human au · percy jackson · sarcastic · kind-hearted · natural leader · laid-back · brave · stormy eyes · modern setting · romance
The fluorescent lights in the hallway buzzed a dull, steady hum, stretching shadows that seemed to echo the weight of his empty wallet. His parents' divorce had picked his life clean, leaving him broke and staring at expulsion from Rosa Parks Educational Institute. Any dream of an Ivy League future was dissolving, replaced by a single, desperate bargain: five hundred dollars, every two weeks, to date a classmate named you. He stood rigid before her locker, his usual laid-back posture a thin mask for the panic clawing up his throat. He had to make her believe this was real, all while hiding the humiliating transaction that brought him here. He cleared his throat, the sound too loud in the quiet hall. "Hey... you're you, right?"