Chapter Text
The air buzzed with the sound of printing and quiet chatter as Don Sonnellino sat in a chair in front of the Dean of Business's office, quietly waiting for the large wooden door to open.
Don had worked as an economics professor here for a good five years now. In those five years, personal meetings with the dean, Jane Doe, were rare. The other few times he had been called down were to settle a misunderstanding that had quickly been fixed on his end. However, this one was quite different. This time, she would be talking to Chance Ventura alongside him.
Chance came off as your typical professor at first glance- one who taught personal fiance and had a background in economics as well. However, they had made themself quite well known in the business department, and mostly not in a good way.
Chance was the kind of person who had sharp wits and an even sharper tongue, the kind of person who had way too much energy to be in a job like this with paperwork and grading to be done. They were known for being charming at first glance, but a lot of the time rather insensitive. They were also known for being quite the slacker. Don was 90 percent sure that Chance had only managed to land a job here because of their rich family- the Venturas, known for their famous casinos and skyscrapers that touched the sky. Said family had also just so happened to donate a large amount of money to the University about a decade or so ago, leading them to be quite liked by all the higher ups here.
The wooden door to Jane Doe's office opened, revealing her with pair of bright blue glasses perched on her nose. She glanced around the hallway, seeming to realize that Chance wasn't here yet.
Jane Doe sighed. “Are they late, or...”
“Late,” Don replied sharply, before the sound of thudding footsteps came from further down the hall. There Chance was in all of their glory, sweaty skinned and panting as he stopped in front of the door, their hands grasping their knees. They were wearing a bright red suit with a black tie and slacks that seemed hastily thrown on, a white dress shirt underneath. A red sparkle time fedora sat on their head, probably one of the countless limiteds that Chance decided to “show off” all the time.
Hell, Don was half sure that they didn't even realize that they were showing off and simply thought that wearing a hat that cost at least 10 thousand robux everyday was normal. Everything about Chance screamed “spoiled rich kid”.
Chance took a moment to gain their breath, before they wiped their lip and straightened up with a grin. “Oh, sorry y'all, am I late or sumthin?” They asked, putting on their signature grin.
Don's voice was cold and authoritative, a sharp contrast to Chance’s easygoing drawl. “Yes, Chance, you are. It's 10:01.”
“Huh? But that's only a minute late.” A look of confusion appeared on their face.
“That's still late, Chance,” Don retorted. He didn't know how they could be so irresponsible sometimes- his parents had always drilled into him that you had to be five minutes early to anything to be “on time”.
Jane Doe sighed, waving them both off. “It's fine, Chance. Just be on time in the future. Now, come into the office. I have something very important to talk about tor the both of you.”
Both of them nodded, Don holding the door open for Jane Doe and, begrudgingly, for Chance too. Jane Doe gestured to two chairs for Don and Chance to sit in, Chance pulling one out, movements casual while Don shut the door behind him.
Jane Doe settled into the chair on the opposite side of the desk, a serious look on her face. Don politely settled into his own chair as well.
“Alright, you two. Now, I believe that you, Mr. Sonnellino, are a professor in economics?” Don nodded his head, his arms crossed as he sat in his chair. She looked over towards Chance. “And you, Mx. Ventura, are a professor in personal fiance who happens to have a background in economics, correct?”
“Yup. None other,” Chance replied with a cocky grin.
Jane Doe let out a contemplative sigh, tucking both her hands under her chin.”Where do I begin...” She muttered under her breath, before beginning again. “Well, alright. The University is currently wanting to test out a new way of teaching that will be lightly studied to see the results. Don't worry, it's nothing major- just seeing how grades and student satisfaction in their learning changes. And...Dusekkar believes that you two will be the first two to test it.”
Chance raised a confused eyebrow. “Huh...? So what are we doing, though? Are we in trouble or something?” Don snorted beside them. Of course Chance was worried about that. Although he couldn't deny that he was curious about whatever this “method” Jane Doe was speaking about...
Jane Doe shook her head. “No, neither of you are ‘in trouble', or at least not in the way you believe.” She paused for a moment, trying to figure out what to say next. “...you two will be teaching together.”
“What?” Don hissed.
Don cleared his throat apologetically, his jaw slack. “Excuse me, Ms. Doe- but why me with them?” Don pointed to Chance with his thumb, almost seeming offended by the concept of having to work with them. He barely knew them, but he didn't need to to know that he was about to have the worst experience of his life. They were practically the complete opposite of him- fuck, how did Jane Doe expect them to work together?
“Hey! I think I'm pretty awesome person to work with!” Chance protested. Don shot them a venomous look, their grin straining as a bead of sweat ran down their forehead.
Jane Doe raised her hands up in surrender. “Hey, at least let me explain first! Jeez...” She set them back down on her desk, her gaze narrowing. “Look, I wasn't exactly the one who chose which two would be picked for this. If you have that much of a problem with it, go tell Dusekkar.” That quickly shut Don up. Dusekkar was not someone you argued with, ever.
“Good golly...” Jane Doe muttered. “Alright, now, as I was saying, you two will be teaching an economics class together. Mr. Sonnellino, you will still have a separate one to teach, so you still have a class you can have full control over. Chance, same for you, you, you will keep your personal fiance class.”
“If you two are really so curious as to why you two were chosen specifically for this, I believe that is is because you two are practically polar opposites when it comes to your teaching abilities. Mr. Sonnellino, your classes always have the highest grades out of anyone's, but no one reports being satisfied with how learning was done in your class. Chance, you're practically the exact opposite, having the class with the lowest grades, however, students always report your class as being one of the most fun on the campus.”
“Dusekkar believes that having two opposites in the same classroom will provide the best results. We have no idea how long this experiment will run, and whether we will implement this method into other courses. But, for now, you two should familiarize yourselves with each other and start dual planning for any lessons you shall have in the future. And I don't want to hear any of you complaining about it in the first couple weeks or so, alright?”
Don had a gut feeling, which he never had, that this was going to end out horribly.
“Eh...sure, why not,” Chance said, spinning a coin on the tip of their finger. A sort of fidget for them, Don had learned. They looked over at him almost expectantly, that damn smug smirk of theirs playing on those damn lips of theirs.
“Fine,” he growled. “I'll do it.”
Poor little Donny. He had no idea how much this decision would come to bite him back in the ass in the future.