Annabeth decided Perseus Jackson was impossible to work with.
They seemed to butt heads about every little thing imaginable, especially when it came to their shared space; she preferred to work with the drapes pulled shut, he insisted that they stay open. She hated food in the workspace, he refused to eat anywhere but his desk. She considered herself a maximalist (she was not messy), he had everything in its place, ordered and tidy.
"You wouldn't lose students' papers so often if you just used your filing cabinet." He had commented cheerfully on his way out the door the second week of the semester.
Annabeth nearly blew a gasket then and there.
"What do you mean often?! You haven't even been here a month!"
He was already gone and she swore before going back to searching for the fifth intro paper she'd lost since classes began.
For the most part they tried to ignore each other entirely. Annabeth came to work, went home, rinsed, and repeated. She would pretend Perseus was simply not there, unless something pressing came up, and he did likewise– at first. But by midway through the third week, he seemed to have grown bored of being invisible to his teaching partner, and insisted on bringing the most asinine problems to her.
"I got locked out of my computer, Annabeth."
"Call IT."
"But I can't remember the answer to my security question."
"Call IT."
"You think they know my mother's maiden name?"
Her brow had furrowed at that, "Well what was her parents' surname?"
"...Jackson."
She nearly strangled him.
Then there was the day after that;
"Hey, Annabeth, can you cover my afternoon class?"
"Why?"
"Luke wants to take me for lunch and said you'd be happy to sub."
Her pencil almost snapped in her hands. Luke always had a bad habit of taking new professors out and treating them to lunches and drinks in an effort to get to know them. It was probably why he was so popular among the staff. But of course she covered– she didn't want Luke to think she was being uncompromising due to her personal feelings. Besides, it would be a good chance to show his students what they were missing out on.
It was September when things finally slowed down enough for her to accept Piper's invitation to go out.
There was a bar just off campus that was popular among students and staff– Annabeth always forgot the name. The Gilded… something. Rose? Orchid? She was still racking her brain for the answer by the time she arrived in front of the establishment.
The Gilded Lily , she read off the glowing sign above the door, promising herself she would definitely remember this time, for sure, as she pushed into the bar.
It was only a Tuesday night, but that didn't stop it from being packed shoulder to shoulder with patrons, and Annabeth had to squeeze uncomfortably between bodies to make it to the back stairs, beelining for the usual spot.
Piper was already perched at a table, and Annabeth wondered not for the first time how someone so tough and foul-mouthed could look so effortlessly dainty and poised. Not that she'd ever say as much to Professor Mclean– Piper would rather die than ever be described as dainty .
"Hey!" Piper spotted her and waved, gesturing to the seat across from herself. Annabeth noted there was a third barstool between them as she approached.
"Are we waiting for someone?"
Piper grinned, "Yep."
Annabeth raised an eyebrow in question, but her colleague didn't elaborate.
That's when she felt cold hands cover her eyes, her vision obscured and Annabeth couldn't fight the grin that came to her lips. There was only one person who dared to attempt such a move with her.
"Guess who." Thalia's breath tickled her ear, and Annabeth turned and threw her arms around her friend.
"When did you get back?!"
"Last night– Jetlag is a fucking nightmare. I slept all day." Thalia's thickly accented voice grumbled as her and Annabeth parted and she grabbed the extra seat
"I can imagine… How was London? Is your dad still… you know…" Annabeth gestured vaguely. Thalia snorted.
"Still trying to get me to take over the business and become some boring CEO sitting in an office all day? Yeah." She paused, looking thoughtful, "Though I'd look damn good in a suit, I can't deny that."
"Hell yeah you would." Piper nodded in agreement, waving down a server to place an order for drinks.
Annabeth watched her coworkers as they asked for the usual– Piper with her sharp features, brown skin, and layered hair was probably the most beautiful person Annabeth had ever seen. Thalia was a close second– spiky black hair that had grown out over the summer, punk clothes, and electric blue eyes that could paralyze men and women alike with a glance.
