Funny, how four little words can change your entire day. Before today, those four words didn’t mean anything to him. Before today, Isaac hadn’t even seen a tower in his life, so what were the chances of him having to one day worry about his Grandpa's cryptic writing?

  Apparently, a lot considering where he is right now.

  Isaac slowly pushed himself up off the rails. He’d seen enough, now all he had to do was not act suspicious.

  Stepping back from the edge, Isaac tried to calm down. Without turning his head, he checked to make sure that no one was watching him. His eyes darting side to side, checking out anybody close by.

  Thankfully, besides Herny and Luci, no one else was around. Nobody cared about the teenager by the railings. Everyone was just going about their day, none of them had to deal with what he was going through.

  Lucky them.

  Isaac didn’t know what to think. Was this it? Is this what his Granpa meant? Is Last Heaven the Tower that he was warning him about?

  All these questions and ideas just kept swirling inside his head like a hurricane. And as more questions and ideas popped up the hurrricane grew.

  His imagination was working against him this time, refusing to let him think about anything else. Every possible scenario was rushing through his head right now, some good, but most of them bad.

  Isaac bit the inside of his cheek. He had to stop himself before his brain exploded. The pain helped. And not a second too soon either. He hand was in his pocket about ot bring out the Key. If he had been a few seconds late everyone would have seen it.

  Barley a day here and his grandpa’s secret was almost exposed.

  More than ever, he didn't want to draw any attention to what he had in it. Especially not here, not now.

  Isaac rubbed his face with his hands, pushing his glasses further up his face as he tried to calm down.

  He wanted to leave. It didn’t feel right being here anymore, like he was somewhere where he wasn’t supposed to be.

  It made him think about the times when he’d sneak into his parents' room looking for his Game Boy after getting grounded for the fifth time that month.

  He was only getting his game back. He wasn’t doing anything wrong, wasn’t like he was stealing or anything. Still, it felt wrong being in there.

  He’d get anxious, worried that someone would catch him doing something that he wasn’t supposed to. He’d feel his heart would be pounding in his ears, and there’d be a weight on his chest that wouldn’t go away until he left.

  It was like he was in a tube of toothpaste being squeezed out of the room.

  That’s what it felt like right now. Like he was being squeezed and pushed on all sides to leave. Feeling that weight on his chest, it really got his blood pumping.

  “ Hey, you okay?” Luci asked.

  She’d been right beside him the entire time, seeing the same thing he’d been seeing, but her reaction was completely different from his. She was taken this way better than he was, at least she was sort of calm.

  Of course she was, she only had her view of reality shattered. He’s the one that had a mystery on his hands.

  Isaac fixed his glasses. He didn’t answer her. He couldn’t, not here. He’ll tell her when they get out of here, Right now he was still trying to get his thoughts straight. So he just stood there like an idiot, staring out over the casm, not saying anything.

  Before she could ask him again, Henry called out behind them.

  “ Come on, you two. We still have to head on down to Garden before we leave.”

  Isaac looked back at Henry as he waved for them to follow him. ‘Well, he’s excited at least, ’ Isaac thought. Standing over there with a big grin on his face, eager to show them the rest of the Tower before they had to leave, you’d have thought that he made the place himself the way he was so excited.

  Isaac could feel how much he loved Last Heaven. It was written all over his face every time he talked about a this or that building or that one tree over there. He was so proud of all of it.

  Turning back towards the edge, Isaac spat a wad of blood off over the side. He must have really bitten himself, huh. Putting one of his hands on the railing, Isaac felt around inside his mouth with his thumb. Yeah, he could feel the cut right there, man, why’d he have to bite so hard? He's gonna be feeling that for a couple of days.

  Taking a deep breath, Isaac tried to calm down his heart. It’d been beating pretty fast for a while now, but he thinks he’s gonna be okay. He’s ready to go now.

  “Urgh.”

  Or he would have been if someone hadn’t punched him in the side. It didn’t hurt that much, more of a surprise than anything, but still, someone punched him!

  Quickly, before it could leave his side, Isaac trapped the fist with his arm. Whipping his head to the side, Isaac wanted to see who it was that punched him out of nowhere.

  But when he turned and saw her curly black hair, all of his anger just left him.

  It was Luci.

  Of course, it was Luci, who else could it have been but Luci? No one is crazy enough to punch a random guy in the street for no reason. You know, besides himself, maybe.

