Okay But Imagine. Percy’s Going To High School Post Canon, And He, Being Extremely Attractive, Is Instantly

Okay but imagine. Percy’s going to high school post canon, and he, being extremely attractive, is instantly popular. He has a lot of friends, some fake, some genuine, and he can tell which are genuine. A lot of girls also try to flirt with him, but obviously he’s dating Annabeth, so he shuts them down real quick. However, his instant popularity and unintentional wooing of girls gains him instant dislike from some of the guys who had already been popular. They want to teach this newbie a lesson. Thing is, they find out very quickly that roughing him up won’t work. Any attempted fight ends with him pinning his arm against your throat with your back to the wall and a warning to leave him alone. He even managed to come out on top when it was six v one. So they resort to the next best thing.

Words.

At first, nothing seems to bother him. Sneering comments about his looks and stuff bounce off of him like rubber, and he usually responds with a sarcastic comment that leaves them floundering for words. (Percy once got a severe panic attack in class after someone mentioned a bottomless pit, and they mocked him about that once, but it ended with Percy’s foot on someone’s throat and a dangerous gleam in his eye that sent the message to never, ever joke about that if you wanted to live.) But then that changes when they find a new topic to target. The ‘ringleader’ of the popular guys who dislike him, Brad, shares literature class with him. The lit teacher at that school likes to publicly humiliate students who don’t do well on tests or essays by not-very-subtly announcing their grade when they get their paper/test back. One day, Percy gets an F on a test, and Brad notices that he seems more sullen when he sees how he did. He also has noticed that Percy is no slacker, and does genuinely try hard on his schoolwork. He mockingly teases Percy about his grade, and Percy tenses for a split second but then just rolls his eyes.

But that split second was enough for Brad to know that he’d found a weak spot.

The group redoubles their effort, viciously tearing him down with taunts about his grades, his intelligence level, everything and anything they can think off. And Percy knows it’s stupid, but it starts to get to him. Because he (thinks he) knows they’re right. And though his mask of impassivity never breaks, Brad can tell that their comments get to him.

When they find out he has dyslexia, it doesn’t deter them (cause they’re assholes) but instead gives them something new to also mock Percy about. They tease him inside of class and out, sometimes volunteering him to read when the teacher needs someone to read for the class, and mocking him/over-exaggeratedly stuttering when he inevitably slips up once or twice. The tip of his ears turning bright red is the only tell that their words are humiliating him.

It all escalates when Brad’s girlfriend, Lena, dumps him in favor of trying to get with Percy (hilariously unsuccessfully, as it turns out). Brad is furious, and the group is ruder than ever before, constantly harassing him. Percy is not the type to take this lying down, and snaps back with sass (as he had been doing from the very beginning as well), but they know they’re still getting to him anyway. One day, Percy is talking to a very pretty, sweet looking blonde girl who none of the guys recognize (it’s Annabeth visiting Percy cause her school is on break) and as they’re walking past the pair, who are discussing where to go on a date, Percy says, “I think that-“

But that’s as far as he gets.

“Let me stop you right there,” Brad interjects, interrupting him. “I know whatever you’re about to say is going to be moronic, since you began it with ‘I think’ when you clearly can’t think.”

Which isn’t Brad’s most creative taunt, but Percy had gotten a C on an essay earlier that day (which had been an opinion essay. He’d gotten a C on what he thought.) and so he just glares. It was also Brad’s first mistake. Annabeth is fuming by the end of Brad’s sentence.

“What did you just say to him?”

“What to Per-C minus?”

Second mistake. Annabeth blinks at him, her anger growing at the nickname.

“You like that?” Brad says, somehow misinterpreting her fury for being impressed. “We’ve also got Doesn’t Know Jack-son, and-”

Annabeth grabs his wrist and twists it sharply, not enough to break bones, but enough that it hurts. By the end of their conversation with her, Brad and his group are promising to never talk to Percy again, and they mean it because they do not want to risk the wrath of this blonde girl if she finds out they broke their word. Once they’ve run away with their tails between their legs, Annabeth turns to Percy. She’s prepared to rant about how those guys were moronic jackasses, but she sees his expression and instead pulls him into a hug.

“Listen, Seaweed Brain.” She stops. “You know, when I call you that, I don’t-“

“I know, don’t worry,” Percy interrupts.

“Good. Anyway, don’t listen to those guys. They’re completely wrong. You may be boneheaded at times-“

“Hey!”

“-but you’re not stupid. Not even close. You’re really, really smart and clever, and they don’t know the first thing about you. Don’t let them get to you. You’re smart and funny and loyal and cute-”

Percy pulls away from the hug, waggling his eyebrows. “You think I’m cute?”

Annabeth sighs in exasperation. “We’re dating. Yes, I think you’re cute.”

Percy’s grin grows and he wiggles his eyebrows again. “You think I’m cute.”

Annabeth rolls her eyes fondly, and interlaces her fingers with Percy’s, tugging him out of the school doors. “Yeah, yeah, Seaweed Brain, you’re cute.”

(As they walk outside, Percy turns to a random passerby, points to Annabeth, and says, “She thinks I’m cute.”

Annabeth drags him away, muttering, “I can’t take you anywhere.”)