Based on Community S1E1: "Pilot"

Percy POV

New Rome Community College. It's the best he could do, okay? He's dyslexic and has severe ADHD, so getting into any school for him is an accomplishment in itself. His high school grades sucked, but his essay about his 'enriching experience' at horse camp was apparently inspiring beyond belief.

So here he is, Percy Jackson, about three-thousand miles away from his mom, doing college 'his way.'

Percy wonders if he can still call it 'community college' if it's not even in his own community. There's real grass here. The grass in New York City is either dead, dying, or fake.

"Ah, yes, welcome back to another semester, kids, er, students." A man in a leopard print shirt stands at a podium underneath a purple and yellow balloon arch. Nice touch.

The man clears his throat and continues to speak, but the microphone cuts out and Percy can no longer hear.

"Hey, hey!"

Percy looks down at the source of the greeting.

A short Latino guy with pointy elf ears and a bandage on his nose leans in to speak: "My name's Leo. Bad-boy supreme, at your service. I'm here on a mechanical engineering scholarship, my dad's been missing since I was born, my mom's dead, and I was abused by my babysitter, so I've seen a lot of trauma. I'm also a pyromaniac. Wanna be my friend?"

What the hell? It's at this moment that Percy begins to regret his decision to enroll. The New York fire department has a great program for new high school graduates. It's not too late, is it?

The microphone makes a loud crackling sound, getting Leo and Percy's attention.

The man clad in leopard print continues. "You may think that New Rome Community College is for washed-up high school athletes, idiots, druggies, and dropouts of all ages."

There's no 'but.' He just pauses there and then introduces himself. "My name is Dean D. I am the dean here at New Rome Community College."

"Dean D?" Leo questions.

Percy chuckles. It is pretty funny.

Then someone catches Percy's eye.

"I'll be your friend if you can tell me about her," Percy says, referring to a blonde woman sitting on a curb with her nose buried in a textbook. A textbook already? Classes just started! Percy hasn't even bought his books! Yet, somehow, it makes her even more compelling. Percy studies her features: a leather jacket, a fake Kånken backpack, black jeans, and she's even wearing a black paper face mask despite keeping a well over six-foot distance from everyone around her. Maybe she's just about everything Percy isn't, but he knows more than anyone that looks can be deceiving.

Besides, isn't college more about hooking up than actually dating?

"Oh, her, yeah. We talked earlier," Leo says, snapping Percy out of his daydream.

"And?" Percy says, not taking his eyes off of her.

"She's an architecture major from San Francisco, but she's not commuting. She might be minoring in politics too. She's also not interested in dating, at least, that's what she told me. We're in the same Latin class though," Leo says.

"Does she have a name?"

"Didn't catch it," says Leo. Geez, this guy is like some sort of well-oiled machine. All of his responses are mechanical as if Percy had Googled his question and the first thing that came up was an entire Wikipedia article about this girl.

Maybe a friendship with Leo could be beneficial after all.

✎✎✎

Percy has a plan. Crazy, right?

Not entirely. He may not be the smartest person on the planet, but he's always been good with people. At least, that's what his mom always tells him.

The dining hall is less than lively, with service being a grab-and-go sort of thing. It's a little depressing. He always imagined a college dining hall filled with friends chatting between classes and making root beer floats out of the soft-serve ice cream. Percy supposes his vision just isn't the norm when you go to college in the middle of a pandemic.

And there she is!

Percy has to run to claim a spot next to her in the deli line, and now he's all out of breath, but there she is, right next to him!

She gets on her tip-toes to reach the sub sandwich being handed to her.

Percy sighs. If this was a cartoon, he'd have heart-shaped eyes.

"Young, man," the cafeteria worker snaps Percy out of his daydream. "Are you gonna order a sub or what?"

"Oh, sure," says Percy. "Can I get ham and swiss cheese with lettuce, tomatoes, onions... oh, and pickles, please?" Even in a mostly empty cafeteria, he has to shout to be heard.

"Dill or bread and butter?"

Percy wrinkles his nose at the thought of bread and butter pickles. "Dill for sure, please!"

The worker gets started making his sandwich, so he turns to the girl who's earned his fascination and fills the silence with small talk.

