The Ogre 21

“It’s like you never learn man,” Matt said, crossing his arms. “It was kind of fun watching you fail the first few times, but I’m starting to worry about you. You know the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again expecting a different result, right? And you are on, what, your tenth love letter?” “...This isn’t a love letter…” I said, somber and dejected. “Then what is it?” Matt said. “A goodbye letter. A thank you and a farewell. Angela said to stop pressuring her… so I’m going to stop pressuring her.” “You know there’s like a ninety percent chance that she will just crumple it up and throw it in the trash right?” “I know,” I said taking a deep breath, “But this is the only way I have to say goodbye.” “You… kind of sound pathetic man.. I’m not sure this is healthy.” “Just…, humor me. At least accompany me to her locker,” I begged. “No can do buckeroo. I need to report to my oh so loving mistress and give her my daily report. If I get out quickly, I’ll catch up with you.” “Thank you-.... Wait did you just call Angela ‘mistress?’” “Boss sounds a little bit too formal, don’t you think?” I rolled my eyes. “Since when were you so excited to serve a higher authority?” I said, the sarcasm dripping off my tongue. “Since I found an authority that is competent, understanding, and ridiculously beautiful, I mean frankly it’s a festish. Don’t you think it’s time we were truthful to ourselves?” Matt said with a shit eating grin. “What I think,” I said laughing, “Is that we are both utterly screwed.” After Matt left to go pursue his “duties” I made my way toward Holly’s locker. I knew the combination from all the times I left her lunch or snacks. It was common when we first started our “arrangement” but as time passed she preferred to eat lunch with me. It is kind of strange in retrospect how close we got so quickly. I guess I couldn’t even tell through all the violence and punching and shouting but… we became good friends. It hurt to think I open it again, that I would never talk to her again. It hurt to think I lost not just the person I loved, but one of my best friends. “What if this is the final goodbye?” I asked myself. It felt like if I thought about it too much I would chicken out. I had to be strong. Holly couldn’t be responsible for my life. I knew this was unhealthy. I had to take this step. “I hope she hasn’t changed the locker combination.” I wasn’t going to get the answer to that question, because when I rounded the corner into the hallway where her locker awaited I saw that it was already forced wide open, and Billy and his minions, of all people, were rifling through her things, twirling a butterfly knife in his fingers. “Get the hell away from that locker Billy!” I shouted with energy and bravery that I didn’t know I had. Maybe it was confidence, or foolishness, but I didn’t care. Nothing seemed to phase me now. “Don’t get involved,” Billy said, his eyes filled with rage. “I’m gonna get my revenge on this dumb bitch, so either help or get out of my way.” “Help you, are you insane?” “Come off it! Everyone knows she threw you away like an old used Kleenex. I’m just gonna make sure that they find something… interesting in her locker. You know, drugs, alcohol, maybe a weapon or two. She already has a reputation for being violent it wouldn’t surprise anyone. That will teach her to cross us.” “I will never betray Holly!” I shouted. “Even after she betrayed you? She’s just a-” “SHUT UP!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. “You are fucking pathetic Billy, you know that?” I said walking toward him with my own rage welling up inside me. “You constantly have to have control of everything and Holly threatened that control. She was the one thing that didn’t run in fear from you, and you just couldn’t deal with that. And since you can’t bully her you are gonna try and get her kicked out of school, well I’m not having it.” “Don’t call me pathetic you-” “I SAID SHUT UP!” I said planting my foot in front of him, twisting my hips, and landing a heavy right hook into his gut. Billy gasped and wheezed for air, falling backward onto his minions for support. He coughed and tried to spit out another weak threat but I cut him off. “You won’t hit me again Billy,” I said, grabbing him by his shirt’s collar. “NEVER AGAIN! You aren’t going to hit anyone. You know what you are going to do? You are going to run away. You are going to stay away from me, and most importantly you are going to STAY AWAY FROM HER!” I said wrenching him into the locker, slamming his head hard on the metal. Billy slumped and coughed, but he still had a smile on his face. “So, the little puppy becomes a guard dog.” “Stop trying to be cool,” I said looking down at him. “I’m not a guard dog, she doesn’t need anyone to guard her. She’s strong, stronger than me, and stronger than you. So how about you just get out of here and I’ll pretend like this never happened.” “Who the hell do you think you are you son of a bitch?” Billy said, stumbling to his feet. “I own this school. You’re just a midget! You- OOOOOF!” His words were cut off by my fist slamming into his face. He spit out blood, and I didn’t stop. I buried my sneaker into his gut, my knee into his chin. I was done with him. I was done with his bullying. I was done with his threats. I was going to make sure he never even LOOKED at me funny, ever again. And then I felt it. First it was hot, and sharp, and then cold, running through my body. I felt shaky. I fell on my back, and looked down to see crimson running down my gut. “Y-you stabbed me…” I barely choked out in utter horror. “T-this is your fault Ty!” Billy cried nearly as horrified as I was. “You made me do it! Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck..” he said starting to panic. “Dude!” one of his minions piped up. “Ditch the knife in her locker and let’s get out of here! They’ll think she did it!” I felt light headed. It was hard to breathe. Everything hurt. I held up the note I was gonna give Holly. It was drenched in my own blood. I couldn’t even say goodbye right. “Holly… I’m sorry” I choked out. “I love you…” I was terrified of dying here. How could it have come to this? How could I have been so stupid. It was getting hard to keep my eyes open. This was such a shitty ending. “What the.. TY!?!” I heard in Holly’s familiar voice. I never heard her scream like that… never felt fear in her voice. I could feel the footsteps in the hallway shake through my body. She knelt over me. I could barely see her face. So pale… It was so strange. “Oh god, oh god, oh god Ty, no, please!” she said desperately, shaking me, trying to make sure I was alright. The shaking didn’t help… but I was so numb I could barely feel it anyway. “Billy! WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE!?” Oh… was Billy still here. I would have thought he ran away by now. “G-get away monster!” Billy shouted back. He sounded even more terrified than Holly. I managed to force my face into a grin. At least Holly would fuck him up. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!” she screamed, advancing toward him. “S-stay back or you are next!” Billy said readying the knife. “I’m going to break your spine. I’m going to put you in a wheelchair. I’m going to make sure you can never hurt anyone again!” Billy screamed and plunged the knife directly into Holly’s chest. Holly… didn’t move. Green blood spilled out of the wound but Holly stood there, looming menacingly over Billy. One of her lower hands grabbed the hand that was holding the knife and practically crushed the bones, making Billy howl in pain. Her other hands punched him hard in the gut, and even harder in the face, until he was barely conscious. Only then did she throw his whole body aside like a rag doll, sending it flying into the nearby garbage cans. It was.. A pretty cool scene to die to. “Ty…” Holly cried out. “Ty, Oh My God, please hold on!” I could hear footsteps rushing toward me… paramedics?... police?... I don’t know… I was just cold… and tired… But I was happy Holly was here… I closed my eyes, felt my body go limp, and slipped into a deep heavy dark state of unconsciousness. Now I could rest…