The Ogre 03 (Patreon)

Another day another desperate attempt to keep living when Holly the Ogre was out for blood. I packed up my lunch as usual, making an extra portion for her. I sure hoped she wasn’t allergic to anything… otherwise I’d soon become allergic to life. I was one sandwich away from death, or at the very least the worst wedgie of my life.

The day progressed pretty much as I thought it would. I sat next to Holly and acted like there was an invisible wall between us. At one point she was pulled out of class. Maybe she was being disciplined for another fight? I tried not to think about it much. I didn’t want to imagine the day I didn’t show up the class and everyone watched her go down to the principal’s office for turning me into a pile of meat.

At recess, I nervously walked over to “Holly’s spot,” which she had so adamantly claimed for her own. The word spread quickly. No student would dare even approach it, except for me. I waited nervously but Holly didn’t show up. Maybe she had forgotten about-

“WOW you are a lucky guy!” Matt said showing up out of nowhere.

“GAH! How do you DO that!?” I asked, my heart trying to jump out of my chest from the scare.

“Detective… Ninja” Matt said trying to look cool.

“Just… don’t scare me OK? I’m already ready to jump out of my skin.”

“Well then do I have good news for you!” Matt said taking out his notebook. Turns out that winged mutant that Holly pruned the other day? Well her parents are pretty influential. The school board’s phones were ringing off the hook. Holly must have gotten detention, maybe even suspended.”

“So, I’m safe for the week?”

“For now, sure. Who knows, maybe she will forget about you entirely.”

I felt… strange. On one hand I felt relief. On the other hand, the prospect of Holly forgetting about me was kind of sad. I really wanted her to try my sandwich.

“I’ll be right back,” I said to Matt who… had somehow already disappeared again. I walked over to the detention hall and peaked through the window. There she was, sitting in the middle of the room with an angry scowl on her face. She was the only student there, with a single solitary professor looking over her.

“I’m going to get a coffee,” the professor said. “I’ll be back in fifteen minutes. Don’t try anything stupid. Your situation is already bad, and you’ll only make it worse.

“Yeah yeah,” Holly mumbled. “I got it ‘big stakes, future of your education, blah blah’ just get your bean juice old man.”

The professor grunted in disgust and left the room, slamming the door behind him. I must be crazy for even thinking about doing what I was about to do… but I did it anyway. I snuck into the room after the professor left. Holly looked genuinely surprised to see me.

“Coming to gloat?” she said with a sneer. “Laugh at the ogre getting put in a cage. Typical…”

“No… I… just wanted…”

“Listen you little shit. I might be stuck in here for now but I can find you after school ends, and you are just as soft and punchable then as you are now.”

“Stop it!” I said raising my voice for a bit. She was shocked I had the bravery. I reached into my bag in the moment of silence. “I just wanted to deliver the sandwich I promised you. They probably don’t give you lunch in here.” I took it out and threw it on her desk.

Holly looked at me puzzled, then looked to the sandwich, then back to me. Without breaking eye contact she unwrapped it and took a big bite. “Oh maaaaan that’s good,” she said, wiping her mouth with her forearm. “You better not have put anything funny in here… “

“No nothing! It’s just a normal sandwich.”

“Good, because if it was spiked with a laxative or something, you’d be dead before I could make it to the bathroom…”

The room was silent as she wolfed down the rest of the sandwich.

“Uh…. So the professor was talking about your situation… what happened anyway?”

“None of your business!” she barked. “Know your place.”

After finishing the sandwich she reclined in her chair, kicking the front two legs off the ground and putting a pair of arms behind her head. “Alright pet, I think I’ll keep you around. But make sure the next sandwiches are just as good.”

“P-pet?” I said, a little terrified.

“Yes, you are my pet now. You’ll make me sandwiches and do my homework and in exchange, I won’t beat you to a pulp. Now go before the stupid professor arrives and you get me in more trouble.”

I ran out of the detention hall and headed for the courtyard and sat at a bench near the central fountain. I tuned to my right to put my bag down and there was Matt.

“Goddammit Matt, where do you come from!”

“The better question,” he said, “is where did you go? Checking up on the Ogre?”

“How did you know?” I asked. “Let me guess, detective ninja?”

“Nah man, it’s obvious,” he laughed. “You’re obsessed with her. She’s like a flytrap and you are a fly. Or maybe like, she’s a spider and you are a fly… or like she’s one of those hanging nectar traps and you are a fly… the point is you are-“

“A fly, yes, I get is, ugh! Well, the upside is, I don’t have to worry about dying. The downside is I have to do her homework and make her sandwiches forever.”

“So you are her slave, her little fly slave?”

“Actually she prefers the word pet… and worm… and insect… but mostly pet.”

“Hah, from bad to worse, well at least a being a pet fly is better than a being a dead worm right?”

…

“Right?”

…

“I said a fly is better than…”

“I HEARD YOU MATT!!! Ugh… how am I going to get out of this.”