Lafayette had been right. Mrs. Edmonds didn't even bother to collect the packet she had issued Alex, which irked the teen a little bit. Elizabeth - or, Eliza, as she insisted on being called - had been kind enough to walk him to algebra. He remembered where the room was, but he liked talking to her.

At lunch, Alex timidly approached the table where Lafayette was already seated, pulling some tupperware out of his lunchbox. He was comforted when the French teen looked up at him, flashed him a smile, and beckoned him closer; Alex took the seat he had sat in the day before.

"How are you liking Miranda so far?" Lafayette asked vaguely, hoping to pull the boy out his shy shell.

"Oh, uh, it's fine. You were right, though. Edmonds didn't even take the stupid packet from me."

"Typical. John and Herc are still in the lunch line, if you were wondering," Lafayette offered. "It's not just us, I promise."

Alex chuckled politely. "I think I see John now."

Sure enough, a familiar freckled face was emerging from the lunch line, red plastic tray in hand. He stopped behind a girl sitting at the closest table to the line, leaning in to whisper something in her ear.

The girl looked up, eyes wide at first, and Alex thought John was about to get smacked. However, her features softened and she smiled when she saw John, and Alex saw her start laughing.

Laurens gave her a grin, looking back at her as he kept walking. "You know I'm only kidding, Angie!" He dropped his tray on the table, toppling the still-closed carton of milk. He picked it up once he sat next to Alex. "Hey, dude. What's up?"

"Nothing, nothing. Who was that?" Alexander asked.

"Angelica Schuyler. She's a junior. She's also my girlfriend; she just doesn't know it yet."

"She calls you "bro." I don't think you're getting anywhere, my friend," Lafayette replied, pointing at John with his fork.

"You don't know that, Frenchie."

Alex thought for a second. "Schuyler?"

John nodded. "She has a sister in our grade. Eliza. Sweetest girl ever."

"Yeah, I met her. She's really nice."

"Ooh, is someone in love?" Laf teased, noticing the light pink color now dusting Alex's cheeks.

"Who's in love?" Hercules asked, a bit louder than need be, as he approached his normal seat. He attracted the attention of the surrounding tables, and they turned to look at the four.

"Nobody's in love!" Alex replied, hushed and embarrassed. Thankfully, the interlopers returned to their own meals quickly.

"Of course, except dear Laurens!" Laf chimed in. "He got shot down by Angelica again."

"She did not shoot me down, you jerk," John mumbled. Alex was thankful for the save.

The English classroom was buzzing with nervous energy, as it was presentation day. As Alexander had been told the day before, his peers had been put into small groups and assigned Lord of the Flies characters to cover in their reports. As Alexander had transferred during the tail end of their unit with the novel, he had been excused from the assignment.

Alex made his way to his biology classroom, ducking into his seat from the day before.

Mrs. McAllen had already starting passing out papers for the day, and a worksheet was on Alex's desk. As Alex looked over the paper, he inwardly groaned, mentally complaining even more when he realized there was a complete backside as well.

Once the bell rang and everyone was seated with their worksheet in front of them, Mrs. McAllen shushed them. All eyes landed on her, and she announced that, for this class hour, they were to work on the worksheet in pairs.

There were a lot of things Alex didn't want to hear, and those words definitely made the list. There was a wave of whispers that swept through the classroom as everyone excitedly confirmed who they were going to work with, and Alex suddenly felt more alone than ever. He felt a tap on his right shoulder and looked over to see the boy that sits next to him - his savior from his first day in that class - giving him a shy smile.

"Do you want to work together?" The boy asked. He looked very neat; not one short black hair was out of place, and his lapel pins seemed like they were polished. Who wears a suit jacket to high school?

Alex felt a rush of relief flood his mind. "Yeah, I'd love to."

Before Alex knew it, the first half of his worksheet was completely filled in. This kid was good.

"You're pretty good at biology," He offered, trying to make some friendly conversation.

"Not really. This was all in the reading last night," Aaron answered nonchalantly, flipping his worksheet over to start on the back.

Alex stuttered. "Oh. I... I didn't know we were supposed to read last night. When did she mention that?"

"It says so on white board over there," Aaron gestured to the side of the room, where a smaller white board was divided into five sections labeled M, T, W, TH, and F. At the very top, in construction paper letters, was the word HOMEWORK.

Alexander suddenly felt embarrassed. "I guess that makes sense."

The corner of Aaron's mouth curled up for a second. "Don't worry about it. Nobody really mentioned it to you. I suppose I should have said something."

"I should have looked around. It's not exactly hidden."

"Hm." Alex suddenly noticed that Aaron was a third of the way through the second side of his sheet, and he scurried to catch up to his partner.

"Hey, Aaron?"

"Yeah, Alex?"

"So... What kind of clubs are at this school?" He had been looking for an opportunity to come out of his shell more, but he didn't know where to start, and Aaron seemed like he knew what was going on.

Aaron glanced over at him curiously. "Were you looking for anything specific?"

He shook his head, so Aaron answered. "Well, I'm in the Yearbook Club, and we're always looking for new members. Not many people are that interested in it. We meet every Monday after school. I could take you there on Monday."

"Sounds good! Count me in."