1 [The Surprise]

"...UP!!!"

'ugh-- my head is killing me'

I pulled the covers over my head and snuggled deeper into the comfort of my bed.

'I drank too much last night, ugh, it was just supposed to be a couple of shots...'

"RYAN GET UPP!! YOU'RE LATE FOR PRACTICE!!!"

'Shit--'

I could hear mom screaming from somewhere downstairs as I poked my head out and looked at the alarm clock beside my bed.

06:23

'I am never drinking again--'

I closed my eyes shut as even the slight red glow of the digital clock felt like having a migraine, slowly peeling myself out from under the covers I swung my legs out of the bed and moved towards the bathroom. Opening my eyes a little to make sure I didn't bump into anyone, I slowly made my way into the bathroom. I caught brief flashes of Ronaldo and Messie's posters in my room before I walked out of it and entered the hallway where I saw mom coming up, looking a little annoyed.

'I need to act quickly or else my cover is blown--'

"Sorry Mom, my alarm clock didn't go off today, is the water warm?"

Through experience, I have realized that the best way to avoid an earful of scolding is to distract her with questions while slipping away quietly. Although it seems like this time I failed as her annoyed expression turned angry for a second before she sighed and said, "Just get in there, your bath is ready and I don't want your coach complaining again."

'lucky--'

"Love ya mum!" I quickly dashed past her and entered the bathroom and started filling the sink after plugging it up.

'Coach won't like me being late though, better hurry--'

I put my hand in the freezing cold water before holding onto the sink with both hands and plunge my head upside down into it.

'Damn it's cold...'

A shiver runs down my spine as I pull my head out after a few seconds and grab a towel. Observing my face in the mirror which had a few drops of water splashed into it due to my shenanigans, a figure with Black hair and green eyes stared back at me. I stood at 5'11'' and had a lean build with streamlined muscles that were hidden beneath my grey T-shirt. My face has started to look better as the baby fat has disappeared and my cheekbones have given it a sharper edge.

'Well Mel likes it so I guess it doesn't matter, plus I'm late...'

I pull the T-shirt over my head and undress quickly in order to jump into the shower when I notice a slightly blue light blinking in the right corner of my vision. I looked back at my confused visage in the mirror but the light seemed to follow my change in vision.

'What the..'

As soon as I focused my attention on the light it transformed into a light blue window and appeared in front of me hovering a few inches away from my face.

[Planted ZX-458 has reached optimal Energy Levels!]

[Integration Initiated!]

[You have been selected along with a group of 10,000,000 people to the Initial Initiation!]

[Get Ready to teleport to the Training ground in 14 h 45 m 31 s]

I Jerked my head back in surprise and almost stumbled over, before my reflexes kicked in and I grabbed hold of the sink to steady myself, all the while the blue screen kept floating in front of my face.

'what the actual fuck is going on...'

My hand passed right through the screen like it isn't even there but my bewildered look further worsened as I closed my eyes for a second only to find the screen unchanged after I opened them.

'Okay calm down!'

I took a few deep breaths but upon seeing the unchanging screen I didn't know what to do.

'10,000,000 people? something must be going on in the news right?'

I ignored the bath and ran straight out of the bathroom to my room without a shirt on and scanned the room for my phone, I picked it up and just straight up typed 'NEWS' in the Google search bar and waited for the result to boot.

'wait, the screen went... oh there it is--'

The screen went away when I was not focused on it, and went back to the form of a small blue square light, but as soon as I thought about it and looked at the light, it expanded and once again transformed into a window.

'That's kinda cool, and creepy...'

As I switch my focus between the screen and then my bed then the posters I notice that the screen only appears when I focus my attention on it otherwise it slinks away.

'Yeah, this is definitely not a hallucination, or maybe I took some weird drug last night that I don't remember about?'

I noticed the various news articles that loaded on my phone but none of them were even remotely close to what is happening to me. Even after searching the global news, there was nothing.

'Maybe people aren't awake yet and haven't noticed? but then in different timezones, it could still be just late evening? unless everyone is from England?'

My head was still buzzing from a little hangover and this thought process was confusing me even more.

'Alright, first I need to tell the coach that I can't come and find a believable excuse--'

I accessed my contacts and dialed coach Mitch's number and he picked up after just 2 rings.

"Ryan where the hell are you? It's 6:32, you are running an extra lap for every minute you are late" I could hear his heavy breathing as he practically barked at the phone.

"Sorry coach I am on my way to the hospital, I fell down this morning and my thigh muscle seems a little tight, I'll swing by after I get my checkups done, but I don't think I can run that many laps coach..." I tried to slip a little joke towards the end but his concerned voice crackled from the phone barely a moment later.

"Which Hospital? Just come to the club, I'll get our resident Physio to look at it? is the pain in the front muscles or the back muscle?"

'damn if this screens thing turn out to be a hoax I'll be in big trouble--'

"In the back muscles, I'm not an idiot coach, I am almost there don't worry I'll message you as soon as I get some answers, got to go! Ciao!"

I quickly disconnected the phone call and whirled around to make sure no one heard me. After peaking out of my room and noticing no one was there, I ran to the bathroom and jumped into the shower.

'I need to find some answers, a 15hr wait will kill me with anticipation--'

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'to an Internet cafe then?'

I slip out of the house and enter my car before driving out of the house. While I slowly exited my neighborhood and entered a small market I almost slapped my head.

'it is 7 in the morning, who the fuck would open a cafe this soon...'

Realizing a major flaw in my plan I simply drove to a parking lot and rolled up the window before taking my phone out and started making various searches.

'-System invasion?'

'-Hallucination symptoms'

'-Long term Hallucination'

'-Alien Invasion News'

'-Weird blue screen?'

After going through hundreds of different websites but still finding nothing concrete I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes.

'Something is going on but what? maybe I should just go to training, no point wasting time, there is nothing in the news--'

I hated unknown variables the most and right now the whole future after 14 hours away was a big unknown. My phone beeped a couple of times and I unlocked it to find 2 messages from Mel.

'Morning Love'

'Meet me after practice?'

'Well at least something's constant'

I smiled and sent her a quick reply back before driving towards the stadium.

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'this sucks--'

Because of my lie earlier, this morning Coach told me to rest and just keep my body warm rather than play and I spent my time kicking the ball about and some light dribbling.

*Whistle*

After about 2 hours of getting bored of passing and dribbling, I looked at the football longingly before placing it in the basket along with many others.

"...Alright that's enough, good work everyone just keeps up the spirit and rest. I'll see you in the evening to practice. Ryan!"

He turned to me as everyone started walking away to get their bags, "Rest for today and come back tomorrow, I have scheduled a thorough exam for you tomorrow so nothing stressful and no sex! got it!"

I gave him the stink eye before taking off my cleats and started walking away saying," Got it, coach!"

Silently slipping back into my car I heaved a sigh of relief and placed my gym bag in the seat beside me before opening my phone to shoot a quick test to Mel when something slammed into the back of my head and I lost consciousness--