𝙸 𝙲𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚜

𝚂𝟺𝙴𝟾: 𝙸𝚗 𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙵𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚜 𝙻𝚊𝚟𝚊

Part I of The Floor is Lava

Inspired by Community S5E5: "Geothermal Escapism."

Annabeth POV

The New Rome Seven is having one of their routine study sessions for their senior capstone seminar, which doesn't include any extensive studying—just figuring out what the assigned reading is about without doing any actual reading. There's this warm feeling lingering in the air, the kind you used to get in kindergarten when the teacher would feed you Christmas cookies and you'd wear your pajamas and watch The Polar Express. It's sort of similar, except it's springtime and our favorite study group is in their twenties.

That's right. Spring break is upon us and the ADHD study group and Frank are struggling to contain their excitement.

"Dude," says Jason, "I kinda feel like I could run a marathon. Is that weird?"

"What are you guys doing for spring break?" Hazel asks.

Piper says, "Jason and I are going up to Mount Tam for a little engagement photoshoot."

Leo clears his throat.

"And we're taking Leo."

"None of you better be wearing green or I swear to God it will clash with the environment and-"

"Okay, Leo!" says Jason. "You just appointed yourself the costume designer too. Congrats."

Leo groans. "I have been on Pinterest for hours trying to find some cute poses; can you give me a break?"

"No," the happy couple says in unison.

The intercom crackles and blares a new announcement from Dean D. "Good morning, New Rome! Spring has sprung, but before spring break officially begins, the folks at the Campus Activities Office have something special planned for you all. Is everyone sitting down? Great, because we've got a game for you all with high stakes! That's right, the winner will receive round-trip Southwest airline tickets, courtesy of Flex Seal LLC."

"Wow, that's really nice," says Hazel.

"All you have to do is win this game, which starts right now. Attention all students: the floor is officially lava!"

"Oh shit!" Piper shouts, lifting her feet off the ground.

Leo hops onto the table and addresses each of his friends. "Alliance? Alliance?"

Jason stands up in his chair and goes into full panic mode. "How can this be happening? We're not even wearing ridiculous costumes!"

Frank wrings his hands and looks at the empty seat next to him. "I don't want to come off like I don't care because I really am happy for you guys getting married and all, but has anyone seen Percy and Annabeth?"

✎✎✎

If you asked Annabeth this morning how she thought she'd be spending the last few hours leading up to her spring break, she would not have predicted being stranded on a footstool in the middle of the student lounge with her nemesis, Percy Jackson.

Needless to say, she's a little bit pissed. "You could have chosen any spot in this room, but you chose the same footstool as me? What the hell, Seaweed Brain?"

"I panicked, okay?" he shouts back.

"Stop yelling! I can smell your fish stick breath!"

"You never complained about my fish stick breath when we were-"