𝙸 𝙲𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚜

𝚂𝟸𝙴𝟻: 𝙼𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝙹𝚞𝚖𝚙!

Inspired by Community S2E6: "Aerodynamics of Gender"

Leo POV

"I can see the dean from here!" Leo shouts. Well, he can't really see Dean D, but his brand-spankin' new remote-control drone can!

"Let me see!"

Leo holds his phone out for Percy to see the first-person footage from the drone.

"So cool, man."

"Thanks. I made it myself!"

Someone behind Leo and Percy clears his throat. "Valdez! Jackson! Just what do you cupcakes think you're doing?"

Leo freezes. He's terrible in these situations, especially when it comes to reading social cues. Something tells him that Coach Hedge might be kind of upset with him.

"Coach!" says Percy. "Leo has to turn in his midterm project for engineering later this afternoon. We were just testing out his homemade drone."

"You two aren't going to earn your racket sports credit by flying robots around my multi-purpose courts!" Hedge shouts.

He stomps off to yell at some other students about their poor badminton form.

"I can't believe we have to take a gym credit!" Leo complains.

"I know; it's so high school," says Percy. He passes Leo a pickleball racket and steps onto the court. "C'mon, let's at least pretend we're interested in this."

"Okay, just let me bring in the Valdezinator."

Percy whistles a tune and bounces the ball against his racket while Leo recalls his invention with the remote control. He was up all night putting some finishing touches on his project, which he really didn't need to do, but hey, when Leo gets an idea, it has to become a reality.

So that's why it isn't much of a surprise when the reverse mechanism on the drone malfunctions. Ugh, Leo knew he should have gone through with a nineteenth testing sequence!

Faster than any projectile he's ever seen, the drone flies forward as if thrown by a slingshot.

"Oh no!"

"What is it, Leo?"

"My drone!"

The drone sails over the basketball nets, distracting a couple of girls that Leo thinks are pretty just long enough for Annabeth Chase to shoot a basket from half-court.

"Leo, hit the off switch!"

Leo pulls the battery pack out of the remote control.

"Was there no button or switch?" Percy asks.

"I had to take it out to put the confetti canon in."

"Damn, you're going to have to show me that function."

Hedge stomps back over to Leo and Percy.

"Go get the drone," Percy says. "I'll take care of Hedge."

So Leo embarks on his journey, through the basketball courts, beneath the volleyball nets, and over to the hedge where the drone landed.

It sure is deep in there.

He falls to his hands and knees, crawling through the branches. He may hate how the hedge tickles his skin, but he can't risk his A in engineering. That's his best class and probably his most important one too. It's a requirement for his major.