This was definitely not good.  Jim could tell that this situation was about to take a turn for the worse.  He had wanted to leave the Infirmary to get away from the topic of his wife.  He was both surprised and scared when he saw her bursting into the room with him and Sarah.  He knew exactly what kind of person Ruby was, and how she felt about this University.  It would likely be a miracle if she didn’t start some kind of incident before she ended up leaving, which was a very sad thing to think about.

To make matters worse, Abby wanted to ask him about her.  What did she want to know?  There were so many things she might have gotten curious about in that room.  Ruby had been very rude the whole time, yelling at Sarah and throwing out slang like ‘Giant-Hugger’.  She hadn’t paid any attention to him, only seeming like she was worried about making herself known in the debate that started between her and Sarah.  She’d frustrated him so much, just as she’d done in the past.  The topic of Larges just wasn’t good with her, and now she was in a campus full of them.

Jim had hoped the day would never come when Abby would meet Ruby.  As much as he cared for his wife, she was racist in the worst possible way.  She could not stand the topic of Larges at all, and would get into long arguments with him over it.  She tried so hard to convince him that they were monsters, but he tried very hard not to give into all of that.  With his current situation, he knew she was wrong about them.  He was sitting on the bare leg of a sweet woman who seemed to want nothing but his well-being.  The only difference was that Abby was the size of a building.

Still, he knew he wouldn’t be able to get out of this.  Abby had likely seen too much of Ruby’s behavior not to be curious about her.  He would have to answer any questions she had.  If nothing else, he would be able to get the truth about Ruby out now, and not have to worry about it later.  He just feared for how Abby would react to obtaining this knowledge.  Her town and friends had been killed by people with thoughts and beliefs like Ruby.  Jim wasn’t sure if Abby would be able to handle that.

Abby was looking down towards Jim as he’d nervously asked her what she wanted to know.  This was going to be a strange conversation, that’s for certain.  She almost didn’t want to ask him about her, but curiosity is a very strong, convincing force.  From the way Ruby acted, especially how she acted towards Jim, she wanted to know what he could tell her.  Something didn’t seem right about her, and she planned to find out what, exactly, that was.  She took a deep breath before calling down her first question.

“Ruby seems very…different.  I know I am in no place to judge your wife, but it didn’t look like she was very concerned about your health.  She didn’t once look towards you and ask you how you were.  Is she always like that?”

These were the bad questions.  Jim didn’t want to answer this question.  She was absolutely right, though.  Ruby had shown little to no interest in how he had been doing.  She was too obsessed over where she was and getting into a debate with Sarah.  He tried to keep a smile on his face, but it wouldn’t let him.  The smile lowered and turned into a frown.  His mind started to emotionally droop as he nodded and spoke back to her.

“You’re…right, Abby.  Ruby is a sweet woman, when she wants to be.  She cares about me, but when she gets into a discussion or debate, it’s all she cares about.  She, especially, loses herself in a debate when it’s on the topic of…certain things.”

Abby had a feeling, deep down in her heart, that she knew exactly what Jim meant by ‘certain things’, though she was a little afraid to find out.  Ever since she’d met Ruby, she had this strange feeling in her gut about her.  She wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but it didn’t feel right.  It felt strange, as if this person was some person she did not want to be around.  Nonetheless, she was her friend’s wife, and she needed to try to respect her because of it.  Still, she wanted to know more, and she impulsively started speaking a thought to further the conversation.

“Certain things…like Giant-Huggers, right?  Jim, you’re around Ruby a lot more than I am.  Surely, you’ve heard that term before, right?  Could you explain what a ‘Giant Hugger’ is?”

There was the crucial question Jim wanted to avoid.  Now, he had to explain what a Giant-Hugger was to Abby.  This would require a nice, long explanation more than just the term, and he did not want to put Abby through this.  However, he also respected her, as a friend.  She had, after all, saved his life and brought him to safety.  He’d grown attached to her these past 2 days, and was willing to give her all the information she wanted.  He hated it, but he would tell her anyways.

“W-Well, Abby.  You see…a Giant-Hugger is someone that, well…Okay, let me start over.  Abby, you’re a Large, since you’re a lot taller than I am.  Some people call Larges by the term ‘Giants’.  Compared to someone like myself, you would be referred to as a giant.  Were I to find someone small enough to me as I am to you, they would likely be only 4 or 5 inches in height, like a doll or toy.  To that smaller person, I would be considered a giant.  Such is the same with me and you.  Compared to me, assuming I use my own height as the basis for the comparison, you are a giant.  In essence, a Giant-Hugger is a person who loves Giants, or Larges.”

“Now, what I’m about to tell you, Abby…might be hard for you to accept.  I…don’t want to tell you, but I know I need to.  It’s something that you need to know, about my wife.  I just want you to be prepared.  Is that okay?”

Abby was slowly listening to what Jim was talking about, but didn’t understand the need for this ‘Giant-Hugger’ term.  If it’s just a person who likes or enjoys being around Larges, why the need for a special name?  A lot of people around campus love being around her and the other tall students, but they’d never called themselves ‘Giant Huggers’ before.  She didn’t understand it at all.  However, when Jim started speaking about something that might be hard for her to accept, she lost the thought and stared down towards him.

What could possibly be hard for her to accept about Ruby?  Once again, she didn’t understand, but she agreed to hear what he had to say.  She quickly nodded her head.  “Of course it’s alright, Jim.  Please, tell me.”