The Ogre 04 (Patreon)

The light from my lamp illuminated my desk as I began writing my second essay about contemporary world history. All week I did double homework, and Holly’s was even more work than mine! I was forging her handwriting and dumbing down the language to make sure the teachers wouldn’t notice.

In a way, I knew I was allowing this. I probably could go to any teacher, any counselor, even the principle, and they would put a stop to it. But there was something about Holly that piqued my curiosity. Maybe this was just my excuse to get closer to her without dying. Heck, yesterday she looked at me in the hallway without shoving me into a locker or threatening my existence… progress, I guess. She even let me eat in her cherished spot… provided I said nothing, never looked at her, and left as soon as I was done eating.

I stayed up until three doing homework and making lunch. I got almost no sleep that night. My eyes were bloodshot, lines by dark circles. I dragged my feet. I leaned against my locker and nearly dozed off, before I heard a massive fist rock my cold metal pillow.

“Hand it over,” Holly said, holding out her hand. I complied, saying nothing as was the terms of our deal. I gave her the essay and the sandwich. If she decided to kill me now I might take the offer, if only because I was just so tired.

She leafed through the essay and a sneer came across her face. “How stupid are you, worm?” She rolled up the essay and smacked me across the face with it. Even though it was just paper, her massive might made it feel like a two by four. “This essay is terrible. The dates are wrong. You screwed up the name of the president. You made me look like a moron!”

“Wait, how do you know?” I said somewhat surprise.

“Because I’m not an idiot, idiot,” she said with an angry sneer. “I passed this class last year. I’m giving you the work because I have better things to do!”

“You what? Then why were you held back?” Oh shit… I was so tired, I blurted that out without thinking. Rage filled Holly’s eyes. She grabbed me by the collar, pushed me into the wall, got close to my face and growled. I winced, waiting for the beating that was to come… but she just put me down.

With a heavy sigh she said “Ugh, I’m going to have to correct all your errors. Do me a favor? Next time, don’t even bother handwriting. Your forgeries are crap. Just print it out on a goddamn computer.”

I was stunned. “O-OK” I stammered.

She turned and walked away before shouting “and get me a soda before lunch!” without even looking at me.

“Y-yes ma’am!” I said standing upright and practically saluting. Everyone else in the hall laughed. I was glad she didn’t see it.

It was almost time for recess and I stopped at the soda machine to pick up some snacks and a soda for Holly. I had no idea what kind she liked, so I just got every flavor available.

“Wow… you’re thirsty huh?” came a voice practically an inch from my ear. It was Matt, appearing out of nowhere once again. I almost dropped the sodas.

“Goddammit Matt!” My language had become a bit nastier since I was hanging out with Holly. “You’re going to give me a heart attack. I almost beat you over the head with a can of coke.”

“You look like shit man,” he asked, ignoring my thin threat. “Did you get any sleep? Or wait…. Is that Ogre girl a psychic vampire too!” He wiggled his fingers as if to punctuate his claims of the supernatural.

“A psychic vampire?” I said with all the energy of a rock sleeping on top of a larger rock.

“What? There are rumors going around. You never know.”

“Besides the fact that there is no such thing, no. Holly isn’t a vampire it’s just… she’s running me ragged. I went to bed at three last night and still fucked up her essay.”

“Well of course you did. Her GPA is higher than yours.”

“How do you know that?”

“Detective-“

“Detective Ninja… right…” I said cutting him off.

“You gotta get out of this man. It’s like you traded a fast death for a slow one.”

“Ugh… I’ll get used to it,” I said, not particularly believing my own words. “I just have to stick with it and everything will work out.”

“Well well,” came a snarky voice from behind us. “If it isn’t Shrek’s lapdog.” It was the school bully, Billy Corrigan, with his two henchmen Ron and Jet. He tormented me a few grades back and eventually moved on. Looks like he was back for seconds.

“Just leave us alone Billy…” I said in a dead monotone.

“Us?” Billy said confused. I turned around and Matt was gone.

“Goddammit!” I said raising my voice. “Come on. Tell me ONE of you saw him slink away?”

The whole group looked around confused. “Hahaha, looks like the lapdog is going a little crazy,” said Jet.

