I don’t think I’ve ever run so fast in my life. Then again, I don’t recall having ever been chased by a 12 ft tall amazon before. Never can tell what you’re capable of till you’ve got a gun to your head, I suppose.

The library was directly in the center of the school, on the far right end of the building. Fortunately there was a single long hallway leading from that area to the front exit. Looking back over my shoulder I couldn’t see Jenny. Odd, considering I hadn’t taken any turns to lose track of her, so where would she have gone to? The question was pushed to the back of my mind for later pondering as the doors to the school were right in front of me. From there I’d hop fences and run through backyards to lose her if I had to. Just as I was upon the doors, however, I heard a distinctly loud CLACK. I tried each one of them, but they were all locked. That shouldn’t be possible though! Even when the doors are locked they can still be opened from inside the building!

“Well, I must say, I didn’t see this coming.” came Jenny’s voice from behind me.

Spinning around in place, my heart trying to climb up my throat, I pressed my back to the doors. Jenny was nowhere to be seen, but I had definitely heard her.

“Usually I do this to people purposefully, but I hadn’t planned on playing today.” she went on. The loudspeaker. She was broadcasting her voice over the loudspeaker!

“I don’t know how it is you did this by yourself, but now that you have, I guess we’ll play after all.” Jenny instructed. “So here’s how the game works. There’s more than 20 doors leading out of the building. All of them are locked except for one. You’ll have to find it before I find you. Since they always head to the front doors first, I decided to wait a bit in the library, give you a head start. I’d get moving if I were you. This is a big school, so I’m giving you three minutes to get as good and lost as you can. Makes it more of a challenge for me. So you better get going.”

As if a starting gun had gone off in my head I sprang forward. I don’t know how it is she got the doors locked all at once, but clearly she had the faculty on her side. This was a game to her. The only problem was, I don’t play well with others. Plus, against someone of her stature, I was pretty sure I’d lose. In my experience dealing with bullies and other confrontations, I’ve learned a few things. There are two rules to beating someone at their own game. Rule number one: don’t play.

If she was broadcasting her voice over the loudspeaker, then she had to be somewhere in the main office. My best bet was to confront her, in full view of the principal and staff, and talk this out. Part of me was wondering the entire time if this wasn’t all just another dream. The problem was, my labored breaths and rapid heartbeat told me this was entirely too real. I needed to end whatever this was as quickly as possible. Bursting through the doors of the main office, I rushed straight passed the secretaries, none of whom paid me any mind, and straight into the principal’s office. Principal Hoffman was a man of medium height somewhere in his late thirties to early forties. Despite his distinct pot belly he had a full head of slick brown hair, and an easy going manner about him, making him liked by the students. He was shifting through papers when I barged in through the door.

“Mr Hoffman!” I cried, straining to catch my breath and talk at the same time. “What the hell’s going on! Jenny! She’s- she’s normal one minute, and fucking huge the next! Now she’s locked all the doors, and said she’s chasing me! Why’re you letting her do this! She-”

I stopped mid sentence. Despite all of my ravings, the man never so much as flinched. In fact, he hadn’t once looked up from his paperwork. He just went about his business as if I wasn’t in the room. With my blood spiked I took the initiative.

“Mr Hoffman!” I yelled, slamming my hands down on the papers and throwing them from his desk.

He looked up with wide eyes and raised brows. “Goodness, where did that come from?”

Standing up from his desk, he started to gather up his paper, never giving me a glance. I’ve been ignored before, but this was just fucking ridiculous.

“Oh, and I should probably mention one other thing.” came Jenny’s voice again. This time my heart stopped beating entirely. Her voice was still coming over the loudspeaker, but the only way to access the loudspeaker was currently on Mr Hoffman’s desk.

“Normally I don’t do this with people I play with, but there’s something different about you.” she continued. “So, just to make things interesting, I’m giving you thirty minutes to find the exit. Shouldn’t be too hard, so long as you don’t run into me, of course.”

Looking up at the wall I saw the analogue clock hands spinning more rapidly than I’d thought possible without breaking. They stopped at exactly 11:30. Thirty minutes to noon. Running out of the room, I saw that all of the clocks in the main office had been changed to that time.

