Work Text:
January 27~ 18 days until the game
Percy pulled into the school parking lot on a cloudy Monday morning, sliding into the same spot he used every day. All the staff were good friends and had sort of made assigned spots for the teachers.
He got out of his car, grabbing his water and bag. As he looked down at his phone and started walking into the building, he heard the familiar click of heels on the pavement behind him.
He stopped and glanced back to see Piper McLean. Piper was the 6A History teacher. The two of them got along very well—her husband, Jason Grace, who taught 6B Science, was the vice principal’s younger brother. Jason was also a very close friend of Percy’s.
“Good morning, Miss McLean,” he said, stopping to wait for her to catch up. “Where’s the husband?” he added.
“He lost his phone in the car,” she giggled.
“And why didn’t you wait for him?” Percy asked, starting to walk again.
“I have to meet with Reyna today,” Piper said, grimacing.
Percy laughed a little. “Why?” he asked, holding the door open for her.
“We gotta talk about this special needs kid. He is just the sweetest, but his mother isn’t very thrilled about his seating in my class.” She rolled her eyes and scanned her key card.
“Well, good luck with Reyna. And you need to work on your grammar. I thought you majored in English or something?” Piper cocked an eyebrow at Percy, clearly wondering why he thought she just “majored in English.”
Percy smiled, heading off to the 6B wing. It was a round setup with six classrooms making a U-shape and one classroom in the middle (the same as the 6A wing).
The first room was Frank Zhang’s. His door was already open and the lights were on. Frank was the English teacher for 6B—a nice guy. Percy stopped in the doorway.
“Hey, Frank!” he called.
Frank was tall—about 6'5"—with a big build and what looked like a grown-out buzz cut. He looked intimidating, but once you met him, he was the most sensitive person ever.
“Hey, Percy. How’s it going?” Frank said, giving Percy a slight wave. He was always really cheery for 6:15 in the morning. The teachers were normally supposed to clock in 30 minutes before school started, but Frank liked to be an hour early every day. He lived 25 minutes away and still got in around 6 every morning.
“Good, good. Is Hazel here? I haven’t seen her since the break ended,” Percy asked.
“Oh, yep—she’s in the office with Charlie right now,” Frank answered.
Percy smiled and walked off. The next classroom belonged to the math teacher, Miss Chase—Annabeth. She was one of the most terrifying teachers in the school.
When he peeked in her room, she was standing next to her desk, looking down at some papers. Her curly blonde hair was in a perfectly neat ponytail. She wore jeans and a bright-colored top. She turned suddenly, her grey eyes seeming to peer into Percy’s soul. Then… she smiled at him.
“Good morning, Mr. Jackson,” she said, turning back to her work.
“Good morning to you too, Annabeth.” She glanced over her shoulder and smiled again.
Percy’s own room was next. He unlocked the door and turned on the lights. His classroom was barely decorated compared to Annabeth’s—just a few posters on the wall and some LED lights for his own enjoyment.
He set his bag down and pulled out his laptop, thinking maybe he could get some grading in before the buses let out.
Nope.
Before long, the special teachers started filing into his room—Rachel Elizabeth Dare, the art teacher, with her bright red wavy hair and unmistakable “art teacher” vibe; Leo Valdez, the short (really short) computer lab teacher; William Solace, the tall, tan, surfer-looking health teacher with blond hair; and Silena Beauregard, the tall, dark-haired music teacher who also happened to be the principal’s wife.
“What do you guys want?” Percy asked, closing his computer.
“Money,” Leo said, causing Rachel to glare at him.
“No, your room is the warmest in the mornings, so we all wanted to come in here,” Rachel explained.
“Okay, well I need to grade some homework, so…” Percy reopened his computer.
“Agh, I thought we were gonna raid his snack drawer. I’m leaving,” Leo grumbled, walking out.
~•*•~
It was third period, Percy’s free period, and he was sitting at his desk when he heard footsteps. Two of his fourth-period students—Mia and Lily—walked in.
“Hey, Mr. Jackson,” Mia said.
“What do you two want?” he asked.
“Nothing, we just…” Lily started but stopped.
“You need to get to class,” Percy told them.
“But… just a little bit longer,” Mia pleaded.
He sighed as they sat down at a table and launched into some middle school drama. He was only half listening when Miss Chase walked in.
“Hey, Percy, we have—” she stopped when she saw the girls. “Why—you know what, I’m not even gonna ask. We have a sixth-period meeting, and you two need to get to class.” She looked directly at them.
They groaned but stood up.