"Hi, I'm Percy!" He holds his hand out.

"We're in a pandemic, dumbass," she says. "Germs?"

Percy slowly takes his hand back. "Sorry, I'm just still getting used to everything. It's hard to make friends being so far away from home."

"I'm sorry... did you want something from me?"

"You're in my Latin class, right?"

She cocks an eyebrow as if studying him. "Oh, you're the guy who asked the TA if we were going to learn pig Latin."

"Yeah, so I figured I'd get a study group together, and I want you to be in it." He gives her finger guns.

"Yeah, uh, no thanks," she says. "I don't want to get stuck doing all the work like I did in high school."

"Well, you wouldn't!" says Percy. "We, uh..." How is he supposed to get this girl to agree to study with him?

The cafeteria worker hands him his finished sandwich.

"Thanks!" he says.

"I mean, if you found a Latin tutor, I might reconsider. It's hard enough in English class being dyslexic; I can't imagine how learning a new language is going to be."

Wow, she's even dyslexic, just like him!

She pulls her wallet from her jacket and hands a five-dollar bill to the cashier.

"That's perfect!" Percy says aloud. "We've got a tutor!"

She puts her sandwich in a bag and takes her change. "You sure about that?"

"Yeah!" Percy then pays for his sandwich.

"Okay... then I'll check it out."

"Great! See you there!" He bags his sub and takes off. Hopefully, somebody sitting at one of the outdoor picnic tables knows some Latin.

"Hey, Percy?"

He turns around. She's calling him. She's calling for him! Maybe she wants to sit with him! Oh, this is great! It's working al-

"So like, are you going to tell me where we're meeting? Or ask for my number? Or maybe even my name?"

"Oh, right." He opens the messaging app and hands her his phone. "Just put yourself in."

She types her information in with one thumb. "Thanks for inviting me," she says flatly. "If tomorrow's lesson is anything like today's, I'll be needing that tutor sooner than later."

"Right..." Percy says.

"See ya later then."

"See ya."

She opens the door out to the courtyard.

Percy looks down at his phone.

She sent a text message to her phone number: ANNABETH CHASE.

✎✎✎

"Leo! There you are!" Percy shouts.

Leo's sitting in a grassy patch since all of the picnic tables are taken. His face lights up when he sees Percy, like a child on Christmas Day.

"Hey, Percy! Pop a squat!"

Percy checks to make sure the ground isn't too muddy and then joins his new friend.

Leo holds his bag of Doritos out, inviting Percy to take some, but he refuses. The pretty girl—Annabeth—was right; he should probably pay better attention to his pandemic etiquette.

"Look, so I'm in a little bit of a situation," says Percy as he unwraps the foil on his sub sandwich. "I told that cute girl from the lawn this morning that I'm starting a study group for our Latin class-"

"The one with that weird TA?" Leo asks.

Percy can't help but furrow his eyebrows. "Yes. Wait. Leo, are you in more than one Latin class?"

"I was going to take Latin I and Latin II in the same semester, but turns out, that's not how things work."

"Oh."

"So," Leo says with his mouth full. "I'd like to join your study group."

"Here's the thing though: it's not a real study group. I just wanted to get close to Annabeth, but then I went ahead and told her I knew a Latin tutor."

"Dude, I am not learning the entire Latin textbook in one night just so you can get laid," says Leo.

Percy throws his sub back in defense. "I'm not asking you to! I just... You're like a walking LinkedIn. I need you to find us a Latin tutor, or at least someone who can pass for one."

"Oh, that's easy," says Leo. "See that guy over there?"

Leo points a Dorito towards a tall, buff, blond guy with round glasses. He's throwing a Frisbee with some other nerds. Oh no, is this dude seriously on the Ultimate Frisbee team?

But Percy's desperate. "Yeah, I see him."

"He's double-majoring in classics and education. I don't know if he actually knows Latin, but he's motivated enough to learn," says Leo.

"Name?"

"Jason Grace."

Percy shudders. 'Jason' is such a douche name. He's the kind of guy that'll make all sorts of gross jokes, yet will somehow get any girl he wants to date him anyway.

"Are you sure that's our only option?" Percy asks.

