Jack awoke in a crumpled heap on the cold, hard floor of the toilet cubicle, his jeans and underwear still round his ankles. He daren’t move in case Caitlin was still nearby, instead scanning what he could from his vantage point without moving his head and listening intently for any trace of his Alpha tormentor.

After several moments lying still as a mouse, he was convinced enough by the silence around him that no-one was in the vicinity, so very cautiously rolled himself over, and sat himself against the base of the oversized toilet. Looking around, he saw that Caitlin had closed the cubicle door when she must’ve left, but otherwise there was no trace of what had transpired earlier.

Trying to recompose himself, he pulled first his underwear, and then his damaged jeans back on, the lingering smell of her scent on his clothes made the reality of the situation suddenly sink in. As the feelings of helplessness and humiliation flooded back, he began to weep quietly into his hands, too scared to think about what she would have continued doing to him if he hadn’t have passed out.

His anguish was punctured abruptly with the sound of a door opening at the other end of the changing room, making Jack’s heart pound in his ribcage. Fearing Caitlin’s return, he scrambled underneath the cistern, trying to hide himself as best he could. Heavy footsteps approached, definitely an Alpha, and then a thump as something heavy was dropped to the floor. The person walked into the bathroom, but thankfully for Jack, straight past the row of cubicles.

The sound of a tap filled the room with a noisy hiss, and then a couple of splashes as whoever it was seemingly washed themselves with the water. The flow ceased with a clunk, and Jack could make out the noise of shallow breathing. The person sniffed a couple of times, and yanked a paper towel from the container on the wall, before walking back towards the main changing area.

As Jack cowered behind the toilet, he heard the footsteps stop just before the threshold of the changing area, and then nothing, as if suddenly stopped. He fought to keep his heart-rate down, silently praying that the heavy footfalls would resume and whoever it was would walk right out of the room. Instead, to his surprise, a sweet, gentle voice, quite plainly a girl’s, called out, “Hello?”

He froze, mindful not only that this girl might be Alex, Hannah or any other of Caitlin’s friends, but even if not, being discovered in the girls’ changing rooms would result in public ignominy, definitely more bullying and the possibility of some kind of disciplinary action.

Again, the girl’s voice rang out, more hesitantly this time, “Is anyone in here?”

Jack felt a strange pang of recognition this time, there was something familiar about the way she spoke, but he was far too cautious to consider uttering any kind of response. He heard the girl’s weight shift as she started to move along the cubicles, the individual footfalls getting louder as her giant form padded inexorably closer and closer to his hiding place. He watched her shoes stop outside the door, and fearing the worst, hugged his knees to his chest to try and minimise his profile behind the toilet.

He closed his eyes at the sound of her palm connecting with the big door, swinging it open, and for a few seconds he held his breath.

“Jack, are you in here?” said the girl.

Dumbfounded, he forced himself to stay rigidly still, searching his brain frantically to figure out who the girl was from her voice. He sensed her towering form stoop down, but daren’t open his eyes to confirm anything, he knew it was only a matter of time before she’d notice him and he prepared for the worst.

He felt a light tap on his shoulder, and then another hesitant prod by a large digit, before he heard the giant girl’s voice say, “Jack, it’s ok, it’s me.”

Opening his eyes, he turned his head to face his discoverer, meeting two big, wonderfully green eyes.

Penny’s expression softened into a hesitant smile when he realised it was her, she was holding his little glasses between finger and thumb; they were bent out of shape and one of the lenses appeared to be cracked.

“Penny,” Jack breathed, his voice breaking slightly, “I’m so glad it’s you.”

The girl knelt there, unsure of what to do next with this small Beta boy who seemed so upset. Not wanting to frighten him, she carefully grasped one of his small hands in her big one and ever so gently gave it a squeeze.

“What’s the matter?” she asked softly.

Jack looked up through teary eyes, he didn’t want to mention specifics, as Caitlin would be sure to make him pay if word got out.

“One of the Alpha girls brought me in here,” he explained, “She wanted to scare me... show me how weak I was. I tried to escape, and to... to reason with her, but she didn’t care.”

He swallowed hard, “I don’t really want to talk about it,” he said, fighting to keep his emotions in check.

“I’m so sorry,” said Penny sympathetically, caressing his hand, “I think it’s awful the way you guys get treated, it makes me very upset. Are you sure you’re ok?”

He looked at her bravely, wiping his eyes, “I’ll be ok.”

Penny was still wearing her hair in a vintage bun, but she wasn’t in her drama outfit any more, instead she was dressed in the purple top, skirt and tights she had worn earlier. She was being so gentle and kind towards him, it made him feel safe to know there was an Alpha that treated him like a person.

