𝙸 𝙲𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚜

𝚂𝟷𝙴𝟸: 𝙸𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘 𝚝𝚘 𝙶𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚙

Based on Community S1E4: "Social Psychology"

Jason POV

"Hey, wait up!" Jason calls. He falls in line next to Annabeth, out of breath, but not daring to lower his mask. She can be a little bit uptight about COVID-19 safety, and it's not Jason's place to judge. It's important that everyone feels safe and respected in these—ugh, he's going to say it—unprecedented times.

"You know Hazel's right there. You could walk to class with her," Annabeth points out.

She's right. He could have just waited for Hazel to get her rolling backpack over the curb. It would have saved him a lot of breath.

But here's the thing: Jason has nothing in common with Hazel. She's a horse girl, for crying out loud! Don't get him wrong; he doesn't dislike her. She seems like a very sweet girl with an exceptionally positive disposition.

And it's that positive disposition that Jason just can't stand this early in the morning, so he doesn't want to risk being mean to her.

He starts to explain himself. "You're right-"

"Of course." Annabeth cracks her neck.

He ignores that. "I just don't know what Hazel and I are supposed to talk about. She's so upbeat and... and..."

"And?" Annabeth asks.

"Who's that?" Jason asks, referring to the woman with her arm around Piper.

Annabeth shrugs. "I dunno. Some hippie girl Piper's been talking to. I heard she makes earrings out of vending machine toys."

Jason bites his lip. "What do you mean, 'talking to?'"

"I don't gossip all that much. How would I know? Maybe they're dating, maybe they're just hooking up. Have you thought about asking?"

"No!" Jason shouts. "I mean, that's her business whether or not she wants to date a hippie, right?"

"Right," Annabeth says, although she doesn't sound convinced. "Anyway, I'm helping out with an experiment for my psychology class. Would you want to volunteer to be a test subject? I'm supposed to tell you that there'll be free subs."

She has her arm around Piper now. Geez, she looks so weird in her tie-dye t-shirt and her mismatched earrings. One of them is a baby from a king cake and the other is an alien. It probably glows in the dark. Is that a scrunchie on her wrist? Ugh, and she's using a Hydroflask.

She probably uses metal straws too. Whoop-dee-doo.

"Jason?" Annabeth asks.

"I'm good," he says. "But thanks anyway."

Annabeth glances toward Piper and the girl and then back at Jason. "Alright. I'll just ask the rest of the group."

✎✎✎

Jason sits down in his seat at the head of the study table in a huff. He can't believe it. Piper is dating that weird hippie girl! He just knows it. He saw them together at the Starbucks after Latin. She probably doesn't even let Piper use her dining dollars.

I'd share my dining dollars with Piper, Jason thinks to himself as he taps his pencil against his notebook.

"Ow!" Jason shouts.

"Nope, it can't read minds!" Leo declares. He shows off the suction cup, which he had apparently stuck to Jason's forehead. Guess being an experimental guinea pig is just one of the many perks of being friends with Leo Valdez. That's going to leave a mark later.