It was hard to believe she was a school Counselor sometimes.
"Annabeth-" Piper jolted her from her thoughts, "What did you want?"
"Oh, right, sorry." She placed her order for whatever amber ale they had on tap.
Thalia leaned forward as the server left, "So I hear you have a new guy in the classics department. And I heard he's hot as fuck."
Piper cut in before Annabeth could, "Oh yeah, he's mega dreamy."
"Well shit," Thalia chuckled, "If he could get you to take your eyes off of my brother for two seconds, he must be."
"He's fine looking, I guess." Annabeth accepted her drink from the server, surprised at the fast service, trying to seem nonchalant but Thalia wasn't one to let her off the hook that easily.
"Just fine looking?"
"He certainly has… a face."
"A really hot face." Piper added.
"And he's got hair, which is an anomaly in our department, so I guess if you grade him on a curve–"
"Oh my god." Thalia laughed, "You hate him!"
"I don't hate him! Annabeth insisted, maybe just a tad too defensive, "I just don't see what all the fuss is about."
"No, no you definitely hate him. You're doing that passive aggressive thing you do when you don't like someone– remember Drew in middle school? You complimented her on having ears once."
"And I stand by the fact that that is, in fact, a compliment." Annabeth sipped her drink, trying not to meet the stares of Piper and Thalia head on. She nearly cracked, holding firm as best she can, "I think he's utterly… satisfactory."
Thalia whistled, "Wow, Chase, breaking out the eleven letter words."
"There's twelve letters in satisfactory."
"Even better. Pipes? Did our dear Annie-bell tell you about this?"
"I've told you not to call me-"
"Not a word till now." Piper reported, "Though she is in the teacher's lounge more than usual…"
"It's quiet in there." Annabeth insisted.
"More quiet than an office for two?"
Annabeth looked between the women, before throwing up her hands in defeat, "Okay, okay, fine. I can't stand him."
Thalia and Piper exchanged smirks, and Piper began digging in her purse, "Alright, you win Thalia, you got her to admit it in less than five minutes. Twenty bucks, was it?"
Annabeth blinked, confused.
"Nah you can just buy the next round and we'll call it even."
"What… you… what is–"
"Piper could tell you weren't too fond of the guy– actually I'm pretty sure most of the faculty is aware at this point, knowing how subtle you are." Thalia sipped her Old Fashioned, "I bet her I could get you to actually say as much out loud."
Annabeth wanted to feel offended, but instead she just sighed, running her hand through her hair, "Is it seriously that obvious?"
"Yup. You practically sprint out of the room every time he enters it– and if that's not an option, you glare daggers at him every chance you get." Piper downed a shot of tequila.
Annabeth groaned, burying her face in her arms, "Well fuck."
"No one actually cares if you have beef with another staff member as long as you get your work done, you know." Thalia shrugged, "What's the big deal? So you don't like the guy."
"It's– he shouldn't be important enough for me to even dislike! I should… I should nothing him!" Annabeth held back a pout, sitting back up properly and taking a larger swig of her ale.
Thalia rolled her eyes, "You're being dramatic. He can't be that bad."
"He is!" Annabeth insisted, "He's absolutely the most stuck up, bull-headed, annoying, obnoxious, rude–"
"Okay girlie, let's cool it on the adjectives, we get it." Thalia reached over to ruffle Annabeth's curls, "What did he do to get on the wrong side of your temper?"
"He called me a crone." She huffed, "And said something about me being old-fashioned."
Piper cocked her head to the side, "Did he see you before making this 'crone' comment? Because you're like, the opposite of a crone."
"Well– no– but–"
"And you are old-fashioned." Thalia pointed out.
"Thalia?" Annabeth asked sweetly.
"Yeah?"
"Shut up."
Her oldest friend chuckled, "Fine, fine, but I'm just saying, you used to consider that a compliment."
