Within the dense wilderness of the Pine Barrons was a towering set of neo-gothic structures towering over the endless expanse of woodlands.

Leeds University matched its prestigious status with a sprawling expansive campus only minuscule by its location.

The campus was a large square platform with four towers connected by building walling off the campus’s garden. On each side was another square platform with the square platform in front of the entrance serving as parking. Two extra buildings to the east and west of the building serve as class halls and a square platform to the north of the building a stadium for sports. 

Percy couldn’t help but soak in the view from the window of his dorm which overlooked the sun setting on the west side of the campus and served as another distraction from his psychology paper.

The other distractions were the plant slowly dying by the window of his dorm and his anxiety over a party Sophia invited him to.

Sophia had already formed a group of friends and while Percy was happy for her, he was also concerned by the fact that he hadn’t been to a party since he was 13.

He hadn’t been invited to many parties and had turned down going to prom in exchange for spending more time on the gardening forums. Ruminating on this didn’t help Percy’s anxiety.

Percy practically pelted himself with negative and belittling affirmations, cursing his anti-social tendencies and when he looked at his laptop, he only had more ammo as he only had a paragraph done on a three-page paper. 

His mouth tightly grasped onto the stylus he was using to type on the small keyboard buttons, trying to force out thoughts from his head which only revealed the fact that not a single idea exited his brain until at least 15 seconds later when his brain spontaneously produced an idea.

Today was Friday, he thought, and the paper for his Psych 101 class was on Wednesday at 5 PM. Percy rationalized that he could give himself some leisure time so that when he comes back to the paper he could write things more efficiently. So with that in mind, he shut his laptop, attached his phone, stylus, and keys to his wrist strap which was already on his wrist, and waltzed out of his dorm. 

… 

Percy had made his way to the main entrance and immediately spotted Sophia. Sophia was already with her friend group consisting of A cyclops, A Griffin, and a familiar-looking humanoid figure. 

“Percy!” Sophia raced over to the Alicorn as her friends trailed behind her. 

“Hey…” Percy said excitedly before hesitantly saying. ‘Everyone.”

Aside from the overwhelming awkwardness this situation provided, he couldn’t help but smile at Sophia’s flourishing social life. 

“Guys, this is Percy” Sophia pointed to Percy before pointing over to the cyclops in the group before going down the row of friends. “Percy, This is Ned, This is George, and this is Philadelphia.”

Percy looked at Philidephia narrowing his eyes and finally realizing who he was. 

The Circular array of tentacles with an eye at the center, the black muscle tee, and wings… 

This was the guy that nearly hit Percy and Sophia. 

Percy wanted to call him out but the overwhelming amount of anxiety kept Percy’s mouth figuratively shut. 

“Huh, Philadelphia,” Percy said. “Quite a name.”

“Well my full name is OXOXOXOOXOXOOX, but I shortened it down to Philidelphia.” Philadelphia continued. “But call me Philly if you want to.”

“Okay… Philadelphia.” Percy said slowly. 

“Philly has SUCH a nice car,” Sophia grinned “It's like my favorite shade of red, you’ve gotta see it.”

“Sounds fantastic” Percy smiled weakly. 

Percy began to wonder if this was a dream… 

… 

…no, this wasn’t a dream, 

Percy had to be upfront with himself as he pondered this absurd situation. He found himself looking at the left window on the passenger side since that window was the most accessible side to him. 

The velocity of the vehicle while fitting for what he expected from the driver was simultaneously rather worrying. But the worry was mildly overshadowed by the way the forest began to merge into a hypnotic blob of colors and shapes as Philidelphia drove by.

Percy was also impressed by how accommodating the vehicle was, so much so that he found himself sitting in between both a 6-foot cyclops and a 5-foot griffin while not getting compressed. 

A vehicle that accommodated so many species so well was a novelty, with these vehicles only seen in neighborhoods with residents slightly above the lower middle class, which was only another factor in his all-consuming alienation. 

As much as he wanted to look away from the window to ease his fear of moving so fast, the view was the only thing distracting him from the strange predicament he found himself in and especially the conversation that made him feel left out.

Philadelphia, in contrast, seemingly carried the conversation, a conversation that hopped from celebrity gossip to mainstream cinema to talks about business. No matter how many aggressive turns the conversation took, Philadelphia was always on the road. 

“So what’s your major, Percy?” Percy snapped back to reality turning towards the front of the car with Sophia in the front now staring at him. 

