The cafeteria was way more overwhelming than Susan was expecting. The sheer amount of students all talking at once made her feel claustrophobic. The smell of school food filled her nose, and she fought the urge to gag. She heard that public school food was bad, but was it that bad?
Fanny chuckled at her expression. "Yeah, I know. Don't worry, I was overwhelmed on my first day too. It takes a while to get used to it. Come on, we can go sit with Theodosia."
Susan followed Fanny through the crowds, holding her breath as to not inhale the smell and trying to keep her breakfast down. Did they serve week old tuna here or something?
"Hey, Theo, you never told me Susan would be in my class!" Fanny told the Burr girl once they reached her table. She sat opposite of Theo, and Susan sat next to her.
Theo was sitting next to a slightly older boy. He had curly, brown hair and freckles splattered across his nose. He waved at Fanny before turning his attention to Susan.
"Guess I forgot to mention it." Theo shrugged. "Oh, by the way, this is Susan. Susan, this is Philip."
"Nice to meet you, Susan." Philip smiled.
Susan fiddled with the hem of her red sweater. "Does he know about...you know?"
"That you're a Reynolds? Yeah. But he's totally okay with it! Aren't you, Philip?" Theo said, turning to her boyfriend.
"Of course I'm okay with it, why wouldn't I be?" Philip assured her. "It's not your fault, after all. Not like it's your mother's fault! I don't blame either of you! Did that sound bad? I didn't mean it to sound bad!"
Theo put a hand on his shoulder. "Philip, I think she gets it."
Susan smiled at him, holding back a laugh. "It's alright, really. How about we leave all that behind us, hm?" She extended a hand to him.
"I'd love to." He shook her hand, both of them laughing at the formality.
Fanny turned to Susan, an apologetic look on her face. "Oh my lord, Susan, I'm so sorry! I'm such an idiot! I forgot you were a Reynolds and I talked so much about the Hamiltons and I saw that you were uncomfortable and I didn't even realize!"
"It's okay, Fanny, really!" Susan placed a hand in her shoulder to get her to stop talking. "You don't need to stop talking about your family just because of what happened last summer."
At that moment, another girl plopped down in the spot beside Fanny, dropping her head onto the table and groaning in exasperation.
"Frances? Is everything okay?" Theo asked, leaning over the table to poke the girl's shoulder.
"Everything's absolutely peachy!" The girl grumbled, raising her head. She brushed her dark blonde hair out of her eyes, revealing a freckle-covered face. "Mr. George held me back after class so I could help him turn off his computer."
Philip rolled his eyes. "Why is he even the teacher if he can't turn off his computer?"
"The better question is, how is he even the teacher if no one likes him?" Theo added.
"Who's Mr. George?" Susan spoke up.
"The computer science teacher, not to be confused with Principal Washington," Theo explained. "We don't know why he's still on the job since he has no idea what he's doing. Everyone hates him because he's so self-absorbed and walks around acting like he's the king of England. The only person who can stand him is Samuel Seabury, but he's a teacher's pet so he doesn't count."
The freckled girl finally seemed to notice Susan and smiled at her with tired eyes. "You're Susan, right? I'm Frances Laurens."
Susan's eyes flickered between Frances and Fanny. "So, you have the same name?"
Fanny nodded, pulling Frances into a side hug. "Yep! Kinda ironic, isn't it? We have the same name, we look alike, we're both orphans-"
"You did not have to mention that!" Frances swatted at her arm, though it was clear she wasn't angry.
Susan chuckled awkwardly, though she had to admit the two looked similar. They could have been sisters if Frances didn't have freckles, blue eyes and darker blonde hair.
Philip shook his head at Fanny's antics. "Don't mind her, she tends to overshare things about her life."
Fanny mock-pouted, before laughing it off and taking a small container of strawberries out of her bag. "Anyone want one?"
"Oh, that reminds me-" Theo took out something covered in tinfoil and handed it to Susan. "Your mum asked me to give this to you."
Susan unpacked it to find a ham and cheese sandwich, which reminded her how hungry she was, having skipped breakfast. Mentally thanking her mum, she took a bite.
"By the way, has anyone seen the Lafayettes today?" Frances asked, stealing a strawberry from Fanny's hand and pretending to ignore the fake offended look.
"They're in detention," Theo said. "They accidentally locked themselves in the broom cupboard on the second floor this morning and decided to climb out of the window to get out. Marie jumped and landed on the bushes just fine, but Georges chickened out last minute and ended up hanging from the windowsill. That's how Mr. Jefferson found them. Marie was rolling on the grass and laughing while Georges screamed at her."
Susan has no idea who the Lafayettes were, but she laughed along with everyone else because the mental image Theo's story gave her was absolutely hilarious.
"Getting detention on the first day? That's a record, even for them!" Fanny said in between laughs. "Sounds like Anastasie was at least ninety-five percent of their impulse control. They wouldn't have gotten in trouble if she was there."
"If Anastasie was there, she would be the one to throw Georges off the windowsill, Lion King style." Philip argued.
Frances noticed Susan's confused look. "Georges and Marie-Antoinette de Lafayette are kind of like the resident pranksters here. Anastasie is their older sister. She decided to complete her senior year as a foreign exchange student in France. The three of them always got into all kinds of trouble."
"Lunch will be over soon," Theo interjected. "Fanny, Susan, you should get going now if you want to get there on time. It's really easy to get lost. What lessons do you have next?"
Susan pulled out her schedule. "Science with Mr. John Adams and then English with…" She swallowed the bile that came up in her throat. "With Alexander Hamilton."