  She didn’t even care that he was holding her fist against his body. Instead, she just stood there with her eyebrow raised, looking at him as if he was the one in trouble—the sheer audacity of her.

  The worst thing was that she did it again. She hit him. Again. She hit him again. Twice in one day, she’s him, both times for no reason.

  After what happened back at Henry’s office, you’d think that she’d know better.

  Isaac sighed, he didn’t want to deal with this right now. He wasn’t in the mood to play with her right now. He had a headache, and she was just making it worse. Letting go of her hand, Isaac turned and walked away.

  Or at least he tried to, but apparently, she wasn’t done. Cause the next thing Isaac knew, she was kicking him in the leg, making him trip and almost causing him to land flat on his face. Thankfully, he caught himself with his other foot, but it was close.

  Isaac grunted, this time with a hint of pain. He was starting to get a little mad.

  “ Argh! What!” He whispered/shouted.

  She didn’t say anything at first. Just stared at him with a look of confusion. Finally, she got close and whispered. “ Are you okay?”

  That was the last thing Isaac had expected to come out of Luci’s mouth. He thought that she was gonna go off on him for ignoring her, not ask if he was okay.

  He couldn’t help it, he smiled.

  Here he was worrying about a note from his dead Grandpa, and then Luci shows up, worrying about him. What’s his life right now?

  Isaac laughed a little under his breath. It's nice to know that Luci cares. He should do something nice for her when they get back.

  “ I’m fine.” He whispered. And then, to show her that he wasn’t lying, he turned and kicked her ass.

  “ Aiey!” Luci yelped in pain. Stumbling forward, she fell on her hands and knees. Her eyes wide in surprise, she probably thought he’d punch her back, but Isaac is nothing if not unpredictable.

  Isaac laughed as he ran away. Behind him, he could hear Luci’s rageful shout as she got back up and chased after him, but by then he was already too far away for her to reach him.

  Isaac made it to Henry first, skidding to a stop right in front of him. Luci trailing behind him as she rubbed her sore behind. Coming up beside Isaac, she glared at him with a promise of pain later.

  Isaac smirked at her. He knew she was shy about fighting him in the streets. She’ll wait until they're back in Lubbock, where people won't help him if they see him getting beat up. But she won’t do anything right now.

  Henry looked at them weirdly. He was probably thinking about how messed up their relationship was, and it was. But it worked for them.

  Luci didn’t care that Isaac was Isaac, and Isaac didn’t mind Luci being Luci. It worked perfectly.

  Henry took them deeper into the city. Taking more twists and turns than before. This city was confusing, it’s like all the roads were in a spiral towards the center, with branches connecting to other roads.

  The long walk did give Isaac time to think. Earlier, he kind of lost his mind for a bit, so many of his thoughts were still up in the air. He’s gotta make sure that he didn’t miss anything, so right now he's sorting through his brain. Slowly, though, so that he wouldn’t spiral again.

  First things first, Last Heaven. Is it the tower from his Grandpa’s note?

  Maybe?

  Apparently, his family’s known about magic and Last Heaven for quite a while now. According to Herny at least. His mom said that his grandpa built that office for them, and the lady at the front desk said something about “another Cantor”, so they must have also been going to school here, for how long? He doesn't know.

  Why didn’t they tell him? Stopping him from knowing that an entire world of magic exists just a few steps away. Again, he doesn't know, no one tells him anything.

  All that together means that his family and Last Heaven have had a long history together, and he hasn’t heard a bad thing about them yet.

  So maybe this wasn’t the tower, just a tower.

  Then again, he hasn’t heard anything about them, so… better to be safe.

  What he’s really interested in, though, is magic.

  In his books, they described magic as, well…magical. Wizards could shoot lightning, witches could make towns disappear. In the stories, magic made the world feel so much bigger and colorful than it should have been. Magic was something that made impossible things possible.

  That’s what Isaac wanted. So what if there was danger? He wanted to go out and have fun with magic. Be like those heroes in his books, fighting monsters and exploring tombs. He was tired of people telling him to be normal and to act like everyone else.

  If he stayed here and learned magic, then he would never have to be normal. That guy over there just pulled out an umbrella from his top hat and floated away. Nothing here was normal, and Isaac liked it.

  “ Okay, just down these stairs and we’ll be at the school in no time,” Henry said, walking down the biggest set of stairs Isaac had ever seen.

