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Annabeth settled into the seat next to Percy’s, pleased they shared the same English class. While her mother's domains left her gifted in many subjects, her dyslexia rendered typical English classes oppressive. It would be nice to have at least being with Percy to look forward to during the seventy-five minute block of torture.
There was also the fact that she would be able to make sure that he was treated properly, at least in this one class. Annabeth was well aware of the fact that Percy spent much of his previous educational experience enduring teachers who dismissed him and the simple accommodations that would help him succeed. There had even been teachers who had openly mocked and disparaged Percy for when he struggled.
Despite her promise to Percy to avoid seeking out those twice-cursed fools who called themselves teachers and exacting retribution for their misdeeds, she resolved to be present, ready to strike the instant their teacher made any misstep. Annabeth was aware of both their IEPs and more than ready to see that they were followed. Frankly, it would be a pleasure to strike back at a teacher who failed to treat the students under their care as they should. Though sadly she had a feeling that any teachers she confronted would be quick to back down, she was after all Bruce Wayne’s daughter, one of the largest donors to the school.
Percy glanced over at Annabeth as the teacher stood in front of the class and cleared his throat, and began to give his little welcome speech. She had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes with difficulty. It was practically the same speech that she had heard in three other classrooms. From his goofy expression, Annabeth could not help guessing that had also noticed that it was practically verbatim to all the other welcome speeches she had already heard that day.
Did the administration hand out a copy of the speech to all the teachers to memorize? The word groupthink came to mind, and Annabeth could not help but hope that at least some of their teachers had their own brains and viewpoints at least. Otherwise, it would be a very boring school year, and she could almost guarantee that Percy would do something to shake things up. If things were as ill-boding as the identical welcome speech implied, Annabeth could see herself joining him, and possibly the rest of her siblings caught in such a placid institution.
Annabeth's mind wandered, idly imagining what the Stoll brothers would do with a blank canvas like her school, until the teacher transitioned to taking attendance and calling out names. Frankly, she did not care who else was in the class with her besides Percy, though she knew that many other students were listening with rapt attention. Most of them were probably under orders from their parents to look for situations where they could network in class.
But then she heard it, “Nancy Bobofit.”
Beside her, Percy straightened in his chair, his attention going directly to the girl who responded before looking over at Annabeth, his eyes wide. A few names later, when Percy's name was called and he answered, the same girl looked across the room at him, her expression perplexed. Annabeth edged closer to Percy, her voice a mere breath, “Is that the Nancy from Yancy?”
Tilting his head slightly, Percy answered, “She looks different, but not so different that braces, makeup and five years couldn’t explain the difference. Her hair is certainly the same shade of red.”
“Peanut butter and ketchup, Nancy?” prodded Annabeth.
“Yep,” Percy said, the 'p' in his response sharp, his expression briefly showing anger before smoothing over.
Seeing anger flash across Percy’s face and disappear just as swiftly pained Annabeth. She instinctively understood that it was Nancy's actions toward Grover that angered Percy, not her cruelty toward him. Annabeth recognized that despite actively working on his self-worth, his first instinct in such circumstances was to minimize the impact of what he had experienced. It was an instinct, a wound that would not heal, from the time when Gabe was the biggest monster in his life, and the adults who were meant to help Percy belittled him instead.
A broad smile stretched Annabeth’s lips as she watched Nancy turn back to face the teacher as he continued to list out names. Of course, the steal in her expression gave lie to the smile. It had been a long time since Annabeth had gotten the story of the bullying that had led to Percy's first use of his powers out of him. Even all those years ago, before they had become so intrinsically tied together, Annabeth had wanted to confront the cruel girl who would want to make Percy’s life worse than it already was.
If it had been just one or two incidents, Annabeth might have gritted her teeth and ignored it, but the girl had deliberately targeted Percy and Grover for the entire school year. From what she could gather from their scattered stories, Nancy had targeted Grover early on, and when Percy moved to defend him, she focused on him as well. Never in a million years would she have imagined that the perfect opportunity would just plop itself into her lap. She would not necessarily do anything to the girl. She would allow Nancy to apologize, and if she didn’t, well, that was on her.
The class went by as quickly as she supposed it could, meaning that it only seemed to last three times as long as it should have. The teacher droned on about the wonderful world of literature that they would explore that semester. Fortunately, for their major semester project, they had a choice of various pieces, and "The Odyssey" was among them. Annabeth only paid attention to about half of what he said. She spent much of the class studying Percy's profile and plotting.
People never doubted that Percy would protect Annabeth. They saw it in the way he held her hand and stood between her and danger. Whether a monster threatened her or a speeding car was going to splash her, he would be her shield. What was harder for people to see was that it went both ways.
So while the teacher droned on about Alcott, Keats and Shakespeare, Annabeth was considering likelihoods and contingencies. Annabeth could forgive, at least superficially, but if Nancy tried anything, there would be retribution. If the girl attempted to continue previous patterns well, there was more than one way to remove the girl from the picture. Annabeth would not even have to skirt carefully around her father's infamous no-kill rule to do it.
After Annabeth had finished plotting where Nancy was concerned, she turned her mind to the specter that was Gabe. Annabeth hated that such a worthless creature still had the power to dim Percy’s light. She knew Percy was making progress healing from the rot Gabe had left in his psyche, but that did not make Annabeth want to lash out any less. It did not take her long to decide that she would have to reach out to Nico to see if the furies needed any more inspiration in the ideas to torment Gabe with.
Having learned of Gabe's prolonged cruelty to Percy, Nico sought out Gabe's soul in Asphodel. (The coward, having apparently snuck through the EZ death line.) He then brought Gabe before the judges, demanding that he be punished appropriately for harming their lord's nephew. If Poseidon could ensure the slug received special attention for his abominable actions toward Sally and Percy when the inclination struck him, then they likely wouldn’t object to a few of Annabeth’s proposals.