"Well that was then and this is now. Piper?"
"Mmhmm?"
"Can you order a round of shots for us? Maybe two?"
Piper smiled, "It would be my pleasure."
The headache the next morning was nothing compared to the way her head pounded when Perseus walked into their office whistling . Who even whistled anymore?! Annabeth rolled her eyes, nursing a coffee and typing up a quiz on her laptop. Of course, all her focus was out the window as soon as her colleague entered the room. She just hated him that much.
"Will you stop with that infernal whistling?" She finally snapped, spinning in her chair.
Perseus looked at her in surprise, lips still pursed, though the high-pitched tone died in his throat. "You don't like whistling?
"I have a headache." She turned back to her desk.
"That didn't answer my question."
"Perseus–"
"Percy."
"I am not in the mood for this."
"For what?"
"For you."
He chuckled somewhere behind her, "You could at least pretend to be an adult."
"I am an adult."
"Could have fooled me."
Her chair spun around again, "You're accusing me of being immature? You, of all people?"
"If the shoe fits, Chase."
"You are by far, the most annoying, insufferable, pig-headed–"
"Um. Professor Chase?"
A timid voice from the door interrupted her tirade, and Annabeth jerked her head towards the noise. A tiny freshman was standing there, wide-eyed. Shit. Shit.
"Hannah– hi, yes, what can I do for you?" She changed her tone to the professional one she'd been using for years, but she couldn't keep the strain out of her voice.
"Oh, um… I had a question about the study guide but I can come back later–"
"No, no I can help you now."
"Really, I think… I think I'll just…" Hannah gave a small wave before scurrying away, and Annabeth pinched the bridge of her nose, forcing deep breaths. The students at this school were like those at any other– huge gossips. By lunch, it will have spread that Professor Chase and Professor Jackson had been arguing. By two, the story would be that Annabeth had slapped Perseus. And by five, everyone would be talking about the rivalry plaguing the school– Did they know each other before working together? What was their past, their history?
"Well, that will be interesting to deal with later." Perseus' voice was light and just as amiable as ever.
"Will you just– ugh!" Annabeth found herself once more stuffing her things in her bag and stalking off to find the teacher's lounge.
The rumors spread just as quickly as Annabeth had imagined. By the end of the week, it seemed everyone in school was aware of the rivalry, even teachers from other departments. Reyna, a PoliSci professor who Thalia had mentioned on more than one occasion, gave Annabeth a sympathetic look from across the library.
"Don't worry, it'll pass soon." She had said to her on her way out.
Annabeth tried her best to ignore the rumors as much as she did Perseus. But both were becoming more and more difficult to shut out.
"You're adults." She was scolding her class one day, "This is an adult course– so why are you two passing notes ?! Just wait until after class for God's sake."
The two girls in the back exchanged a look, and Annabeth felt her stomach drop, already suspecting the contents of their nonverbal conversation, "Read it out loud, then, if it's so pressing."
"But Professor Chase–"
"This isn't highschool, you can't make us–"
"Now."
The taller girl rolled her eyes, standing and reading out loud.
"'Do you think Chase is just pissed because we all wish we were in Jackson's class?' 'Probably, did you hear he brought a sword to school yesterday?' 'No way! Ugh he's so cool!' 'Hot too.' 'I bet Chase thinks so, she probably got rejected by him day one and now is taking her repression out on everyone else.' 'She definitely needs a good fu–'"
"That's enough." Annabeth took a breath. She was impressed with herself. Her voice was even. Her shoulders were back, her head was as high as ever, and when she spoke again, there wasn't a hint of the immense anger she held at bay by sheer force of will. "Perhaps in the future, you two should spend more time studying and less time speculating about my sex life."
The girls blushed, the tall one sitting back down.