“I think your glasses have seen better days,” she said eventually, waggling the damaged frames between her fingers.

“I’ve got an older pair at home,” Jack replied, “I mean, they’re not as good, but they’ll do for now.”

He gently extricated his hand from her grasp, and hauled himself upright as the Alpha girl retreated to give him space. Fortunately, despite the missing button on his jeans, they seemed to stay up all right, and he put the mangled specs in his pocket.

“I only need glasses for distance really, my eyesight’s not as bad as all that,” he said, squinting a bit and opening and shutting his eyes. Penny stood up to her full height, and then waved her arm at him to show she was up there, smirking as she did.

“Very funny,” he said drily, though secretly quite grateful for her light-hearted candour.

The giant girl walked out into the changing area, bending down to pick up her saddle bag, which Jack recognised as being the one introduced to his forehead earlier.

“How are you getting home?” she asked, turning around whilst adjusting the strap on her shoulder, “I guess all the school buses have finished now?”

He nodded, “Yeah, they will have, I think, but to be honest I don’t really use the bus, I prefer to walk.”

“Oh right,” said Penny, slightly surprised, “How long does that take?”

“About 20 minutes usually, it’s not too far,” he replied, walking past her to the door.

“Well, maybe I could walk with you... if you want?” she suggested, opening the door for him.

“I thought you lived over Westbury way?” he asked, “Cuz I live in Green Hill, that’s basically the other side of town.”

She made a thoughtful face, absent-mindedly tapping her fingers on the door handle.

“Yeah it is, but... honestly, I don’t mind, if you want somebody to walk with, that is...” she said coyly, following him through the door and walking alongside him down the corridor.

“It’d be no trouble, my folks don’t really care when I get home.”

Jack was a little bit intimidated still, but Penny seemed so different from all the other Alpha girls. She behaved like she was quite naïve and sensitive, something he’d never, ever picked up on when speaking to an Alpha before. As they walked, she began removing the pins from her hair, letting it hang down in waves as Jack watched her intently.

He reached his locker, glad to see that his bag was still in front of it, and swung it over his shoulder.

“It’s a long walk back,” he warned, turning to look up at her. The lofty girl knelt down to his level and placed a sizeable hand on his shoulder, causing him to flinch instinctively – she was so much bigger than him. Her expression was gentle though, as she began to speak quietly.

“If you don’t want me to, Jack, I won’t, I just wanted to make sure you were ok, it’s the least I can do.”

She removed her hand from him, sensing his anxiety, “And I’m sorry for whatever happened today, I know how hard it must be for you.”

He stood, staring into her haunting green eyes framed by the hanging locks of her sandy-brown hair, he wanted to reach out and touch her cheek delicately, in some small way expressing his thanks for her kind-heartedness.

“It’s just, well... I’m not used to an Alpha being nice to me,” he explained, “I know that sounds really corny, but it’s true.”

She looked at him sadly, “It’s ok, I understand, all I can do is hope that you trust me when I say that I’m not really like others... my size.”

Jack looked at her intently, “You know, I’d really like it if you could walk with me, Penny, if that’s ok.”

Her mouth broke into a warm smile, “No problem,” she replied, gesturing with her eyes for him to lead the way.

The pair walked away from the school down Alpha-size streets, Penny careful not to walk too fast, Jack careful not to get too close to her lofty stride. For the most part, they talked about school, Jack learning that Penny was taking an extra subject, whereas she was very curious to hear about his interest in cinema.

“Me too,” she enthused excitedly, “I really like acting, I’ve been doing a class after-school!”

The girl paused, “Well, I guess you figured that out already,” she said, rolling her eyes, “it’s more for fun I guess but I’m enjoying it a lot.”

Jack also found out, without asking particularly directly, that Penny was 12’ 7” tall, though she seemed a little uncomfortable telling him for whatever reason; he joked that his 5’ 8” was probably nothing to be proud of either.

She also seemed reluctant to talk about anything beyond more than a year or so back, only sweeping recollections about her past, as if she didn’t have much specifically to talk about from those days.

Their conversation was interrupted suddenly by Jack’s phone ringing, causing him to scrabble through his bag to retrieve it.

“Jack? Are you home yet?” his mother’s voice chided as he put it to his ear, “Not yet, mum,” he said, “Why?”

“I’ve been texting you for hours, what have I told you about not checking your phone?” she scolded, “Grandad’s been taken ill, your dad and I are in the hospital downtown.”

“Alright alright, I’m sorry mum, is grandad ok?” he asked.

“He should be fine, he’s just had a nasty fall is all, we’re waiting on the X-rays. I’ll text you when we’re coming back but it won’t be for a while, you can have some of the cold leftovers in the fridge for dinner.”

