Y'all, I really should stop getting ideas for new stories. My fingers can't handle this. I was originally going to post this on John's birthday, but everything I typed was word vomit (and not the kind you guys are used to reading), so I never got around to actually finishing it. This probably won't update nearly as often as my other fic because that one's already on a schedule and I'm too lazy to add another schedule on top of that one. So this will probably have sporadic updates. Anyway, hopefully you lovelies enjoy this first chapter! (Also I'm totally using the same Scott Pilgrim reference I used in my other story because it's my favorite quote) ~Shaymie
Alexander was suddenly regretting his decision to sign up as a tutor. For one thing, most of these kids were idiots. It was like they had never picked up a book in their life. And they read so painstakingly slow, it felt like he was going to keel over and die any second. He didn't need the extra credit. But he did need the money. His job at the library would only get him so far. And he'd like to live in an actual house at some point. Well, maybe not a house, per se. That was aiming a bit high. But a small apartment would be nice. The floor of the library was uncomfortable, and his sleeping bag was practically ripped at the seams, stuffing falling out of every corner. Eliza had stitched it up as best she could, but where one hole was fixed, two more immediately followed. He gave up trying to fix it. He would just have to deal with it. He refused to spend money on another sleeping bag, money that could go towards food or something more important, like his future college fund. He had no doubt he'd be able to get a scholarship or two, but there was no way he could get enough to pay his way through four years of college. Maybe even more than that.
"Are you done with your work?" he asked the little girl sitting in front of him. Lucy Jefferson. Thankfully one of the smarter kids, but she was ridiculously rude and stubborn. Just like her annoying brother. She looked up at him, curly hair flopping into her face. A scowl graced her face as she turned back to her worksheet silently. Alexander looked down at the piece of paper and sighed when she put her arms over it, blocking everything but her name, which was written on top in childish scrawl. Damn irritating brat.
"Mind your own business!" Alexander gripped the edge of the table, briefly pondering how much trouble he'd get in for decking a nine year-old right in the face. Were all the Jeffersons this annoying? He took a deep breath and forced a smile onto his face. He knew that Lucy would tell her brother if he did anything she didn't like, and then he wouldn't get paid for this session and at this point he felt he deserved something for putting up with this insufferable child.
"Lucy, I'm your tutor, remember? If you need help with anything, just let me know-"
"I don't need your help!" she huffed, turning a page in her dictionary stubbornly. Alexander resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "All I have to do is copy definitions from the dictionary to the paper! I'm not a child, I can do it on my own!"
That was how most tutoring sessions went. The annoying little brats would either refuse help entirely or expect him to do all of the work. He knew what career path he was never going down. He didn't understand how teachers could deal with the little demons eight hours a day, five days a week. He didn't understand why Eliza wanted to be a teacher. He could barely handle hour-long sessions.
Alexander's life was a monotonous cycle. Eat (when he could afford it), go to school, tutor some ungrateful brats, work at the library, eat (again, when he could afford it) and fall asleep in a shitty sleeping bag on the cold hard floor of the library. He found time for his homework somewhere between that, on the nights when the floor was just a bit too uncomfortable and sleep was impossible. He had to stay on top of his grades. They were probably going to be his only saving grace. He had to make himself look good for colleges to want him. He had to keep his promise to his mother. He told her he was going to make something of himself, change the world or some shit like that.
He had become resigned to this way of life. If anything, it was nice having constants, things that he knew would never change. Sure, some things differed occasionally-like Hercules offering him his couch when his parents weren't home, or Eliza surprising him with a homemade lunch, bringing him up to three square meals a day-but it was the same routine everyday, with the exception of weekends. Those were kind of the wildcards of the week. Sometimes Eliza would invite him out for a day with her sisters, or he would just spend the weekend at Lafayette's like normal. Every second of every day was accounted for perfectly, nothing ever changing.
Until he met John Laurens.