Falling Through Portals

Broken Showers and Drowning Maidens

Chapter 52

Percy dove into the pizza that they ordered. Its greasy cheesiness was intoxicating.

"You're going to choke," Keeli laughed at him. Percy finished chewing before answering her.

"I don't choke," Percy corrected her with a finger in the air, "I inhale."

"Omgosh," Keeli shook her head.

They sat on the floor of the basement as they ate their dinner. It was so casual, so normal, it felt alien compared to everything that he had been going through.

Before the pizza got there Percy took a shower and barrowed Kyle's clothes to change into. He knew the water would make him feel so much better. But turning on the shower was probably the hardest challenge that he had had to endure.

The shower had three nobs. When he turned the one in the middle, the pipes released a sound that resembled a duck being shoved down the barrel of a cannon so that it could be propelled across the sky. Good times. Frantically, Percy turned the nob off. After he caught his breath, he tried the nob closest to him. Water poured out of the nozzle for the bath. A small victory. He put his foot in the water and tried to jump back. This ended with Percy prostrate on the floor, half in the bath tub, half out of the tub.

"Hot!" Percy yelped, "Hot! Hot! Hot!" the water that was running on his legs was practically singeing his skin.

"Percy?" Lilly's voice came through the door of the bathroom over the rush of water. Percy's head and shoulders hurt like heck for landing on the cold tile floor. He pulled himself out of the water and sat on the cold floor.

"Yep?" Percy answered, trying to sound as casual as possible.

"Are you alright in there?" she asked, "Do you need help?" Percy took one look at his situation. He was a seventeen year old boy who had saved the world (twice) and completely naked (because he was trying to take a shower) and three nobs of his friend's shower was making an idiot out of him.

"Nope!" Percy said, "I am good!"

"Okay holler if you need me!" she said. Percy made himself promise not to make any more noise. Looking up at the shower nozzle and the nobs and narrowed his eyes.

"You may have won this battle," he said, "But you just lost the war." With that said, he stood back up with new determination.

"So Percy," Kyle said between bites of pizza, "How was your shower?" Percy thought about the water that he had eventually spilled all over the floor and the ripped curtain. He didn't ever want to remember how the nobs fell off, or how he had tried to guide the water out of the pipes.

"You know, it really was uneventful," he said. The three other kids looked at each other and then started laugh uncontrollably. Percy's face fell, "Oh no, you guys know?" this only made them laugh harder. Percy's face grew bright red. After they laughed for about ten minutes straight, Keeli spoke up.

"So, the hero of the universe can't even conquer the shower?" she said and then continued laughing.

"It was a really scary shower," he said in his defense which only made the laughter come more easily. To get back at them, Percy took all of their pizza that was on their plates and put them back in the boxes.

"Hey!" Kyle said.

"All mine now!" Percy said, "I am Pizza Lord!"

"Its okay guys, we can just lock him in the bathroom for a week," Keeli said and they all continued laughing. Percy couldn't help but laugh with them this time.