  Isaac stopped for a second just to be amazed at how big these stairs were. They were wide enough that six people could stand side by side with their arms out and touch either side. And that wasn’t the only weird thing about those stairs either.

  When they were walking down the stairs, Isaac felt like his body was being stretched and pulled in different directions. It was a very weird feeling, but no one else mentioned it, so he thought that it was just him.

  He wanted to stop and figure out what made him feel this way, but with more and more people coming behind him, he decided to ignore it and keep walking. It went away after he got off the stairs, so he didn’t say anything.

  The city underneath was nothing like the one on top. It was so different he almost thought that he had stepped through another doorway.

  The two cities were like night and day. Above, the city was bathed in constant light from the sun overhead, but here, the city was beautifully contrasted by shadows wrapped around every building. The only source of light coming from the pillars encircling the city, holding up the ceiling above.

  The light coming through the arches and the shade from up above gave this part of Last Heaven a cool feeling. Totally different from the top, where it felt like everything was in a constant motion, everywhere he looked, there was something new to see.

  Everything down here was calmer compared to the city above them. Some people were barely leaving their house, having just gotten out of bed, and were now about to start their day.

  The best part was that, with the streets less crowded and no shops to distract them, Henry was able to lead them through the city more quickly.

  They didn’t make it far, though, before Luci noticed something weird.

  “ The ceiling?”She said, stopping behind them.

  Isaac stopped looking up to see what she meant. He didn’t see anything wrong. It looked cool, though. The murals at the top certainly looked interesting, he was too far away to make out what they were about, but he could tell that they were about the history of this place. And the waterfall coming from the city above looked majestic.

  “It’s curved.” She clarified when no one got it.

  And it was. Isaac stared a bit longer, still not getting it before it clicked. How did he not see it before? The ceiling was a dome. Not only that, but it was miles above them. How was that possible? They hadn’t walked down that many stairs.

  “ Yes?” Henry asked, still confused.

  “ But the floor above was flat, so how can the ceiling be curved? And the height-.”

  “ Oh, yes, yes. The spells.” He interrupted her.

  “ Spells?” Isaac asked curiously.

  “ Yes, well, so that people don’t feel crowded, spells were placed to expand the space that we live in. Many floors are actually expanded to be the size of entire cities, allowing us to fit as many people as we want within these walls.”

  Continuing with the tour, Henry kept on talking.

  “ This floor is called Pommier, and above us is Riendal. This is where you’ll go to school. It’s also where you’ll find most of your school supplies.”

  “ What kind of supplies would we need,” Isaac asked.

  Already he was imagining all the weird things they were going ot ask them to buy. Frogs and eyeballs, maybe they’ll get a black cat and some chalk to summon demons.

  “ Oh, you’ll need notebooks and pens as well as some binders for your classes. You’ll know more when you get your schedule.” Henry smirked at Isaac, already knowing wha the was thinking. “ What did you think that you’ll be using parchment and quills?”

  Isaac frowned. Why can't anything go the way he wants it to? And even if it can’t, couldn’t they at least let him dream?

  “ Haha, no, we keep in touch with Earth more than you think.”

  “ What about wands?” Luci asked.

  “ You want to be doing some magic, I get it. But well, that’ll be up to you, I guess. We don’t sell wands.”

  Isaac stopped for a second. He tried to go over what Henry just said. He wasn’t sure that he heard that right. Didn’t sell wands? Then what was everyone else using? Isaac was pretty sure that he saw people waving pointy sticks around, making magic, doing spells, so what was that?

  Thankfully, Henry explained.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  “ Everyone’s Focus-.”

  “ Focus?”

  “ Your wand, or stone, as I’m sure you’ve seen. Anyway, no one makes the Focus, they come to us.”

  “ What?” Luci asked, not getting what he meant.

  “ SHH!” Isaac shushed her, annoyed by her constant interruption. Didn’t she get that if she just kept her mouth shut, they’d learn things a lot faster?

  Of course, he got punched on the shoulder for that one, but he’d let it go for now. He was more interested in what Henry was saying.

  “ Yes. No one really knows why, but between the ages of thirteen and sixteen, Focuses will come to us on their own. Many people believe that Focuses are actually made by Magic itself. There are some stories of people finding their Foci among weeds, inside an animal, and some even growing out of their kitchen table - Someone even swears up and down that after hours of intense stomach pain that they found their Focus in their toilet.”

