"Shit!"
Annabeth was having a bad morning. Somehow it was only 7:00 and her morning was already ruined. She couldn't find her lucky shirt, her coffee maker was broken, and to top it all off, she had to start work that day. Don't be mistaken, she loved her job, but being a music teacher at a tiny school with an arts budget that was so small she had to squint to see it, was no easy task. She had spent the last two years begging the principal, the school board, the PTA, to revamp the music department, and she had yet to achieve any results.
"The minute music brings as much press or donations to the school as hockey or football, I will invest more resources in it. Until then, you'll just have to make do," the principal had told her. She knew that, on some level, he was right. There were hardly any students in the school who demonstrated talent or passion for music. It was something that Annabeth couldn't begin to understand. Ever since she was six years old, music had been the guiding light in her life. She spent hours and hours at the piano, practicing everything from classical music to pop music, sang in choirs and a cappella groups, and played in two different bands. She had then gone on to college to major in music and was on her way to a career in performance when it all ended. And that's how she ended up 25 years old in a tiny town in Massachusetts, running a music program at a high school with no resources, single, effectively friendless, and utterly confused about how her life had turned out the way it had.
Even so, she prepared herself to put on a happy face and welcome to her class students who were obviously only there to fulfill their arts requirement. She scratched behind her dog, Tchaikovsky's, ears and dragged herself out of the door. It was early September, and the heat of the summer had not quite faded. Annabeth was miserable that she had to be in a skirt and blouse instead of comfortable clothing. She felt a little ridiculous that, as an adult, she still dreaded the first day of school.
She arrived at the school for teachers' day, when all the teachers came in for meetings before school started. It was a relatively boring day, where she would exchange pleasantries with the teachers, most of whom were a good 30 or 40 years older than her, listen to a couple of speeches from various people about the importance of their work as teachers, and then assist in the registration of transfer students. Annabeth parked her car in the lot in front of the school, grabbed her bag, and walked in to the ugly building that would take up the next 10 months of her life.
The first person she noticed when she walked in was a woman who looked about her age. She had tan skin and her hair was braided. Instead of the traditional clothes worn by teachers, her outfit consisted of a band t-shirt and paint splattered jeans. Annabeth was shocked when she started walking her way.
"Hi." She said, holding out her hand for Annabeth to shake. "I'm Piper McLean, the new art teacher. You must be Annabeth, the music teacher. Everyone here is sure we're going to be the best of friends. I'm fairly certain that they only drew this conclusion because all people under the age of 40 blend together in their eyes."
Annabeth already liked her.
"You are most definitely right about that. Most of the days, I'm pretty sure they treat me the same way they treat their students. It's really nice to have some new blood around here though. How did you end up in Stanton?"
"Well, my husband got a job up here at the law firm. They hired a whole bunch of young associates to start training to replace the aging ones, and I'm mostly a freelance artist, so I was pretty happy to go with him. And when I found out that the art teacher here was retiring, I sent in my resume and got accepted."
"That's great! I would love to have you and your husband over for dinner at some point. I can let you know the interesting parts of being a young person in Stanton."
"Are there any interesting parts?"
"Absolutely not. You're just lucky you don't have to worry about the dating scene. That's really a nightmare."
"I think that's a nightmare everywhere." Piper responded with a smile. "Now, since I'm new here, I'm going to need your help finding my way around. Where the hell are the speeches going to be?"
"I'd be happy to show you."
This year was already off to a much better start than the last two.
After bonding with Piper by rolling their eyes at one another during the lectures, they exchanged phone numbers and parted ways to perform their assigned duties. Piper had to set up her classroom and do inventory, while Annabeth had to check in the new students entering sophomore, junior, and senior year. There were only three this year, so Annabeth's job would be fairly simple. All she had to do was shake hands with them and their parents, give them their locker combinations, work out any issues with their schedules, and get their school email up and running. The first two students came and went, but then the third arrived. She seemed different from the other two. First of all, she was alone. Second, she had a treble clef ring on her right hand, which Annabeth saw when she shook it.
