Hammy High

It wasn't hard to say goodbye to the small town Alexandria grew up in, she didn't have any family left to hold him to it. Her mother left when he was ten and then a few years later her father died, A hurricane came and devastation rained, so she sought passage on a ship to America for college. Sure, a plane would have been a lot quicker, but heights never agreed with Hamilton much, the one time she went on a plane, she puked, it wasn't a fun trip. Alexandria was accepted into Julliard, one of the highest renounced colleges in America, which just happened to be placed in New York City. The school was home to Ariana Burr, someone she looked up to after hearing that she graduated high school in two years. Now, New York was in sight, and jitters welled up inside Alex's chest. "My new home," she whispered to herself leaning against the boat railing. a soft breeze blew through her hair, making her want to close her eyes and take a deep breath.

A loud speaker came on overhead and said, "We are docking in ten minutes, get your stuff and wait in the lounge for more instructions."

Hamilton smiled and started to walk to her small room on the boat, which had been her home for little over 3 weeks, and gathered her belongings. The lounge was a small sitting area where the crew members and passengers could hang out at on their free time and it was one of the places Alexandria went every day to compose different songs that came to mind since there was a keyboard right there at her disposal. There wasn't a lot of passengers on the boat, probably three families and some other men and women traveling alone. She had become friends with a couple of the people on the ship and was sad to let them go, but she couldn't really keep friends all that well, so it might have been for the best. The ten minutes she needed to wait passed by slowly, leaving her to her thoughts to contemplate.

Would she be able to leave a great enough impact on her soon-to-be peers?

Would the teachers like her?

What if she made a bad impression? Alexandria wrinkled her nose at the idea, shaking her head and scoffed. If she makes a bad impression, she'll fix it.

When the boat docked, Alexandria was the very first one off. She farewelled everybody she could in the time of two minutes and scurried to leave and call for a taxi. She didn't want to wait a second more to begin her new life. When a taxi slowed down, she quickly hopped in and instructed the driver to take her straight to Julliard. He simply nodded and went on to his destination, not appearing at all interested in why she wanted to go there. Alexandria decided to tell him anyway, wanting to quickly make it apparent that she was an important individual with real, solid thoughts.

"I'm going to Julliard to further my career in Music Theory, History, Composition, Dance, and a whole lot more! Julliard is the best school to go to for conducting music, too. Or, even preparing to go on Broadway and-" Alexandria paused when the driver cranked up the music, lifting a brow and squinted at him. She quickly raised her voice, talking over the music,-"Star in musicals. Did you know-" The driver actually had the audacity to crank the music up to the top volume. Alexandria narrowed her eyes, clenching her fist and took a sharp breath of air before yelling,-"THAT THERE IS A WHOLE ORCHESTRA UNDER THE BROADWAY STAGE AND THAT THEY ARE THE BEST IN THE BUSINESS?"

When the driver glared back at her, she stared smugly and smirked. She hummed in satisfaction when he turned the music down and grumbled to himself about how kids didn't have any respect for their elders. 

Alexandria walked through the doors of the main building to Julliard, giving a soft squeal in delight. Everything was elegant. It all seemed to sparkle and shine before her, as though it was solely presented just for her. Her heart fluttered at the realization that this was going to be her life for a few years, delighted at the fact that this was going to be her world. 

That's right, She thought adoringly, This is my time to shine.

She was ready to cease her opportunity. First, she needed to get her key and quickly find her dorm room so that she could meet her soon-to-be roommates. Hopefully, they'll get along. She rushed along around the crowds of students that were also trying to get their keys. As she dodged and maneuvered herself around people, she quickly picked up conversations that drew her attention. It was tough not to but into them, but she needed to remain focused on the task at hand. She needed to find someone who looked trustworthy and could direct her to the right place for her key.

Her eyes scanned the room as she walked around, quickly getting drawn to an ungodly sight of fashion slaughter. A girl was wearing bright purple tights and dark blue short shorts that hugged her upper thighs with vigor. She proudly wore a loose burgundy-coloured shirt with plaid markings that were lazily complimented by her purple-and-white striped fingerless gloves. She seemed to be about 6'2'', but maybe the boots (Which were also purple) she wore added a few inches. Her hands moved confidently as she talked to an exceptionally shorter girl, who wore something much more easy on the eyes. She wore a light purple romper with combat boots, and a light grey pull over. Alexandria took her time studying the girl, noting how her face was angular and frail. Her head was shaved, the dark shade of hair growing back helping to add to her authority. 

Alexandria noted how she nodded and laughed with the girl speaking to her, bringing her hands up to cross over her chest. She felt like she's seen this girl before, possibly in a magazine because she looked absolutely flawless and appeared model material. She squinted, running through the possibilities in her head whilst the girl with the barbaric fashion choice started to depart.

Alexandria perked, raising her head and squared up her shoulders. Could that girl possibly be Ariana Burr? Excitement flooded her senses and she instantly started making a B-Line to the madam. She graduated out of High School in two short years and was the top of her class! If this was Ariana, Alexander had to befriend her. 