Annabeth turned her back on the students, underlining a stanza of the Iliad she had written on the board, "Now, as I was saying about the city of Troy…" But even as she talked about ancient history, her mind was on more current events. Is that really what students were saying about her?! That she needed to get laid? Of all the ways the rumors could have devolved…!
It was true that it had been some time since her last romantic entanglement. She'd had a tinder date here and there, an occasional fling, but the fact was no one ever clicked. And Annabeth felt like her personal life was far too miserable at the moment to inflict upon some poor individual. And really, she hadn't been serious about anyone since her own days at New Athens as a student herself, not since–
She shut down that train of thought. No use dwelling on her lack of a sex life. And she would absolutely not even entertain going back to her college infatuation. Not after how it ended.
Annabeth was coming back from lunch in the courtyard when she walked in on Perseus and Jesse. Jesse was a Junior Classics Major and top of their class, and the two were leaning over Professor Jackson's computer, intently discussing something. They barely gave her a backwards glance as she entered the office, and Annabeth felt a bit vexed at being ignored by one of her favorite students– Jesse always seemed interested in her classes.
She cleared her throat. Neither noticed.
"Jesse, so good to see you." She interrupted, and the student finally looked back at her, surprise painting their features.
"Professor Chase, hi!" They waved cheerfully. Perseus gave a curt nod.
Annabeth strolled over casually, "Did you need help on something?" Surely I could give better assistance than Professor Jackson , she added in her head.
"Oh, no, actually, Professor Jackson invited me to work on his research paper with him!" Jesse grinned, pointing to the computer and Annabeth's brow furrowed as she stared at the image on the screen.
"The Mycenaean Tablet." Her voice was chillier than she intended, "We haven't been able to translate it since its discovery."
"Well, until now." Perseus shoved his hands in his pockets, leaning against his desk, "Myself and Jesse here are going to change that."
"Are you?"
"Yep."
"I see." She mentally cursed herself. She had been meaning to ask Jesse to help with her own study, an analysis of development of technology in the Archaic Period of Greece. Less interesting than translating an incomprehensible dialect of hieroglyphs on an ancient tablet, perhaps, but Perseus had somehow already swooped in and poached her best student.
"Is that going to be a problem?" Perseus' own voice was even, but Annabeth swore she could detect contempt underneath the easygoing attitude. Jesse's eyes darted between them, and Annabeth put on her sunniest smile despite the fury building within.
"Not at all! Good luck, then." She retreated to her desk, her grin failing as soon as she turned away. Sure, she could ask any number of Juniors or Seniors to help with her research, but it seemed almost like a personal slight against her for Perseus to choose Jesse– Not that he had any way of knowing how good of a student they were, it wasn't even a full month into classes yet.
Even so, when Annabeth glanced behind her, Perseus was still studying her intently, Jesse going on and on about the little project the two would be working on. Annabeth had a feeling her colleague wasn't hearing a word of it, and the way he was looking at her was… odd. It unnerved her.
She tore her eyes away, face heating up as she stuffed her things into her bag and stormed from the office once could feel those green eyes follow her out of sight, and she swore under her breath. Was he trying to knock her off balance? Well it wouldn't work. It would take more than an intense stare for Annabeth Chase to be shaken.
Annabeth decided midweek that rather than bother with going to her office at all, she'd just head straight to the teacher's lounge. It seemed like a good idea.
At first.
She heard him before she saw him, his confident voice echoing out of the room as she approached.
"...always so pissy?"
She froze.
"Yeah, usually, moreso since you got here."
The second voice was familiar, though Annabeth had trouble placing where she had heard it before. It didn't sound like any teacher in their department. She crept closer, ears straining to hear what the topic of discussion, which she assumed was herself.
"Well I'm honored." Sarcasm.
"You should be, I hear getting on her bad side is like getting Satan to hate you. It means you're doing something right."
"I don't know about that, I did kinda stick my foot in my mouth the first time we met. I guess I didn't think she'd hold a grudge this long."
