Good Ogre Read Free Page A

managed to find the big knot at the bottom with his feet.
    â€œHey, Spencer, you’re supposed to go up !” another wrestler called out. There were more laughs.
    â€œYeah, even I got higher than that!” a squeaky voice followed. It was Melvin Jenkins, head of the Live Action Role-Playing group, or LARPers. They dressed up as fantasy characters and ran around with cardboard swords and threw tennis balls as spells. Online gaming was different—your character had truly heroic abilities. LARPers simply ran around and pretended to do things. So if Melvin was mocking him, his life had hit an all-time low. In response, the gym broke out into howls of laughter.
    Max gritted his teeth and shoved off the knot. For a moment—a very brief moment—he managed to hold himself on the rope. But the burning in his arms became a fire and his hands were sweating way too much. It occurred to him that he should at least try for a graceful dismount. He let go, but he ended up sliding too fast, and his feet got tangled up in the rope. He somersaulted forward, the rope flying through his hands. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the large knot at the bottom whipped around and smacked him squarely in the face. His glasses flew off as he tumbled forward. Max landed with a loudslapping sound that seemed to reverberate off the old gym’s walls. There was a moment of stunned silence before the entire gym exploded in laughter. It was, without a doubt, the most humiliating moment in Max’s life—and that was saying a lot.
    â€œOkay, that’s enough,” Coach Mattson said, blowing his whistle and bringing the place back to order. He marked something on his clipboard. “We’ll be seeing you in remedial PE, Mr. Spencer,” he announced. Max picked himself up off the mat and retrieved his glasses. “Don’t worry son,” the coach continued. “I’ll toughen you up.”
    There’s a place where I’m tough enough already, Max said to himself. He wiped his glasses off and limped back toward the locker room. Dirk ran to catch up to him.
    â€œDude, you’re not very good at rope climbing,” he announced, stating the obvious.
    â€œReally?” Max replied, trying not to sound bitter. He hadn’t bothered to put his glasses on—that way he wouldn’t have to see the laughing, judging eyes of everyone in the gym.
    â€œDon’t worry about those dweebs,” Dirk said as if reading his mind. “Jocks might rule the schools, but nerds rule the world. That’s why they’re so angry at us.”
    Max smiled at that. He knew plenty of people who thought he and Dirk were nerds. But so what if they liked computers and role-playing games and reading all the sci-fi and fantasy they could get their hands on? Max knew a truth that very few others did—that the universe was made up of three different realms, and magic, heroes, and monsters really did exist. It turned out the nerds weren’t so far off after all.
    â€œMeet me in the lunchroom,” Dirk said, slapping Max on the shoulder. “I hear we’re getting new tater tots this year.”

    That afternoon Max rode the bus in silence. Dirk was going on about an online game he was excited about, but Max wasn’t paying attention. Instead, he watched as the houses of Madison passed by the window. Madison was a small town that was, as the mayor liked to say, “not too close or too far from anything important.” But everyone knew that was just code for being in the middle of nowhere.
    Max looked up and saw Ricky Reynolds standing in the aisle, staring down at him. The bus driver gave a quick disapproving glance in the mirror, but refrainedfrom saying anything. Ricky was big enough that even adults thought twice about making him angry.
    â€œI liked how you cried in gym today,” Ricky taunted, saying it loud enough that everyone could hear. “I liked it so much I was thinking