Alexander

Once again, I was not excited for the next day of school. After the party, I had been expecting Lafayette to break into my house and attack me over the weekend. Since that didn't happen, I assumed he would hunt me down during his study hall, then stuff and mount me on the wall. Maybe he'd at least be compassionate enough to give me a memorial next to Aaron Burr's, the poor kid.

There was already a fight when I walked into the school. Laurens was beating someone up, with the other boy barely landing any punches in return. This time, a crowd had gathered around them. Peggy stood at the front of the group, jumping and clapping. The brawling boys kept glancing up at her, seemingly for approval. I figured that they were fighting over and/or for Peggy.

I caught sight of Lafayette recording the fight from off to the side. I ducked my head and hurried past them.

Thomas and his friends were sitting at their-our?-table, per the usual. I realized that I didn't know if James and Maria had been told about my and Thomas' new relationship. I decided that if they didn't before, they would soon. I sat down next to Thomas and leaned against him. I pulled on his arm and wrapped it around me. I felt Thomas tense and heard him gulp heavily.

"Alex," he hissed.

"Hm?" I took out my book and started to read, resting my head on his chest.

"You can't just-"

"I thought we were dating, now," I said.

"Yeah, but-"

"What?" James and Maria suddenly gasped.

"Oh, God." Thomas practically gagged.

"You're dating now?" Maria asked while James went into a coughing fit. Thomas laughed nervously. I nodded, casually flipping the page in my book. James squealed like a little girl as Maria sputtered, "You're-you can't-what do you-explain, dammit."

"We're dating now," I shrugged. "That's it."

"Well, did you go out?"

"Not yet. We slept together, though."

"You what?" Maria shrieked.

"Alex!" Thomas covered his face. "Oh, my God. We didn't...we just slept in the same bed."

Maria narrowed her eyes at me and Thomas. "Okay...why did that happen?"

I closed my book and took a deep breath. "Lafayette forced me to go to the Schuyler's party by threatening to hurt Thomas if I didn't. He continued to use this threat to get me drunk and high. I was barely still mentally stable enough to draw the line when he tried to have sex with me, which I want to tell Mulligan about. Anyway, I got away by vomiting in Lafayette's face, which I figure he'll eventually yell at me about. I got out of the house and called Thomas for help. He brought me to his house, took care of me, and we ended up sleeping together." Thomas glared at me. "We slept in the same bed," I corrected.

"How did you decide to get together?" James asked.

"The next morning, Thomas told me that I had drunkenly told him that I like him. I confirmed this, and that was that."

"Well, congratulations."

It was odd of me to feel as if James was being sincere. "Thanks."

"So...have you kissed yet?" Maria wondered, smirking a bit.

Thomas blushed. "N-No. I-I mean, he's kissed me on the cheek a couple-"

I decided to cut Thomas off by craning my neck to peck him on the lips. Thomas' face went blank as he began to make a slightly concerning squeaking sound.

"No shame, huh?" James wondered.

"Not much," I replied.

The bell rang. I held Thomas' hand and helped him walk to home room while his brain was rebooting. In the classroom, I scooted my chair closer to him until our legs were touching. Thomas was shivering a little, so I gently held his knee. He shook more so I released him.

"Are...are you sure about this?" Thomas whispered.

"About what?" I asked in the same tone.

"About us..."

"Of course I'm sure. I'm never unsure."

"Okay..."

I held Thomas' knee again.

We worked on homework and read (I also wrote about Thomas for a few minutes), then I suddenly felt like someone was watching me. I turned, finding the obvious culprit: Lafayette. I rolled my eyes and focused on my work, again. My phone faintly chimed in my pocket with Lafayette's text tone. I quickly silenced it, wondering why I kept the contact in my phone.

Lafayette could wait. I was too busy trying to have a better life.