Overprotective Nine

Overprotective
Nine

By Monday morning I swore my cursor was taunting me.  Ronan had left several messages on my FacePage but I just couldn't bring myself to talk to him.

Are you alright?

Did you talk to your dad?

Did Luke contact you?

Maya.  Please don't ignore me.

Please.  Talk to me.

Please.

I couldn't respond.  Hell, I couldn't even look at them come Monday.  I barely could walk to school.  Garrett was convinced that I was sick, but I think in the back of his mind he knew better.  He watched me with a worried expression as I tucked my laptop into my backpack and slung the whole thing over my shoulder.

“Are you sure you're not coming down with something?” he asked me as I finished off my vanilla chai.  “I can work from home today if you're not feeling well.”

“Garrett, it's cool,” I said.  “I can't miss another day of school.  Go to work.”

“You were like a zombie all day yesterday,” he said softly as he watched scale the ladder to the floor.  “I hope another boy isn't causing you problems.  That... that Ronan character.”

“Ronan?” I squeaked.  I looked up at my dad.  How would I describe Ronan and my experience last night with him two days ago?  It was horrible.  Awkward.  Weird.  Unsettling.  I smiled slightly.  And yet... “He's nice, Garrett,” I said carefully.  “Really he's just...”

“It feels different?” Garrett guessed.

“Something like that,” I said.  “I'm off.”

“Be careful.”

“You said that everyday.”

“And I always mean it,” he said.  “Is Isabelle meeting you in front?”

“She always does,” I said back.

“I want you to start using the human hallways.”  His voice rung heavily as I opened the door.  I would never get used to this blast of chilly air.  So many things had changed in this world since the giants arrived... even the damn temperature.  I held back a shiver so Garrett wouldn't worry.  “Maya,” Garrett continued in a harder tone.  “I'll call the school if I have to.”

“Garrett it's fine,” I said, shutting the door behind me.  “You worry too much.”

Now that I could finally escape Garrett's worrying, it was time to focus on my own.  Ronan's countless messages taunted me.  But what could I say to him?  I couldn't very well see him.  He'd see that I was weak.  He was so convinced that I was strong, when in reality, I just wanted to cry and have my mom hold me.  I missed her fingers combing through my hair.  I missed all of us sitting with Garrett to watch a movie.  I missed her being the one to tell Garrett he worried too much.  I missed so much... and something about Ronan brought out that weak side of me.

That side of a girl who just wanted to be held and protected.

As the school came into focus, I searched around the campus for Luke and his friends.  I didn't want to ever see that blond haired kid again.  It took all day yesterday trying to get his eyes and his words out of my mind.  Garrett confirmed my worries.  He was a pusher.  And though I didn't tell my dad exactly what had happened, a vague description was all he needed to be put on the defensive.  He said to tell him immediately if I ever thought for a second that a giant was pushing me because it was so dangerous.  It could mess with your mind and your memories.

I didn't want that.

Memories were all I had left of her.

“So you're alive.”

I shot my head up as a warm voice rang overhead.  Ronan stood in front of the Western entrance with a prominent frown.  Just like the diner, humans scuttled past him, and instead of boots like he wore on Saturday, he was wearing a black pair of Converse sneakers.  My eyes trailed nervously up his body and past his torso to his plaid shirt which strained to contain his broad chest and wide shoulders.  I swallowed hard.

He was frowning.

“Are you going to answer me?” he asked, arching a brow.

“I didn't know you asked a question,” I muttered.  Several humans looked at me with shocked expressions as I spoke to Ronan so brazenly.

“I messaged you countless times yesterday,” he grumbled.  “You didn't respond.  Do you know how worried I was?”

“I didn't know you cared so much.”

“Dammit, Maya Jones... you know I—” he stopped himself short as a giant strode past him with a shocked expression.  He looked down at me.

“You alright?” he asked.

“Get outta here,” Ronan growled.  The other giant sauntered away, glancing over his shoulder several times.  “Why is that everyone thinks I'm gonna do something?”

“Maybe because you're terrifying?”

“I wouldn't do anything to you that you wouldn't be secretly asking for,” he said.

“So why didn't you pick me up like you said you would on Saturday?”  The words came out before I had a chance to censor them.  I swallowed hard and snuck a look up at Ronan.  He looked just as shocked as I was... and then his face softened.  He almost looked hurt.  I hated it when he made that expression.