Leo nods. Clearly not understanding Percy's reservations, he stands up and wipes Dorito dust on his pants. "Let's go say hi!" He marches over to where Jason and the other Ultimate Frisbee bozos are playing.

"Hey there!" Leo shouts.

No answer. The Frisbee bros probably can't hear him over their awesomeness.

"Um, hello?" Leo taps Jason on the shoulder.

Jason jerks backward, elbowing Leo with his enormous arm.

Leo tumbles and falls flat on his butt.

"Oh!" Jason crouches down. "I'm so sorry, little dude; I didn't even see you there! Are you alright?"

Percy seizes his opportunity. "He will be if you tutor our study group."

Jason helps Leo to his feet and scratches the back of his neck. "Me? Tutor? You guys know I'm dyslexic, right?"

"Woah, me too!" says Leo.

"What is it with everyone here and being dyslexic? Annabeth's going to think I tricked her into joining a dyslexia support group or something," Percy says.

Leo wipes mud on his pants. "At this point, it would be easier to tell her that! Better yet, why can't you just ask her out like any other guy?"

"Wait, there's gonna be girls?" Jason asks.

There's absolutely no way this dude is going to steal Percy's thunder! He saw Annabeth first, and Jason hasn't even seen her at all! "Oh, no, uh-"

"I mean, if there are girls, I'm in. My online MythoMagic group says I need to get out more," Jason says.

"Wait, you play MythoMagic?" Leo asks. "Percy, can we keep him?"

MythoMagic? Like that card game? Maybe Jason isn't a threat. "Sure. How far ahead in the textbook do you think you can get before tomorrow afternoon, Jason?"

"It's hard on short notice; I'll try to learn the first three chapters, but I might need you guys to help stall tomorrow so we don't get through the work too fast. Is that okay?"

Okay, so this guy's kind of right; they're going to need to fill—what—an hour with Latin tutoring. They'll need as many distractions as possible.

Percy smirks. "That's great. Welcome to the study group, Jason."

Jason and Leo give Percy their phone numbers and agree on a time and place to meet, as well as a few alternatives in case that doesn't work for Annabeth. She is, after all, the highest priority.

✎✎✎

Percy pulls out a chair and sits down. He was hoping for an outdoor study spot, but all the picnic tables are wet from the storm last night. Now, he's going to get his mask all gross and moist ten minutes into the study session.

Jason sits at the head of the table, assuming his role as the tutor. He spills the contents of his Nike backpack out on the table, revealing some normal college student stuff like pencils and crumbled-up notebook paper. There's also some gross Silly Putty, some MythoMagic cards, and a singular brick painted gold.

"Can I ask about the brick?" Leo asks, taking his seat. His paper mask is too large for him; he keeps tugging it up over his nose.

Jason groans. "Someone threw a brick at my head this one time in high school; it's a pretty cool story. I ended up with a bad concussion and couldn't go to gym class though. Anyway, some of my guy friends thought it would be funny to sneak this into my backpack on the last day of school. I guess I just never got around to cleaning it out."

Percy shrugs and retrieves his blue Latin notebook. He and his little sister put different stickers on his notebooks so he'd be able to tell which ones are which. His Latin notebook is covered in happy faces. Percy sure didn't feel happy in that class this morning.

"So," he says, trying to make some small talk. "What do you guys think of the teaching assistant?"

"What a weirdo!" says Jason. "I don't like to get down on people, but I think I saw a Beanie Baby in his bag."

Leo reclines in his chair. "I heard a rumor that he brutally stabs them and tells people he can see the future that way."

That's not exactly the explanation Percy was expecting.

"Oh, really?" Jason asks. "Someone wrote on rate-my-professor that he has a stuffed animal fetish."

"Nah, that's not it," says Leo.

"I'd trust him," says Percy. "Leo knows everything about everyone."

Then, he sees her! Annabeth!

He pulls out a chair, hoping that she'll sit next to him. Of course, she'll sit next to him. He's the only one she knows, right?

Then, Percy sees the two other girls that follow her in.

The shortest one is wearing jeans with a denim jacket. She looks a little nervous; it's almost as if she's cowering behind Annabeth.