Anxiety started prickling at her thoughts as she approached, but she shoved them down. She was Alexandria Hamilton, she needed to work through her anxiety and throw herself out there for the public to see. This is just level one, She reminded herself as she raised a hand to tap on Ariana's unsuspecting shoulder. As cool as water over stone, she turned her head over and blinked in surprise at Alexandria. 

"Pardon me," Alexandria said quickly, "are you Ariana Burr?"

Ariana quickly reclaimed herself, tilting her head and smiled. She turned to face Alexandria, uncrossing her arms and let her hands cross behind her back. Alexandria instantly felt like Ariana was a friendly person.

"That depends, who's asking?" Ariana hummed wistfully, instantly making Alexandria grin and give a small chuckle.

"Oh, sure," She looked excitedly at Ariana, enlightened at how she returned the grin, "Ma'am, I'm Alexandria Hamilton, I saw your name in the newspaper and I was just wondering..." Alexandria glanced aside a little bashfully then exploded and instantly started questioning Ariana curiously, "How did you graduate from High School so fast? I've tried and they just wouldn't let me- How'd you do it, ma'am?"

"I pursued," Ariana said simply, but the answer was vague. Alexandria was about to push to learn more but paused when Ariana raised a hand and put it out to shake. She quickly took the hand, surprised at the tight grip Ariana had. 

"May I buy you a drink, Alexandria? Possibly at the cafe just across the street?" Ariana asked, smiling fondly once more.

"That would be nice." Alexandria said.

Ariana instantly took the lead, motioning for Alexandria to follow. Alexandria didn't like the quiet that was beginning to form as they walked, so she quickly started a conversation. "Ariana, who was that girl you were speaking with before?"

"Hm? The one in purple?" Ariana asked, walking in a straight line towards the main doors. Alexandria instantly felt anxious that she would get bumped into or knocked down, but instead people quickly greeted her with a bright face and moved out of the way. Ariana chirped back happily, saying quick hello's and How are you? 

She must really be a people's person. Alexandria thought, quickly replying to Ariana's question, "Yes." 

"That's Tommie Jefferson, she's a little bit different." Ariana smiled back at her. Alexandria couldn't hold herself back from replying sassily, "A little different is an understatement."

Ariana laughed, shoving her hands into her pockets. Alexandria grinned in triumph, feeling satisfaction at being able to make her laugh. The two ladies walked down the sidewalk and went to the crosswalk just at the corner. During this time, Alexandria had asked Ariana a few minor questions. Such as, where do they go to get their keys? Does she know any of the teachers? And if she knew who her roommates were. Ariana responded smoothly, saying that she would take Alexandria personally to get her keys but that they could be found simply by finding the front desk and asking for it, she knew one of the teachers but that was only because he and she met a few hours prior to when she and Alexandria spoke, and that her roommates were Tommie Jefferson and Jan Madison. 

Alexandria wondered to herself if Ariana knew Tommie and Jan or if she just met them today.

Finally approaching the cafe after walking the crosswalk, Ariana held the door open for Alexandria and smiled fondly.

"Thanks!" Alexandria chirped, scurrying inside and blinked in surprise. It was fairly empty, except for the man behind the counter and three girls at the far corner of the coffee shop. They were noisily laughing and rough-housing with one another. Alexandria couldn't help but smile at them as she and Ariana moved to order their drinks.

"Plain coffee, please," Ariana said and Alexandria followed behind with a quick, "Iced Grande Caramel Macchiato."

Ariana made a noise in the back of her throat when one of the girls in the corner started to raise her voice. Alexandria focused on her, blinking in surprise when she realized that the girl was starting to rap. 

"I am Jona Laurens in the place to be! Two pints of Sam Adams, but I'm working on three! Ha!"  She raised her cup as she spoke, grinning confidently to herself, "Those redcoats don't want it with me cause I will pop-chicka-prrop that school, till we're free!"

Alexandria jerked her head to the girl who was beatboxing then to the girl who spoke next and blinked in awe.

"Oui, oui, mon ami, je m'appelle Lafayette! The Joan of Arc to our intelligentary monarch, I came from afar just to say bonsoir, to the Queen, "Casse toi"
Who is the best? C'est moi!" The tallest girl sang in a french accent, her hair was long curly and black, pulled back into a dutch braid. The girl who was beat boxing stopped, a large smile on her face, then she started to rap as well.

"Brrah, Brrah, I am Hera Mulligan, up in it, lovin' it! Yes, I heard your boyfriend say come again!" As she rapped, the girls started laughing to themselves, bobbing their head to the beat, "Lock up your dollars and courvets, it's hard to work school with four sets of brunettes,"  She gave an exaggerated wink at the taller girl, who instantly threw herself back into a mock swoon and fanned her face.

Alexandria glanced at Ariana, who seemed forcefully distracted by her coffee, as though she was interested in what the three girls were doing but couldn't bring herself to actually seem like it.