"Hi!" Annabeth said. "You must be Caroline. I'm Ms. Chase, the music teacher. I'm going to help you get settled, okay?"
Caroline nodded in response.
"So Caroline, do you have anyone coming in with you today? I'm sorry to ask, and it's completely fine if no one is, but we do have some paperwork that needs to be finished."
"My brother is on his way. He's my guardian. He had orientation at his new job, and so he can come because it isn't all day, but he isn't here yet."
"Okay, great. How about we look over your schedule?"
"Sounds good." As they went through her schedule, Annabeth pointed to her first period class on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
"That's music class with me. I hope you'll like it."
"What's the music program like here?" Caroline asked, with a look on her face that showed that she was not expecting a good answer.
"It's okay. You'll have class with me three times a week, there's a band, and if you want, I'm able to teach private lessons in piano and singing." Caroline perked up at the mention of lessons. "I'm sorry it's not a bigger program. There just hasn't been much student interest."
"That's okay. My old school had next to no music at all. There was just an old music teacher who was so blind he couldn't even read sheet music, and a crappy out of tune piano. Oh, sorry! Should I not say crappy?"
"Maybe watch your language around some of the other teachers, but you can say what you want around me." Annabeth said with a slight laugh.
Seemingly out of nowhere, a man's voice voice said "I'm so sorry Carrie. They held me back at work."
"It's no problem, Percy." Caroline responded. "I was just talking to Ms. Chase. She's the music teacher."
"Wow. Well she's a step up from Mr. Van Fron. Or at least a step younger." The guy, who Annabeth assumed was Caroline's brother, said. He was young, maybe 30, with black hair and green eyes. He was tall and slim, and Annabeth had to admit, fairly attractive.
"Um, thank you. I think?" Annabeth said, her eyebrows raised.
The man blushed lightly. "I just meant, um, her old music teacher was, well..." He trailed off, sounding embarrassed.
"It's alright. Caroline told me a little about her old teacher. I'm Annabeth Chase, the music teacher, as you know."
"I'm Percy Jackson, Caroline's brother. It's nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too. I'm actually very excited to have Caroline here. It's always exciting to have students who show a specific interest in music."
"I'm happy that Caroline has a music teacher that actually cares about the students and their music education." Percy smiled at her. Annabeth returned the smile and turned to Caroline.
"Let's get your email and schedule in order, and then you'll be released to enjoy your last hours of freedom."
"Thanks Ms. Chase." Caroline said with a smile.
After finishing everything with Caroline, Annabeth waved goodbye to Caroline and shook hands with Percy. Piper walked over to her as Percy and Caroline left the building.
"Well, well. It seems the dating situation is already looking up. He's cute."
"Don't be ridiculous Piper. One, I've known him for about ten minutes, and two, he's the guardian of one of my students."
"I'm just saying, you shouldn't close off any avenues. It's a small town."
"Alright, alright. Leave me alone."
"Uh huh. I'll see you tomorrow."
"See you." Annabeth made her way to her car, unable to get a certain dark haired man out of her mind.
Percy POV:
Percy was not having a very good day. He had to go to his new job and get Carrie registered at her new school. He loved Carrie more than anything in the world, but taking over the care of a eight-year-old when you're only 22 is no easy task. Percy was fresh out of college and about as mature as Carrie when their mother and Percy's stepfather died in a car crash. Percy was forced to grow up quickly. Even though all of his aunts and uncles volunteered to take care of Carrie, told him that he could see her whenever he wanted, and that he wasn't ready to be a parent, Percy was headset on taking care of her. He took his shiny new degree and applied to every law school he could. He lived off inheritance during law school and then took the highest paying job he could after graduation. Moving to Stanton to work at Ferman, Brown, Bennet, and Carp, one of the biggest law firms in the Northeast, was the first thing he had done for himself in eight years. He felt horrible taking Carrie out of her school right after her freshman year, but she was excited to leave. Her school was shit, but Percy couldn't afford to send her to private school or a school in a different district.