“What the fuck is going on.” I breathed.

“Well, I’m getting ready to leave in a minute.” she announced through the speakers. “I hope you’re not somewhere predictable, like the front doors, or the main office. Everyone always goes for those places.”

My heart, which until now had felt stuck in my throat, now dropped back down into my chest, where it began beating so fast it practically vibrated. With adrenaline surging through my systems once again I rocketed out of the main office, and took off down the halls. My brain was racing just as fast, trying to process everything that was going on as I ran. I needed the facts. Information was the only weapon I had at my disposal. So fact number one: Jenny was 12 ft tall . . . . Yeah, I’m not even going to try and analyze that. Just accept it and move on. Fact number two: she could do things. I have no idea what those things entailed, or what her limits were, but she could make things happen. Like locking all of the doors at once, using the loudspeaker without being in the principal’s office, and changing every clock in the school at the same time. Number three: no one could see me, or even tell that I was around. How that was even possible, I have no idea. And fact number four: she was coming for me. What happened after she catches me?

That I was too afraid to answer.

Something told me that I needed to keep running. Whatever happened, I couldn’t allow her to catch me. I elected to listen to this very rational instinct. Despite my better judgment, I needed to play her game. So once again, how do you beat someone at their own game?

Turning left down the next hallway and jumping down a small flight of about five stairs, I headed down the senior hallway. This was one of those main hallways, designed to be extra long and wide, to allow plenty of room for all of the students’ lockers. Just as I turned the corner dow this way, I was instantly greeted with the looming figure of Jenny at the other end.

I won’t lie. Facing down a twelve foot tall eighteen year old classmate, no matter how beautiful, was downright terrifying. Somewhere in the back of my mind I noted how the ceilings were somehow fifteen feet high. Have they always been like that? Why haven’t I noticed? Odd choice of thoughts considering they could have been my last.

Jenny sighed. “Seriously dude? I gave you one job.”

She began walking towards me, in no apparent hurry. “Honestly, how hard is it to get lost in a place as big as this? I mean, have you ever seen zombie movies when they invade the school? It shouldn’t be that complicated.”

I had a few options in front of me, and one of them was very very stupid. I’ll give you one guess as to which one I chose.

“This is the part where you turn around and run the other way.” she hinted, still pretty far away at the moment.

To my left was a plastic case that held one of the school’s numerous fire extinguishers. It didn’t take much effort to kick the case off. Grabbing the fire extinguisher, I held it up like a battering ram, one hand on the nozzle, the other holding the heavy end. I turned back towards Jenny, knowing full well how laughable this all must have looked to her. To her credit, she was courteous enough not to laugh outright.

“Ah, now I see.” she realized, still walking forward. “A few have gone this route before. Funny, I wouldn’t have pegged you for a fighter. I respect that.”

“Please don’t,” I told her. “Stupidity isn’t my most respectable quality.”

I should have been shitting my pants right now, not exchanging banter. Still, I don’t know what it was about her, but I started to feel a little more at ease. Not that I wasn’t still afraid. No I was definitely still fucking afraid, but I also felt . . . caught up in the game, I suppose.

She laughed. “You’re funny. Show me what you got.”

With my new weapon in hand I ran to meet her. Jenny continued her lazy stroll. Not surprising. When you’re that big, what do you have to be afraid of? And as I ran closer, she only looked more intimidating. Jenny wasn’t just big, she was one of the most athletic students in the school. She had muscle, and definitely a lot of it now that she was literally twice as tall as I had always thought she was. Nevertheless, I made my choice. I could only follow through with this, and hope my end was swift and painless. As I came within twenty feet of her, Jenny stopped walking and merely stood there, her feet planted, legs spread, and hands held out like a wrestler. At the same time I raised the end of my fire extinguisher battering ram at level with my head. I was right on her, now was my chance.

Not a second too soon I dropped into a slide, just like the baseball player I had always wished I could be. At the same time I squeezed the handle of the fire extinguisher as hard as I could, the hose pointed upwards, and let the whole thing loose right in her face.

