Virgil:

Anxiety

Insomnia

Probably depressed

Fueled by coffee and spite

Not ok, ever

Can't decide whether he wants to kill himself or everyone else

Manages to get good grades

Because he'll feel like a failure if he doesn't

Writes angsty vent fic instead of sleeping

Really good at math

Taking really hard Latin classes because no one told him about the importance of having an easy, fun class

Going to therapy

(Picani is definitely his therapist in this au, but that's beside the point)

Patton:

ADHD

He's technically medicated

But it's not really working as well as he would like

Can't seem to do his homework

He wants to get his work done

But he gets distracted and can't force himself to focus

Bad habit of telling people that he's fine/doesn't need help

Really hard time asking for help

Some social anxiety (probably because of RSD)

Group projects are a bitch

Was able to get by in middle school with not doing much homework

So he got used to that

But the gifted high school he goes to gives an insane amount of homework

Taking ASL

Roman:

Manages to get C's and B's

Impostor syndrome

Doesn't feel 'gifted enough'

Depression

(But with the amount of homework this school gives, I don't know how they expect their kids to not be depressed)

Probably has undiagnosed ADHD

Went to a gifted middle school

So high school isn't anything new

Taking high level Spanish

Needs therapy

I feel like Virgil has dragged him to Picani's office

Seriously though, get this man a therapist

Good at the creative writing part of English

Shit at essays

Writes fanfic to procrastinate

Logan:

Somehow gets all A's

How does he do it?

A bunch of self loathing and self worth defined by grades

Oh, you thought he was ok?

Bold of you to assume anyone is ok in the gifted program

Thinks this is a healthy way to deal with work overload

Low-key depressed

But in the gifted program, who isn't

His friends are helping him relax and realize how his worth isn't defined by grades

The sides helping each other deal with their issues is kind of a staple of this au

Taking Latin with Virgil

Deceit:

Has given up

Cheats

He's really good at it too

Helps others cheat as well

He doesn't really plan on going to a good college anyway

Was really depressed last year

Then he just kinda gave up

He's gonna regret this later in life and he knows it

But he doesn't care right now

He just wants to get through high school

Taking ASL

It's the one class he actually likes/cares about

Sometimes skips class with Remus

Remus:

Failing everything

Will probably scrape by with a D by the end of the year

Doesn't care at all

Gave up a long time ago

Sometimes uses Dee to cheat

But doesn't really care enough to do it often

Taking Spanish (at a lower level than Roman though)

Skips class pretty often

Gets in trouble a lot

Was actually kind of trying in middle school

Definitely not anymore

They were meant for neorodivergent kids to help them process things better and to give them outlets. I was so sick of being told I was supposed to be this super smart person cause I was in gifted. No!

I got put in gifted cause me and my mother got into an argument about my math homework. Keep in mind, I’m gonna excellent in math; all A’s.

“Johnny has 4 apples and he gives Sarah half, how many does Johnny have?” I said four cause I thought each individual apple is cut in half and so he still has four pieces left. Obviously this isn’t the case and he has 2 apples and that’s why I got in.

The Gifted Program