Susan walked behind the rest of her classmates as they trudged into the U3 room. The teacher hasn't arrived yet, which gave Susan time to calm her nerves. The spots in the back of the classroom were already filled, so Susan resigned herself to sitting in the second row, next to a girl with green eyes and blonde curls.
"Hi, I'm Fanny." It took Susan a few seconds to register that the girl was talking to her.
She gave a shy smile in return. "Susan."
"I don't think I've seen you before. You didn't go to the middle school across the road last year, did you?" Fanny asked.
"No, I was homeschooled."
"Homeschooled? That sounds so cool!" Fanny exclaimed. "Wait, so you know nothing about high school? Like, at all?"
"Only from the movies." Susan said. "And I'm not sure how much I can trust those."
The blonde girl smiled. "Well, let me tell you something. Public school isn't as bad as the movies make it out to be, but it's not High School Musical either."
"I've actually never seen High School Musical." Susan admitted.
Fanny's jaw dropped. "Never? That's it, the very first chance I get, I'm showing you the movie!"
Susan laughed, her worries forgotten for a moment. Maybe high school wouldn't be so bad if she had a friend in her class. Someone she could depend on when Theo wasn't around.
All her anxiety came rushing back when the door opened and a woman wearing a dark blue blazer over a light blue dress walked in. A woman who could only be Elizabeth Hamilton.
"Good morning, kids. I'm Mrs. Hamilton, your history teacher." She said, her eyes skimming the register in her hands.
Susan caught the slight furrow of her brow that could only mean she reached her name. Mrs. Hamilton looked around the room and stared in Susan's direction. Of course, Susan was a near spitting image of her mother.
The Reynolds girl looked up and met Mrs. Hamilton's gaze, locking eyes with her. She fought the urge to raise an eyebrow, as if to ask why she was staring, but she didn't want to start her first lesson off on bad terms with the teacher.
Though considering what happened the previous summer, starting off on bad terms was an understatement.
Finally, Mrs. Hamilton gave her a smile and moved on to other students. Susan turned back around to find Fanny's eyes flickering between her and the teacher in confusion.
"Is everything okay? You were staring at each other for, like, a minute."
Susan shook her head. "Yeah, everything's fine. I just… thought I knew her from somewhere."
"She's Miss Peggy's older sister, you know?" Fanny said.
"Really?" Susan raised both eyebrows in surprise. Her mother never mentioned that Elizabeth Hamilton had a sister on the faculty. "They don't really look alike."
"Yep. And the geography teacher, Angelica Church, is the oldest of the three. They call them the Schuyler Sisters, though they're not exactly Schuylers anymore."
Susan didn't have time to respond as Mrs. Hamilton was starting the lesson. Both girls pulled out their textbooks, flipping to the required page. Susan could only hope Mrs. Hamilton wouldn't be biased against her, though she had every reason to be. Susan's mother nearly destroyed the Hamilton marriage, after all.
The lesson passed quickly, and Mrs. Hamilton didn't even spare a glance in Susan's direction again. As Susan and Fanny walked into the maths classroom, laughing at a joke Fanny just cracked, Susan was slightly startled to see Aaron Burr sitting at the teacher's table.
The surprised feeling was quickly replaced with comfort. Mr. Burr was Theodosia's father. He helped her and her mother out after her father left them. Of course, she knew he was the maths teacher, but considering all the anxiety she was dealing with that day, it simply slipped her mind.
He was too engrossed in a book to notice her when she walked by. She motioned Fanny to wait for her, and cleared her throat.
"Good morning, Mr. Burr."
Looking up from his book, Mr. Burr gave her a bright smile. "Morning, Susan! I hope you're having a great day so far. What was your first lesson?"
"History." Susan replied. "With Mrs. Hamilton."
"Mrs. Hamilton, huh?" Mr. Burr's face dropped for a moment. "Susan, if you ever need someone to talk to, you know you can always come to me, alright?"
"I know, Mr. Burr. And thank you."
"You're welcome, Susan. Off you go now, class is starting soon." He said, waving her off.
As Susan sat beside Fanny, the blonde girl started bombarding her with questions.
"So, how do you know Mr. Burr?"
"He's my neighbour from across the road, and the father of a friend of mine." Susan explained.
Fanny tilted her head to the side. "You know Theodosia as well?"
Susan smiled. "Well, yeah, she's kinda my best friend."
"Oh, so you're that Susan! Theo talks a lot about you, you know? She was so excited for us to meet you when she found out you were coming to this school." Fanny leaned forward with excitement.
"Us? How many people do you mean by that, exactly?" Susan asked, feeling her anxiety start to bubble up.
"Well let's see. There's me, obviously, Frances Laurens, the Lafayettes and the Hamiltons, so that's…" Fanny did a quick count in her head. "Twelve people. Or nine, because I'm not sure you'll be meeting Anastasie de Lafayette or William and Eliza Hamilton anytime soon."
Susan's insides went cold. "The Hamiltons? I mean, I know Theo is dating Philip, but-"
"Philip's brother is in our class, well, one of his brothers. Over there, in the first row." Fanny pointed. "That's Alex. He's a little rough at first, but such a sweetheart once you get to know him."
"You're pretty close with the Hamiltons, aren't you?" Susan asked, though it sounded more like a statement.
Fanny laughed. "Oh, more than that! I was fostered by them as a kid. They're all like siblings to me."
"Is that so…?" Susan mumbled, getting more nervous by the second.
"I lived with them until two years ago, though I come over so often it doesn't even feel like I've moved out. We still have a little saying in the family. 'Antill by blood, Hamilton by heart.'" Susan could clearly see how proud Fanny was of being an honorary Hamilton, so she refrained from making a comment.
"That's nice." She said, inwardly cringing at how tense she sounded.
Fanny's smile vanished. "Susan, are you sure you're alright? You're acting kinda strange."
"It's fine, I'm fine, everything's fine. I'm just nervous. First day of high school, you know? Nothing to worry about." Susan realized she was rambling and managed to stop the flow of words, instead choosing to open her textbook in preparation for the lesson.
"If you say so." Fanny shrugged, following Susan's example. The Reynolds girl sighed, trying to focus on whatever Mr. Burr was saying and unsuccessfully attempting keep her mind off the prospect of meeting the Hamiltons.
A/N: So, if you didn't know, Fanny is Frances Antill, an orphan who was raised by the Hamiltons from 1787 to 1797. When she was twelve she went to live with her older sister. Alexander and Eliza loved her as their own, so it felt right to include her in the story.