The range of the hose was pretty impressive. I was afraid the foam wouldn’t have reached that high, but it did. Her vision went from 20/20 to a complete white out, she even let out a startled yelp, which I somehow found oddly adorable for someone of her size. Against all odds, and common sense, my distraction worked, and I slipped right under her legs, and then some. Never thought I’d be thankful for the fact that linoleum has so little friction. As smoothly as I could manage I sprang back to my feet, and continued down the hallway, banking a sharp left towards the elevator, leaving a violently coughing Jenny behind.

How do you beat someone at their own game?

Sit down with them like you’re going to play their game, then punch them in the nose.

Amazingly enough my luck seemed to be with me today. Soon as I approached the elevator and hit the button, the doors opened wide. Sticking my head inside, I pressed the button that would take it down to the basement, then hopped back out. I kept running down to the far end of the hallway, and ducked behind the corner. It was a serious effort to stifle my labored breaths. Somehow I managed it, and not a moment too soon. I heard footsteps from a hallway away. Lying down flat against the floor, I peered around the corner as stealthily as possible. Jenny stood right in front of the elevator doors, hands on her hips, and still a bit of foam in her hair. She watched the numbers change on the screen above the elevator, indicating which floor it had been sent to. Though it was hard to tell from this distance, I could have sworn I saw her give a rueful shake of her head.

“Not bad. I may actually have some fun with this.”

Jenny went straight for the stairwell right next to the elevator and disappeared downstairs. I didn’t have much time left. Our basement wasn’t that big, and she could haul ass with legs that long. I began sprinting for the rear of the school, where all of the back doors were placed. Testing each one of them, I was disheartened to learn that they were all locked too. I should have known they’d be too easy of a choice. At the very least, I had bought myself a few minutes to myself.

At the very least I was royally fucked.

Turning around, I almost had a mini panic attack. Standing at the far end of the hallway, leaning casually against the wall, was the giantess herself. Jenny smirked as she brushed her fingernails against her sleeve and inspected them. She was really going all method actress trying to prove how royally fucked I was. I think I got the point without all of the theatrics, personally. But hey, it was her game.

“Clever ruse,” she praised. “I definitely didn’t see the fire extinguisher trick coming. Hat’s off to you for pulling that off.”

“Would you believe me if I said I didn’t think it would work either?” I asked, using all of my will to simply keep my composure.

This time she smiled sincerely. “Have a little more confidence in yourself. You’re doing much better than most.”

“You’re lying.” I simply stated.

“Well, plenty have lasted longer than you so far, but the game is still early.” she admitted. “Plus, no one had the guts to try something like that. I almost fell for the elevator trick, by the way. Until I realized there were no exits in the basement, so you had no reason to go down there. It was still a good trick.”

She really sounded like she meant all of the praise she was giving me. I guess, whoever else played with her, never gave her much of a challenge.

“I don’t know if I should be proud in this moment, or horrified.” I told her. “Maybe a little of both.”

“A little of both,” she agreed. “Anyway, you’ve got less than 25 minutes left. I’ll give you a few seconds since I wasted some time with this conversation.”

Jenny gestured with her arm, indicating for me to go first. I, for whatever reason, nodded thanks to her in response, before dashing away faster than the Roadrunner. Turning around the next corner I was met with the math and science hallway of the school. The fire extinguisher I was still carrying was almost empty, but I still had a few ideas. If this was a game, then I needed support items, and I knew where to get some.  Halfway down the hall I ducked into Mrs. Renfells classroom. Mrs. Renfells taught chemistry, which is the class I would have been in next period, if I hadn’t suddenly been cast as a permanently blue ghost in a game of Pac-Man. Even though writing was always my favorite subject, I did well in chemistry.

And now it was going to save my ass.