The other girl has dark choppy hair and wears a pair of leggings and a "PINK" sweatshirt. She pulls her mask below her chin and whispers something in Annabeth's ear.

What really scares Percy is the massive guy behind Annabeth. He's probably larger than some species of bears, for crying out loud! He's wearing a hockey sweatshirt with a maple leaf on it.

Percy gulps. How's he supposed to compete with a freaking hockey player?

Jason clears his throat and gets into character. "Hello, is this everyone?"

"Yeah," says Annabeth. "I hope you don't mind. I brought a few friends along."

The newcomers look at Percy and Jason expectantly. "Yeah, it's fine with me," says Percy, even though it is totally not fine with him.

"The more the merrier," Jason says. He takes off his glasses and wipes the fog away on his shirt.

Annabeth takes a seat next to Leo. "Hey, you're the guy that found the fire hazard in the student union, right?"

Leo beams. "Yeah, that's me!"

Oh, no.

The muscular guy and the girl who'd whispered to Annabeth sit at the other head of the table, and the denim-clad girl sits by Percy.

He might as well make the best of this.

"Hi. I'm Hazel," she says quietly.

"My name's Percy. I like your mask."

She touches her face as if she'd forgotten about her mask. It has horses on it, and Percy likes horses. There's some common ground.

"Thanks," Hazel says. "I made it myself."

"Woah. That's really cool," says Percy.

"Alright, short introductions since we've got a lot to go through," says Annabeth. "That counts for yours, Hazel. Who's next?"

"I'll go," Percy says. "My name is Percy Jackson. I'm from New York City, and uh, I'm majoring in marine biology."

"Oh, that's nice!" says Hazel.

Percy looks at Jason.

He jumps. "Okay... I'm Jason Grace, I'm double-majoring in classics and education, and I can't wait to help you all out with Latin."

"Aren't you in our class?" Annabeth asks.

"Going for the easy A."

Nice one, Jason. Very nice.

Leo stiffens when it's his turn. "Name's Leo Valdez, but I'll also answer to 'hot stuff'. I'm here on a mechanical engineering scholarship, and my dad's been missing since-"

"Cool, nice to meet you," says Annabeth. It's probably a good thing she interrupted. Leo's introduction could have been pretty uncomfortable.

"Annabeth. Chase." She points to herself.

"That's it?" says the next girl. "Alright, good for you. I'm Piper. I'm from Oklahoma, and yeah, you know what? I'll tell you all. I'm Cherokee, and freakin' proud of it. Oh, and I'm totally stoked to be here!" She shoots finger guns across the table.

Piper seems like a lot of fun.

"Got a last name?" Leo asks her.

"Let's stick with Piper." Piper crosses her arms.

"Oh," the giant scary guy says. "I'm Frank Zhang. I'm uh, from Canada. Sorry, I don't have much to say..." he trails off. So he's a shy hockey player.

Everyone sort of just stares at each other for a moment. Have you ever noticed that your name, hometown, and major never actually break the ice the way it's supposed to?

Percy regrets passing judgment on Jason so soon and so harshly because this dude is a social wonder.

"Shall we get started?" Jason asks. "We could review the content from yesterday first..."

Annabeth rolls her eyes. "Yesterday was syllabus day."

"Very good. Can anybody tell me how many excused absences you get before it counts against your grade?" Jason asks.

"Four, but-" Annabeth starts.

"And how much of your grade is the final worth?"

"Thirty percent, but-"

"And when is the-"

"Holy shit, will you shut up?" Annabeth asks. "Does anybody here actually want to review the damn syllabus?"

Percy and Leo are the only ones that raise their hands.

Jason sighs in defeat. "Alright, so I guess we'll run some, uh, vocabulary..."

Everyone pulls out their textbooks, except for Percy. He still hasn't bought books for any of his classes. He doesn't even know where the bookstore is.

"Okay," says Jason. "I brought some extra notecards if anybody wants some."

"Seriously?" Annabeth asks. "You're supposed to tutor us, and you want to sit here and watch us make flashcards?"

Color rises to Jason's face.

"Hey, look here guys!" Leo gestures to the flimsy notecard house he made on the table.

Frank drops his mechanical pencil and crawls under the table to retrieve it.

