When I was about 10 feet away, I paused. And thatâs when I heard it. I heard that low growling. I turned to run but slipped on the pebbles. The growling got louder. I jumped to my feet. I looked over my shoulder at the window. The lady wasnât looking at me. She wasnât looking at me at all. She had her arms in front of her face. A shadow stretchedover her, and she screamed. I ran. And I didnât stop until I was back in bed, sweating and panting.
So sitting in the cafeteria, watching my brother cram the rest of his second hamburger into his face, I knew what that growling meant. I knew that the towering man in the cafeteria was no man. He was an ogre, like me. And he was going to eat my brother, just like he ate that substitute teacher that night.
After school, I try to come up with a plan. I need to intimidate that ogre, tell him to leave my brother alone. But ⦠Iâm scared. Iâm strong, but heâs taller than me. And older. And a guy ⦠I mean, an ogre. Not an ogress.
I stay up most of the night, trying to figure out a plan. Could I offer him someone else? No. I couldnât do that. Plus, Iâm new at school and talk about getting off on the wrong foot.
No.
I almost walk a hole in my carpet pacing around with my next idea: going to the police. On the one hand, maybe thatâs the way to go. Heâs probably behind all those unsolved disappearances. Capturing him would be good. People would appreciate that. Theyâdappreciate me. I let myself think for a while about what thatâd feel like to be popular, to be a sort of hero.
But I know that wouldnât be how itâd go. I know that what would really happen is Iâd be opening up the whole human-ogre can of worms.
Humans and ogres have a checkered history. Itâs happened over and over: weâre freaked out by each other, then we get to know each other, then weâre friends, then either the human gets freaked out again and kills the ogre, or the ogre eats the human. And then weâre back at square one.
So the idea of reminding everybody about how ogres eat human flesh didnât seem like the smart way to go. And I want high school to be easy. I want to be friends with humans and ogres. I want to just forget about being different. And telling everybody that the lunch guy was dining on students wasnât the way to do it.
Iâd have to face him alone.
The next day, I power through classes, trying to be friendly and outgoing, but all of a sudden high school seems tiny and unimportant. I might be fighting to the death before sunset. Thatâs scary. It makes talking to new people look easy.
In Geometry, I pretend to be taking lots of notes, but Kelsey still corners me on the way out.
âDonât forget! Weâre eating lunch together!!â
I smile and wonder how Iâm going to be able to eat. Iâm nervous.
So nervous that Iâm shaking my leg under the desk during English, and the whole room starts to shake. A book literally falls off the shelf. I stop and look around along with everyone else like âwhat was that?â Mrs. Collins winks at me. I try to sink in my chair, but Iâm as far down as I can go, meaning Iâm still the tallest in the class.
By lunch, Iâm officially scared. Out of the corner of my eye I can see the ogreâs hulking mass behind the food. My face flushes like I can feel him breathing. I decide to ditch out of line, grab a banana and head to the tables.
âVerity! Verity! Over here!â
I look up, and itâs Kelsey. I smileâIâm good at fake smiles, tooâand head over. How am I going to be able to make small talk? All I hear is that low grumble. I get up the courage to look over my shoulder and see that my brotherâs in line. And the ogre is staring at him. Then, out of some sixth sense or something, he looks over atme. I look away. But no, no. I canât. I raise my gaze and look right back at
So sitting in the cafeteria, watching my brother cram the rest of his second hamburger into his face, I knew what that growling meant. I knew that the towering man in the cafeteria was no man. He was an ogre, like me. And he was going to eat my brother, just like he ate that substitute teacher that night.
After school, I try to come up with a plan. I need to intimidate that ogre, tell him to leave my brother alone. But ⦠Iâm scared. Iâm strong, but heâs taller than me. And older. And a guy ⦠I mean, an ogre. Not an ogress.
I stay up most of the night, trying to figure out a plan. Could I offer him someone else? No. I couldnât do that. Plus, Iâm new at school and talk about getting off on the wrong foot.
No.
I almost walk a hole in my carpet pacing around with my next idea: going to the police. On the one hand, maybe thatâs the way to go. Heâs probably behind all those unsolved disappearances. Capturing him would be good. People would appreciate that. Theyâdappreciate me. I let myself think for a while about what thatâd feel like to be popular, to be a sort of hero.
But I know that wouldnât be how itâd go. I know that what would really happen is Iâd be opening up the whole human-ogre can of worms.
Humans and ogres have a checkered history. Itâs happened over and over: weâre freaked out by each other, then we get to know each other, then weâre friends, then either the human gets freaked out again and kills the ogre, or the ogre eats the human. And then weâre back at square one.
So the idea of reminding everybody about how ogres eat human flesh didnât seem like the smart way to go. And I want high school to be easy. I want to be friends with humans and ogres. I want to just forget about being different. And telling everybody that the lunch guy was dining on students wasnât the way to do it.
Iâd have to face him alone.
The next day, I power through classes, trying to be friendly and outgoing, but all of a sudden high school seems tiny and unimportant. I might be fighting to the death before sunset. Thatâs scary. It makes talking to new people look easy.
In Geometry, I pretend to be taking lots of notes, but Kelsey still corners me on the way out.
âDonât forget! Weâre eating lunch together!!â
I smile and wonder how Iâm going to be able to eat. Iâm nervous.
So nervous that Iâm shaking my leg under the desk during English, and the whole room starts to shake. A book literally falls off the shelf. I stop and look around along with everyone else like âwhat was that?â Mrs. Collins winks at me. I try to sink in my chair, but Iâm as far down as I can go, meaning Iâm still the tallest in the class.
By lunch, Iâm officially scared. Out of the corner of my eye I can see the ogreâs hulking mass behind the food. My face flushes like I can feel him breathing. I decide to ditch out of line, grab a banana and head to the tables.
âVerity! Verity! Over here!â
I look up, and itâs Kelsey. I smileâIâm good at fake smiles, tooâand head over. How am I going to be able to make small talk? All I hear is that low grumble. I get up the courage to look over my shoulder and see that my brotherâs in line. And the ogre is staring at him. Then, out of some sixth sense or something, he looks over atme. I look away. But no, no. I canât. I raise my gaze and look right back at
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