The Ogre 11 (Patreon)

I woke up early the next day, walked to my bedroom door… which I suppose was now Holly’s bedroom door… and put my ear to it. I could hear her storing, still fast asleep. I considered waking her up, but not even I was that brave. I showered, and put on a clean change of clothes that I luckily had hanging out in the laundry room. I was just going to have to get more when Holly was awake.

Which didn’t take long. I went to the kitchen to prepare our lunches… and breakfast… and get a head start on dinner because I know Holly liked her food promptly served, and before I knew it, Holy had sat down at the table and started eating, even before everything was done. The breakfast was… awkward. We ate without saying a word. The tension could kill you… but not faster than Holly could.

I summoned up my courage to try and say something, anything…

“Good morning Holly. How did you slee-“

“Last night never happened,” Holly said, continuing to shove her face full of food.”

Another long bout of silence.

“I… hope my room wasn’t too messy…”

“It wasn’t bad,” Holly said. “Hate to think how many times you jacked it in that bed though…”

Silence again. Even Holly’s jabs at me were shorter, tenser. She didn’t even call me “worm.”

“Soooo,” I said forcing conversation once more. “Are we going to continue training today?”

“No grabs or grips…” she said quickly. “Just striking training. I don’t want to be touched.”

“No I didn’t mean-“

“We’ll go a couple rounds. Today’s Friday. You’ll heal up by Sunday….”

Silence again… I cleared my throat.

“Oh, yeah, we have those vocational exams today. I wonder what-“

“CAN WE JUST NOT!” Holly snapped pounding her fist on the table and making the glasses and silverware clink together. She sighed heavily, releasing the tension in her body. She was obviously on edge. “I mean… those tests are bullshit… You could be the smartest guy in the universe, take that test, do bad, and then suddenly you are a delinquent on a path toward personal ruin. Or maybe you are boring as paste but you score good on those tests and then wooow now you are the wonder kid. Test’s don’t mean shit…”

“So, what? You think we can be whatever we want to be, regardless of our test results?”

“Didn’t say that,” Holly said, shoving another biscuit in her mouth.

“I don’t know. I always kinda thought if you worked hard and put your mind to it-“

“We play the hand we are dealt OK?” She said looking up from her food with a look that felt… angry and painful at the same time. “Some of us get born with money, and looks, and parents that shower you with love and affection. And some of us end up mutating and becoming big stars, idols, superheroes, leading mutant scientists. And some of us are just lucky and fall into opportunity after opportunity, tripping over their own two feet on the way to unearned success. And then there’s the rest of us.”

“The rest of us?” I asked, flinching a bit at her passionate rant.

“Yeah, the rest of us. The rejects. The class nerd. The poor kid… the neighborhood monstergirl. When you are one of the rejects the only thing you can do is struggle to survive. Punch. Kick. And beat the hell out of anyone who tries to keep you down. And they will. They always will. Just because you are different. People like us can’t just ‘be whatever we want to be.’”

The silence returned. Holly didn’t even eat this time. Whatever I asked I definitely touched a nerve.

“Ok, but… what if you could,” I said, swirling my fork around the yolk of my fried egg.

“What do you mean?” Holly asked.

“Like, life isn’t fair. OK. But what if it was? What if you could be whatever you wanted? What would you want to do with your life?”

“I don’t know,” Holly said, turning away from me and looking out the window. “Probably… something with literature… or something with liberal arts.”

“Really?”

“Pfff, what?” Holly said. “Is it so hard to believe? What did you expect me to say ‘professional wrestler?’ Maybe ‘private bodyguard?’ What about ‘hitman for the mutant mob?’”

“No I didn’t mean…”

“Look,” Holly said, exasperated. “I know what you and everyone thinks of me, but I’m not just a bag of muscle. Yeah, I like fighting, but I also like… you know… being creative and junk.” She crossed her upper arms over her head. “Doesn’t make any sense right? Big old ogres like me couldn’t want to be writers.”

“No, I think it makes perfect sense. I mean you are a better writer than me.” I said, finishing up my bowl of cereal.

“Hah, liar. You’ve never seen a damn thing I’ve written.

“No, but you’ve seen things I’ve written. You’ve been having me do your homework for months now, and every time I give it to you, you make a ton of corrections. You are practically writing it again from scratch, and you get better grades than I do! Honestly it’d probably be less work if you just did it by yourself to begin with.”

