"C'mere brat," Gabe said with a sneer, taking a swig of beer. Percy stayed where he was, his heart pumping quickly, "I need money for my cigs. Fork it over."

"Why don't you earn it yourself? You have a job, don't you?" Percy demanded, slowly inching towards the stairway. If he could only make it to his room, he'd be fine. But Gabe, despite his incredibly low IQ, narrowed his eyes.

"Trying to back talk, brat?" Gabe lurched forward, his beer bottle slipping out of his hands, and hitting the wall with a loud crunch. Shrapnel rained down, a piece embedding itself in Percy's arm. Percy could feel blood oozing down his arm, and he bit back a cry of pain.

"You and your mother are the same, disobedient, rebellious," Gabe glared, taking two drunken steps forward, stopping right by Percy. He was close enough that when he took a small breath, Percy could smell the beer on his breath, "but at least your mother is smart enough to know when to keep her trap shut."

Gabe balled up one of his fists and dug it into Percy's abdomen, punching him, hard. Percy gasped, coughing slightly, "I don't have any money."

"Brats like you should respect your elders. For everything I have done for you, you can't even spare a few dollars?" Gabe sneered, as he let the punches fly. Percy shut his eyes, gritting his teeth in pain.

- The Next Morning ((9:00 am)) -

Percy woke up to the sound of his alarm, coughing slightly. The smell of smoke was drifting into the room, but Percy rolled over. As he did so, his eyes drifted over to the alarm, which read the time 9:00. Percy swung his arm up, smashing the off button, and he settled into his bed before his eyes flew open.

9:00 am

It was Monday

School started at 7:50.

It was 9:00

"Shoot." Percy groaned, pulling himself to his feet, his entire body aching. He winced as he remembered how brutal Gabe had been, just for a couple of bucks. He didn't have any time to conceal his bruises, so he just threw a sweatshirt over his short-sleeved shirt and bare shirt.

He grabbed his backpack, and quietly crept into the living room. Gabe was passed out on the couch. A brown paper bag sat on the table, a note with swirly- handwriting on it, and a paper beside it.

Percy grabbed all three, before discarding the note. The cursive hurt his brain as he tried to read it. Sighing, he turned the other paper over. In neater, more readable handwriting, Percy read it.

-Dear Percy,

I had to leave early today for work, but I'll be home in time for dinner.

I made you lunch since I was up!

Have a great day at school! (Also, ignore the other note, I forgot to make it legible)

Love, Mom-

Percy grinned, stuffing the note in his pocket, and realizing once again, that he was so late for school, sprinted out the door.

- At School ((9:32 am)) -

Percy pulled his sleeves down and shuffled into the classroom. He could feel the eyes turn to him as he took his seat, pulling out his books. There were a few snickers, but Percy ignored him.

"Mr. Jackson, how nice of you to join us. Is there a reason you decided to show up so late?" The drawling voice of the teacher cut into Percy's thoughts. Percy looked up slightly. Ms. Dodds hovered over his desk, her usually humorless eyes shining with mirth as if she was excited to be able to punish Percy.

"Sorry, I slept in," Percy muttered.

"Sorry, I have to give you a detention." Ms. Dodds said in a voice that suggested that she wasn't sorry, at all. Percy raised his eyes to see Ms. Dodds slam a blue detention slip on his desk, slightly crumpled.

Percy groaned, pulling up his hood, and slumped down. He could still feel eyes watching him. He looked over to see stormy gray eyes peering over a large thick book. They could only belong to the teacher's pet- Annabeth Chase. Percy didn't know much about her, just that she was best friends with Thalia, someone that Percy sometimes hung out with.

He didn't usually hang out with Thalia all that much, his best friend Grover was friends with Thalia, and had been for years. So as little as Percy hung out with Thalia, he hung out with Annabeth even less. The only time he even saw her was at the rare high school party, or at a group activity.

So why in the world would Annabeth Chase be looking at him in the middle of English? Percy mouthed "what" to her and Annabeth's eyes widened in surprise. She shook her head slightly. "Where were you?"

"I slept in...Why?" Percy asked, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Just curious."

"Not a real answer"

"It's totally plausible"

"Nuh-uh," Percy said, accidentally talking out loud. The class froze, as Ms. Dodds turned around, her face forming a sneer.

"Perseus. Jackson. That is your second warning, you upstart brat." She growled. Percy paused at the word brat, his face flushing, remembering Gabe's harsh words. He shuddered and saw Annabeth looking at him with a worried glance. Her look disappeared into a small smile. But Percy ignored her, turning back to his textbook, the small moment of normality disappearing rapidly.

- Lunch ((12:36 pm)) -

"Yo, Percy. What was with you and Chase making goo-goo eyes at each other during English?" Leo asked as Percy slid onto the bench. Percy shrugged,

Percy shrugged, "First of all, those weren't goo-goo eyes. Second of all, she was asking why I was late. Third of all, that did end up with me getting yet another warning."

"First of all, yes, those were goo-goo eyes. Second of all, that was your own fault- talking during class, shame." Leo joked, imitating Percy.

"Shut up." Percy muttered, shoving Leo slightly, "When are Grover and Jason going to get here?

(A/N: Sorry if that bit was a little OOC, I changed the person who Percy was talking with a couple of times to find out what worked best. K, Buh-bye)

"Jason has math club and Grover has a 'Save the Trees' Rally in Mr. Sweder's classroom, remember?" Nico said, arriving at the table. Percy scooted over. Nico sometimes sat with them, but he tended to sit at Thalia's table- they were cousins, after all- and he sometimes sat alone.

"Oh, I forgot. It's been a busy week." Percy said. He looked up from his table and glanced around the cafeteria one last time. His gaze was caught by an all too familiar pair of stormy gray eyes. Percy sighed as his mind began to race, thinking up another lie to use as an excuse to hide the physical and emotional scars/

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