"Trust me, bro, she's just like that. There's no logic to it. Like, she basically hates me for taking too long to fix the AC in her classroom last year even though I told her the part would take two weeks to come in and then Callie wanted me to fix her AC first and Callie is smoking hot, so obviously–"
"Wait, you… bumped her down the list because another professor needed help too?"
Annabeth vaguely recalled the incident, and suddenly the voice clicked– Leo Valdez, the school's maintenance guy. He'd taken over a month to fix the cooling system, and Annabeth swore he had put her lower on the list on purpose. Now she knew that he had.
"Not a professor, one of the guidance counselors. You gotta see her, Perce, she's like… otherworldly."
"And you're saying Professor Chase is not?"
"She could be if she didn't have a stick up her–"
Sick of being talked about behind her back by students and now coworkers, Annabeth huffed and marched into the room. Leo was under the sink, fixing the drain, and Perseus was leaning casually against the counter, a mug of coffee in hand. He straightened as Annabeth entered, his expression shocked. He kicked Leo's foot.
"Ow, one sec! I was saying, she'd so uptight, like, you'd have to be insane to try and tap tha–"
Another kick.
"What?!" Leo glanced up from his spot under the sink, his face going slack as he caught sight of Professor Chase, her arms crossed and mouth pursed. He sat up quickly, banging his head on the underside of the counter. "Ouch– fuck, uh… h-hey, Annabeth, what's…?"
"No no, continue. I'd like to hear this." She narrowed her eyes.
Leo coughed nervously, "I was just, uh, telling Percy here about… pipes, yeah! How you'd have to be insane to uh… tap them. With a wrench." As if to illustrate his point, he knocked the tool in his hand against the piping with a clang . "Gotta leave that sort of thing to the professionals."
Annabeth scoffed, stalking to the fridge, shoving her lunch into it, and marching back out the door.
Perseus caught up to her as soon as she set foot on the hall tile.
"Wait, Annabeth!"
She whirled, glowering at him, "What is it, Professor Jackson?"
He holds his hands up in defense, "Look, that was out of line for him to say, really–"
"Shouldn't you be telling him that?"
"Oh… yeah, uh, I was planning to, but then you walked in and–"
"Save it." She snapped, turning to leave once more.
"Wait," He grabbed her hand, but then dropped it quickly at the look she shot at him.
"What?!" Her eyes flashed with anger and he backed off.
"... Nothing. It's nothing."
Annabeth turned and wasn't stopped this time as she steamed back towards the office. Perseus did not make an appearance for the rest of the day.
The school was always mostly empty on Fridays. Most classes ran Monday through Thursday, with only a few more intense courses extending to three days a week. Still, Annabeth found herself in her office on a Friday morning; not because she needed to be, but because it was the one day a week Perseus Jackson was not occupying the desk behind her. She could get her work done in peace, without distraction or frustration, and she had just pulled out a stack of papers to grade when the jingle of her phone rang into the otherwise silent office.
Incoming Call
Matthew Chase
She smiled, clicking to answer on speaker phone as she sorted through the pile before her, "Hey Matty."
"Hey sis, you coming?"
Her brow furrowed, "To…?"
"Brunch?"
"Shit–" Annabeth glanced up at her calendar, realizing just now what day it was. She scrambled to her feet, gathering her things, "Shit shit shit, sorry, yes, I-I'll be there!"
"Uh, well we're being seated now, so…"
"Yeah, yeah, um… just, order for me, I'll be there in–" She glanced at the time, "Fifteen minutes?"
"Okay, the usual?"
"Yup."
"See you then, 'Beth." She winced at the nickname but rather than correct her brother, she hung up and hurried out of the university to the bus stop just off of campus. Annabeth knew how important today was for her family, and yet it had completely slipped her mind. They'd set this up weeks ago, yet here she was, late and not at all dressed properly for a family brunch. She pictured her father's disappointed face and winced. She was so dead.