The Ogre 18 (Patreon)

“I think it’s better if we stop seeing each other,” Holly said. It hit me like a sack of bricks. As she walked away from the stoop where we used to chat and eat lunch, I called for her to stop.

“H-Holly, are you serious?” I said trying to maintain my composure. She turned back to me, her expression serious and sad at the same time. It nearly paralyzed me, but I found the strength to force out a few more words. “Was it because of-”

“Stop it, Ty…” Holly interrupted, holding up her finger to silence me. “It wasn’t about last night. The weekend was fun and I have no regrets but…”

“...But?” I asked in confused agony.

Holly took a deep breath and looked to the sky, as if she was hoping some angel would come down and handle this all for her.

Unfortunately, Holly ripped the feathers out of the last “angel” she met.

“I just… I’ve become so soft around you Ty,” Holly said. “And that's not good for a girl like me. There’s a reason I don’t have friends. I don’t like owing people anything. I don’t like being dependent on anyone. I don’t like having to meet anyone else’s expectations.”

“But, I haven’t asked you for anything!” I insisted. “I don’t have any expectations. You can just be yourself and-”

“I can be myself now,” Holly added. “But what about the future? What if I grow to like you even more? What if someone hurts you and I’m not there? What if I hurt you in a way you can’t recover! I can’t… I can’t live with that anxiety…” she shook her head and laughed at herself. “Christ I have Lima Syndrome…”

“Lima Syndrome?” I asked.

“It’s the opposite of Stockholm Syndrome. It’s when a kidnapper grows an emotional bond with their victim.”

“I’m not a victim,” I said firmly. “I chose to keep training with you.”

“Yeah, or else I’d beat you up,” she said.

“You DID beat me up!” I shouted. “And I stayed with you anyway. God, you are worried about becoming soft? That makes no sense. You kick me so hard I make cracks in concrete walls Holly! How on earth is any of that soft!?”

“Because people always abandon me Ty! OK? I told you the only good man I ever had in my life was my grandfather. Everyone else let me down. I’m afraid that if I let myself think someone cares about me again then I’ll just end up hurt. And you have been very good to me despite all the shit I put you through! It’s better to end it all now when my memory of you is good, than to wait until it gets ruined.”

I clenched a fist, and felt a surge of courage rush through me.

“Screw you,” I belted out.

“What?” Holly said in surprise.

“Screw you! After all this time that’s how weak you think I am?” I felt tears well up in my eyes. “You think I’m just going to act like every other douchebag on the planet and hurt you. Screw you! I’m better than that. You MADE me better than that.

“Ty…” Holly said.

“So we have one good weekend…”

“It wasn’t just one good weekend Ty! This has been a while OK? I kept trying to deny it but the Jazz club… god it just felt so good. I was just able to give up all my worried and be normal for a second. And ever since then I just kept feeling happier and-”

I interrupted her this time. “Then why not keep doing it!? You aren’t the type of girl who lets reality beat you up. You fight back! What are you afraid of?”

“I’m not afraid of anything,” Holly insisted.

“You are afraid of giving this a chance. You are afraid of being loved. You are afraid of being vulnerable. You are afraid of being hurt.” I snapped back. “What use is all this physical strength if something like this can make you run away.”

“SO WHAT!?” Holly bellowed. “Look at me Ty? I’m a giant Ogre girl with four arms. I can lift cars! Nothing, NOTHING can hurt me if I don’t let it. So why, WHY would I want YOU to be the only one who can hurt me? Huh? Why you?”

“Because I… I love-”

“DON’T SAY IT!” Holly shouted cutting me off.

“Why not!” I said slamming my fist into the nearby dumpster and leaving an impressive dent. “You said we wouldn’t see each other again so this is the last chance to tell you how I feel.

“No matter what you say it won’t change anything,” Holly shouted.

“Then fuck it! I love you Holly!”

She blushed immediately. It felt like everyone else in the school stopped no matter how far away they were.

“Ty stop it!” she said as red as her green skin would allow her to be. “This is over. From now on we are just classmated. No lunches, no practices, no talks, no-”

“No more episodes of I Became a Samurai? No more visits to the Jazz Club?”

Holly frowned. It hurt her to give it all up but she was resolute. “The decision is final. Just be happy that you got the furthest with me OK?”

She left to return to the yard but I stepped in front of her. “No.” I said.

“No?” Holly looked on in surprise.

“No! I told you how I felt, now tell me how you feel.” I said, putting my foot down and spreading my arms to block her from getting around me.

“I told you. We are just acquaintances,” Holly said with a growl in her voice. “I asked you nicely so now I’m telling you… Back. Off.”

“You taught me to fight for the things I wanted,” I said determined. “I won’t let you go until you are honest with me. I’m going to stay right here until you tell me the truth!”

“I CAN’T BELIEVE SHE HUNG YOU UP BY YOUR OWN BALLS!” Matt said laughing.

I, on the other hand, was hanging upside down from a tree. The bell rang signaling the end of recess. I was going to be late again.

“It’s not my balls, it’s my pants. My belt this time not my underpants. Very… thoughtful…” I said defeated.

“So, you must have really sucked in bed didn’t you?” Matt said.

“It’s not about that Matt, she said she didn’t regret anything,” I said.

“AHA! So I was right! You did sleep together,” Matt said proud of himself.

“Not now Matt,” I said, tears once again welling up in my eyes. “It’s over. She cut it off.”

“So you aren’t her slave, or pet, or worm, or anything like that anymore?” Matt asked.

“Heh, no… and I think I never was. We were friends, and I learned a lot from her. I just hoped we could be something more.”

“You have something a lot worse than Stockholm Syndrome my friend,” Matt said.

“Oh yeah? What’s that?”

“Love. Real honest to goodness love. You love this girl, and frankly, she loves you too.”

“How would you know,” I said steadying myself on my feet after getting down from the tree.

“Do you think you are the only one I follow around here? She’s been agonizing about how soft you’ve been making her for weeks,” Matt said taking a notepad out of his pocket again.

“… You knew!? Why didn’t you tell me?!?” I screamed in frustration.

“You never asked,” he shrugged. “Point is, you have a decision to make. You can step aside, learn from the experience, and look to the future knowing you lost your virginity to an Amazon with breasts the size of your head. Or you can try to get close to her again and run the risk of coming off at pathetic, annoying, upsetting, oh and of course a horrible misogynist who doesn’t respect the boundaries of women… and then she’ll rip your head off with her bare hands… or you’ll get canceled on Twitter, you know one of the two.”

“… I think it’s worth the risk,” I said with a weak smile.

“Good old reliable Ty, always choosing the dumbest option,” Matt chuckled. “You never let me down.