The real thing that Percy regretted was not having the time for friends or relationships. He was thirty years old with almost no prospects in either field, but he was hopeful. German had hired him among a whole batch of young people, and he was hoping for luck in at least one department. With that thought, Percy dragged himself to the kitchen and poured himself a bowl of cereal. He sent a text to Carrie because she was still asleep when he walked out of the house, in to the burning heat. He got in to his car and turned on his GPS. He wasn't familiar enough with the area to just drive to work, so the first voice he heard that day was an automated woman's voice telling him to turn left in 50 feet on to Spring Drive.
Percy arrived at the stone and glass building 30 minutes early. He parked his car and grabbed his briefcase. It wasn't a traditional briefcase. It was dark blue and a canvas-like material. Carrie had bought it for him with her babysitting money to congratulate him on his new job. He rubbed the side of it fondly as he thought of Carrie walking in to some fancy men's store in ratty jean shorts and asking for a fancy briefcase. He walked in to the building, introduced himself to the secretary at the front, and had his picture taken. Five minutes later, he was handed an ID badge. Percy walked up the stairs and found the cubicle with his name on it. He put down his briefcase and started to walk around the office, because he still had 20 minutes before he had to be anywhere. He only saw one other guy in the office, so he decided to walk up and introduce himself.
"Hey. I'm Percy Jackson." Percy reached out his hand for a handshake. The blond guy turned around and shook Percy's hand.
"Hi. I'm Jason Grace. It's nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too. Are you one of the new guys too?"
"Yeah, I am."
"Great. Where are you coming from?"
"Washington D.C. You?"
"New York. Did you come with any family?"
"Yeah. My wife, Piper. She's an artist. What about you?"
'"Just my little sister. She's in high school."
"Oh! Piper's the new art teacher there."
"Wow, that's really funny." Percy responded. If Jason's wife was a teacher at Carrie's school and he and Jason became friends, then maybe she could keep an eye on Carrie for him. "Well, we have to head down to orientation."
After sitting through an incredibly dry orientation, filled with Powerpoint slides with various shades of gray, and people telling him, along with all the other people's, very bright futures at the company. He exchanged exasperated looks with Jason thought, and the two grabbed sandwiches together during their brief lunch break. After lunch they returned for two more hours of sessions, which naturally took an hour and a half, leaving Percy scrambling to the school to help Carrie get registered.
As he walked in to the building, he was relieved to see Carrie standing in the lobby, in front of a table. As he walked closer, he was happy to see that she was smiling. She looked comfortable. He also saw the woman Carrie was talking to. She was breathtaking, with long blond hair and grey eyes. She had a light smile on her face as she talked to Carrie, and Percy had to snap himself out of a trance before he could approach them.
"I'm so sorry Carrie. They held me back at work." Percy managed to force out.
"It's no problem, Percy." Caroline responded. "I was just talking to Ms. Chase. She's the music teacher."
"Wow. Well she's a step up from Mr. Van Fron. Or at least a step younger." Damn it. That was not the right thing to say.
"Um, thank you. I think?" The teacher replied.
"I just meant, um, her old music teacher was, well..." Percy felt like a teenage boy. He thought he was supposed to be over that whole Oh damn, she's beautiful. I can no longer speak thing.
"It's alright. Caroline told me a little about her old teacher. I'm Annabeth Chase, the music teacher, as you know."
"I'm Percy Jackson, Caroline's brother. It's nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too. I'm actually very excited to have Caroline here. It's always exciting to have students who show a specific interest in music." It made sense that she was a music teacher. her voice was really nice to listen to. It almost sounded like she was singing when she was speaking.
"I'm happy that Caroline has a music teacher that actually cares about the students and their music education." Damn, she had a beautiful smile
"Let's get your email and schedule in order, and then you'll be released to enjoy your last hours of freedom."
"Thanks Ms. Chase." Caroline said with a smile.
As soon as everything was sorted Percy and Carrie waved goodbye to Ms. Chase and left.
"Do you want to put your bike on the car and drive home with me or do you want to follow me home on your bike?" Percy asked.
"I'll ride my bike. I think the real question is how much do you want to get with my new music teacher?"
"Don't be a little perv."
"Who, me?"
Well, that was fun. I might actually finish this story because it's vacation. Let me know what you think!