"C'mon," says Percy. He stands to address the group. "I'm sure Jason has his reasons-"

Annabeth stands up and leans across the table towards Percy. "Is this guy even a real tutor? What's your aim, Percy?"

"I, uh-"

A loud gurgling sound fills the room as Piper tries to get the last of the whipped cream from her Starbucks frappuccino. "Sorry," she mutters.

"Jason!" Annabeth scolds. "Why don't you conjugate the verb 'neco, necare' for us? In all six indicative tenses?"

"In what?" Jason asks.

"Ow!" Frank yells. He emerges from under the table, rubbing a red spot on his head. "Oh, shoot, my pencil..." He dives back under the table.

Annabeth continues. "You seriously wasted my time, Jackson? And what about these other people? It's one thing to trick me, but Frank, Piper, and Hazel really need to pass this class. Hell, I really need to pass this class!"

"I'm sorry," Percy says. "I just-"

"C'mon guys," Annabeth says. She knocks over Leo's notecard house on her way out.

Hazel helps Frank out from under the table and leads him out the door.

Piper leaves as well, but not before passing Leo one of her pink notecards and throwing out her Starbucks cup.

Percy sighs. That was a complete disaster. Not only does Annabeth hate his guts now, but he also lost his chance at making three other new friends, who seem like nice, cool people.

Jason sighs into his mask and fogs up his glasses. "I'm sorry. I should've studied harder." He wipes the fog away with his fingers, like tiny little windshield wipers.

"No, this isn't your fault," says Percy. "I should've just asked her out like a normal guy."

Leo stands two notecards up together on the table. "I'm glad you didn't ask her out. She knocked over my card house!"

Percy gives Leo a pity laugh.

"I'm not upset," Leo continues. "I got that Piper girl's number!"

Jason coughs. "What?"

"Read it and weep!" Leo slides the pink notecard across the table so Percy and Jason can see.

Sorry, Annabeth was a bitch. Let me know when the next study session is!

-Pipes

Her number is written at the bottom of the notecard in blue ink. So maybe they haven't lost their chance of being friends with at least one person. And she's a girl, so Percy's fulfilled his promise of girls to Jason.

If they haven't lost their chances with Piper, then there's hope for the others. Maybe even Annabeth!

But Percy has to act fast. He grabs the notecard. "Be right back. Watch my stuff!" he shouts.

"You better bring that back!" Leo shouts.

Percy can hear Jason say, "Dude, she did not give you her number for that reason."

He laughs. He may not have a hot girlfriend, but at least he can tell his mom that he made some college friends this week.

He pushes the door to the library open and rushes out into the parking lot.

Where is she?

He wants to call out, but that would be weird, right? She can't have gone far.

He looks around, frantically.

"I'm right here, doofus," says Annabeth.

Percy whips around. "Hey, listen, I'm really sorry about what happened. The truth is that I just think you're really cool and I'd love to hang out with you-"

Something's different.

Oh.

She's not wearing her face mask. Percy realizes he's never actually seen her face before. She has a tiny dusting of freckles on her nose. It's cute.

"What's wrong?" Annabeth asks.

"I thought you'd have a nose piercing," Percy says.

She laughs and hits her Juul.

She... hits her Juul?

The water vapor smells like lemon, and it makes Percy feel a little nauseous. Part of him is shocked that she vapes, and the other part is surprised at himself for being into a girl who vapes.

"Uh, I'm sorry about what happened..."

"You said that already," Annabeth says. "I'm not sure why you're still here though. What's done is done. I'll find another study group for Piper and Hazel. And I guess Frank too. I'm pretty sure he only came because he's into Hazel." She hits her Juul again. "Sorry, you don't mind if I do this now?"

Percy shrugs. "It's okay. I actually kind of got that vibe from Hazel too."

"I'll have to get them together."

"Maybe... we could set them up?" Percy asks. He shows Annabeth the notecard that Piper left behind. "I know we're all kind of misfits, but at least Piper had a good time today."

"Well," says Annabeth. "Piper is good at reading people, so you guys must be kind of cool." She puts her mask back on and steps off the curb, looking both ways before crossing the street.

"Same time tomorrow?" Percy calls.

"If you can find a study room with a whiteboard!"