You continued watching unfamiliar students enter and take their seats. When the brightly colored Student Council entered, you buried your head in your arms to avoid them. Fortunately, they seemed to take the hint and didn't bother you. You were in no mood to deal with them any time soon. You sat there with your head on your desk, zoning out to the chatter of your classmates in the background. The room eventually got quiet, probably because the teacher had arrived. You picked yourself up and saw a flash of purple to your left. It was Hanako, and it seems that she was watching you sit there. Before you could try to engage her, the teacher began his lecture.
You were so out of it that you could barely pay attention to the scientific discussion. Having just transferred, you had yet to firmly establish what you needed to know for your classes to be caught up with everyone. The fact that you didn't get a chance to study or sleep well last night only compounded the problem. You looked over at Hanako, only for her to quickly look away from you again. Was she embarrassed about last night? Was she scared of you now that you weren't bite-sized? Whatever it was, see still seemed to have some kind of interest in you as she kept looking over at you throughout the class. Before you knew it, the lunch bell rang and everyone quickly packed up to go. Hanako was wasting no time too, barely giving you a chance to call out to her before she started heading for the door.
"Hanako, hang on a sec." She froze at the sound of your voice.
She didn't respond until everyone else had left. "N-Nick?"
You didn't really know what to say. You wanted to talk with her, but what did you even want to say? Yesterday was so crazy and she seemed as skittish as a terrified doe. "Umm... I'm glad to see you." The silence that followed was torturous. This was really awkward. "I-I was hoping we could talk. I mean... unless you don't want to."
"Umm... OK," She finally responds. She sits back down at her desk, still making an effort to cover her scars.
"How are you?" You start, really unsure what you were doing.
She mumbles something that you think was, "Fine." She looks up at you and asks, "Are you OK?"
You wanted to say you were doing great, but that wouldn't be the truth. With how much she kept looking at you during class, she was likely worried if she was asking. "I'm just kind of tired. I hoping it was just due to a bad dream and not my new mattress," You joke.
"Bad dream?" She echoes, her face showing concern.
"I'm sure I'll be fine tonight," You assure her.
She doesn't look convinced. "Was it, like yesterday? Did you have a nightmare about... what happened?"
Her eyes were pleading, there was no way you could hide the truth from that look. "Kinda, yeah." You described the dream to Hanako, her face was serious as you went into as much detail as you could.
"Umm... are you just tired? I-is there anything else bothering you today?"
She hit the nail on the head again. You described how uncomfortable you were at breakfast with everyone eating around you. As you revisited these thoughts, you started to feel more tense and looked away.
"Nick..." Her sweet voice grabs your attention. "Last night must have been really scary. I'm... I'm not a therapist but, I think... you might have been traumatized."
Her words hit you hard, but thinking about it, it made sense. Were you going to be uncomfortable around people eating forever? Were you going to jump every time her heard someone's stomach growl? And what were you going to do the next time you shrunk, because it was going to happen again.
"Nick!" Again, her voice snaps you back to reality. She looks very serious. "It might not be too late. If you take certain steps early enough, you can get over it before..." She trails off.
Hanako seems like she's speaking from experience. You haven't seen the full extent of her scarring but if she was at this school, it was likely serious. Whatever had caused it was likely a horrible experience. The healing alone would have been another ordeal on top of that. Was her inability to get over her own trauma what led to her shyness? Was she trying to save you from the same fate? "I think you are right Hanako. Thank you for telling me this." She blushes visibly and falls back a bit behind her hair. "I don't want to be scared. What do I do?"
"Umm..." She fidgets. "If talked with a lot of people about... things like this. The only thing I've found effective is to..."
"I'm sorry. What was that?"
"Y-you need t-to..."
You were so out of it that you could barely pay attention to the scientific discussion. Having just transferred, you had yet to firmly establish what you needed to know for your classes to be caught up with everyone. The fact that you didn't get a chance to study or sleep well last night only compounded the problem. You looked over at Hanako, only for her to quickly look away from you again. Was she embarrassed about last night? Was she scared of you now that you weren't bite-sized? Whatever it was, see still seemed to have some kind of interest in you as she kept looking over at you throughout the class. Before you knew it, the lunch bell rang and everyone quickly packed up to go. Hanako was wasting no time too, barely giving you a chance to call out to her before she started heading for the door.
"Hanako, hang on a sec." She froze at the sound of your voice.
She didn't respond until everyone else had left. "N-Nick?"
You didn't really know what to say. You wanted to talk with her, but what did you even want to say? Yesterday was so crazy and she seemed as skittish as a terrified doe. "Umm... I'm glad to see you." The silence that followed was torturous. This was really awkward. "I-I was hoping we could talk. I mean... unless you don't want to."
"Umm... OK," She finally responds. She sits back down at her desk, still making an effort to cover her scars.
"How are you?" You start, really unsure what you were doing.
She mumbles something that you think was, "Fine." She looks up at you and asks, "Are you OK?"
You wanted to say you were doing great, but that wouldn't be the truth. With how much she kept looking at you during class, she was likely worried if she was asking. "I'm just kind of tired. I hoping it was just due to a bad dream and not my new mattress," You joke.
"Bad dream?" She echoes, her face showing concern.
"I'm sure I'll be fine tonight," You assure her.
She doesn't look convinced. "Was it, like yesterday? Did you have a nightmare about... what happened?"
Her eyes were pleading, there was no way you could hide the truth from that look. "Kinda, yeah." You described the dream to Hanako, her face was serious as you went into as much detail as you could.
"Umm... are you just tired? I-is there anything else bothering you today?"
She hit the nail on the head again. You described how uncomfortable you were at breakfast with everyone eating around you. As you revisited these thoughts, you started to feel more tense and looked away.
"Nick..." Her sweet voice grabs your attention. "Last night must have been really scary. I'm... I'm not a therapist but, I think... you might have been traumatized."
Her words hit you hard, but thinking about it, it made sense. Were you going to be uncomfortable around people eating forever? Were you going to jump every time her heard someone's stomach growl? And what were you going to do the next time you shrunk, because it was going to happen again.
"Nick!" Again, her voice snaps you back to reality. She looks very serious. "It might not be too late. If you take certain steps early enough, you can get over it before..." She trails off.
Hanako seems like she's speaking from experience. You haven't seen the full extent of her scarring but if she was at this school, it was likely serious. Whatever had caused it was likely a horrible experience. The healing alone would have been another ordeal on top of that. Was her inability to get over her own trauma what led to her shyness? Was she trying to save you from the same fate? "I think you are right Hanako. Thank you for telling me this." She blushes visibly and falls back a bit behind her hair. "I don't want to be scared. What do I do?"
"Umm..." She fidgets. "If talked with a lot of people about... things like this. The only thing I've found effective is to..."
"I'm sorry. What was that?"
"Y-you need t-to..."
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February 17
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