“Because you didn't want me to,” he muttered.  “I could tell.  Whatever.”  He glanced over his shoulder.  “I just wanted to make sure you were alive after what happened Saturday and here you are – alive and well.  I guess you were just ignoring me.”

“I wasn't ignoring you,” I huffed as he pulled his long body off the wall.  “I just... I couldn't—”

“Is he messing with you?” a new voice rang out.  Finally someone familiar.  Isabelle had placed her long tan hands on her curvy hips as she glared up at Ronan.  “Ronan, get to class and stop bothering people.”

“I'm not bothering anyone,” he huffed.

“Seriously Isabelle, it's okay,” I said, standing close to my only giantess friend.  As usual, she looked amazing with her curly black hair swept up in half-braids and half-fro.  She arched a dark brow at Ronan, not afraid of him.  Not when it came to me.  It was kind of an honor to have such a nice giantess for a friend.

“No, it's not okay,” Isabelle went on  “I'm tired of boys messing with your head.”  She waved Ronan away.  “You don't have class with us until second period.  Aren't you late for art?”

Ronan's eyes widened.  “I'll see you second period, Maya Jones.  Glad you're alive.”

“Ronan, wait—” I tried, taking a step forward.  He had already stove far enough that I couldn't reach him unless he stopped.  I froze in my place and looked up at Isabelle.  “Why is everyone so convinced that I need a bodyguard?  He wasn't doing anything.”

“He's weird,” Isabelle said, looking thoughtful.  “Plus, you had me all worried when you messaged me yesterday.  You said you were having problems with guys and I just assumed Ronan was messing with you—”

“Not him,” I said, starting the long trek to class.  Isabelle walked next to me, keeping me pinned close to the wall so no one could accidentally step on me.  “At least... not yet.”

“So you weren't talking about Ronan?”

I shook my head.  “Isabelle... can I ask you a question?”  I stopped outside our classroom door and looked the long way up to find her face.  Despite her being a giant, she was tiny, just shy of fifty feet.  Maybe that's why I liked her so much.  She was tiny for her race, but fearless.

“Sure,” she said.

“What... what do you think of Luke Walters?”

He expression changed.  “I thought we were talking about Ronan.”

“We are.  We will be.  Ugh, seriously.  What do you think of Luke?”

She appeared to be thinking something over.  “Seriously?” she asked softly.  “You want to know?”

“Yeah.  I want to know.  I have to.”

“I don't trust him.”

My eyes widened, and I stared at my sneakers.  I could feel Isabelle watching me curiously.  “Why not?” I asked.

“He's weird, too.  Please don't take offense to this... but I don't understand why he's so obsessed with humans.  I like having humans for friends, but I just never felt... that way about a human.  I don't think it's natural.  And that's all he seems to go for.  I've never even seen him on a date with a giantess.”

“Is that such a wrong thing?” I asked, frowning as I thought about Ronan.  Was what he felt for me... unnatural?  I didn't want to think about it.  Several students shuffled past us into the classroom and Isabelle knelt down to make our conversation more private.

“It's not wrong... like I said.  It's weird.  For me.  And Luke... I don't know how he does it.”

“Does what?”

“He takes out all these human girls and then dumps them after a date or two.  But they never have hard feelings about it! He sounds like such a player but if you ask a girl how the date was, it's always the same thing.  He's a good guy.  He's busy training for something.  His dad is strict.  Blah, blah, blah.”  She rolled her chocolate brown eyes.  “Honestly, if a guy is dating that many humans and dumping them so quickly, you'd think he'd have a bad rep.  But it's always the same thing!  He's always the good guy.  I don't know how he does it.”

“Yeah...” I mused, frowning hard.  “It is weird.”

“I dunno,” Isabelle said, standing up again.  “Maybe he really is just a nice guy.  I just don't see how he'd want to go out with all these human girls—er, no offense again.”

“None taken.  Let... let's get to class,” I murmured.


***


By the time fourth period rolled around, I had pretty much come to the conclusion that Luke was probably bad news.  Hearing Isabelle explain about how he dated all those human girls and still had a decent reputation?  I couldn't ignore it!  It was so weird...

“Word has it that Mr. Nichols is out today,” Isabelle whispered to me from her desk.  She leaned down a bit to frown.  “I hate subs.  I like Mr. Nichols.  He's a cool teacher... for a human.”

“So... what?” I asked.  “Is the substitute...”

