Meeting Mortals
Chapter six
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HOO
Corey's POV
I looked around the halls of Meriwether as I hurried to gym class. Personally, I would rather be playing on a computer, but there's nothing I can do. Walking inside the locker rooms, wondering what the point of dodgeball is, I nearly ran into somebody. Looking up, I saw Matt Sloan, the school bully.*** He shoved me out of the way, and continued on to the gym. Wishing I could shove him back, I headed into the boy's locker room. Quickly, I changed out of my Star Wars t-shirt and jeans, into the sky blue shorts and ridiculous tie dyed t-shirt that was the school's gym uniform. When I entered the gym I saw that Matt had been elected team captain, and is picking all the jocks, plus some new, big, visitors. Percy, the other team captain, got everybody else. Obviously, I ended up on Percy's team. Matt tipped a cage full of dodgeball a into the middle of the gym, and I immediately ran and tried to hide behind the wall mats. I know, I know, tell me how cowardly it was, but Matt's team was scary. All of a sudden, Matt's team erupted in laughter. Probably nailed some poor bloke in the gut.
Tyson yelled, "Percy, duck!" And the next thing I know, I've been nailed by an unseen dodgeball moving at the speed of sound. Yelping, I fell to the floor, my vision blurry.
I faintly hear somebody- Percy?- yelling, "Hey! You could kill some-body!" He might have said something else, but I couldn't hear it over the ringing in my ears. I suppressed the urge to groan, knowing that if I did, I'd just get hit with more balls. My last conscious thought was that it can't have been a dodgeball that hit me. Then the world faded to black, along with that stupid ringing.
-I wanted to end it here, but it was waaaay too short-
When I woke up, I felt like tap dancers had been using me for a stage, and didn't stop until a near-endless herd of horses stampeded right on top of me. Yeah, it really was that bad. Think of the most painful thing you've ever been through. Now multiply that by 666*. You still haven't come anywhere close to what it felt like to get hit with one of those dodgeballs. So it should come as no surprise that when I woke up, I seemed to be in a hospital-type place. At least, everything was white, and had that sterile smell that always makes me want to gag. I groaned slightly, and was instantly surrounded by people in white coats. My vision was still really blurry, so I couldn't make out more than a lot of moving white things, which I assumed were doctors. I strained to hear what they were saying, but this made the ringing come back, and the harder I strained to hear what they were saying over the ringing, the louder the ringing became. In the end I just gave up, and hoped the ringing would go away soon. Without my noticing, my eyelids had started to droop, and I soon fell asleep again.
-MOO!-
The next time I awoke, I felt much better. My head was clearer, I could see properly, and, well, the ringing seemed to have stopped. Pushing myself upright, I took a moment to absorb my surroundings. I appeared to be in a hospital, but something was... off. I couldn't put my finger on it, but something wasn't quite right. I would've asked someone else, the doctors, or another patient, but I seemed to be alone. Having reached this conclusion, I decided that I should try to walk around, as no one could see me making a fool of myself if I fell. Swinging my feet out of bed, the moment I touched the ground, my legs buckled. Using the bed I had been in a moment ago, I hauled myself back to my feet, and tried again. This time, while leaning on the bed for support, I managed to take a step before I collapsed onto the bed. Realizing I was getting nowhere, I set about trying to get back on the bed, which wasn't as easy as it sounds. My little "adventure" had sapped all my strength, so it took quite some time to get me back on top of it. Feeling extremely drained, I leaned back on the pillows, and fell asleep.
-Imma lizard-
That night, (or at least, when I fell asleep, I'm not sure what time it was), I had weird dreams. I saw the dodgeball game again, but not through my eyes. I was looking down from the ceiling, watching myself and my classmates get picked for teams.** I watched Matt tip the cage full of dodgeballs, and watches myself tear for the wall mats like the devil was after me. I watched the rear of my team cower, doing their best not to look like targets. I saw Percy start to say something to Tyson, before getting nailed with a dodgeball. Percy sat down hard, and the other team erupted in laughter, just as they had when I was behind the wall mat. Tyson yelled, "Percy, duck!" and Percy rolled out of the way of another dodgeball. Said dodgeball flew into the wall mat, and I heard myself yelp. I watched Percy yell at Matt's team, saying how they could kill somebody.
I saw one of Matt's new friends say, "I hope so, Perseus Jackson! I hope so!" Perseus? Who's Perseus? I wondered. Did Percy have a brother? Turning my attention back to my dream, I watched as realization dawned on Percy's face. At the same time, all of the visitors were growing in size. The rest of Matt's team was screaming, and backing away. Matt, the idiot, just stood there, and said, "Whoa! You're not from Detroit! Who..." That's all he could get out. One of the visitors, who were giant, muscles, hairy monsters, threw a ball with deadly accuracy. I streaked right past the other kids, (on his team) and hit the doors sealing them closed, as if by magic. Then, I heard a fierce beeping, and was yanked back into reality. I was... In the town hospital, surrounded by my family and doctors. All around me, in other beds, were my classmates, most of them inch worse states than I was. Lots had burns of some kind, and all had major bruises, (even worse than the bruises I had. The only two I didn't see were Percy and Tyson. Well, them and the visitors. I found out later that Percy and Tyson had fled from the scene, and were charged with lighting the school gym on fire. I knew that this couldn't be true, Percy was excited at the prospect of not getting expelled, and Tyson wouldn't hurt a flea. At least, not on purpose. However, when I tried to explain this to the police, they just said that I must have been fooled by them. I sighed, knowing that Percy, one of my few friends, had been expelled, and I would never see him again.
*omg, it's Satan! Run for your lives!
**think Percy's demigod dreams
***guys, I think this goes without saying, but bullying is not cool. Don't say or do anything you wouldn't want done to you- both online, and IRL. Just thought I'd make that clear. Also, if you're being bullied, don't do what Corey did and suffer in silence. Speak up. You have the power to stop it. Take a stand against bullying.
A/N; -_- I'm perfectly well aware that this probably isn't my best work, and the wait for this chapter was kinda ridiculous, but cut me some slack! About half of this chapter was written during my ELA final exams, so I was extremely drained. Also, I was busy finishing the school year, so this is the first chance I've had to finish the chapter. Also, I am taking chapter requests, and already have an idea for the next chapter. However, it might be a while before I update again, because I've hit a dead end in Chaos Warriors, and want to update it, too. Don't worry, neither story is on hiatus. Until next time, stay awesome! Peace out! - Snowdrop