“Ok mum,” he said, “I’m almost there anyway.”

“Good boy, I love you. We’ll see you later,” she said.

“I... love you too,” he replied, glancing embarrassedly up at Penny who was studying his expression for clues. The phone hung up, and Jack put it straight in his pocket, then put his bag back on.

“Everything alright?” Penny asked conscientiously.

“My grandad’s had a fall, my mum and dad are with him,” he replied.

“Oh dear, I hope he’s ok”, she said.

“I think so,” Jack went on, “He’s quite hardy, my grandad.”

They resumed their walk, and after a few more minutes talking, passed into an area where, whilst the road remained very wide, there were still a few Beta houses dotted around.

“Nearly there,” said Jack, “It’s just up here on the right.”

Shortly, he stopped in front of a small, neat bungalow with a single-car garage to the side,

“Here we are,” he announced. Noticing Penny looking at it curiously, he was concerned, “You ok?” he asked.

She snapped out of her brief trance, “Yeah, I’m fine, I just... well I haven’t seen a house like this for a long, long time.”

Jack pointed across the road, “There used to be a lot more Beta houses in this area, we’re one of the only inhabited ones left actually, a lot of them are empty. They keep knocking them down to build Alpha houses.”

She nodded knowingly, “Yeah, it’s happening all over.”

“My parents aren’t in, so I’ve not really got anything to do right now, would you like a cup of tea or something?” he offered.

She hesitated, “I’ll need to be getting off soon, but... ok, that would actually be really nice.”

“I’ll find the biggest mug I can,” he smiled, “You don’t have to come in if you don’t want to, you might find it a bit cramped.”

“I’d like to try,” she laughed, following him as he walked up to the door, put his bag down, and fished his keys out.

After Jack unlocked the door, the Alpha girl stooped down to look into the diminutive house. She took off her bag, and reaching inside the door, propping it up against the wall. Carefully, she doubled over, and bending her knees, walked into the main room, trying to avoid knocking anything with her head or legs.

“It’s ok, just sit anywhere,” Jack said, closing the front door behind him.

He watched as Penny gingerly sat herself down on the floor, her long legs stretching out in front of her, and swept her hair out of her eyes.

“This place is so nice,” she said, comparing herself to the dining table and chairs she was seated next to.

Picking one up effortlessly by a leg, she examined it closely, “Everything’s so diddy!” she smiled, looking at Jack brightly.

“Remember, it’s not small, you’re just very big!” he corrected with a grin, heading into the kitchen.

After a short while, he returned with the biggest mug he could find, full to the brim with hot tea. Penny clasped the handle between finger and thumb, dwarfing it immediately, and proceeded to happily sip it whilst looking around the cosy home. Jack fetched his own mug, and sat on the chair Penny had placed down.

“I’ve lived here all my life,” he said quite humbly, noticing her looking at the photo frames on the wall, “This is probably the only place I have left that doesn’t make me feel out of scale with everything.”

“Do you really mean that?” she asked, surprised at the sudden dampening of his mood.

“Well... more and more I do,” he said, “I suppose today I was reminded why, in many ways, everything is just going to get worse. I can’t protect myself from other people, from danger. The world is just way, way too big for me.”

Listening to his words intently, Penny scooched herself closer to his chair, but even sitting down, Jack’s head only came up to her shoulder.

“You’ve got to be brave,” she said, looking down at him, “I know it can be scary sometimes, but you must keep going.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” said Jack huffily, feeling something rising inside himself, a wave of hopelessness and frustration; it annoyed him to hear this girl telling him what to do.

Getting up from his chair, his eyes now level with hers, he announced coldly, “You have no idea what it’s like for me, none at all,” his little jaw set and his expression full of anger.

Her pretty face creased into a frown, “Well, I do, actually, not that you’d know,” she said, “We were all little once, in case you’d forgotten, not just you.”

She turned away from him, and sighed deeply. Jack was irritated, but at the same time a part of him realised he had just alienated a person who’d only ever been trying to help him. She turned her head back round, and he saw that her eyes were dewy and she was legitimately upset.

“I may not understand what it’s like to be small in a world of giants, but I would never be mean to anyone because of their size,” she said finally, her gentle voice wavering slightly.

“I’ve got to go now, thank you for the tea,” and with that she placed her half-drunk mug of tea on the dining table and hauled herself up.

Jack bit his lip and just stood there as she withdrew her giant body to the front door and opened it. He turned to face her as she picked up her oversized saddle bag, and carefully passed through the doorway. Turning around, she met his eyes, and with one last sad glance back at him, closed the door gently.