  Well, as interesting as that last story was, Isaac was more interested in knowing how he’ll find his Focus.

  “ How will we know if we find one?” He asked.

  If they can come anywhere and at any time, how does he know if it's the one? What if he’s already seen it and just kept on walking?

  Henry laughed. “ Haha, you’ll know. You can’t miss it. It's a feeling that you just have.”

  Isaac frowned. That wasn’t helpful at all. Isaac huffed as he put his hands in his pockets. That’s fine, he’ll ask his family, he’s got a few things he wants to ask them anyway.

  Isaac pushed that out of his mind for right now, they were finally about to see the school. The entire time they had been walking, Isaac had been looking around, wondering what the school would look like compared to the other schools he’d been to.

  Surely, a school teaching magic in another world would be unique.

  Isaac saw it first. He could see it before they even made it around the block. There, standing tall over the houses in front of him, was Garden. And from what he could see, he could definitely say that it was unique.

  It wasn’t a normal four-wall building. Instead, it had been built in the shape of a hexagon. It looked weird, like someone had taken a giant’s toy block and stuck it standing up like a tower.

  Oh, yeah, that too, Isaac must have glossed over that part in his mind.

  It was a tower.

  Garden Academy was a tower.

  Things were starting to get complicated now.

  Arh, why couldn't Granpa have written a more clearer note than ‘Don’t trust the Tower’? What, he couldn't be bothered to write which tower?

  In fact, now that he was thinking about it, a tower was just a narrow free-standing building that was tall. If we looked at it from a literal point of view, then any tall narrow building was a tower. Was he supposed to just not trust anybody? What in the hell did Granpa mean?

  Aye, this was going to give Isaac a headache.

  Isaac massaged his temple. ‘ This is ok,’ he thought, ‘ this is fine, it doesn’t change anything. I just have one more thing to worry about, that’s it.’

  Whatever it was, he was still going to this school, whether he liked it or not. Getting worked up on this wasn’t gonna help anybody, especially not him.

  Turning the corner, Henry stopped on the street across from the school. “ Here it is, Garden Academy. One of the best schools in Last Heaven.”

  It was big, one of the tallest structures on this floor. Just by the windows, Isaac counted about twelve floors, give or take. What really caught his eye, though, were the six large cathedral-style windows going right around the middle of the building.

  Those windows looked bigger than his house.

  He couldn't see what the rest looked like. Around the school, another three-story building was built around the school like a fence, blocking the rest of the school from their eyes.

  Across the street, they could hear students talking and laughing, filling the school grounds with their noise. Many of them looked like they were relaxing outside, sitting under trees or walking with their friends. Others were going back into the school with bags slung over their shoulders and books in their hands.

  Today was supposed to be the last day of school, so Isaac was surprised to see so many people still here. A group of five girls walked in a circle as they headed towards the school. One of them saw Isaac looking and giggled something to their friends, next thing Isaac knew, they were all looking at him and giggling.

  Happy to make others laugh, Isaac smiled as he lifted his arm high into the air and waved at them. This seemed like the right thing to do as it made them giggle eve harder as they went inside.

  Luci pulled his hand down, annoyed by how much attention he was drawing from everyone else.

  “ Okay, let's head on in, sign you up, and get your classes situated,” Not waiting for them to follow him Henry began crossing the street heading towards the school.

  He waved at a couple of people, no one stopping him as he reached the doors and went inside without them.

  “ Tch!” Luci gritted her teeth next to him. Turning his head, Isaac could see how upset she was. Her arms were crossed against her chest as her foot started rapidly tapping on the ground. She was biting her lip as she glared at where Henry had just walked in.

  This sudden shift from her earlier attitude would shock most people. Usually, she was so solid, not showing any emotion to anyone, even him. They wouldn’t know what was wrong or how to help her.

  But Isaac knew exactly what was wrong with her. This wasn’t the first time he’d seen her like this. She’s done this before when they were in sixth grade.

  She was mad, furious, because Henry hadn’t asked them if they wanted to attend. And Luci hated people making decisions for her.

  Once, on their way to Dallas for a swimming meet, their swimming coach was trying to get everyone on the bus. They were already running late as the buses that were supposed to arrive by 6:00 am instead arrived at 12:00 pm.