“He's a giant apparently,” Isabelle said.  “Kinda strict...”

Ugh... I hated giant teachers.  I knew it was kind of a rude thing to say considering my dad was one, but there was nothing quite like having a human teacher.  When a giant strode into the room like he owned the place and didn't know who any of us were or who was close with who... problems tended to occur.  Luckily most giants were too afraid of getting expelled to mess with human teachers, but a giant teacher... they tended to feel more comfortable.

I shrunk a little in my seat as Ronan sauntered into the room right before the bell rang.  His dark eyes settled on mine and I looked away.  He shook his head and took a seat several desks behind mine.

“He can't stop staring at you,” Isabelle whispered.  “Are you sure you're not keeping something from me?  Is something up with you and Ronan?”

“No,” I hushed back.  “It's fine.”

“I don't believe you.  All day he's been looking at you.  Seriously, Maya.  You're not being bullied, are you?”

“It's not like that,” I whispered.  “Ronan's just—”

“Good afternoon students.”

I lifted my head as an unfamiliar voice boomed in my ears.  Flinching, I looked up to see the new giant instructor for last period.  A formidable man, which was kinda funny considering Garrett and Ronan were two of the largest giants I had ever seen.  The teacher had a broad chest and warm hazel eyes which scanned the classroom.

“I like the mix in here,” he said.  “Last class I had was almost all giants.  This will be pleasant.”  He walked over to the front desk and pushed Mr. Nichol's tiny one to the corner.  It was hard not to frown.  It was such a simple, gesture, but I always took offense when giants made themselves too at home.  Didn't this dude realize he was a sub?

“He seems nice,” Isabelle said.  “Right?”

“Now,” the sub started.  “My name is Mr. Stevens and I'll be your instructor for final period.”  He adjusted his glasses and picked up the large roster sheet in front of him. “Creative writing,” he said.  “Huh.  Well, we'll see how this goes.  Let's take roll, shall we?”  Our classroom muttered their reply and I swear I could feel eyes on the back of my head as Mr. Stevens droned through the names.

“Maya Jones,” he said.

I raised my hand.

“You'll have to speak up if you're a human,” he muttered.

“Here!” I shouted, annoyed already.

“Good.”

“Isabelle Myers.”

“Here, sir,” Isabelle chimed up, smiling and waving.  Mr. Steven's looked much more pleased to see her response.  He continued to drone through the names.

“O'Connor,” Mr. Stevens said.  “Ronald O' Connor.”

“Ronald?” Isabelle asked.  “Who the hell is that?”

“Ronald O' Connor,” the teacher tried again.  His hazel eyes started to scan the room.  “Once again, if you're human, you'll need to speak up.  Ronald O' Connor.”

“There's no Ronald in here,” Isabelle spoke up.

“Yeah,” another student said.  “And the only other O' Connor here is...”

The room fell silent.  Ronald.  Ronan!  I glanced over my shoulder.  He was red.

“Is that you?” another student asked Ronan.  “You're the only O' Connor here.”

“That's not me,” Ronan muttered.  “Must be a typo.”

“Yeah right,” Isabelle said, nudging me with her finger.  “Ronan... Ronald.  I bet that's you!”

“Wait, your name is actually Ronald?” one of the student's said.  He started to smile.  “Ronald?  Ronnie!”

“Yeah!”  Another student laughed.  “That's him, alright.  Ronnie O' Connor!”

“Hey, shut up,” Ronan said, clenching his fists.  I could see his anger starting to rise.  “You want me to come over and—”

“What are you gonna do about it, Ronald?” Isabelle said with a snicker.  “Maya, are you hearing this?  His name's actually Ronald!”

I heard Ronan start to rise from his chair and the sub starting to panic.

“If you don't shut the hell up,” Ronan started, advancing on the nearest student.  He shrunk back in his chair.

I started to panic.  I did the only thing I could.

I started to laugh.  Loudly.

Ronan stopped moving and looked over at me.  “What the hell is so funny?” he snarled.

“It... it was a joke!” I giggled, lying through my teeth.  “I'm sorry... it was a joke!”

“What was a joke?” Ronan asked, arching his brow and settling slightly.

“Yeah, Maya,” Isabelle said.  “What gives?”

“I'm so sorry, I messed with the names roster... I thought it would be funny!” I giggled, trying to keep a straight face.  Ronan tilted his head.

