It was a Saturday. Not a bright, welcoming Saturday, yet not a dreary storming one. Just another day of the week passing by where Alex sat all day long at his favorite cyber cafe in Manhattan.
He scrolled through numerous websites as he called over a waitress to grab him another coffee. "Are you sure?" he heard a bright voice expressing behind him, "This is your sixth in the past hour!" Finally taking a glance up from his computer, Alex met eyes with a short, young waitress carrying a mug. Her name tag read 'Peggy'.
This was the first time in several hours when he'd got to look around the cafe, and him and Peggy were the only two left. The clock read some time roughly around 9.
Before Alex got to speak, Peggy took a seat next to him without invitation. "What're you so busy working on?" She questioned as her eyes relocated to his computer screen. "Im not working on anything," he exclaimed, "Ive been trying to find a roommate or two before the school year starts up. I'm going to Columnia University but I've heard terrible stories about the dorms. I just need a place to stay." Alex layed his head on the computer in exhaustion. He only sat in that position for a few moments before lifting his head to Peggys voice.
"No way!" she began, "I have a couple of friends who live just up to road from here, not too far from where you'll need to be! I'm not sure if they have an extra bedroom but they would probably be glad to make room for you!" She pulled out her phone with excitement, probably in attempt to contact her friends nearby.
"Thanks, but I bet they don't need an extra guy tagging along." Alex said, denying her offer.
"No! Trust me theyre always happy to find someone to join them. It started with just Laf, then Herc tagged along and soon enough John came. Anything they can do to split their living cost, they're down for." She continued to type on her phone as she spoke, "And you've been here for hours so you seem pretty desperate." She teased.
Alex felt slightly uncomfortable with the idea of this, not knowing who these guys were. But Peggy was right, he'd been here so long and he really needed a place to settle down.
Before he knew it, Peggy was on the phone with one of the guys. He wasn't sure which, but he was too tired to make any more statements. As the call settled down, Peggy gave an excited smile filled with assurance at Alex.
"They'll be down here in a few minutes!" She stated, overly joyed. Alex rubbed his eyes before speaking again, "I'm sorry, what?" he expressed, "I don't even know these guys." "Well you're about to!" Peggy said, arising from her seat with a proud look on her face.
Moments later, a tall college aged student entered and gave Peggy a hug. Alex wasn't one to make assumptions, but it was clear that this was one of her friends, maybe not just a friend.
Peggy lead the guy towards Alex, their hands latched on to eachothers, definitely more than friends. "This is Lafayette. But, if I were you Id just call him Laf. I wouldn't even ask about his full name." She smiled, looking up at him. Alex gave a greeting smile as he arose from his seat. "Im so sorry to trouble you," he said, wiping his hand on the side of his worn out jeans. "I just really need a place to stay, and I've been looking for so long. If it'd be okay I would definitely be willing to sleep on the floor or couch or even—"
"Say no more!" The guy said. His words carried a strong French accent along with them. "Mulligan and Laurens are on their way. We have an extra bed, no worries!"
"Shouldn't we talk about prices or discuss—"
"Kid, you need a place to stay, we have one to offer. And besides, John and Herc love it when—"
Yet another interruption occurred when two other guys, around the same age entered together. You could tell they'd been talking and laughing and enjoying eachother. Alex first noticed the short young man with a pretty deep voice. But he didn't focus on him for long after he caught a glimpse of the guy along his side.
Alex couldve sworn his heart just skipped a beat, or maybe a couple more than that. Everything around him was zoned out and the past few seconds were a blur. He didn't even notice he was staring until Laf tapped him on the shoulder, saying something along the lines of "You okay?"
Alex shook his head in multiple directions to snap out of it. He was so unaware of what had just happened in the past few moments. Before he knew it, the short man he noticed first, offered a hand to shake. Alex gently accepted the coming introduction by shaking the hand that was held out in front of him. "I'm Hercules, Hercules Mulligan. It's nice to meet you!" Alex looked out behind Hercules and met eyes with the other young man. His thoughts were soon replaced by nothingness, this had never happened to him before.
"I–Im so sorry. I'm Alexander Hamilton, but please, call me Alex."
"Are you alright, Alex?" Herc questioned, clearly noticing the blank expression across his face.
"Fine–Im fine. I mean, Im good. Great, in fact! I hope there's no trouble with me joining your group, you all seem pretty close."
"It's no problem at all!" the guy Alex was starstruck with said, moving from behind Herc to introduce himself. "Laf and Herc are always out with their girlfriends anyways." he teased.
Alex smiled, not trying to make direct eye contact. He could easily feel his face growing more red. Once he heard Peggy gasp with excitement, he knew she had noticed that too.
Alex was quick to try and snap out of it. Usually, it was a skill of his. But for some odd reason, his face wasn't changing back to the tan color it had been before. He took a breath and looked up at the guy who'd been the reason for this occurrence.
"I'm Alex!" he smiled, trying his hardest not to seem awkward. Soon, the guy introduced himself as John Laurens.
'John—what a sweet name.' Alex thought to himself. pleanty of other thoughts as such filled his mind when he got a good look at his face, covered in freckles and outlined with small curls from his hair. adorable.
After several moments of taking this in, Alex looked at all the guys and they talked for a bit. It was decided that he'd move in tomorrow.
He didn't know any of these guys well, and didn't even take a lot of time to try and get to know them, but by the time they left, Alex and John had been through several rounds of awkward eye contact and small talk. They hadn't said much to eachother but what they did, Alex held on to.
Once Laf, Herc, and John made their way out and said their goodbyes, it left just Peggy and Alex again.
After the door shut, Peggy grew excited once more. She pulled up the previous chair towards Alex but closer. "You like Johnny, you like Johnny!" she sang, teasing him. His face was quick to grow red again and Peggy laughed at that sight. "No, I–uh, I have a girlfriend!" Alex lied.
Peggy smiled genuinely, "well he doesn't." she said, "and he wouldn't want one either."
A million thoughts replaced the emptiness in Alex's brain. All the questions he asked himself were overcome by the one winning suggestion, 'Is this real?'
Alex stared off to the door where John had exited a few minutes ago. "Are you dating Laf?" he asked, trying to change the subject.
"Thats like me asking if you like Johnny! It's all pretty clear!" Peggy noted.
She was right, he had made it so obvious, so awkward. But only because John was so impacting, so perfect.
authors note—
it'll get more juicy soon, keep reading! also sorry if this isn't easy to follow or descriptive. i tried writing this chapter about four times and im still not completly satisfied with it, just eager to get a start on this!