dinohigh, no humans allowed!

part 2.

The bus driver looks at me, lost in my thoughts, with an angry face. Hey kid, wake up and stop daydreaming. I didn't get all day. wats wrong? feeling nervous about being the only skin chimp at the school? dont be. Ever since they started accepting other archosaurs, you're probably not the highest or lowest sorry sob on the menu. Use that to your advantage.

I look at him, snapping out of my stupor. I get up quickly. and he offers me a hand to shake as I am about to leave. Goodbye, Chimp. It was nice knowing you. Don't die too quickly. I don't want another one of your kind to replace you; I have to drive them here again. and you know how far human towns are from this place. I hate 23-hour drives.

i smirked. Soon, old fart, I will own this place. flashing my coupon card. If I play my cards right, I get to inherit a large share of the school's stock since my family was one of its original investors and owned the land it expanded into all those 100 years ago. He gave a big smile in return. Oh wow! big shot, eyy. Well, don't forget your old man when you're up on top. Oh, and a word of advice. Avoid staying on the roadside and in the in the streets near the schools; they are full of gangs. and I didn't get these stab scars for show. 

I internally jump in joy. My tricks had worked even on this old crook. All I need to do is show off my perceived wealth, and they take me seriously. Only a minute ago, I was called a slur and openly and freely insulted. It pays to be rich, and money and inequality are the only things keeping me from being on the menu. so long as I can widen perceived gaps between our standing. I will instantly be liked by all these violent fools.

I wave my hand as I get off the bus, and he waves back. a bit more friendly. thankful for the advice. I see a bunch of students in leather jackets of different patches waiting on the sides of the road with hot rod cars and motorcycles. Their scales and feathers were gray and dull shades of color. I despised hoodlum junkies, troublemakers, and thugs, but I had to admit they were pleasing to the eye. I admired their dangerous look and wanted to imitate it. But there is only so much a person without fangs, wings, claws, and teeth can do.

a bit further away from the main entrance. in the front gates, a drive-way into the school's inner roadsides is a lot more comfy and clean. where the rich families drop off their brats and princesses and other snobby stuck-up jerks.

the people. or rather, animals. as they should be called. who studied here were all shapes and sizes; it was like my eyes were being bleached with the highest saturation of obnoxious deviant art color palettes for sonic OCs. Everyone was just so damn colorful. feathers, frills, scales, and spikes of every shade and in such intense light. with such expensive-looking and detailed clothes. embroidered and embelished on every sleeve, dress, and corset. Damn, the people here were loaded with money. I almost felt powerless to be around here. but they didn't know I was a poor, broke loser. My family had once been like them—a rich, uptight, powerful house. But we as a species lost that long ago when the pro-Dino parties in power seized all human-owned land that wasn't deemed essential for living. My family made a last-ditch effort to save our land by selling it at an extremely low price to the school. They happily preyed on our misfortune. 

typical Dino institutions. Leave it to them to teach the next generation and everything after how to rob everyone else but them of anything valuable. Soon, I bet mankind will go extinct. These lizards are trying to get rid of us. but I'm not going down without a fight. I glare at the space around me at no one in particular, but rather at society as a whole. I hate these people. and I hate how they hate me, and I can't do anything about it, gripping my fist. 

I do the smart thing. as I approach the main school building. and I move to the shadows. into the bushes behind the trees in the main walkway. I have learned all my life to stay away from the direct gaze of these animals; they will always attack you without provocation if they see you in the open. They feel less confident in attacking you when you are at the sides or obscured behind something. Even then, as I'm hidden, the people that walk around me give me angry, disgusted looks. WHO LET IN THE APE? Didn't we ban them? ewwww, what's that thing? What kind of ugly animal is that? 

My ears never know any rest; every day is one new insult after another when dinos hate you. That means about 100 thousand species, some of which I don't even know the names of. all hate you for simply existing, and they all hate you in different ways and express it in different ways. but it all feels the same to me now. It's like being torn apart from all directions soon; it doesn't matter how. All that matters is your being ripped to shreds; thats all you feel. not any specific pain handcrafted to hurt you. just im in pain in general.

deep breath. Stop thinking about it. Ignore what's happening to you, I say to myself. I put on a crafted mask to represent my persona, and again, I am composed. lie or go extinct. Those are the rules of the game you were born into. but still.. It gets harder every day.

The insults are everywhere. i just.. can't take it anymore. 

Look at that thing—ewww, it's so bland and gross. Is its hair black? Wow, how boring. Imagine being such a bland animal. a particularly pricky bitch triceratops. covered in jewelry, says to her friends as they eat snacks at the side of the crossing I was walking on. They are talking to someone on the phone who sounds just as obnoxious. Ewwww, don't let him see you. I bet they are jealous of our gorgeous, perfect species bodies. with their ugly meat-suasage limbs. They are having a deeply invested conversation about how much they hate my kind. 

Oh, wait, no. I re-adjust my gaze and see they are talking about a video they are sharing together on the phone, laughing at a human being beaten up by a triceratops. 

Gerrrr, I snarl quietly. Trigas: These savage animals never change. They used to be hated as much as we were, but slowly they were elevated to the ranks of respectable dinos while we stayed in our muddy, miserable ditch, still being hated. She is now saying some horrible and mean things about humans.

Ewww, gross. Why would you say that, she says? Her friend replies, Sistaaa, can you imagine going to school with these chimps? Ewww, so gross. I heard they are like ultra violent. My cousin had one in her school, and it killed one of the smaller raptors with its bare hands as a can opener. Arggh, she frowned in disgust. The mental image of that is so disgusting. Imagine getting a monkey's hands on you. Her friend smirked and threw the camera into their video call. Oh, oh, I bet you're into that doo! Do you not want some disgusting freak as a boyfriend? EWWWWW she squeeeled yuckky i cant stand the idea of going to class with one let alone liking one those monsters dont deserve rights we should put them all in zoos so we can throw coconuts at them they would like that anyways since they love throwing rocks cuz they are so stupid. She giggled a truely girly and inocent laugh.

It's amazing how natural their hate is. From the moment they are born, a dinosaur despises mankind, and they see nothing wrong with it. like it's a just and noble thing. I wish we hadn't saved them. I wish we let them all die. I couldn't contain my anger. How could they say this about us and think it's okay? Even now, she has this innocent look like shes the type to say, Im not racist, I love all dinos everywhere, I just hate humans because they are scum, and then get celebrated as being so open-minded and progressive.

People like that were everywhere here. And if I was going to make a good first impression, I needed something on my record to prove in business that people couldn't just shittalk me like they did while I was walking to school here today. This won't happen to me every day for the next 5 years. No, this ends today. and I know just how it will, at least. subside a bit. They won't be able to insult me without feeling at least a tiny bit scared of me. That is my only reprieve.

I bring my knife out as the girl continues to watch videos of humans being beat up. as her friend continues to tease her about liking humans, even though she clearly hates them. and they laugh cheerfully together about another video of a human being robbed on camera by some thugs. Well, I hope she can understand where I'm coming from. when I take something from her.