The Pushy Orc (part 1)

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

I drowsily roll over and smash the snooze button on the alarm clock next to my bed. I tell myself that I’ll get up in a couple of minutes.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Ah, that noise! Slowly opening my eyes, the red glare from the numbers strains my eyes. With a grumble, I focus my vision to the digits and see that it’s 7:45! Shit, I’m going to be late for class again. Hmm, if I left now, I’ll get there 15 minutes late… better than not showing up, I guess.

I get ready at a somewhat brisk pace even though I know I’d be late. After gulping down a glass of orange juice, I head out with my backpack strapped over my shoulders. Once I open the door, the cool autumn breeze brushes any lasting drowsiness out of me. I lock the front door and begin walking to class.

...

I finally make it to the campus. It’s moderately sized, so walking here isn’t too bad; however, I notice that most students must be in class right now since only a few students seem to be scurrying towards the building doors. I make my way towards the math department building and enter it with a breath of relief as the heating of the building provides me with comfort.

“I’ll just slip into class, and no one should notice. It is college after all,” I said to myself quietly as I peer inside the window pane of the door to the class I should be in.

“… and last night’s assignment will be covered on the test…”

When it sounded like the professor was wrapping up his last words, I slip into the room quickly. I turn to see that the professor is starting to write something on the white board. Perfect timing! Looks like no one noticed me come in-

Ah, never mind. I guess SHE noticed me. She stared into my eyes with a fierce gaze that stopped my train of thought as I began to sweat. She does a discrete gesture to get me to sit by her. I scanned the rows to find alternative spots just in case-

COUGH! I snap my attention back towards her and witness an annoyed expression on her face. Looks like I’m not getting out of this one. Without any fight left in me, I go to exactly where she wants. I plop down right beside her and begin taking out my notebook in preparation.

“Anon, what the heck. You’re late again?”

Uh oh, here it comes. I look at her in the corner of my eyes. She was a dark green orc with a medium sized frame; however, at closer inspection, she had a well-toned figure. She had wild, short black hair that emphasized her tomboyish nature. With closer inspection of her face, her tusks protruded from the corners of her mouth, which gave her somewhat of a fierce look, and although I’m not one to judge…

“How many times are you going to come in late? I outta beat some sense into ya!”

She can be kind of frightening at times. When I think about it, if she wanted to beat me up, I would become a pulp of broken bones and flesh.

“S-sorry. I slept through my alarm again,” I answer truthfully while avoiding eye contact with her.

It’s best to avoid escalating things further. Trying to make excuses against her will only get her more upset, and having an orc get upset is the worst thing I could do at this point. Many other male students also must deal with the mamono at the school, and although I’d much rather have a more passive girl to get along with, she scares all the potential girls away with her aggressiveness. I guess I’ve just been dealt a bad card in life when it comes to these sorts of things.

She frowns, but nods her head.

“Hmm, even if you are late… I’m glad you showed up. I was worried that you would end up ditchin’ again” she says, poking me in my sides harshly.

…

Barely holding any attention left, the class was starting to wrap up. I stretch out a little before sliding my notebook into my backpack.

“The homework is due next class. If you have any questions, make sure to send me an email or stop by my office," the professor announced, thus ending our class session.

Ah, finally! Now I can go back home. I get up and throw my backpack over my shoulders and prepare to get moving, but…

YANK!

I’m instantly pulled back by the loop of my backpack. Turning around, she was mere inches from my face. Startled, I slide backwards and slam against a couple of chairs on my way towards the ground.

“Whoops! My bad, Anon!” she says trying to contain her laughter.

Feeling embarrassed, I get back on my feet and scurry towards the exit; however, she persists and quickly follows beside me out of the door.

“Wait up, I actually wanted to talk to you about something, Anon.”

I started walking more briskly, almost jogging even, to get her to leave me alone. I just want to go home now. Nothing good is going to come out of interacting with her-

“ARE YOU DEAF? I SAID WAIT!” she grabs my wrist with an insanely tight grip that causes shooting pain up my arm.

I stop dead in my tracks and turn in her general direction but still avoiding eye contact.

“W-what do you want?” I say nervously.

She finally let’s go of my wrist and sighs deeply.

“I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out or anything. Maybe get something to eat? I don’t know. It’s a gonna be a good day today, don’t cha think?” she exclaims enthusiastically.

