It was just after summer break, the first day of school at Patriot High. Teachers were impatiently awaiting the arrival of the year's new freshman class. The cafeteria, still dark, housed a small boy in the corner, peacefully reading his third book of the day. The time was 6:00 am. Teachers and staff took note of the boy, wondering if they should say something to him, but eventually decided to just leave him to his reading. Alexander was content with this, mostly preferring to be alone anyway. He was used to being left alone at home to his reading and writing, so this wasn't different for him at all.

About an hour later, the teachers began slipping into their classrooms to make the final preparations for their students, who would start arriving any minute now. Alexander, noting the change of people flowing in and out of the room, pulled away from his book. He glanced at his schedule and took off through the halls, wanting to avoid the chaos he knew would be coming once the buses arrived. The boy, knowing exactly where he was going, put his nose back into his book.

His homeroom and American history class were with a tall, broad-shouldered teacher called Major Washington. Alexander took note of his titles, but paid them little mind and just went back to his book, which he was by now almost done with. After getting lost in his book for a while, Alexander finally looked up when the tardy bell rang throughout the school and now empty hallways. He found himself sitting next to a blonde girl who looked as if she had about five brain cells in total, and he had to resist the urge to groan upon the sight of her. Just as the students began to question the teacher's whereabouts, he stepped through the door and greeted the students loudly.

"Hello, everybody! My name is Major Washington!" He flung open the door and tossed his computer bag wildly across the room, to the students' horror. Luckily, it landed neatly on his desk, harming no one. Alexander noticed none of this, too busy in his book, but once the teacher spotted him, he could practically feel the man's gaze. His first thought upon seeing the teacher, What the hell?

"OK, I'm going to call roll. If you're here, say so. If not, don't." He met Alexander's eyes. "If you're not paying attention, you'll be marked absent and will go nowhere in life." He smiled brightly, then began calling out names as if nothing had happened.

"Abbie Acer, Jack Carter, Amy Flemmings, Richard Fletcher." Each name called earned a 'here'. "Alexander Hamilton."

"Here," Alex answered monotonously. Major Washington looked up from his paper to glance at the boy only to see he had gone back to reading. He sighed, then went back to his list.

"William Johnson, Heather Kelly, John Laurens." A boy in the back of the class raised his hand, although it was hardly noticeable because of the huge kid sitting in front of him. "John Laurens?" Major Washington asked again.

A small voice whispered, "Dammit! Why does this always happen? Move, you big oaf!"

"John?" Major Washington called for a third time. At this point, Alex had looked up along with the rest of the class to try to find the boy.

"I am right here!" a voice from the back screamed as a tan boy jumped from his desk and stood on his chair, raising his hand and waving it frantically.

"Ah, yes. Hey, you in front of him, uh..." Major Washington looked down at his seating chart. "Um, Henry? Herckles? Can you and John switch?"

"The boy in question scowled, "It's HERCULES. And yes." The two switched seats.

"Ok, thank you... Hercules." The teacher finally got the name correct and continued with his roll call. Alexander had stopped listening and went back to his book. Homeroom was uneventful, as were the first three periods with Major Washington, Mr. Arnold, and Mr. Montgomery. Alexander was in fourth period with Mr. Mercer when the buzz of the students' anticipation hit him. It was almost lunch. Whispers were being exchanged rapidly as everyone began caring more about the upcoming food than their lesson. When the bell finally rang, everybody was quick to clear out. Everyone, that is, except for Alex. Personally, he'd never liked the popularity contest that was a school cafeteria. He slowly gathered his things as his teacher typed away at his computer. He stood up and made his way out the door. He expected the hallway to be pretty empty by that point, so he went back to his story without looking for people and made his way to the cafeteria