dinohigh, no humans allowed!

part 1. game plan of mirrors and masks

dinohigh. The bus stops at the gate of the prestigous aged academy. the oldest school in the country. I was given an admission coupon here by my late ancestor's estate. Although it arrived in the family a couple generations past its expiration, It should still be honored. Public education cannot refuse a learned mind. all those years studying. wasting my life away instead of playing with the other kids or playing games. all those missed Saturday morning cartoons that will never come back now that I have free time. that hollowed-out childhood filled with nothing but work. has allowed me to ascend to this moment.

where I can grace the halls of a place no human has been in over 100 years. or more. I straighten my tie. I fold the sleeves on my military-style jacket. and tie the shoes of my black boots. and one more thing. Opening my medium-sized camping bag, I pull out a ski mask. This will be the only thing that makes these pronoun lizards tolerate me. They all hate the look of a skinny face. our lack of big teeth. our non-lizard eyes. our smooth, fragile skin. and our weird nose and lack of a muzzle or snoot. This mask will protect my snootless face from discrimination, at least partially.

My hair still stuck out since the mask only covered my lower face and forehead. with my bangs falling over the design logo, obscuring it. Hu-co is a human clothing brand. one of the only ones who makes clothes for us and only us. Every other clothing brand gives us scraps. We are mere afterthoughts if we even get there. But to most dinos here, we don't exist. The only people who know about humans here know it from second-hand media, usually degrading us. as skinny rockthrowers, spearchuckers, and monkeys.

which, by the way, was super offensive for monkeys. saying they have lower crime rates than we do. and a lower homicide rate for prime-on-dino crimes. but it wasn't something I was ashamed of. I wasn't "one of the good ones." I wore my allegations on my sleeve. you see? As a human supremacist, I believe mankind can get past any adversity. especially if they are colorful gay lizards. We are the reason the meteor didn't hit the world and kill the planet. and I demand the respect I deserve. and I'm here at this school to prove it. one dino at a time. with words or this. looking at my side belt, a large hunting knife that curves in 3 angles in a diagonal way with holes inside it and multiple backwards and jagged edges.

My dad got this for me the moment he heard I was going here. in a world where the rules are stacked against you. You tend not to follow them anymore. You will do nothing but cheat yourself out of a fair victory by being non-altercative. Humans have a long and storied history of violence against other animal peoples. and I don't tend to stop now. besides? Girls like bad boys, right? That's what Mommy said. I shrugged, wondering if that was true or not. Girls don't like 9-to-5 desk workers; they aren't exciting.

I mentally cringe at the thought of how worked up I get about how others perceive me. and how I try to look strong, but? Can you blame me? They will tear me apart. These giant lizards might easily get offended by every microaggression, but get on their bad side, and they will turn you into meaty chunks on the wall. As long as I can act strong, they will think I am strong, so I have to get into their heads. Make them think I'm a threat, but not one big enough to fight back, but one big enough to run away from, or at least ignore. If I'm lucky, I can maybe even gain some friends through a display of force by beating up the less popular people. I have to keep a close eye on the social hierarchy; it's the rules of the jungle in this school. species heirarchy is almost as important as your own personal sets of skills. I physically cannot win any fights head-on, so my best options are my words and manipulating their puny reptile brains using their own instincts and nature against them. If I can master reading them, I can turn them against each other, making sure they leave me! alone.

but im going to have to be smart about this one wrong move and im finished, appearance is everything thats why i spent money i dont have on clothes the wonders of credit card. It ensures my survival now so I can pay my debts later. It's important to dress in an intimidating and rich way. Most people will not care about killing a poor person but will have second thoughts about a man with lawyers and prestige. Popularity should be my main goal. next to making connections and alliances. If I am able to use their herd mentality, I can easily win them over by saying what is popular or what they are predisposed by their nature to agree with. Usually, if that doesn't work, I can buy their affections or do tasks or favors for them. Another thing I can do is prey on their instincts and urges to fear certain things and behaviors by talking and acting in certain ways. But I have to remember that all these are merely a smokescreen of words; they hold all the physical power over me, and all my threats of violence are empty since they also have the social majority and control public opinion. I have to push them carefully in a way they think I have an advantage while remaining at a safe distance from any discussions, albeit physical or social. So long as I stay in areas where people mutually hate each other, they will not be able to single me out. And if that doesn't work,

I might have to get my hands dirty by sowing division by using existing species-to-species tensions, either contemporary or historical. Their physical power has always scared me, and their sharp teeth and claws have always made me uneasy to be around them. It made me think of tactics to defeat them, but each species required a different plan. The mentality of each species predisposes them to the attacks their bodies have adapted to in the wild. and I can't forget how their bodies have also been shaped and morphed for the modern day and the not-so-recent past. such as their new developments in hunting and fighting styles, it kind of stinks how all of the human data on dinosaurs is outdated by 100 million years, but that's what you get when you hide in caves all your existence. There are many people who prefer it to stay that way, including me. Socializing always kind of wasn't my strong suit, but.. I had to learn. Years of bullying have taught me just how much I need to talk my way out of things, and when talking won't work, I have to buy enough time to jump them by surprise or when their guard is down. Any fight that isn't a dirty ambush is almost guaranteed to lose. So I tend to stick in my lane as a scavenger and pick on only the weak. small. alone. like a true caveman hunter. I smile a deep, big smile. It is the human way. to prey on the easy targets. It's how humans survived this long. and that's how I'll survive this school.