There were two doors into her room that ran along the same wall, one in the front end and one at the back. The classroom itself was fairly large, at least as far as high school rooms go. Each student, rather than have a desk of their own, sat at tables wide enough for two people. This was how the students were divided into partners for experiments. The class was full at the moment, with Mrs Renfells at the front giving a demonstration on how different compounds burn in various colors. At the back of the room were a number of cabinets. One in particular was shut tight and sealed with a padlock. That was my target. Using the fire extinguisher I still held, I bashed the cabinet handels several times, until they finally broke off from the door. Inside were glass vials, some containing liquids, others containing powders, all of which were clearly labeled. I searched frantically among them, until I finally found a small beaker, sealed tight, containing a dark grey powder labeled MANGANESE.

Moving fast, I grabbed a notebook from a nearby student and tore a couple of pages from it. I wrapped them around the beaker as tightly as I could, and used a rubber band that had been sitting on the countertop to hold them in place. No sooner had I finished then Jenny squeezed her massive frame through the back door of the room, the door closest to me. Despite her somehow raising the ceiling level of the school, she had kept all of the doors the same size. It should have looked comical to watch her carefully slide through such small openings, but it only emphasized exactly how huge she was, making her more intimidating. Despite all of the action taking place neither the students, nor the teacher gave any indication that they were aware of what was happening around them.

Twenty minutes left.

“Is you next plan to put me to sleep with a lesson?” she asked.

“If I wanted to do that, I would have chosen a Trigonometry class.” I countered.

She considered that for a second. “Huh, that actually might have worked then.”

With her attention diverted for that split second, I hurled the fire extinguisher right at her, aiming for her torso. My goal was only to get her to either side step it, or backup a bit. Instead, she snapped her hand out and caught it in a hand large enough to make the heavy metal cylinder look tiny. Then, with the most casual show of force I’ve ever seen, she squeezed the canister, until the entire fire extinguisher burst in her grip. Some remaining foam exploded from the crumpled can and splattered against the walls, almost reaching me. I could only gape openly at her. I’ve seen empty plastic water bottles with greater resilience than that canister had against her strength. Jenny only chuckled as she took a step towards me. Backing up, I picked up a textbook as thick as the average phonebook, and threw it at her head. She caught this one as well and, just for shits and giggles, ripped the whole thing in half as if it had been a single sheet of paper.

“Now that’s just fucking ridiculous.” I complained, still backpedalling.

But she only shrugged. “Hey, when you got it, you got it. Don’t tell me that that wasn’t at least a little bit cool.”

For added effect she raised both arms and flexed her biceps. I had to admit, yeah it was pretty impressive. Her muscles, while they weren’t particularly big for a girl her size, were well defined from years of athletics, and definitely huge compared to the average sized person.

Rather than admit that to her though, I just threw another textbook.

This time she didn’t even need to look at me to slap the book from the air, all while continuing her advance towards me. I continued to backup and throw books. They never seemed to bother her much. She either smacked them away like flies, or walked through them. When she had gone deep enough into the room, I decided now was a good time to take advantage of my smaller size. Hopping up on one of the tables, I continued to pick up books and throw them at her. These she sidestepped without any difficulty, making her way ever towards me. I stepped quickly from one table to the next, till I had made my way to the front of the room. Mrs Renfells stood at her stomach high countertop, lighter still in hand, explaining to the class all of the different compounds that made fire burn in different colors. Practically running over across her countertop, I snatched the lighter from her hand, jumped forward, and dove directly through the open door at the front of the room.

The dive was incredibly ungraceful, as was the landing. I didn’t do any kind of summersault like in the movies. Rather, I landed on my side like I had tried football tackling the floor, and slid into the hallway. Jenny was still in the room, moving slower since she had to carefully thread her way through all of the tables. Still, not wanting to waste a second, I pushed myself to my feet, and continued my escape down the hall. When I had approached the next corner, I stopped for a second. Now came the stupid part.

By now Jenny was sliding her monumental body through the same door I had escaped from. Though I should have probably been ducking down the hall by now, I took the lighter in my hand and used it to produce a small flame. If this worked, then it would no longer matter if I escaped or not, it would be the single coolest thing I had ever pulled off. I lit the paper I had wrapped the beaker in on fire like a molotov cocktail, drew my arm back, and launched my homemade grenade towards the living giantess.

