Fangirls VS. Smelly Gabe

Playground Surprise

"Okay, Percy," the redhead said, biting her lip nervously.

We were standing next to the red-painted swings, dodging the swingers who kept going back and forth, back and forth, occasionally yelling, "EW! We're getting married! Gross!"

The girl with dyed hair rolled her eyes. "First graders..." she muttered under her breath.

I was even more confused. "Why are you saying that like you're not one?"

"'Cause I'm not, Seaweed Brain!" she yelled.

Seaweed brain? What kind of nickname was that? But, for some weird reason, it felt familiar.

"Hey, leave him alone! He's just a first grader!" the redhead yelled at the dyed hair girl with a glare.

I started to kinda freak out. "He's right here, you know! And what are you not telling me? I'm so confused!"

The redhead turned to me and held out her hand. "How about we start with some introductions?"

I nodded hesitantly and shook her hand. "I'm... well, you already know who I am."

She shrugged. "Well, you're kinda awesome, so..."

I was confused and flattered at the same time. I blushed, letting go of her hand to scratch the back of my neck nervously. "Th-thanks."

"Uh-huh... well, anyways, I'm Taylor." She looked down at her feet shyly.

The other girl rolled her eyes and pushed in front of her, shaking my hand. "I'm Kiana. Kiana Chase. We were the girls that came from the glass."

I pulled my hand away, backing up. "You stalkers!"

The girl rolled her eyes once again, for about the thousandth time. "Oh, calm down. It's not like we're trying to kidnap you or anything. We're trying to help you!"

I looked at them nervously. "What... do you mean, help me? Help me with what?"

She rolled her eyes. Again. What was up with her and rolling her eyes? "You know what, Percy, and we do too, so you can stop acting."

I rubbed my shoulder where it hurt, remembering Gabe. "But... how do you know?"

This time Taylor spoke up. "This is where it gets even stranger."

I raised one of my eyebrows. "How?"

"We know... because you're in a book... that we read..."

"What?" I practically screamed.

Kiana rolled her eyes once again.

Seriously, I thought, her eyes are gonna roll right out of her head if she continues.

"Calm down, Seaweed Brain," she said, and again I wondered what that meant and why it felt so familiar. "You're practically famous."

I snorted. "Me, famous? I don't think so."

But the other girl, Taylor, nodded. "You have millions of fangirls that adore you, and a bunch of guys that respect you and think you're cool."

I blinked. "Why? I'm not important! I'm a nobody!"

She shook her head. "You... I'm not sure I should tell you... it might..." She looked at her friend for answers, but she only shrugged.

"Percy, you're a... a..." She swallowed nervously, obviously not sure if she should continue or not. "A book character."

I smiled uneasily. "You're kidding, right?"

They both shook their heads.

My smile turned into a frown. "No way. I don't believe you. That's too... no. Impossible. I'm just too lame to be a book character."

Taylor shook her head angrily and stomped her foot. "Don't say that! You are the most innocent, loyal, brave, strong cinnamon roll in the universe, and I hate when you cut yourself down like that. You don't deserve it."

I laughed. "Are you joking? Brave? I can't even step up to my stupid step-dad!" I stopped for a minute, confused. "Wait... did you say I was a cinnamon roll?"

A red flush of embarrassment appeared on Taylor's cheeks. "I-I... maybe?"

Kiana snorted and opened her mouth to say something, but Taylor beat her to it.

"Never mind that. The point is, you've got billions of fans who are willing to risk their lives for you, including me." She was obviously very sincere in what she was saying. "In fact, that's why we're here in the first place. So don't you dare give me that 'I'm not good enough' crap, because you aren't good enough, you're better."

"But-" I began.

"Don't."

I put my hands up in surrender. "Fine. But that doesn't really answer the question. How did you know that... you know."

Taylor folded her arms. "Because we read about it, genius."

"Okay, cool. But, like, why are you here?"

That was where Kiana stepped in. "We're here to protect you from Gabe."

I snorted. "Protect me? How? You're the same age."

"We can shape-shift, Perce," Kiana said as if it was obvious. "We aren't technically in the story, so we can just turn into angry ravenous wolves, rip Gabe into shreds of flesh, and then go along our merry way."

I bit my lip. I didn't necessarily want Gabe to die, and... I also didn't want them to get hurt by him. Gabe was scary and manipulative. He could get his way out of anything. "Can I see?"

Taylor looked at Kiana. "Yeah, I'm kinda curious as to how this works, too."

The multiple-color haired girl rolled up her sleeves and cracked her knuckles. "Watch this."

Her eyes began to sparkle, little chunks and bits of colors appearing and starting to slowly swirl around her. Her feet lifted in the air, and things were changing.

Me and Taylor's mouths flew open as we gaped at what was happening before us.

Then something went wrong. A look of confusion and fear flashed in Kiana's eyes.

Then the colors disappeared suddenly and Kiana fell to the ground with a yelp. Taylor ran to help her up. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah." Kiana looked a little shaken up and confused. "I- I don't know what happened. Normally, we can transform, so..." Her face turned white. "Unless..."

"Unless what?" Taylor asked.

Kiana turned toward them with a look of horror. "We're actually in the story."