Hearing the invitation startled me even though this isn’t the first time she’s ever asked something like this to me.

“Sorry, I was actually just going to go home. Maybe some other time.”

She lets out a deep breath and crosses her arms.

“And what are you gonna do at home? Play video games?”

Ah, she got me there. I was going to play some games and then go to sleep like I usually do. Seems like she’s seen through me.

“A-and? What does it matter if I’m going to go and play some games? I’m not hurting anyone.”

She places her hand on my shoulder in a comforting manner.

“That’s true, but… I really want to get to know you, Anon. It’s been about half a semester so far, and it seems like you just go to class then go back home. I feel like you’ll miss out on a lot of things that way, and even though you aren’t physically hurting anyone, it really does hurt me to see you this way. You don’t even look me in the eyes. It’s like I’m just a nuisance to you.”

I adjust my eyes to look at her face to her a solemn expression. Now that I think about it, I’ve never once accepted her invitation. Hell, I don’t even know her name!

“You know what? I’m actually a little hungry right now. Let’s go get something to eat.”

Her face immediately switches into a more jovial expression. She then quickly wraps her arms around me, squeezing my head into her body without restraint. I couldn’t breathe, so I tapped on her shoulders as an indication for her to release me.

“Oh! My bad, Anon. Ha ha,” she giggles as she releases me.

As I take a step back and look at her face, I notice that certain sections of her short hair were braided out in a non-obtrusive yet cute appearance.

“Hmm… do you, like it? I woke up early to work on it.”

Oh, she caught me staring. Whoops, I should be more careful.

“Y-yeah, it’s alright ha ha... ANYWAYS, what did you have in mind?”

She ponders for a bit then puts her puts her fist in her palm as if she was suddenly hit with an idea.

“Oh, I know! Come with me, Anon,” she says grabbing my hand, pulling me to follow her.

She takes me out of the math department building and towards a nearby café that’s near the school library. I’ve never had a reason to come here, but I’m kind of curious about what they have to offer.

There were a quite a few people in line since morning classes are still going on. Several students sitting at the tables give us a strange look as we walk in then whisper amongst themselves. At this point, I notice that she is still holding my hand.

I slip out of her loose grip, and slip my hand into my pocket. She looks surprised at first then forces a smile.

“So, Anon. Have you been here before? It’s really good for a college café.”

I shake my head and look at the variety of things on the menu: couple of sandwiches, some chicken wings, various soups. Hmm…

Before I know it, we’re up next for our orders. She orders a buffalo chicken and spinach wrap while I order a bacon cheeseburger with the total coming up to about $20. I pull out my wallet from my pocket, and give the bill to the girl at the register.

We both go and sit down at a small table with our table number. I see that the girl I'm with is grinning from ear to ear.

“W-what do you want?” I ask nervously.

She punches me in the arm lightly with a chuckle.

“I’m just happy that you paid for my food even though I was the one that asked you to come with me.”

I rub my arm to soothe the slight pain, but smile back at her.

“Nah, it’s nothing. It’s not like I do this sort of thing a lot.”

We end up exchanging looks at each other and making small talk. Awkward or endearing, it was nice to be with someone. I usually spend most of my time alone, and I get lonely sometimes, so I guess coming along with her was the right decision.

“Um, by the way. I know this is weird to ask at this point, but… what’s your name?”

She looks me in the eyes dumbfounded, but abruptly begins to laugh loudly, alerting all the other students in the café to our table.

“Pff, HA HA HA! My name is Mor! You didn’t know my name this whole time!?”

I become self-conscious as all the attention is on us. I try and wave her down to make her quiet down, but she continues to laugh as her voice carried throughout the whole building. In the corner of my eye, I spot a fair skinned elf girl with long blonde hair and green eyes approach us from 2 tables over.

“Mor! Can you be quiet? You’re bothering everyone here with your obnoxious laughing!”

The laughing slowly came to a halt as Mor looks up and sees the elf in front of our table.

“Jeez Mor. You’re so annoying sometimes.”

The elf then walks back over to her table with her other elf friends as the rest of the café begin their conversations again. Mor looks down at the table gloomily as if she was admitting defeat.

“Sorry Anon. I guess I got carried away, huh?”

A small tear drips don’t her green face, but she quickly wipes it away, then smiles at me as if nothing happened.

“Yeah, that was my roommate, Lyra. Weird coincidence seeing her here.”