“What is this about young lady?” Mr. Stevens asked.  “Messing with the roster?”

“I thought it would be funny to call Ronan, Ronald!” I giggled even more loudly and the class started to join me with uneasy laughter.  Ronan started to go back to his seat.  “I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I know it was mean.”

“It was very inappropriate,” Mr. Stevens said.  “Even for a human.”

I stopped laughing.  “What?  I said it was just a joke—”

“You little ones are always making trouble,” Mr. Stevens grumbled.  He whipped a pen out from his pocket and scratched out something on the roster.  “I apologize Mr. O' Connor,” he said.  “Ronan, you said it was?”

He looked stunnded as he sat down.  “Uh... yeah.  Ronan O' Connor.”

“I apologize again for this,” Stevens clucked.  “Humans and their little jokes.  How immature.”  He shook his head.  “I think Saturday detention will be good for you.  I'll contact the principal after class.”

“Wait, what?”  My laughter died down immediately.  “Come on.  It was a joke!”

“And an ill timed one.  Do you think it's funny... or appropriate to mess with subs?  Or other giants?  Do you get some sort of pleasure of making us feel more out of place than we already do?”  He clucked his tongue.  “Honestly... I've had enough of your little antics.  Just... just sit outside of class until we're finished.  Complete your assignment there.”

“What?”  I had never been in trouble before.  “Mr. Stevens it was just a joke—”

“I'll not ask again!” he barked.  Several humans near the front of the class covered their ears, but his attention was only on me.  “Now.”  He pointed at the door.  “Go.”

My lip trembled as I looked up at Isabelle, but she looked just as shocked as me.

“Better go before he calls the cops,” she muttered bitterly, helping me with my backpack and keeping her hand close by as I climbed the ladder to the floor.  “Sorry, girl. For what it's worth.  I thought it was pretty funny.  That's ballsy, man.  Messing with Ronan's name?  Calling him Ronald?  Classic.”  She smiled once more before she straightened up in her seat and I had to take the walk of shame to the door.  Everyone watched me go, but Mr. Stevens had already moved on to the next part of his lesson.

Damn him.

I took a seat on the floor outside the door and brought out my notebook.  Trouble or not, I wasn't going to miss the day's lesson because our sub was a pain in the ass.  I lost myself in the assignment to the point where I hadn't noticed the door open and close again twenty minutes later.

“Why did you do it?”

I kept writing.  I knew the voice.  I knew the owner.  I knew the question.  I knew the answer.  I just didn't know if I wanted to give up anything.

“Do what?”

“You know what, Maya Jones.”  Black Converse sneakers settled in front of me.  Fabric rustled as the owner of the voice knelt down.  “You coulda let that guy humiliate me.  The whole class was digging it.  Why did you bail me out?”

“Why not?” I asked with a shrug.  “I know you said you hated that name.”

“But the way that racist piss talked to you.  You coulda stood up for yourself.”

“Well... maybe I'm not as brave as you think I am.”

He fell silent.

“Maya Jones... you're even braver than that,” he said softly after a few tense seconds.

“I'm not.”

“You are,” he said.  “Dammit... I was so rude to you this morning.”

“And always.”

“And always,” he grumbled.  “And yet... you did that... Maya Jones, you saved my rep.”

“It wasn't a big deal.”  I kept scratching away in my notebook.  I had to get those 1,000 words done before the bell rung.  I was going to fight my way out of detention after that.  “It just seemed like the right thing.”

“You shouldn't have let him talk to you like that.”

“I don't want to get in trouble,” I said.  “I don't want Garrett to have to deal with it.”

I felt him frown.  He was still crouching in front of me.  I could see his large hand on the floor, keeping his balance.  

“Listen, Maya... I...” his voice hitched as he searched for the words, but nothing else came.  He just shifted again.  I saw his hand lift over the rim of my lashes.  It started to come close and I held my breath, waiting for him to finally touch me... but nothing came.  His hand went into a fist and back to his side again.

“Look Ronan,” I said, still longing for his touch.  “I can't always be there to bail you out.”  I tried to make my voice sound teasing, but Ronan's words certainly didn't seem the same way when he spoke next.

“What if I want you to?”

I almost dropped my pencil.  “What... what do you mean?” I whispered.  I felt my breath hitch.

“What if I want you to always be around to bail me out?” he tried.  “What if I just want you around?”

I swallowed hard.  “What... are you asking me...”

