring down at me.

"S-sorry," I stuttered in apology, avoiding eye contact and grabbing my things. I scurried out in a rush, taking my bike with me. Although I didn't want to eat my breakfast in the bathroom, I couldn't think of any other place to go where I would reliably be left alone. Sighing, I crept into the human bathroom and finished my meal in solitude. The whole morning had been quite jarring. One moment somebody was being nice to me, handing me a custom meal, and the next somebody was yelling at me to get out. The latter confrontation left me consumed by anxiety, and I hadn't even started my first class of the day yet.

Reminded of class, I realized it would be in my best interest to get there early, before the hazardous flood of giant students rushing to their respective classrooms. I left the bathroom and biked to my next class without incident, dodging feet as I went. Not surprisingly, I was the first in the room, and I took advantage of that fact by taking my time setting my bike in the rack, climbing the stairs, and picking out the optimal place to sit. I pulled my class materials out of my bag and waited.

Soon enough the teacher strolled in. He was an older man with a salt-and-pepper beard and thick bifocal glasses. He wore a tan suit with a muted plaid print design, a brown bowtie, and brown loafers. He presented exactly as I imagined a history teacher should appear, dusty and faded. He didn't notice me at all, and started writing on the chalkboard at the front of the class. Giant students began filtering in. A few of them glanced over at me and my stomach cramped up with discomfort. Was it just my imagination, or were more of the giants becoming aware of my existence? I had almost preferred to be invisible. I was scared that the increased attention would cause more problems for me.

I supposed, at a school like this with relatively few students (I couldn't exactly refer to it as a "small" school, now could I?), where everybody lived on campus and knew each other, word would get around quickly. I was sure the expulsion of a student for consuming another student would be a hot topic for gossip. How could such a crazy concept not make the rounds? I didn't like the idea that everybody already knew about my humiliating, traumatic experience, that being small enough to fit inside someone's stomach would be my defining characteristic before they even got to know me. Just being reminded of the incident made me sick and agitated. I started to feel like I was falling into an endless abyss, panic welling up within me, until the sound of the bell snapped me out of my trance.

"Ok, class. Today we'll be discussing the topic of human slavery in giant society. Please open your textbooks to chapter six," the giant teacher announced. Did I hear him correctly? I obeyed and flipped open my textbook to the correct chapter. A grisly image of humans muzzled and chained up in a giant hand greeted my eyes. My blood ran cold. I turned the page to expose more images of humans constrained with black leather harnesses, working under the supervision of giant slavedrivers. There were pictures suggesting torture, and humans being cooked and eaten. My mouth dropped open with horror. I had never heard of such a history from any human textbooks.

"So, the time period we're discussing now predates the construction of the wall, when humans and giants still lived together in a single society. Clearly, as giants were and still are the physically superior species, humans were delegated to the role of slaves," the teacher lectured. As the teacher surveyed the class, his eyes finally found me. He stopped, plainly surprised to see a human among the students, and raised an eyebrow. However, he recovered quickly and continued his lecture without a hitch.

"While some humans were put to work in the fields, they were unable to operate farming equipment, due to their miniscule size. Thus, humans were best put to use as domestic servants or personal assistants, and were oftentimes utilized for personal pleasure." I shuddered hard at this revelation. Just the other day, I had almost been forcibly conscripted for such a nefarious purpose.

"Humans who resisted were sometimes brutally beaten or tortured, but most often were simply eaten," the teacher continued. "Of course, humans could not provide any effective resistance against giants, so no wide-scale revolts ever materialized." That fact was hardly surprising to me, considering how powerless I personally was among giants.

"Eventually, economic and social change ushered in a new era of development, and slavery fell out of fashion. A group of giants sympathetic to humankind pushed to end the barbaric practice, and through peaceful political means a law was passed in the legislature banning slavery. Humans were allotted their own land, and the wall was built to keep the two societies separate. In order to foster healthy relations between humans and giants, humans agreed not to teach to future generations the ugly history of slavery, so as not to breed resentment towards giants."

That last statement explained why I had never heard anything about the subject, or giants in general, and why the two societies remained relatively insulated from each other. I was skeptical of the reasoning, however. I doubted such a sensitive topic could simply be discarded and forgotten. The humans were likely coerced into the agreement, forced to accept the condition in exchange for their freedom. It was history, and in the past, but considering my current circumstances I was nonetheless deeply disturbed.

The teacher droned on for a while, going into detail about specific dates and historical figures. He assigned us a passage in the textbook to read and an essay on the subject. Great, my first homework assignment. Yuck. At long last, the bell rang. I was in no hurry to leave, since braving the halls would be easier once most of the giants cleared out. I took my time gathering up my stuff and plodding down the stairs.

By the time I collected my bike, most of the other students had left. I rolled my bike toward the doorway and was about to get on when a giant brown loafer blocked my path. My heart jumped into my throat. I gazed up at the colossal giant towering above me.

"Hold on," his voice rumbled like thunder. "I need to speak to you for a moment." He bent down to be closer to my level, wincing slightly when he put weight on his knee. Even when he was in a crouch, his gargantuan form still loomed over me.

"I don't know if you realize this, but I won't be able to read any handwritten assignment you turn in," he pointed out, adjusting his glasses. I hadn't thought it through until then, but it dawned on me that he was undeniably right. A paper my size would barely be the size of his fingernail.

"You'll need to pair up with another student and have them type up your paper and print it for you, alright?" he instructed. I gulped as a heavy blanket of dread smothered me. I didn't have anyone to help me. I was alone. I was too nervous to protest to the teacher, though.

"Okay," I agreed in a weak, high-pitched voice.

"Also, as regards the subject matter of today's class," he added, "be careful. Human slave trafficking is illegal, but in rare cases it still happens today, in defiance of the law. Don't let yourself fall into the wrong hands." He gave me an earnest look.

I could only nod dumbly. The giant stood back up and moved his foot out of the way, allowing me to pass. I hustled out of there as fast as my bike would carry me.