Chapter 2
The first few classes of the year fly by in a blur. The normal first-day-of-school lectures blend into an endless parade of boredom throughout the entire facility. Soon enough, Alex manages to survive the morning. Despite having his least favorite teachers in the morning, the rest of the day shouldn’t be as miserable after lunch.
He doesn’t think after the bell rings and signals for lunch. He finds himself weaving in and out of the crowd of students. Determination overcomes him as he pushes through the mob and searches for his destination. Alex dismisses the looks of curiosity and confusion of the underclassmen, and keeps himself focused on his goal.
Within a minute or two, he’s standing in front of his girlfriend’s locker. Soon enough, there she is. She’s walking with her two adopted sisters from the biology wing. Eliza doesn’t notice him at first, but Peggy does. Though he can’t hear, he sees Peggy stop midsentence and elbow her sister. When Eliza recognizes him, she sends a kind smile in his direction.
A goofy grin creeps onto his face as he leans against the cold piece of metal. For the past two years, the gesture would have made him blush. Now, he’s gotten used to it. It doesn’t have the same affect as it did before, but he still loves it.
With a small laugh Eliza lightly shoves her boyfriend out of the way of her books. He lightly exaggerates the push and places a hand over his heart in shock. Her sisters roll their eyes at the couple before letting them be. Alexander regains his composure and tears his eyes from his girlfriend to watch the two girls disappear into the sea of students that rush towards the cafeteria. He doesn’t notice Eliza slipping her hand into his until he feels the pull on his arm. He shakes his head lightly before following her lead.
“Thanks for taking over the meeting earlier, Betsey,” he says as she leans her head against his shoulder.
“Angelica and I figured you and Aaron would do something stupid,” she shrugs a bit.
“It was all his fault,” Alex says in defense. “I did have everything planned out.”
“Of course you did,” Eliza tries to assure him, but her uncertain tone indicates the opposite.
They fall into a comfortable silence with their steps falling into sync with each other. The loud rumble from the cafeteria echoes through the entire school. A few underclassmen push by them to go find their friends in the crowded room, but the couple ignores them.
“Usual table?” Eliza questions. Alex nods in that direction and the two go their separate ways. He makes his way over to the growing lunch line and finds himself a spot behind his foster brother.
“Hey, Burr,” Alexander drapes his arm around the senior in front of him. Burr sighs, but still smiles a bit at the other. “Want to sit with us today? There’s always room with the HamilSquad.”
“We did not decide on that name, Ham.” A voice behind them draws their attention. They both turn around and see Lafayette and Hercules standing behind them.
“I thought it was a given,” Alex shrugs and drops his arm from his brother’s shoulders. “Seeing as I’m the leader.”
Mulligan rolls his eyes, while Lafayette speaks up. “You’d be the leader of the, how you say, fuckboys.”
“Laf, you’ve been in America for almost four years now, you know fucking English,” Alex dismisses the comment with a wave of his hand. Someone behind them barks out a short laugh, causing the others to look over.
“Who’s this?” Burr asks the question two of them are wondering. Lafayette lightly hits their forehead with their palm, in a forgetful manner.
“I almost forgot!” They reach behind Hercules and pulls a smaller boy out into view. “May I introduce the newest member of the Revolutionary Squad!"
The first thing Alex notices, are the freckles – lots of them. They scatter the teen’s entire face and other visible areas. He has dark curly hair tied up in a simple ponytail, but the curls threaten to fall loose. The boy’s about the same height as Alex, maybe a little taller, but he looks a more nervous to be there. He has his arms crossed in front of his chest, clearly not wanting to be there.
“Just moved here from South Carolina,” Mulligan clamps a hand on the newbie’s shoulder, causing him to lose his balance for a second. “Already called Lee out today; figured Laurens belongs with us.”
“You guys are saying that like I’m some sort of stray dog or something,” the new guy – Laurens, mumbles.
“You’re small like one, mon ami,” Lafayette lightly pinches Laurens’ cheek, whom in return knocks the hand off of his face with another laugh. Alex can’t help but smile at the silly gesture. Burr, on the other hand, couldn’t care less, and lightly taps Alex on the shoulder, as the lunch line has finally moved.
As they’re waiting for their food, Alexander finds himself next to Laurens. He keeps glancing at the latter once and a while, who is busy looking around at the crowded cafeteria. Alex notices that Lafayette and Hercules are already heading over to the table, and Burr has disappeared, so he attempts a conversation.
“South Carolina, huh?”
Laurens sharply turns his head at the comment, but relaxes a bit when he sees that it’s just Alex. However, he hesitates slightly before speaking. “Uh, yeah, we moved up here for my father’s work. He’s a politician.” Clearly, the subject is uncomfortable for him, so Alex tries to turn it in a different direction.
“Herc says you called Lee out earlier?”
“Yeah,” Laurens slightly shrugs and crosses his arms again. “He giving one of the juniors a hard time about their gender or something, so I called him out on it.”
“Anyone who is an enemy of Charles Lee, is a friend of mine,” Alexander smiles a bit before holding his hand out. “Alexander Hamilton, at your service.” Their orders are called, but neither of them notice; Laurens smiles back and returns the kind gesture with a shake of the hand.
“John Laurens.”