Alive

Ch. 3 Dodgeball

I felt like shit the entire night, the entire pizza was just for me since Judy went to have a sleepover; Judy will just be going to school with their new friend. I left the house as quick as I could for school, I didn't feel like talking to my parents, they might think I'm sick and make me stay home, considering I look like I could blow chunks at any moment. As I was walking, I encountered Kris in his car with their mom, Ms. Toriel! Kris offered me a ride to the school, I accept, I wasn't going to keep walking on a stomach ache. "Hi, Brian! How are you?" Toriel said, "I'm fine, just a sight stomach ache." Toriel gave a slightly concerned look "Oh dear, I have some Tums if you want any." I accepted the Tums "Thank you, Ms. Toriel." It was somewhat faster when I got in the car, but my stomach still ached in pain. I was in class now, I noticed we have seats now, at least it's not standing. I was 3 minutes early to class, Noelle comes over to talk to me. "Are you ok, Brian? You look uneasy." I had my head down at the time, so it could seem that way; I lifted my head up to avoid sounding muffled "I'm fine, Noelle. Just a stomach ache from eating too much." All Noelle could do was feel bad for me "Aww, that sucks. I wouldn't worry about it though. As long as you avoid exercising, I'm certain you'll not throw up or anything." As Noelle said that, Dr. Alphys walked into the class "O-ok everyone, let's take o-our seat!" A few seconds went by as Dr. Alphys waited for everyone. "Ok. I have an announcement t-to make. I-instead of recess, w-we will play... dodgeball!" I slammed my head on my desk in sheer agony.

[TIME SKIP TO DODGEBALL]

Me and the class were now at the playground, waiting to be picked for teams. Before we could be picked for teams, we needed two team captains. Mostly everyone raised their hands, but one monster stuck out and did something different, he pointed to the sky and acted superior to everyone else. "I volunteer to be captain! It shall be my honor!" If anyone had to act so dick-ish, it would be that feathered punk Berdly, he acts so high and mighty because he's the smartest in the class, but if you were to physically mess with him, he couldn't do much, the bird boy's eyes are bigger than his stomach... I'm calling him skinny. The next captain was Jockington, who was pumped to be picked. Now that we have two team captains, we can now be put into teams. There was 10 of us total, including the captains, so it would be 5v5, a fair match. Jockington got to pick first after he won a coin toss "Alright! Let's see. I'll go with... Monster Kid!" MK was glad to be picked first. "Oh please." Berdly said "You chose your 'friend' first? Do I have to remind you this isn't soccer?" Jockington looked annoyed "C'mon, man. Just pick!" Berdly let out a chuckle "I'll go with something with a little more muscle on their arms, I'll pick... Susie!" Susie did not look pleased one bit when she went over to Berdly's side. "Alright then, dude." Jockington said "If you're gonna do it like that, I'll pick Brian!" Honestly, I wasn't suprised; I had a gut feeling that it would be me vs Susie eventually, it was either that or my stomach aching. Berdly wasn't at all fazed by Jockington's decision, he was too busy picking between Kris and Noelle. Berdly decided to pick using eeny-meeny and picked Noelle. Jockington picked Snowy, Berdly picked Catti, Jockington picked Kris, then Berdly finally picked Temmie. The teams were picked, both were now on the opposite sides of the court and the 5 dodgeballs were set in the middle. Before anyone began playing, Dr. Alphys explained the rules "Ok, here are the rules: no headshots; if an opponent catches your ball, you are out; if a ball is knocked out of your hands with an opponent's ball, you're out; if your opponent hits your ball into the air and then catches it, you're out, this can also work if your opponent is hit and their teammate catches it. Those are the rules, h-have fun!" Then Dr. Alphys blew a whistle to start the game. I was going to bolt for a ball, but I got a stomach cramp at the worst time. 3 of Berdly's teammates got a ball, specifically Berdly, Noelle, and Temmie; Catti didn't bother to get a ball, she was on her phone. To my suprise though, Susie wasn't one who grabbed a ball; Susie stayed in the place she started. The only teammates of mine who grabbed a ball was Kris and Jockington. Berdly was first to throw, of course, and he managed to hit Snowy's left wing. Berdly fixed his glasses and yelled directly to Dr. Alphys saying "Dr. Alphys! Snowy is out!" He was rubbing it in, everyone knew that. I went up to Jockington with harmful intent towards Berdly "Jockington, ball me." He gave me his ball and I blew the wind out of Berdly with my throw. I yelled at him "Hey, bird brain! Do you know that you're out or do I have to make it super obvious?!" I'm sure Berdly would've said something rude back to me if he could breathe for words. It was moments later when it was me and Kris vs Susie and Noelle, it's funny how the players who have hands didn't get out. Noelle's strategy would be to just block her upper body, so Kris went for her legs and caused Noelle to be out; it was a smart move, but that only left Kris without a ball to defend themselves with. In only a moment, Kris has been struck by Susie's ball. Susie began to laugh, then she said "Eat it, short stack!" Then laughed more; it really surprised me how Susie really dislikes Kris, considering Susie treats me with little to some respect. Susie grabbed another ball that was next to her "Alright, Susie." I said "Here we are... again. It's weird that this is happening again, but... whatever. I know I'll win." Then I said under my breath "Even with this stomach ache." Susie let out a chuckle and said "I've always thought you were an optimist. Do you know what that means, Brian? It's about sizing up a situation that's super impossible and saying 'yeah sure, I'll have a go!' I'm exactly the same way." It was a Mexican standoff at this point, we were locking eyes with barely any movement. At one point, Berdly got impatient and yelled "Will someone do something?!" What Berdly yelped provides the perfect distraction for Susie, I stopped focusing on Susie and she hit me hard in the gut. It was no love tap, this was powerful and fast; Susie wanted to make sure I didn't have time to block. Berdly's team began to clap for Susie, but the clapping died as soon as fell to my hands and knees. I heard Dr. Alphys call out "B-Brian, are y-you okay?" I began gagging and burping in disgusting ways; whatever was happening in me, it had an exit route planned. Everyone, minus Berdly, became concerned; they were about to see a human throw up. As soon as it reached the peak of my throat, everything went black for a second, then I opened my eyes and saw that I was still on my hands and knees, but next to a puddle of orange vomit on my right. Some of my classmates huddled and comforted me, while others preferred not to see me get sick. "Yo..." MK said "Are you okay, dude?" I let out a chuckle as I coughed a little "Much better, actually." Dr. Alphys approached Susie for a somewhat stern talk "Susie, how could you?!" Then Susie looked surprised "What?! You think I meant to do this?! I was playing. The. Game!" Jockington interrupted against Susie "You hit him while he wasn't looking! That's unfair!" Snowy spoke to MK just loud enough for Susie to hear "I bet she looks forward to dinner time calls from telemarketers." MK chuckled a bit at the joke "Ok, that was actually pretty good, yo." Susie became very upset by all of the hate she was receiving and she stormed off to her house, assuming she has one anyway.