“I’m not her goddamn lapdog!” I said with unexpected rage. I was so frustrated. The lack of sleep, the confrontation with Holly, and Matt’s disappearing act had me on edge. “I’m just helping her with a few things so back the fuck off!”

“Oooooooh, young man’s grown a pair of balls,” Billy said taunting. “Well then, man to man,” he said hefting his heavy arm over my shoulders, “maybe you can hook me up with the green girls phone number? I have… refined tastes you know… and I think a big girl with big… assets… like her would be a perfect match for me.” He mimed squeezing Holly’s breasts as his crew laughed like hyenas.

“Ask her your fucking self,” I said pulling away from him.

I had gone too far. The next thing I felt was Ron’s boot digging into my lower back. I fell down, dropping the sodas everywhere. Billy took the opportunity to grind his boot heel into my head, mashing my face into the pavement of the schoolyard.

“Just cause you got a pair of balls doesn’t mean you got the guts to back it up nerd,” he said leaning more weight on me to get his point across.

“Ty!” I head Holly call from the distance. “Where’s my goddamn drink!” She approached us and scowled looking at the sodas strewn about on the ground. I expected her to join in on beating me up but instead…

“Hey shit stain,” she said to Billy. “You dropped my drinks. Pick them up.”

“Dropped them?” Billy laughed. “Oh, no no no m’lady. This little… how do you put it… worm simply stumbled over his own two feet and dropped them. I was giving him a lecture in properly serving those who are above him. Surely you’ll-“

Billy’s villainous monologue was cut off as Holly suddenly scooped him up with all four arms and threw him into the vending machine. The whole machine dented and soda cans fell out of it at a rapid rate. Billy slumped to the ground unconscious.

Holly turned to Ron and Jet with a death glare and in a terrifying low growl she said “Pick. Them. Up.” The two listened to her immediately, gathering up the sodas and shoving them into Ron’s backpack which they then offered to Holly. “Good, Now get him out of my sight,” she said, and on command the two henchmen dragged their leader off.

I slowly got to my feet. My head was spinning from the beating. “Th-thanks Holly,” I said, coughing out the words.

“Don’t thank me,” Holly said. “They dropped my drinks and hit my pet…no one disrespects me like that. They should be grateful they are still walking.”

“Ugh, but what if they report you… you’ll-“

Holly put a massive finger over my lips to shush me. It was unexpected to be touched by her and… not fear for my life. She didn’t look at me though. She was more interested in filing through the sodas in the backpack. “I know these kinds of punks. They are all bark and no bite. Which means image is everything to them. There’s no way they are going to admit that a girl fucked them up without even trying.” She took out a can, opened it up and it exploded right in her face.

I couldn’t help but laugh a little. “They must have gotten shook up in the fight,” I said with a smile.

“Hahaha…” Holly said dryly before shoving the backpack into my arms. “Find me a unshaken soda, worm, and be quick. I’m going to towel off.” She stomped off toward the girls bathroom, leaving me with a backpack full of sodas near a broken vending machine.

“THAT WAS AMAZING!” Matt said, popping out of a nearby garbage can. “Scoop of the century. Billy Corrigan humiliated. I need to think of a good way to put it. Some sort of soda pun. ‘Corrigan gets his can opened!’ or “Corrigan popped in the face!’ or ‘Billy Corrigan now comes in Diet Billy flavor.”

“YOU WERE IN THE GARBAGE THE WHOLE TIME!” I shrieked.

“Detective…”

“SHUT UP MATT! Ugh… At least Holly didn’t kill me.”

“Kill you, dude I think she likes you. Why else would she have taken your side?” Matt said jotting down a few notes.

I shot him a look of disbelief.

“What… there are rumors going around. It could be true. Or maybe you are just still useful to her. At least you are still alive. You’ll probably have to find another vending machine though. Not a single one of these isn’t gonna explode.”

“Shit your right,” I said in a worry. “I’m gonna find a working vending machine. Here hold these!” I said shoving the backpack into Matt’s arms.

“Don’t mind if I do,” he said, opening a can away from his face and letting it explode before drinking the remnants.