College AU: Percabeth first meeting oneshot

Percabeth College AU first meeting

It had only been a week, and Percy had already decided that college was not his thing. He'd always had the naive, idiotic idea that once he graduated high school, he would be free from school forever. Then his mom had convinced him to try out college. So, he worked hard and got in. The effort nearly killed him, but, once he was finally accepted to one of his top choices, he was thrilled. It was all downhill from here... right?

Wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong, so very wrong.

Turns out, the movies lied. College is not all partying the night away, free of responsibilities, not a care in the world. It was just like high school but on crack. The classes were harder, the homework longer, the mornings earlier. Not to mention, after being away from his mom for only a few days, he missed her. A lot.

Yep. College was the worst.

This was what was going through Percy's mind as he trudged across campus on a brisk autumn morning, the cool, wet new york air soaking into his clothes. His sneakers were soaked through from puddles, squishing as he went.

This day couldn't possibly get any worse,

Percy thought to himself.

At last, he reached his destination-- a large lecture hall on the far side of campus.

He wasn't' especially looking forward to the class. For some reason he couldn't possibly understand, the school required Marine Bio majors to take a Logic class during their freshman year. Percy was almost certain he would flunk the class.

It wasn't that he didn't want to make an effort in school-- he tried to do well in his classes, he really did. He'd tried all through high school. He wanted to make his mom proud, and to get somewhere in life. But, with his ADHD and Dyslexia, learning was... hard.

Percy pushed these thoughts from his mind as he opened the door to the lecture hall. Class wouldn't start for a few minutes-- thank goodness he wasn't late this time-- so the other students were still milling around, talking among themselves.

Percy slunk to a seat in the back, setting his bag down on the table in front of him.

He'd had some faint, misplaced hope that maybe things would be different than highschool-- he could make friends, be popular even.

A stupid idea, really.

It's only been a week, his mom had assured him on the phone the night before. Give it time: I'm sure you'll make friends soon.

At the time, Percy had nodded, forcing a smile.

But he didn't believe it for a second. College was just like high school--everyone avoided him, casting suspicious glances his way. Always the troublemaker, the outsider.

Percy was so engrossed in his thoughts that he hardly noticed when another student sat down in the seat beside him, tossing their bag onto the desk and letting out a long sigh.

Percy glanced up, surprised that anyone would sit next to him, and...

Wow. She was beautiful.

The person next to him was a girl, most likely a freshman as well. She looked like a mess-- her curly blonde hair tied back into a messy bun, her sweater on backwards, dark circles under her eyes. Still, she was beautiful. Something about the way her gray eyes sparkled in the light, or the determined frown on her face...

She was staring hard at the cup of coffee in her hand. She took a sip, and her frown deepened.

Percy watched curiously as she dug around in her bag, searching for something-- a sugar packet, maybe?

She finally found what she was looking for, and pulled out-- an energy drink.

Wait.

She started opening the energy drink, and before he could stop himself, Percy blurted out,

"Stop!"

The girl seemed to take a moment to process this. She glanced up, blinking slowly.

"Hm?"

Percy flushed, feeling her gray eyes analyze him carefully, as tired as she looked.

"Er... I..." he ran a hand through his hair, eying the energy drink in her hand. "...are you sure that's a good idea?"

The girl shrugged, turning back to her coffee, popping the lid of the energy drink, and pouring it in.

"I am going to die." she announced, to no one in particular.

Percy watched in horror as she brought the cup up to her lips and, in a few seconds, downed the whole thing.

She set the cup down on her desk and turned to Percy.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Annabeth."