Thanks to the raised height of the ceilings the beaker was able to arch higher than normal, allowing a further distance traveled. When it dropped back down to the ground it shattered at Jenny’s feet, throwing dark grey powder in all directions. Nothing happened for the first second, allowing me a chance to turn my head away. Judging from the flash I saw projected on the walls ahead of me, I can only assumed my plan had worked. The burning paper that surrounded the beaker had ignited the manganese, turning the projectile into one big flash grenade. I had seen manganese ignited before, specifically in the parking lot by Mrs Renfells, and I knew how potent that shit was. The blinding light alone would leave Jenny visually impaired for a few precious moments.

All the while, the clocks kept ticking.

The effect of the flash bomb would only last a few seconds, but that was plenty of time for me to scurry up the nearest staircase. There were at least three doors on the top floor that lead to staircases outside. One of these had to be the one leading to freedom. The first one proved to be useless, as did the second one. I was headed towards the first one, when Jenny burst forth from a staircase not too far from me. She didn’t seem hurt at all by my flash bang trick, which was the point. She did, however, have a noticeably wild look in her eyes.

I swallowed nervously. “You know, I never thought the person who literally killed me would be the popular girl. Though I’d always really hoped it would.”

“Kill you?” she asked. “As a matter of fact I’ve never had more fun! That’s why I want to make the game a little more challenging for you. Though, if you’re not quick, the result will be the same.”

Reaching over to her left, Jenny grasped the top of a locker, and ripped it from the wall without any sign of difficulty whatsoever. Then, if that weren’t incredible enough, she balled the thing up like a piece of scrap paper. Holding an entire locker in one hand, she cocker her arm back, and pitched the orb of twisted metal at me like the world’s most hardcore game of catch. She hadn’t been aiming directly at me, which made it easier to dodge. I suppose that that was the point, because judging by the sound that ball made on contact with the wall, it would have definitely put me in the hospital, if it didn’t kill me.

A warning shot.

I didn’t stick around long enough to watch her grasp another locker. I bolted down the hallway towards the last door on the top floor. This one proved to be locked too. Luckily there was a staircase right next to it, which I ducked into next. I narrowly avoided another metal projectile which slammed against the wall instead. Realizing I’d never be able to descend all of the stairs fast enough, I hopped my ass onto the railing, and allowed gravity and low friction to do their thing. It was a directly diagonally downwards staircase, which meant that my ass travelled fast down that pole. I guess if school didn’t work out (and I survived this) I’d have a welcoming career as a male stripper.

Ten minutes left.

There were doors directly next to the staircase, but these were also all locked. So I dipped down the hall and headed towards the home ed classes. From the sounds coming behind me, Jenny was headed there too. I launched straight into the nearest cooking class. Soon as I was inside, I spotted a desk chair with wheels next to a computer the teacher would input class attendance on. Jumping behind the chair, I waited till the moment when Jenny kicked the doors in. I, in turn, kicked the chair directly towards her. As she tried squeezing her way into the room, the chair hit her in her shins, tripping her up, and preventing her from instantly accessing the room where I was in.

Jenny didn’t waste a second in retaliating, kicking the chair back at me five times as hard. This time I actually had the chance to dive roll away from the projectile. I might have even looked a little cool while doing it. Coming to my feet, I grabbed the nearest box of whatever, and a plastic bottle of something, and ran to the set of doors on the other side of the room. More doors were in the hallway outside, but each one of them were locked. The nearest room now was the gym. The doors of the cooking class I had just left exploded forward. Jenny’s foot landed on the other side of the threshold, indicating that she had probably kicked them down. Hell, she had kicked them to kingdom-fucking-come with a leg that probably contained my body’s weight in muscle.

Five minutes left.

This time Jenny crawled through on her hands and knees, and she was pretty damn quick about it. With no time to waste, I threw myself though the doors of the gym. The nearest doors to outside were locked like all of the rest. The only other doors on the opposite side were the only ones I hadn’t tried yet. I sprinted for them with all of the strength left in my body. They came closer.

