Teacher Drama

Date: August 18       Hazel could not believe it. It was the fifth day of school and there was already drama. Even worse was the fact that it wasn't normal drama; it was teacher drama.   Teacher drama was always bad because drama between students was normal and to be expected — even if it was no fun. Teacher drama, on the other hand, was to be feared because it was abnormal. If teachers were fighting and students knew about, there was something serious going on.    Hazel could tell that something serious was happening by the way Mrs. Dodds kept clenching her jaw and threatening to wallop students with her pool noodle. When the bell finally rung and Hazel filed out of the classroom with the rest of the students, she swore she heard Mrs. Dodd's muttering, "Why did he have to Snapchat that to the group chat?"      At lunch, everyone was talking about how weird the teachers were acting. There was an excited, but nervous buzz in the air. They were spectators to this drama, but they knew there would be consequences for them as well as for their teachers.      "I swear, they're acting like something really bad happened," Juniper said.      "Something bad probably did happen," Grover bleated. "It almost makes me want to eat this soda can."     "That would be unnecessary," Percy said. "What do we all know about the drama?"     "Mrs. Dodds said someone sent something to a group chat on Snapchat," Hazel said. "Maybe that is the source of the drama?"     "She did?" Jacob asked.      "I overheard it while I was walking out," Hazel admitted.       "No one is dead," Nico offered.         "How do you know that?" Katie asked.        "Trust me, I know these things," Nico said. "My father owns the only funeral home in the city."       "He's right," Hazel said. "Dad would tell us if something like that happened."        "So, it's not a death," Jason said. "What could it be?"        "Well, that's look at it logically," Annabeth said. "If it was about their pay or their jobs, then it would probably be on the news and it isn't. That means that it likely has something to do with relationships."      The table burst out into laughter. It seemed ridiculous.       "My mom says all high school drama goes back to relationship drama," Piper said once they stopped laughing.       "Even the shoe fight?" Reyna said, referring to how Dakota and Butch has fought over a pair of new Vans.        "Even the shoe fight," Piper said with a nod. "Shoes help guys attract girls."        "I hate that she knows more about flirting then I do," Travis grumbled.        "That's not hard," Leo said, "but I know even more than Beauty Queen."       "In your dreams," Silena said. "My sister and Annabeth are right: it's probably relationship drama."      "What relationship drama could teachers have?" Frank asked.       "I mean, they have lives of their own," Reyna said. "I just wish I knew what was going on."      "I can tell you," someone said, coming up to the table.     It was Annabeth's half-brother Malcolm. He pulled something up on his phone and then let the table look at it. It was a screenshot of a Snapchat.      "How did you get a hold of this?" Annabeth scolded.     Malcolm grinned and said, "I infiltrated their group chat. It wasn't hard."     "Mr. Ilium boasted about kissing Mr. Sparta's wife on the group chat," Jason said, sighing. "These are the people paid to teach us."      "Gods," Percy said. "I'm smarter than this idiot."      "Gods, Mr. Ilium is my drama teacher," Nico complained.       "Everyone thought he was gay," Connor said. "Maybe he was trying to prove otherwise?"     Nico winced. Hazel passed the phone back to Malcolm. This was too much drama for the first week of school.