They must do this a lot, Alexandria noted, "Who are they?" She asked, catching Ariana's attention. She appeared surprised for a split second, then adverted her eyes to the three girls as they increased in volume steadily. She turned to Alexandria once more after a brief moment she took for herself to collect her thoughts, offering a some-what strained smile. "Hera Mulligan, Gen Lafayette, Jona Laurens. They're in our school as freshmen too. Lucky, aren't we?" She raised the cup to her lips, taking a long, silent sip and looked to the girls with conceited eyes. 

"I like them!" Alexandria said enthusiastically, grinning from ear-to-ear despite Ariana's steady mood. She turned her head back to look at the girls, perking in excitement when the first girl who had spoken looked up from the group and gave a large, bright smile that showed her teeth. She wore blue jeans with a dark blue t-shirt, hair pulled up into a high ponytail that flowed down to her upper back and seemingly spread out in all direction at a monstrous pace.

Jona threw her drink up into the air, the contents inside slipping out and splashing against the table, which in turn splashed Hera and earned a loud squeal of surprise, "Well, ain't it the Prodigy of Princeton College, Ariana Burr!"

How much would I be willing to wage that she spiked that drink? Alexandria thought offhandedly, than snapped her attention to Ariana when she realized that Jona had addressed her as a Prodigy of Princeton. Alexandria blinked in awe; did Ariana succeed from a college before she actually came to Julliard? Frustration flickered inside Alexandria, irritated that she didn't get the chance to rise above her peers like Ariana did. As Burr gave a slight smile, appearing a little off-put from being drawn into the spotlight so quickly, she raised her hand just a bit and gave a small, half-hearted wave that clearly said I don't want to talk.

Are you introverted or just think that you're better than them? Alexandria asked silently, lifting a brow.

"Give us some verse! Drop some knowledge!" Jona yelled from across the cafe, the man behind the counter glancing back at her in irritation but said nothing.

S'not like you have any other customers around, Alexandria thought, rolling her eyes hard before snatching Ariana's arm and dragged her to the table so that they didn't need to be screaming at each other. She also discarded the noise of discontent coming from the girl behind her and decided to trade it in for a noise of excitement. 

"I don't think there's much I can teach you girls," Ariana said slyly, smiling with force sweetness.

Gen laughed from the end of the table, pressing a hand to her chest and fluttered her eyes. She looked moved at Ariana's comment. "That means so much coming from you."

Ariana's eyes lit up in surprise at Gen's rebut, but they quickly turned stone cold. She straightened her back, "Of course. I meant every word of it."

Alexandria glanced between the two curiously, scanning how intently they stared each other down. The fire that kindled in their long, hard stares signified some unspoken pledge of respectful, acknowledged loathing. Alexandria decided that they were on some other level of friendship that she was sure she would never be able to get on. She slowly got a smile, jerking her head over to Hera and Jona when she heard a clank of cups on the table.

"So, where're you from?" Hera slurred, grinning goofily. Alexandria glanced back at Lafayette and Ariana, relieved to see that their gaze had been broken. Lafayette was now staring at them while Ariana was staring at her coffee, taking a tender sip.

"Oh- the Caribbean," She said looking up at the taller girl and analyzed that she had bright orange cut off with black basketball shorts and a black sports bra. Her hair was like Ariana's, growing back from being balled, though, her hair had a slight curl to it rather than Ariana's sleek black hair. She was really pretty, Alexandria decided. Awkwardly, Alexandria noted how all the girls looked unnaturally attractive. Alexandria decided it was a curse of the big city.

"Ooo, fancy gal," Hera grinned.

"Utmost fancy," Lafayette agreed, nodding solemnly.

"You guys gonna be at that party Georgi's havin'?" Jona asked curiously.

"Party?" Alexandria repeated, blinking in surprise and tilted her head in confusion. 

Ariana answered for them, "Georgi is this girl who's holding a party down at some broken down factory. Her parents own it, so It's okay, I presume."

"Course it is!" Hera chirped, tossing her hand around as she talked, "Georgi has the best parties. She's the definition of collective raving." 

Ariana simply made a noise in the back of her throat, taking a drink of her coffee.

"So? Will you be there?" Jona asked, looking to Alexandria with interest.

"Oh- Sure!" Alexandria grinned, nodding excitedly. Of course she will! That would be a perfect place to put her skills to the test.

"Ariana?" Hera dragged out lazily, grinning.

"I don't think so," She shook her head.

"C'mon, Mon petite Burr," Lafayette pressed, grinning proudly when Ariana shot a glare.

"Maybe." Ariana gave finally, glancing aside, "Only if Matty-and-Joan'll be there."

"Hell yeah!" Hera and Jona exclaimed excitedly, throwing their hands up in the air while Lafayette pulled out her phone and quickly started texting someone.

"What're you doin'?" Alexandria asked, blinking.

"Tellin' Georgi we have a new friend," Lafayette looked at Alexandria with excitement, eyes glittering mischievously.