A sudden shock wave launched me from my feet, and I came down painfully on the hardwood floor of the gym. The box I had been carrying landed not to far from me, depositing its powdery contents all over the floor, while the bottle had somehow remained in my hand. Jenny. She’d caused a shockwave, that had really felt closer to an earthquake. She was on me now. I had to move. Almost there.

Two minutes left.

Despite the groans and protests of my body, I pushed myself to my feet and turned around. To say I was afraid was an understatement. Jenny seemed to know that the endgame was at hand, and had been jogging her way towards me, ready to conclude our little bout. I truly believe that facing down a rampaging elephant would have been less terrifying. She was just so big….

I held out a hand, not expecting her to listen to me in the slightest.

“Stop!” I roared. “Don’t take another step or I kill us both!”

Amazingly, that’s exactly what she did, coming to a halt not twenty feet from where I stood. The mass of powder on the floor was all that separated us. Time for chemistry to save me once again today.

“What are you talking about?” she prodded. Despite her excited disposition, Jenny didn’t seem like she wanted to hurt me. She reminded me of a little girl caught up in a fun game. All the same, this game was likely to get me killed, and I needed it to end.

I pointed to the powder on the ground. “That, is potassium sulfide.”

“And this,” I continued, indicating to the bottle whose label I hid behind my hand. “Is phosphorus trichloride.”

She cocked her head to the side. “Is that supposed to mean something to me?”

I smirked. “You didn’t think manganese was the only compound I swiped from chemistry class? These two ingredients together can make mustard gas. All I have to do is drop the bottle.”

All at once Jenny’s eyes narrowed, becoming more serious. “You wouldn't.”

“Wouldn’t I?” I challenged, inconspicuously inching my way backwards. “I have absolutely no idea what’s going on right now. Nor do I know what will happen when I lose this game. For all I know, you could kill me. So, the way I see it, I’ve got nothing to lose.”

“Am I supposed to believe you’d kill yourself?” she asked.

“You clearly don’t know me very well Jenny,” I told her, taking another tiny step back.

“You’ll do it?”

“Try me,” I replied. By now the door was almost against my back.

Jenny hesitated. I could see the various emotions play out in her eyes. Disbelief, doubt, self-questioning, anxiety, and fear. After a few seconds of deliberating, she took a step forward, and I threw the bottle. I heard her gasp as it dropped from my hand, and landed right in the midst of the powder. The clear fluid spilled forth from the plastic container, and emptied itself all over the compound on the floor.

It did nothing.

Jenny and I gazed at it for a few breathless seconds. I can imagine how she had expected it to do something climactic. Really she should have been able to tell on sight alone that I have a history of disappointing pretty young women. She looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

“That was a bluff, wasn’t it.” she plainly stated.

“Correction,” I said, while holding up a finger. With a push on the door behind me, the metal bar actually slid forward, and the entire door itself opened up before me. “That was a distraction.”

I had just enough time to savor the absolute look of shock on her face as I backed through the open doorway. Imagine that. Me, a scrawny guy who only started working out a few months ago, managed to outmaneuver the closest thing to a giantess I had ever seen in person.

“Whatever the fuck kind of game this was, I had a fun time,” I admitted to her sincerely. “But if you’ll excuse me, I believe I get to live now.”

Turning away from Jenny, who still stood in place without a word on her lips, I stepped through the unlocked exit….

…. And fell face first onto a pink surface that wasn’t at all like the outside pavement.

Lifting my face off of the ground I looked about and found that I was on some kind of light pink floor. Pale color was more like it, in fact. I noted a few lines on the surface that curved close together, but never crisscrossed. Beneath my hands, the floor I was on felt incredibly soft. Almost . . . Like flesh.

Looking up, despite every ounce of reason in my body telling me not to, I was greeted by the gigantic face of Jenny Delhaze. . . .

She must have been 200 ft tall, and literally held me in her hand.

Despite the trying events of the passed half hour, she smiled down on me, the one guy she was most likely to crush out of sheer enjoyment.

“Oh,” she sighed, almost taking me off my feet with her breath alone. Somehow I noted that her voice seemed to be holding back excitement. That, more than anything, was definitely not good. “Oh sweety. Try asking one more time.”