“Uh… I’m a psychology major.” Percy smiled while looking back at the window. 

“Nice,” Philadelphia said. “How are classes?”

“They’re a thing,” Percy said quietly.

“Are you trying to study us for a class project or something?” Philly joked.

“No,” Percy said mildly aggravated.

“How long have you and Sofia been friends?” Philadelphia asked. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Uh, I think like 14 years?” Percy estimated. 

“15 years actually.” Sophia corrected 

“Oh wow,” Philadelphia said. “I wish I had a friendship like that, I’ll probably outlive all of my friends.”

“Then you have all the time in the world to make more” Sophia responded.

“Yeah, I do. I also have enough time to get another degree,” Philidelphia responded. “My dad has like 200 college degrees.”

“Wow.” Sophia swooned. “Your dad sounds pretty cool.”

“He’s alright,” Philidelphia casually noted.

Percy refrained from rolling his eyes and just looked back out the window as Sophia and Philidelphia talked. The sound of the conversation was slowly drowned out and the view of the outside was the only thing that grasped Percy’s focus.

… 

Getting through the bouncer and entering the club, Percy was immediately met by loud music that vibrated the space as people were flailing in a dimly lit room. 

Percy had never seen such activity before which had him so distracted that as soon as Percy thought to look for the friend group they were already gone.

Percy figured they went into the crowd and now once again, Percy was standing in the middle of the room investigating every corner of the room from left to the right leading to what Percy considered to be a safe haven, a bar that was located on the right side of the room which didn’t have many people around it. 

Percy found this mostly isolated space ideal so he made his way to the table before slightly struggling to get himself onto the stool.

Percy found himself looking at the menu, he was only 18 and the legal drinking age was 21. But he considered asking, hoping they wouldn’t check his ID reflecting on one time that he was able to get a beer. 

Sophia said he was able to because he sounded and looked older for a Dwarf Alicorn. Thus Percy made his decision, he went for a choice that he was familiar with. A whiskey. 

He was able to get the bartender, who was a minotaur, to go over to him so he can ask for a shot of whiskey and before he knew it Percy found himself in front of a small shot glass of whiskey. Percy used his lips to encircle the cup and lifted his head to let the drink enter his mouth.

With one sip, a dreadful taste smacked his taste buds causing him to quickly put the cup down and cough a bit. He tried to cover up his distaste for the liquid but couldn’t help but wonder what the appeal of the stuff was. 

As he pondered on it for a bit, he felt himself relax, the anxiety of the party, the thoughts, all began to slow down seemingly manifesting in a warm feeling that filled his belly. 

Percy felt calmer, calm enough that almost automatically he signaled to the bartender once again and said, “I’d like another please,” 

Percy was slightly taken aback but already he found himself in front of another shot glass. He once again wrapped his lips around the glass and tilted his head up. Percy found himself once again hacking reflexively trying to cover it up with his front legs. 

“First time.” Percy turned to his left to see Philidelphia with a glass of a light blue drink.

He wondered how he got that but simply didn’t ask only answering Philidelphia’s question.

“Uh, yeah, I guess,” Percy said.

Percy looked forwards once again, while he and Philadelphia shared an unsilent silence. Percy unable to stand the silence said to the passing bartender.

“I’d like another please.” The bartender acknowledged Percy’s existence with a thumbs-up before making him another drink.

Percy looked down once again.

“Do you happen to know any places or things that Sophia likes?” Philidelphia asked.

“Why don’t you just ask her yourself?” Percy asked.

“Uh, well uh…” Philadelphia studdered and stumbled over himself.

“You like her…” Percy said.

“Uh…” Philadelphia returned to a more confident state. “I will neither confirm nor deny that I like her…”

Percy scoffed a bit, actually finding that comment kind of funny before he drank another shot of whiskey. Percy spent a few seconds hacking subtly before he returned to just looking down at the table.

“She likes amusement parks.” Percy broke the silence, Philidelphia looked at him “If you take her out on a date take her to one of those. Win her a stuffed animal, that’ll totally get her to like you.”

“Really?” Philadelphia asked.

“Oh yeah.” Percy smiled. “Or take her to a sky rugby game, she really loves sky rugby. Oh and cars, she really loves cars. She really digs yours.”

“I’ve noticed,” Philadelphia laughed a bit. “Wait, so, if hypothetically I were to date her would you have a problem with that?”

