Okay, this might not be that great because I'm not used to writing in first person...

Also, this is basically how my school works in the mornings: a half hour homeroom after a half hour of just sitting around in the main room. Is that weird? I feel like it's weird.

Thomas

I took a deep breath as I stepped through the doors of my school, Mount Vernon High School. Ironic, considering the school is pretty far from the actual Mount Vernon. But that's besides the point. Another crap day at this crap school was about to begin, meaning I, Thomas Jefferson, was forced to be around the crap people that attended it.

How exciting.

The moment I walked into the multipurpose room, where all the students had to be before school, I regretted leaving my headphones in my bag. The entire school was packed into one room, so the sound was deafening. And, of course, some people were bound to be uncomfortable with another person shoved so close to them, which, under the right circumstances, could lead to an argument or a fight.

Apparently, that is exactly what happened.

In the center of the room, I saw a flurry of movement, involving two people and a few teachers trying to break up the fight.

One of the fighters was Charles Lee. Sure, he's a bit hot-headed, but a good kid regardless. He had gotten into fights before, but always for a legitimate reason. This made me wonder: What happened to make Charles want to fight John Laurens?

John Laurens: now that's a dangerous kid. He picks fights with anyone and everyone, including teachers, for no reason. No one has ever beaten him in a physical fight, which makes most people avoid him if they can. Not everyone can do so, however, as he's a total bully to anyone smaller than him. Thankfully, he's pretty short, and I had outgrown him in 8th grade. Unfortunately, if I ever have to do a group project with him, he still threatens me into doing all the work. He wears the same sweatshirt everyday, casting a menacing shadow over his face when the hood is up. Laurens had a dark air about him anyway, and worst of all, he smiled so wide after beating someone up. Like now, for instance.

Laurens smirked creepily at Charles as they were both dragged into the office, a cut prominent on his bottom lip. Charles looked incredibly worse, a black eye and multiple other bruises forming on his face. I felt bad for the kid, but it wasn't like I could do anything to help, being the shy, awkward, outcast that I am.

Oh well.

I made my way through the room as the quiet murmur of shock passed and returned to a loud chatter. On my way, I narrowly dodged any chance of physical or eye contact with anyone, until I finally found the table that my friends were sitting at. I plopped down next to my best friend since kindergarten, James Madison.

"Hey, James," I greeted.

"Hey," James mumbled in response.

"What was that fight about?" I wondered aloud. James just shrugged, staring into the distance. I rolled my eyes. "Are you looking at Eliza again?" James turned to me so fast that I could hear his neck pop. His eyes blinked quickly and darted around, searching for an answer.

"Wha-pssh-no, I'm not-" James was sent into a coughing fit. This happened anytime he got too flustered. If he was flustered now, then that meant that he had been looking at Eliza.

There were several problems with this. James had been utterly infatuated with Elizabeth Schuyler since 6th grade, and hadn't done anything about it because of his social anxiety. Eliza was out of his league anyway. She and her sisters, Peggy and Angelica, were the richest kids in school, and loved reminding people of that by wearing expensive clothes and jewelry, along with making fun of everyone else's appearances. They looked down on us all as if they were queens, while we were just pieces of trash on the street. Peggy and Angelica were bad, but Eliza was a mythic bitch compared to them. She would treat her classmates like her servants, making them do her homework and give her anything else she wants.

Eliza also kept amazing athletes off of the cheer team, which she was the head of. Take my close friend Maria, for example. She practiced every cheer to perfection and beyond, yet wasn't even allowed to try out for the team.

"Why do you like her so much?" I asked James, who tried, and failed, to hide his gaze to the other side of the room.

"She's pretty," James answered wistfully, "and she can be nice sometimes."

"She complimented your singing voice once in choir two years ago."

"She's been good other times."

"When? Elementary school?" Maria, who sat across from us, closed the book she had been reading and put it down, then pulled off her large glasses, letting her hair fall in front of her face.

"Thomas is right," Maria said, her quiet voice barely lifting over the rest of the noise in the room. "She wouldn't be good for you." James sighed in defeat. Maria turned to me. "You had asked about the fight, right?" I nodded. "I guess Laurens wanted to sit where Charles was for some reason. He refused to move, they argued, then Laurens pushed Charles onto the floor."

"And then they fought," I finished.

"Yeah. Lafayette recorded it all, of course."

"Why would he not?"

Gilbert Lafayette: social media god who rules the school with an iron fist. If he learned of a secret that someone had been keeping, everyone would know about it within two days. He does what he wants, can start or stop the activities of others at will, and no one, not even the seniors, can rival him. Despite the fact that he moved to America from France just a few years ago, everyone knew and feared him. He controls the student body more than the Schuyler sisters and Laurens could combined. Oddly enough, most people also followed his lead on what was deemed socially acceptable. Lafayette, with his extreme confidence, had managed to make usually uncool things cool. Choir, theater, hell, even being gay; he made those previously disliked subjects adored.

Yet, I was still a nerdy, almost friendless, raging homosexual that didn't understand why or how I was so different from the popular kids.

Okay, so maybe I'm a little bitter about that one specific point. No one cared when I came out a few years ago, but as soon as this new, cocky, asshole starts dating the star player and quarterback of the football team, Hercules Mulligan (who is also a cocky asshole and apparently bi), everyone accepts it and sees their relationship as amazing (or horrible and annoying, depending on if they were in the room or not).

"Thomas?" I blinked back to reality when Maria snapped her fingers in my face. "You were zoning out."

"Sorry," I said. "I'm just...frustrated."

"With what?"

"The people in this school." Maria and James hummed in agreement just before the bell rang. I groaned as I gathered my things and stood to head to my homeroom.

I didn't have time to comprehend the oncoming curly-haired bun and football jersey before James was pushed to the ground. His books and papers flew everywhere, and he reached his arms out just in time to prevent himself from landing on his face. Maria and I rushed to help James up and gather his things while Lafayette and Mulligan snickered as they walked by.

"Are you okay?" I asked once James was back on his feet.

"I'm fine," he mumbled.

"I swear...the people in this school."

Okay, so, this is an idea I had. Tell me what you think about it! I'd really appreciate the feedback.

I was was going to post something for John's birthday yesterday, but I was busy and it ended up not being as good as I wanted it to be, so I'll work on it more and post it another day.