I don't own PJO

Chapter One

I Fight Evil with Nauseous Gas

Holly

My life changed 17 days ago. If on that very day, December 12th, I would've faked sick or something, who knows what I'd be doing. Eating bon-bons? Or maybe I'd be dead.

It all started on the last day of school until winter break. The bell rang and I was very happy, because honestly I've never done well in school.

One reason I do badly in school is because of my ADHD and Dyslexia. If I had a knife and could stab ADHD and Dyslexia, then I would not think twice. Another reason is because I go to Wilkoki Academy, a brownstone boarding school for people with problems in Glendale, Arizona, which I got into by stealing things (it's not my fault people are stupid!) Honestly, I don't think I learned a single thing there except that there is such a thing as an evil teacher. (I hope Ms. C. isn't listening.)

Anyway, I went to my dorm after school and packed my stuff to go home in Flagstaff, Arizona. My flight was in 4 hours. I couldn't wait.

I guess my smile must've shown, because my best friend and roomate, Miles, said, "Excited?"

"Yup." I couldn't wait to get home, to see my mom, who was patient with me even though I've got kicked out of 5 schools in the past 5 years. One year I stole all the schools copies of a book (easily) and then tore the page that said that a C was a bad grade, because that made me bad 'cause that's the best grade I have, and the school kicked me out. One year I was trying to prank one of the teachers, Mr. H., but he got really mad that I replaced his coffee with melted Christmas ornaments and turned into something…awful.

I'd rather not talk about my experience with Mr. H., okay?

"There…that's it," said Miles. He had already finished packing, his folded clothes neatly tucked into his suitcase. He was so neat and tidy, it was like he was the girl and I was the boy. I'm probably the messiest person on Earth. My clothes were shoved into my suitcase and I could only fit ½ my clothes into it.

"Can you pack for me?" I asked, for the zillionth time. I did not know how he could fold all these clothes, and I didn't want to go home with only half my stuff.

"Fine. Just don't prank me or anything," said Miles. I was a well-known pranker around my school, and my pranks came around a lot when I asked people to do favors for me.

"There's nothing in there. Relax," I told him, though Miles cautiously inspected my suitcase before putting anything in it.

All of a sudden, there was a knocking on the door. Knocking turned into banging. Banging turned into pounding.

"Okay, okay. I'll get it," I said, reaching the doorknob. But before I could get it, the door broke, and I saw a ferocious looking, giant, Mrs. C.

Mrs. C. was the meanest teacher I've ever had. She was my math teacher, and, like I said, she proved that teachers COULD be evil. Her eyes were creepy, and always seemed to be following you – even if you were out of her classroom. I probably could've had a decent C in her class, but I had an F, because she marked every question wrong on my tests, even one's I got right. And her mouth was always watering like she had rabies or something. I decided not to ask her, because I knew that teachers like Mrs. C. had very low anger management levels. I caught her looking at my leg once, like she wanted to eat it or something. And, I'm sorry, but she had an odor that could make you cry. It smelled like death.

"Mrs. C., why are you so UGLY?" Miles and I asked simultaneously.

Which probably wasn't a good thing to say.

Mrs. C. lunged at us. Her teeth were yellow, and her eyes blended together.

"Mrs. C., you seriously need a dentist," I told her.

Which, again, probably wasn't a good thing to say.

Mrs. C. started to grow bigger. And bigger. And bigger. She was so big, her head crashed into the dorm ceiling.

And her eyes…what was with them. It looked like there was…one of them? One eye? How on Earth could she have one eye?

As if reading my mind, Mrs. C. said, "I'M NOT HUMAN! AND NEITHER ARE YOU!"

The comparison was frightening.

"AND I'M GONNA EAT YOU!" she yelled so loud, someone must've heard, and I was going to go out to the hall to get some help, but then I looked out the hall and saw that everyone was frozen. They hadn't moved since the second I'd walked out, not even blinked. They seemed lost in time.

I went back inside the dorm.

Inside, it was not going so well. Big - Mrs. C had taken Miles into her hand and looked like she was about to eat him when I yelled and said, "Stop! Cannibalism is bad!"

"Like I said, 'I'm not human!" Mrs. C. yelled at me like I was some throw – your – anger – into device. She seriously needed one of those.

But if she wasn't human, what was she?

Mrs. C.

C.

Cyclops.

It all made sense: the eye, the enormous height, the eating – a – human. But I was hopeless. What hope did I have against a Cyclops? How could I protect Miles?

Then I thought of a plan. Not a great one, not a good one, just an okay-ish one. But okay-ish was better than awful, terrible, or bad, right?

"I'm gonna eat Miles, and I'm gonna eat you!" sang the evil Cyclops lady.

She was about to eat Miles when I said, "Hm… I think I'd feel better if you looked into my suitcase. You know, to make sure you haven't hid any more Cyclops in there."

"But I haven't!" blurted the Mrs. C / Cyclops

"Yeah, right," I said, hoping I sounded doubtful.

"I haven't!" yelled the lady.

"Just…LOOK IN THERE!" yelled Miles from her hands. Part of me realized that Miles might know my plan.

For some reason, I felt compelled to do what Miles said, and I'm guessing the Cyclops did too, because she said, "Fine. I'll prove it to you." She went to my suitcase, with half my clothes folded into by Miles, opened the zipper, and said, "Look. No more Cyclops."

"Dig deeper."

"Fine." She dug deeper. "See, I told you –"

But it was too late. A wave of nauseous gas I'd prepared myself to prank Miles earlier went straight into her, and I'm guessing it killed monsters, because she evaporated into some dust or something and disappeared.

Unfortunately, she dropped Miles and he fell 15 feet from the air into the dorm floor – which, unfortunately, was granite.

I thought Miles would pass out, but he just looked at me for a couple of seconds, that handsome short blond hair and almond brown eyes. I swear, someone cursed him with good looks – I'd never say it to his face, but he's pretty attractive…

Miles looked at me for a couple of seconds. "That was so cool! You beat up a Cyclops with nauseous gas! I want to see how you did that!"

"Um…" I thought for a couple seconds. "I just did it."

"Well, thanks for saving my life. Mrs. C. was going to eat me!"

"Yeah, I can't believe that for a year we were taught by a Cyclops and we didn't know it."

I was scared. But I was also proud. I, Holly Emerald Reshem, had defeated a Cyclops with a prank.

I bet I could be a hero one day. Holly Reshem: pranking hero.