“And then I saw her on a date with that creep!”  A new voice filled my ears and I turned away from my paper to listen.

“She couldn't have been.  Did you talk to her?”

“I did what I could, Walters.  But he kept trying to get her to look at him.  He knew, man.  I swear he knew what I was doing.”

“I doubt it.”  I knew this voice.  Luke.  Luke Walters.  I sat up straighter.  “The worst was when I showed up to her house.  A giant?  She lives with a giant?  That doesn't count, man.  She's excluded.  I can't work with that.”

“A deal's a deal, Walters,” the other voice went on.  “You said every human junior and senior girl.  She's a human.  She's a junior.  And guess what?  She's a girl.”

“Hardly.”  Luke chuckled.  “Seriously though, I'll need some more time with that one.  Her dad... something's up with him.”

“I'd be more worried about O' Connor,” the other voice said.  “He's got the hots for your next task.”

“I'm not worried about him.”  Luke's confidence shook me to the core.  I stood up from my seat and set my notebook down on top of my backpack.  “It's that dad of hers.  Seriously, what kind of man can he be marrying one of those things?  Like seriously?  And a human daughter?  I woulda sent her straight to an orphanage.  Let a human family deal with her.  That's messed up.”

“Maya?” Ronan's voice came, desperate to bring me back to reality.  “Don't go over there.”

“She's not even that hot,” Luke muttered.  “Can't we exclude her?”

“A deal's a deal, Walters.  You said you could do it.  You said they were simple.”

“I did.  And they are.  And I still can.  I just need more time.”

My eyes watered more as I approached the two voices.  I heard Ronan standing up behind me.  But I was drawn to the conversation.  It was true.  It was all true.  Luke really did believe we were simple creatures.  And he thought... he thought was ugly.  And my dad was a weirdo.

Garrett.  My only parent.  The only person I could actually trust.

I rounded the corner to find Luke standing there with the same blond guy from yesterday.  I swallowed hard.

“H-hey!” I called out from the cross way.

Luke stopped talking.  So did the blond guy.  They both smiled.

“Maya Jones,” Luke said in a cheery voice.  “How are you?  I'm still upset that you blew me off the other day.”

“Knock it off,” I huffed, drying my face with my sleeve.  “I heard what you were saying.”

Luke tilted his head.  “Oh?  And what's that?” he asked, stepping closer.  I arched my neck back to continue to meet his gaze.  It wasn' t Luke so much that I was afraid of... it was his friend.  They both smiled with a glint in their eyes as they approached.  I swallowed all my fear.

“You... you can't talk about my dad like that,” I said, starting to tremble as their thundering steps grew closer.

“Like what?” Luke asked innocently, looking at his friend.  “I wasn't talking about your dad.  Were we?” he asked.

The blond shook his head.  “You're imagining things, Maya,” he said softly.  “I was just talking to Luke about how upset he was that he couldn't take you out on Friday.”

“N-no!” I said, trembling harder as those green eyes searched to find mine.  His voice was like honey, pulling everything to him.  “I heard you!  I heard what you said.”

“And what's that?” Luke asked in a low voice.

“You... you think humans are simple,” I muttered.

Luke lowered himself to a crouch.  “I didn't say anything like that, Maya Jones.  I think humans are sweet... and cute.  Like you.”

“Like you, Maya,” the blond said.  “Come on.  Why would we trick you?”

“Because you're a pusher,” I said helplessly.  “You push thoughts into human's minds  I know you do.  And that... that's against school rules.”

“Yeah?” the blond said, smiling.  “So what?”

“So... so you admit it?” I asked in a breathless voice.

“It wouldn't matter if I did...” he said, resting a hand on Luke's shoulder as he crouched over me.  “Because I'm gonna push that accusation right out of that simple human brain of yours...”

“Just... let me see your pretty face for a second,” Luke said, smiling warmly as his hand came close.  A finger outstretched... reaching for my chin...

The world suddenly exploded as an enormous Black sneaker pounded right next to me.  Luke's head shot up and I scrambled away on all fours like a crab until I was situated between the pair of those sneakers.  My head looked up... and up... and up even higher as I searched for the owner of the black Converse sneakers.

The scruff of the underside of the owner's chin was undeniable.

“Ronan,” I whispered.

I saw his body bend at the waist as he reached and grabbed Luke by the collar, yanking him up to his feet.

“Get to the wall, Maya Jones.”