Holly looked at me a bit surprised and then broke a small smirk. “Well, you are right about one thing. Your writing does suck, worm.”

Going to school that day was… awkward. We still didn’t dare mention what happened last night. We took two totally different paths so as to not arise suspicions. We barely even crossed paths during the day… which was the strangest thing. It had been ages since Holly started being a permanent fixture in my school life. Now? I didn’t see her once. Just the glares of Billy and his henchmen plotting their next move, the stress of the vocational exam, and the random tangents of Matt who…

Actually come to think of it I didn’t see Matt much either I wonder where he-

“HEY BUDDY!” He said popping out of a bush as I prepared to walk home for the day.

… right on schedule. The bush was a new one.

“How was the exam,” Matt said. “What do you think your results will say? Nerd Overlord?”

I laughed, “Couldn’t possibly take that title from you. What sort of friend would I be?”

“Oh no, feel free to take it. I have something else in mind: SUPER NINJA DETECTIVE! Has a good ring to it, don’t you think?” He pulled out his notebook and twirled a pen between his fingers. “So… got any weekend plans?”

“Lots and lots of rest. You have no idea how burnt out I’ve been.”

“Holly running you ragged?” Matt laughed.

“NO!” I snapped… probably too quickly. “I mean… no. It’s just, you know, tests, and taking care of the house while Dad’s away, and Billy…”

“Oh yeah Billy. He still wants to kill you, you know,” Matt said.

“Thanks for reminding me,” I said sarcastically.

“Well, you don’t have a lot to fear,” Matt said flipping through his notebook. “He’s probably doesn’t have the balls to attack you in your own home, not when Holly is staying there.”’

“Yeah she’s definitely…” my face suddenly went pale when I realized what Matt said. “Matt what the FUCK man!” I said pushing him to the side scolding him with a hushed voice. “How did you know that, who told you that!”

He looked into my eye and said with a deadly serious tone that spooked me more than Holly had for the past few days “…I have eyes everywhere Ty…”

I stepped back and blinked in disbelief “O-ok…” and then in a second he was back to goofy old Matt. “Don’t worry man, I’m not gonna tell anyone! Do you have any idea what Holly would do to me if she found out I spilled the beans! I enjoy walking, breathing, being able to have children, not eating through a tube, you know, the simple joys of life. I’ll keep it a secret. But, just between best friends…” he said flipping to a new page of his notebook. “Why DID she choose to come to your house and what’s happening between you two there?”

“Stop it Matt,” I said knocking his notebook and pen out of his hands. “W-we just studied. I asked her for help on a subject she knows better than me… uh… literature! Yeah! And then we watched some anime and that was it.”

“Well… that does seem to be a plausible explanation…” he said, reaching into his pack and pulling out yet another notebook and another pen.

“How many do you have in there…” I asked.

“Enough…” he answered. “Anyway, your story checks out. Big predators like Holly don’t fraternize with lowly parasites like you. You’re just some random nerd that she puts up with.”

“You’re one to talk…” I said. “No one I know is nerdier than you.”

“Maybe… but did you ever think that maybe I am just a reflection of you. I’m everywhere Ty!” he said moving around me and waving his hands. “I’m in your head. In your fears. I know your desires. I’m a ghost! Never seen but always watching. I’m your goddamn Tyler Durden, Matt! The manifestation of all of your-“

“You are Matt Benowitz. I’ve known you since kindergarten. You peed your pants on the first day of school and your mother had to pick you up.”

Matt sighed heavily and picked up the notebook that I had previously knocked to the floor. “You are never going to let me live that down are you?” he said.

“Never,” I replied.

Later that say I arrived at Holly’s shed gym as normal. I had already been preparing myself for the beating she was gonna give me.

… a few minutes passed…

… then a few more…

… more…

Where was she? She’s usually here way before me. I decided to try and lift one of the weights that Holly trained with. It wouldn’t budge. It felt like Thor’s hammer. How the heck did she lift these things?

“Yeah well screw you!” I heard well outside the shed before I heard a vehicle pull away. A while after, Holly walked inside carrying a suitcase.

“What’s that?” I asked. “More gear for training?”

“Worm… I…” Holly stammered over herself. “Ugh… your Dad is still on his trip right?” she asked.

“Yeah, he’s gonna be away until next week,” I answered.

“Good. After training I’m staying at your place,” she said throwing her suitcase into the corner and taking off her jacket.

I just stayed at her silently for a good long while.

This training session was going to be very… uncomfortable.