  But Luci refused. Because that morning to feed all the kids, the coaches had gone and gotten breakfast burritos for everyone, taking their orders before they left. But when they got their food, Luci saw that she didn’t get her sausage, egg, and potato. She had got chorizo.

  Apparently, one of the coaches wasn’t feeling well and had eaten one of the burritos to settle his stomach, that burrito being Luci’s.

  The coaches tried to get her to listen. They were running late, and they just couldn’t leave her there. Her parents had already left, and no one wanted to leave a little girl with strangers. They wanted her parents to talk some sense into her, but they had already left and weren’t answering their calls.

  They tried hundreds of ways to get her to calm down, they tried giving her someone elses, going back to get another, and even threatening to kick her off the team. But she just wouldn’t get on the bus.

  Someone had taken what was hers and didn’t even ask her if that was okay. They had made a decision for her, and she wasn’t happy.

  So, instead of listening to everyone and getting on the bus, she sat down on hot asphalt for over an hour, refusing to move even when her legs started to get heat blisters. It was only after everyone got fed up with her that they picked her up, kicking and screaming, and put her on the bus themselves that they finally got to leave.

  It was over 100 degrees that day. He got a good laugh that month as he watched her deal with sunburn when they got back.

  But she can’t act all stubborn this time. He could see she was just as interested in magic as he was. And if she walked away now, then she might never have another chance like this.

  She’d come around eventually, try to forget what Henry did, and move on. But Isaac wasn’t waiting for her to make up her mind. So he was going to help her.

  Keeping eye contact with her, Isaac started skipping backwards towards the door. It was hard to do, but so worth it. The look on her face was giving him. It was hilarious, but he couldn’t laugh. He had to concentrate or else he’d trip and ruin the whole thing.

  Feeling the door at his back, Isaac reached for one of the handles behind him. Fumbling a few times, he finally opened the door and slipped inside. The entire time, he kept eye contact with her, never once breaking gaze. He only looked away from her after he closed the doors.

  Turning around, Isaac looked around. Trying to soak up everything in sight.

  The inside was nicer than the outside, he thought. Chandeliers and lanterns lit up the hallways, bathing everything in a warm glow. The walls were decorated with portraits and past trophies that highlighted just how old Garden was.

  All things considered, it all looked fairly normal, he was kinda disappointed. He was hoping to see some crazy things, this place was supposed to be magic after all.

  That’s when he looked closer. The walls, for one, looked off. They were taller, taller than they had any right to be. Just like how the tower was expanded to fit an entire city on this floor, the inside of this building was enlarged way past what it should be.

  Not only that, but parts of the walls were moving, too. Walking up to the closet wall, Isaac saw that actual images were sculpted into the walls. Various scenes of nature were carved on these walls, and they were actually moving. There were trees swaying in the wind and waves of ocean crashing into the walls. They looked so real that if it wasn’t for the color, Isaac would have thought that he was looking out of a window.

  Isaac got closer. He wanted to see if he could spot anything on the walls that made these scenes move. Everything was so detailed, he could even see the lines of the leaves on this bush.

  He just wasn’t expecting a face to pop out.

  “ Whoa.” Isaac gasped in awe.

  Isaac would have liked to have said that he was shocked to see a face suddenly come out of a wall, but after years of living with his family, jump scares didn’t work for him anymore. Do you know what it's like to have your grandpa crash through the window of the thirty-third floor of his office just to scare you?

  Yeah, years of that have pretty much taken out all of Isaac's surprise, he just rolls with it now. So a little girl's head popping out of some bushes wasn’t gonna be enough to scare him. Even heads coming through walls didn’t surprise him, though he was used to the heads actually coming through the walls, not being part of the wall.

  Taking off his glasses, Isaac cleaned them before putting them back on to check to see if she was still there. Yeah, there she was, her head still sticking out of the wall, with an innocent smile on her face.

  Isaac moved his head closer to the little girl. Close enough that their noses were almost touching. He didn’t know what he was looking at. She wasn’t a normal girl, that was for sure. Her skin looked like it was made of stone. The same stone as the rest of the walls. Like she had been sculpted there with the rest of the scenery.

  He could even see the cracks on her ‘skin’ this close. What was she?

  She must have thought that he was funny cause she started giggling. She then started to pull her head back, only to pop it back out again.