I ended up walking home early because of my whole episode, there was hardly activity happening on the way. I felt bad for Susie, she was receiving so much praise for helping her team win, but my sickness got everyone remembering she was a bad person. I heard a crack as I was walking and thought "Was that me?" I looked at myself and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The crack goes off again, I then thought it was coming from the apartment building next to me. I looked around the building and saw Susie eating chalk! She noticed me and said "What do you want?! Are you here to make fun of me, too?!" Susie looked like she was getting ready to pummel me, but then I spoke up "No! No. I honestly didn't think you were here until I heard you eating... chalk." I was slightly disturbed by what Susie was eating, she hid the pack in her pocket "So were you looking for me?!" "No, but I was concerned." I think Susie was unfamiliar with the word, she might not be used to the term being associated with her. "Well... just... just go! I want to be alone! I want you to leave!" I gave Susie a stern look "It's because you're used to it, isn't it?" Susie was about to yell back, but I interrupted "Guess what? I'm not going, because I'm clearly needed." Susie was surprised and flustered "W-Why do you care?!" I walked over and planted my hand on Susie's shoulder "I know that you are good, Susie. Sure, you may not be liked, but you are valued." Susie became even more flustered, she's not used to this much kindness being directed to only her. "W-why are you being so nice to me?!?" I'm going to make her feel so much more, she's going to overload. I put both of my hands on her shoulders; she began to blush bright purple and I saw a glimpse of her shocked eyes. "You need a friend, Susie. And I'm gonna be that guy!" Susie thought about what I just said and began to calm down "You want to be... friends? N-no, we can't be-" I interrupted Susie before she could continue "Susie! You owe me that much!" Susie began to move my hands off of her and she let out a sigh. "Ok, but... can we be friends in secret? Just for now, at least." I gave a smile to Susie "Sure, whatever makes you feel comfortable, Susie." Susie scratched the back of her head to think of what to say next "Uh... thanks, Brian. I needed to hear that. I'll uh... see you tomorrow?" I nodded to Susie "For sure! Totally!" Susie smiled at me and hugged me, it caught me off guard, I didn't think we'd be at this stage of friendship already. I hugged back, of course, then Susie went on her way without another word. "That felt good." I said out loud, then I went home to enjoy the rest of my early day off. It feels good to be alive.