“Miss Chase…” they pleaded.
“You can hang out with Mr. Jackson another time. Now get to class. I’ll write you a pass,” she said, walking out with them.
A little while later, she came back in.
“Jeez, I gotta thank you. They were really getting on my nerves,” Percy said.
“You need to be stricter. I know you’ve got this nice-guy rep, but you still need to punish them,” she told him.
Percy rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I can yell if I want to. I just don’t like to.”
“See you at lunch,” she said, walking out.
He turned back to his computer, hoping to finally get some work done.
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At lunch, Percy wasn’t eating, as usual. He was in the break room with the other 6A teachers—Frank, Jason, and Annabeth—grading tests while they ate.
“Dude, you need to eat,” Jason said between mouthfuls.
“I don’t…” Percy mumbled without looking up.
“Percy, you’re a great cook. Just make yourself something,” Jason said.
“Just because my mom was a chef doesn’t mean I can cook.”
“But you can cook! I’ve had your food before!”
“It takes too much time, and I can just eat more at home,” Percy defended.
“He’s right. This is why you’re always so out of it,” Frank said.
Percy shot him a glare.
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“Okay, quiet down please,” Percy said, standing from his seat. “Did you all finish your worksheet?”
There were some yes’s and some no’s from the crowd of kids.
“Okay. Please turn to your table partners and go over the answers. After that, turn it in to me.”
They all nodded, and he walked over to help a student with their hand raised.
The class was quiet and focused until a loud clatter came from the hallway. Percy looked up, stood, and saw his students glancing toward the door. A seventh grader walked into the room.
“Hey, Mr. Jackson,” they said.
“What do you want, Jake? And what was that noise?” Percy asked, still standing in front of his desk.
“Oh, I don’t know, but I was just walking by,” Jake grinned.
“Get to your class,” Percy yelled—louder and sterner than usual. His class froze, eyes wide.
“You all be quiet and stay put,” he ordered, storming out into the hallway.
There, two seventh graders were fighting. Percy ran to Jason’s door, pounding on it, then turned back to the kids. Jason opened his door, took one look, and quickly shushed his class before coming out.
While Percy tried to break up the fight, Jason knocked on Frank’s and Annabeth’s doors. Frank called the office while Annabeth came to help Percy. Jason went to check Percy’s class, then his own.
“HEY!” Percy shouted, yanking the two kids apart.
Once things were under control, Annabeth gave him an annoyed look.
“I need to get back to my class—we have a test soon, so, you know. You got this?” she whispered.
Percy nodded.
“What happened?” he yelled.
“He started hittin’ me first!” one kid said.
“Why did you hit him?” Percy asked.
“He was talking shit about my girlfriend,” the other protested.
“Language! And why were you talking about his girlfriend?” Percy said, still stern.
“I don’t know, man. She’s just mad ugly.”
“We don’t call any girl ugly. We don’t call anyone ugly. Because they are not. Now that doesn’t give you a reason to hit anyone.”
Soon, the principal, Charlie, arrived with the vice principal, Thalia.
“What’s going on here?” Thalia asked.
“Well, Mrs. Grace, Mr. B—this young man was apparently talking about his girlfriend, so he hit him,” Percy explained.
“Please, you two come with us,” Thalia said.
The boys followed them to the office while Percy returned to his class, only to find them talking and fooling around.
“QUIET,” he yelled.
The room fell silent. Percy had never yelled at his students before. He didn’t necessarily want to yell at them but, Annabeth told him to be more stern. And I mean she does get her class running smoothly. The whole 6th grade is scared of her. Not only the kids who have her, but the ones that do not. The whole school is scared of her. Percy doesn’t really wanted to be feared.
As he stood in front of his classroom he wa thinking of that one Micheal Scott quote, “Would I rather be feared or loved? Easy. Both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me." Percy didn’t really want that but he still found it funny. He almost laughed then he remembered where he was.
“No talking for the rest of the class.” He said, sternly, which he was not used to. “I hear a peep out of anyone they are getting extra homework.”
Then, a kid, named Drew made the slightest “peep” noise. Percy looked him dead in the eyes and said, “Drew. Hallway. Now.” The class erupted into a corpus of ohs. “That’s enough.”
Drew was the typical class clown, even though Percy doesn’t like that term. He would do anything to get a laugh from the class, Drew reminded Percy of himself at that age.
Percy didn’t like yelling at the kids. But, it did feel good to have some more control and not have kids standing whenever they want and talking whenever.
Percy can’t wait to tell Annabeth.