  “ Boo” She said everytime her head would came out. Her voice was weird, he thought. It was almost like a whisper, like wind passing over stone.

  Isaac smiled as he moved his head back. It was just a little girl. Whatever she was, she wanted to play with him. It was kinda cute.

  Isaac decided to play with her a little. Bringing up his fingers, Isaac waited for the next time her head came up before he flicked her on the nose.

  “ Ah.” He let out a pained breath of air.

  Apparently, even though she acted like a little girl, she was still made of stone. Holding his fingers in his hand, the little girl started giggling at him again.

  “ What are you doing?”

  Isaac looked behind him. Luci was right behind him. She still didn’t look happy. She still had her arms crossed, and she was looking at everything with a deadly glare. Him most of all.

  Isaac ignored her and looked back at the wall. But the little girl was gone.

  “ Nothing.” He said after a while.

  He didn’t feel like explaining everything to her right now. She’d think that either he was lying or crazy, probably both, knowing him. Plus, they didn’t have time for him to tell her about the little girl. They still had to catch up with Henry before they lost him.

  They found Henry was further down the hall, still talking about the school. Isaac couldn’t believe it. He never even realized that they weren’t right behind him.

  “- Dormitories are at the North and South sides of the building, while recreational areas are on the East side. But all offices are here on the West side are-.”

  Isaac was barely paying attention to what Herny was saying. He was keeping his eyes on the walls, wondering if he could find that little girl again. The closer they got to the school, the more the walls seemed to change. Each scene seemed more real than the last. He was even starting to hear sounds coming from them.

  Oceans and plains to towering forests with canopies hanging overhead, then to mountains with clouds and waterfalls that echoed through the halls. It was like nature was coming to life on the walls.

  He never saw the little girl, but he could make out some eyes staring at them through the gaps in the trees.

  Isaac couldn’t take it anymore. He had to ask.

  “ Hey, Mr. Perez?”

  “ Yes?”

  “ What’s with the walls?”

  “ The walls?..OH! I keep forgetting that you don’t know this stuff, Hahahaha.” Henry laughed.

  Isaac waited for him to finish. He wasn’t mad at being laughed at, in fact, he was fine with it. Isaac loved to see people laugh, so if they were laughing because of him, then all the better. Plus, they did kind of destroy his office earlier.

  “ Haa. The walls are home to the Golems that the school employs.” Henry explained after he was done laughing. “ They’re just something that helps around the school when we need them..Oh, here we are.”

  Henry stopped them in front of the office. Grabbing one of the glass doors, he held it open while they walked in.

  Golems, Isaac thought about what he said. Was that what she was? Issac didn’t know. In his books, golems were basically robots made of stone. They weren’t supposed to be able to think or feel. But that little girl…she seemed so alive.

  He wondered if she could go into rooms or if she could only stay on her wall. He wanted to know just what she was. Maybe if he asked her, he could learn more.

  “ Hm,” Luci hummed in front of him.

  “ What?” He asked.

  “ Nothing, just thought that the walls looked nice.”

  Isaac could see what she meant. Outside, everything was more natural, trees, oceans, mountains. But here, it was like he was looking out into a garden.

  Roses and other flowers protruded out of the walls and into the office. They looked so real that Isaac could almost smell them. Further in, he saw more ‘golems’ sitting at tables and gazebos, drinking tea and having a good time. None of them looked like that little girl, though, these were more “ fancy” in their dresses and gowns.

  He wouldn’t say that it looked nicer, but he could see the appeal. It was more…calming compared to outside. Too bad the rest of the office ruined it.

  The office was a hive of activity as everyone prepared for the last day of school. Everyone was busy furiously typing on what looked like floating computers at their desks. Even the golems were helping, coming up to and taking papers and letters before going back in and taking them somewhere else.

  Henry ignored the chaos in front of him, and instead he took them further inside. Towards the back a lady was sitting at a corner desk away from everyone else. She too looked busy as she angry slammed her fingers into the keys, each time making a loud thud.

  She was so engrossed in her work that she didn’t even notice them standing right in front of her.

  “ Hey Unique, I've got two more kids to sign up.” Henry said.

  Shocked to have someone bothering her, Unique jumped out of her chair, knocking over some of the items on her desk.

  “ Grrh!” She grunted angrily.

  Pushing the floating screen away from her face, she glared at Herny.