***
Annabeth and Percy had just managed to flee their English classroom when Nancy approached Percy directly, paying no mind to Annabeth, who was mid-conversation with him. Eyes narrowing, Annabeth evaluated the other girl.
Nancy tucked a frizzy red curl behind her ear and stated, “I know it can be hard to start at a new high school as a junior since everyone has their established friend groups, so I wanted to introduce myself. I’m Nancy, and I would be more than happy to show you around Gotham Academy.”
Percy tilted his head slightly, the little crease between his brows appearing as he asked, “How did you know I was new to Gotham Academy? It seems like a pretty big place with lots of students. Maybe this is just the first class we have had together?”
Nancy bit her lip slightly, leaned in, and giggled, “Oh, I'm sure if a guy like you had attended Gotham Academy last year, I would have known. There is no way I could overlook you, no matter what classes you took.”
Startled, Annabeth almost choked on her own spit at the other girl’s giggle. Good gods, she was attempting to flirt with Percy, not that he had a clue. He never had a clue. Annabeth had kissed him on the lips, and he still took a year to realize she had feelings for him.
The little crease between Percy’s brows only deepened as he glanced over to Annabeth, but before he could respond, Nancy continued her attack, saying, “Do you have any plans to try out for the football team? I could introduce you to some of the varsity team.”
“No, I’m not much into sports,” Percy answered as he took a small step back. It was obvious to Annabeth that Nancy’s forwardness made Percy uncomfortable, even though he hadn't the faintest idea she was trying to charm him.
“I’m surprised by that. You have such an impressive build,” Nancy reached out as if to caress Percy's bicep, adding, “You must be training hard to have gained all those muscles.”
Yeah, that was not happening. Linking her arm with Percy's, Annabeth moved forward, her body a firm barrier against Nancy's attempt to touch him. With a sly, predatory smile, Annabeth said, “Nancy, was it? Believe it or not, you’re the first Nancy I’ve met in real life, although I’ve come across mentions of one or two others before.”
The other girl's eyes narrowed for a moment before she plastered on an unbothered expression and then added a rough attempt at a smile. “That is a surprise; Nancy is a very common name. You must have led a very sheltered life to have never met a Nancy before.” Then, looking back at Percy, her smile grew brighter as she said, “Percy, however, is quite an uncommon name, but despite that I have actually met a Percy once before.”
While Percy might be incapable of recognizing obvious flirting, he was no stranger to insults; however subtle. Frowning slightly, Percy drew Annabeth nearer, his arm wrapping around her waist and pulling her flush against his side, a gesture that surely broadcast their relationship to any observer. Annabeth, for her part, reveled in his blatant act, looking up at Percy with soft eyes. They hadn’t even made it through the first day of junior year, and from all the wild whispering going on around them word that they were a couple would spread like wildfire.
Annabeth was more than cognizant of the fact that Percy possessed the sculpted physique of a Greek god, with a chiseled jaw and a body muscled and lithe, and eyes so deep they could swallow you whole. He outshone every other teenager at school, making them all appear insignificant by comparison. If things continued without interference on their part, Percy was going to be pursued like a fox on an earl’s country estate the entire school year. Hopefully, Percy’s possessive action would help keep some of the drooling masses of hormonal teenagers away from what was hers.
“What was this other Percy like?” asked Percy, pulling Annabeth’s attention away from all the whispers and avid glances that surrounded them.
“I went to school with him maybe five years ago. Actually, when I heard your name called, I almost thought he had somehow made his way here all the way from that horrible boarding school I went to in New York. But just looking at you, I knew that couldn’t be the case,” laughed Nancy.
"How so?" Percy prodded, his eyes narrowing.
Shifting on her feet, Nancy paused for a moment, tension blooming in the line of her shoulders, before she said, “He was nothing like you at all. For one thing, the kid was scrawny, built nothing like you. He got into fights all the time, and the teachers had given up on him ever learning anything. You could see it in the way they interacted with him. Unlike you, he was a nobody from a family of nobodies.”
Furry fizzled in Annabeth’s veins, and it was only the way Percy's hand tightened at her waist that kept her from flying at the girl. Instead of responding with anger or pain to the girl's words, Percy offered a slight, melancholic smile and remarked, “I'd have hoped in the five years since Yancy, you might have managed some personal growth.”
Nancy’s mouth fell open, her eyes scanning Percy’s face, probably searching for traces of the young boy she once tormented beneath the impressive figure before her. She might have tried to say something after that, but Percy completely ignored her, instead shifting his attention to Annabeth as he asked, “Do you need to pick up anything from your locker before I walk you to your next class?”
Annabeth, certain she heard a faint sigh from a girl somewhere in the crowd, smiled and replied, “No, I have everything I need for my CAD class. Are you sure you won’t be late if you walk me? Your Latin class isn’t that close.”
Grabbing the bag from her shoulder to carry it along with his own, Percy linked his fingers with hers and said, “I told you I would walk you to your class after we met up at English. I'm not going back on my word just because of some random interruption.”
As Annabeth walked with Percy down the hall, she relished the warmth of Percy’s calloused hand holding hers. She had backup plans to control the girl if she became difficult, but judging from the dumbfounded look on Nancy Bobofit’s face and her probable existential crisis, she wouldn’t be a problem any time soon. Percy’s comeback had been brutal enough for an opening salvo. An old Avril Lavigne tune Thalia used to like played in her thoughts as they moved through the crowded halls. It did not quite fit the situation, but it made her smile.