Madison's POV:

'He towers over me, incredibly handsome- though it's not the first thing you'll notice. With the air of intellectual superiority he wears like a timeless designer coat, it's easy to see why he is so despised by Hamilton. Gorgeous, intelligent, cocky, vastly misunderstood.

Even if I was the brightest, handsomest and best man on earth, and even if I wasn't confined by social expectations dictating what makes a good and acceptable high school couple, there is no way that Jefferson would ever notice me in a way that was anything but platonic.'

This is my thought sequence as I walk to debate training, and prepare to face Hamilton, Laurens, Lafayette and Mulligan.

Up the winding staircase to the senior debate area, Jefferson turns around and greets me with a smile that simultaneously makes me very, very nervous and very, very excited. "Jimmy James, what's shaking?"

"Me. I'm shaking."

"Come on man, are you really that nervous to get up and speak?"

"After Hamilton laughed the entire way through my substantive and I ran home sobbing, yeah kind of."

"You're good. You'll be fine."

"I dunno, just don't put me as first again."

We hold hands and brave the stares from students as he drags me along to the debate room and I pretend to be reluctant when I follow.

Jefferson intrigues me. I don't think I'll ever fully understand how he can be so confident and how it is that even though he is my best friend, I hardly know anything about him. Truth be told, we only met two months ago when I first moved to Fictum High. I am still unsure about why it is that he befriended someone quite as timid as me. Someone quite as weird as me. Someone who is anxious and worrying when in reality nothing all that interesting has ever happened to me. A small, nerdy, fanboy obsessed with Broadway and multiple fictional occurences.

As we make our way to the desks set up for a mock debate we see Angelica sitting in the first speaker seat of our bench.

" What're you doing on our team?" Jefferson asks with what seems to be legitimate curiosity.

"Hamilton criticised a piece of literary genius, so I made a deal with Seabury to let me speak on your team for the rest of the term."

"Huh. Well, welcome to the best junior debate team in Fictum High. I'll be your tour guide for today.

Here (gesturing to an empty space) we have the collective brainpower of two incredibly intelligent and incredibly handsome men.

(walking around to Madison) and here we have the kindest, smallest and most anxious debating bean to ever grace this Earth.

(pointing to self triumphantly) and here we have the fantastic Thomas Jefferson, brilliant at debating and everything else that matters in life, who has an extra movie ticket to go and see Tangled. Wanna come?"

"I would only ever look at it from a modern feminist viewpoint but sure, I'll come and see a trashy Disney princess movie with you."

Looking on to this I only feel a twinge of sadness; of course Jefferson was straight and of course he was going on a date with one of the most popular girls in the school. It wasn't a surprise; it was only to be expected. But it got to the point where that twinge became more than a twinge, where it slowly grew into a tsunami of disappointment cascading over me as I was rooted to my spot.

But fearing for our friendship I had to keep this as hidden as I could.

I fake a smile and turn to face the entrance as Washington, Hamilton, Laurens and Lafayette join us.

This is going to be an interesting debate.