  “What?” She asked, her hand reaching out to swipe a yellow strand of hair out of her face.

  “ Hey, what's going on?”

  “ Dammit Henry what do you what, can’t you see I’m busy! Those idiots over there got their paperwork mixed up, so now we have to get this fixed before the end of the day, or else the offices will close, and they won’t be open again until August!”

  Watching her tear into Herny, the only thing that Isaac could think about was that "Unique" was definitely a word for her. Giantess was better.

  Isaac didn’t want to be mean, but there just wasn’t any other way to describe her. She was already a head taller than he was, and she was sitting. Her hands looked like they could wrap around his entire head. She looked like she could take on an elephant and win.

  The thing that threw Isaac off though, was the pink. The pink lines running through her hair, the pink old lady reading glasses on her nose and, most shockingly of all, her pink eyes.

  Bright bubble gum pink eyes that were still glaring angrily at Henry.

  Henry tried to calm her down. “ Sorry, I didn’t know you were so busy, I just needed-.”

  “ What! Cause if you ask me to take over for you right now, I swear… I don’t have the time cause I HAVE TO WASTE MY TIME FIXING WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE THE RIGHT TIME!!” Unique as screaming at the end. Leaning over her desk, she looked down the office at everyone still working. No one looked up, they all kept their heads down and worked faster.

  Henry waited for her to finish. When she was done yelling, he leaned forward and whispered.

  “ Unique, these kids are here to sign up for next year.”

  She froze. Slowly, she turned her head to look at them, noticing for the first time that they were standing right behind Henry. Her eyes were wide, as if she had just been caught stealing candy from the pantry.

  Isaac waved at her with a smile on his face, he thought this whole thing was hilarious. And absent-mindedly, she waved back. She didn’t even realize what she was doing, just doing it out of habit. When she looked at her hand and realized that she was still waving she immediately grabbed it with her other hand and brought it down.

  Embarrassed, Unique slammed her head down onto her desk with a loud thud, her arms wrapped around her head so that no one could see her. Then she started to scream.

  “ Ahhhhh!” Screaming into her arms, Unique started kicking her desk, shaking it with every hit.

  Her kicks sounded like battering rams every time they hit her desk. BAM! BAM! BAM!

  Watching this was awkward. Isaac had never seen an adult act like such a kid. No one knew what to do, so they just stood there, waiting for her to calm down by herself. Then she started crying.

  “ Hey!” He tried to calm her down. “ No need to be embarrassed, we can see that you stressed out, do you want us to come back latter?”

  “ No!” She cried.

  “ Well..” Herny nervously rubbed his neck, not knowing what to say.

  Isaac didn’t know what the big deal was. He didn’t mind the screaming. In his family, it’d be strange to have someone not screaming. They scream when they're happy, scared, and especially when they’re mad.

  Screaming’s just a way for people to release all that pent-up emotion. The real problem is when they bottle it up.

  Luci didn’t care. As long as someone wasn’t yelling at her, then they could do whatever they wanted. She was more interested in Unique’s floating computer screen. Reaching out, Luci turned the screen around, wanting to see what was on it.

  But before she could even see anything, Herny stuck out his hand and took it back. Luci whipped her head around, glaring at the back of Herny’s head as he placed the screen back on the desk.

  Unique picked her head back up. Getting a tissue from her desk, she started to clean up her makeup. Streaks of pink and purple eyeshadow and liner running down her face.

  “ No.” She sniffed. “ It’s ok, it's my fault anyway. I’m sorry you kids had to see me like this. I’m not usually this much of a mess. It's just-”

  She grabbed a couple of more tissues before blowing her nose. “ It’s just the stress, and those idiots over there, and Ollie just broke up with me, and, and..Whaaa.” She started crying again.

  “ Ok, ok. Why don’t I finish with these kids while you go clean yourself up, okay?” Henry came around the back of the desk. Grabbing Unique by her shoulders—something almost comical considering how much smaller she was—he got her to stand up and start making her way out of the office.

  “ Phew.” He said, taking a seat at the desk.

  “ Sorry about that, you guys. I didn’t know there’d be this much drama. Let's get you squared away and back home, okay? It's almost past lunch, you guys must be hungry already.”

  After pressing a few keys on the keyboard, Herny turned the screen to face them.

  “ Ok, these are all the freshman classes. Let's choose what you like, and we’ll see what classes are still open.”