“No.” Percy laugh. “Why would I?”

“I don’t know just checkin’” Philidelphia shrugged. 

“I mean, if you hurt her I will show no mercy…” Percy gazed intensely into Philidephias eye. “But if you treat her nice I won’t have a problem.”

“Okay.” Philadelphia stood up and squinted his eyes happily “Thanks, man.” 

“Uh, no problem, I guess.” Percy looked down at his shot glass, pondering on whether to order another shot. 

… 

“Percy”

Percy shot up from the table, he found himself still at the bar with a bit of drool on the side of his lip. He tried to collect himself but he was so dizzy he was unable to get a full grasp on reality. All he could remember was… well… taking one too many shots of whiskey… but at least he paid and tipped the tender so he was okay.

He turned to Sophia, who he recognized.

“You’ve been here all night?” Sophia asked.

Percy looked into her tired eyes and she slightly swung from side to side. They were both pretty drunk.

“Uh…” Percy groaned. “Maybe?”

“Well, we’re gonna go,” Sophia replied.

Percy slowly turned around his chair and leaned down managing to land on his feet and walked towards the exit after Sophia. It was dark out, the street lights and the club were some of the only things illuminating the night. 

Percy and Sophia slowly walked to Philly’s car with Philly already in the driver's seat. Percy opened the door finding Ned and George already in the car.

He slowly managed to get in and close the car door. The car quickly took off causing Percy to violently swing to the car's rhythm. Percy wondered whether Philly was drunk too or his driving only seems 10 times worse when he was drunk. 

His cheek was smeared onto a window forced to look out the window once again as everyone began to have a conversation that Percy could barely even follow. Percy immediately found himself dozing off being consumed by the darkness from the outside and inside of the car.

…

“Oh my goodness,” 

Percy shot up once again. A string of drool trailed from his cheek to the window where a wide smudge resided. Percy found himself looking at Philadelphia who was peeking into the car from the driver's side with a clear sense of surprise exuding from his singular eye.

“We really did forget you in here,” Philidelphia said, causing Percy to look around and realized everyone had already left the car. 

Philadelphia closed the front door and opened the back door adjacent to Percy. Percy looked down at the ground and leaned down to get out of the car. He reached out his front hoove to stick his landing but smacked the floor face first. Percy’s lower half raised in the air and his wings were sprawled out.

“Oh shoot.” Philly cringed. “Alright, let's get you to your dorm.”

Percy could hear the door shutting behind him before he was lifted up into the air and cradled in the warm and surprisingly not-so-slimy arms of Philadelphia. Percy was expecting the damp smell of fishy odor but  Percy was slightly caught off guard by the fact that he smelled like something similar to… cherry blossom.

Philly was now walking towards the campus with Percy slightly flailing in his arms. Consumed by pride, Percy attempted to object to Philidelphia’s aid.

“I don need yurhelp. ” Percy could barely mumble a coherent sentence.

“You clearly do,” Philadelphia rebutted. “Besides, Sophia told me where your room was so I’m not just gonna leave you sleeping in my car.”

“Izaudidonneedurelp” Percy repeated.

“First off, you starting to make less and less sense,” Philidelphia added. “Second, you drank way too much. Moderation is kind of a thing you know.”

Percy realized how futile struggling and objecting to Philly was, especially in this state, so he had no choice but to take the free ride up to his room.

Philly managed to find his room and gently knocked on the door. 

After waiting for a while someone opened the door, a Satyr with glasses seemingly half haphazardly put on, a white shirt, and pink plaid pajama pants.

“Just came to deliver your roommate” Philadelphia joked.

Percy was mad but couldn’t think of anything to say. The Satyr stepped aside and went back to bed as Philidelphia went by the window and looked at the plant before setting Percy down on his frankly well-made bed.

Philidelphia stepped away and looked at the plant by the window.

“Do you want me to water that?” Philadelphia asked.

“Sure.” Percy let out the word in utter defeat.

Philidelphia took a small water canaster by the potted plant and poured some water on it but he figured that this plant was beyond any sort of repair. 

So Philidephia put down the canaster and made his way out of the room.

“Good night, buddy.” Philly casually stepped out of the room, shut off the light, and slowly yet quietly shut the door behind him,  leaving Percy alone in the dark to pelt himself with more negative thoughts.

Despite his embarrassment, he could rest easy knowing he’ll never see him again.