Even though John Adams was the most boring teacher Susan ever had, science ended quicker than she would have liked. Despite her mother's words, the upcoming English lesson still terrified her. Fanny tried to crack a few jokes to lift her spirits, but it didn't work and only made Susan more anxious.
Even the thought of Alexander Hamilton made her want to throw up. She was about to spend an hour and a half in a room with the man who ruined her mother's reputation. Part of her wanted to hide out in the bathroom until the end of the day, the other part wanted to punch Alexander Hamilton in the face.
"We can sit at the back if you want." Fanny told her.
Susan nodded. "Thank you."
Fanny reached for the door handle of the English classroom, throwing Susan a reassuring glance. The Reynolds girl took a deep breath and nodded again.
The two stepped inside the classroom. A few students were already seated, but Susan's eyes went straight to the man who sat at the teacher's table. Alexander Hamilton was wearing glasses and going over his lesson notes. He looked up and smiled at Fanny, before shifting his attention to Susan.
Hamilton's eyes widened and his face turned white as a sheet. Susan mentally cursed herself for looking just like her mother. The man checked the class register out of the corner of his eye, confirming his suspicions about Susan's identity.
Finally, Hamilton shook his head and vaguely gestured to the class, mumbling a low 'take a seat.' Fanny grabbed Susan by the hand and dragged her over to the back row.
"You okay?" She asked.
"I'm fine." Susan snapped before her face softened. "Sorry. I'm just...nervous. I never expected to actually meet him."
"Look, Susan, you might not believe me, but he's a good person. He raised me for ten years, I would know. I mean, I get it. It's hard facing someone who ruined your family's name, but-"
"My father is the one who ruined my family's name. The only thing Hamilton ruined is his own image." Susan cut in.
Before Fanny had time to ask, Mr. Hamilton lifted himself from his chair and started the lesson. He stood in front of his desk, slightly leaning back on it, and called for everyone's attention.
"Alright, everyone, settle down. I know it's the last lesson of the day and you all want to go home now that you've realized high school is nothing like the movies." He paused to let the students laugh, though he only received a few chuckles from the first row. "I'm your English teacher, Alexander Hamilton, and there's a million things I haven't done, but just you-"
"Da-ad, we get it! Move on!" A boy from the front row interjected, dragging out his words.
Mr. Hamilton pushed himself off the desk and loomed over the boy. "And who do you think you are, young man?"
"Alexander Hamilton." The boy said, standing up. "My name is Alexander Hamilton. And there's a million things I haven't done, but just you wait." Susan couldn't see his face but could tell he was grinning. "Just you wait."
After a moment of stunned silence, Mr. Hamilton laughed and ruffled the boy's hair. "That's my boy!" He turned to the rest of the class. "Now, I like to know the names of my students, so let's go over the register, shall we?"
Well, there goes the idea of keeping a low profile.
Pulling out the register, Mr. Hamilton cleared his throat and smiled. "Frances Antill."
"Here!" Fanny responded, smiling in return.
Susan begged every deity she knew for something to intervene and stop the teacher from reaching her name. The last thing she needed was everyone in her class knowing who she is. Rumours spiral quickly in public school. It would only take one lunch break for the news to reach every single student.
Is there anything that could stop Mr. Hamilton from reading the register? Maybe a plague of mice, or lightning striking the school. Oh, or maybe a nuclear bomb!
She pushed the thoughts out of her head and focused back on the teacher. He was calling out surnames starting with 'P', and assuming he was going in alphabetical order, there was a high chance she was next.
Mr. Hamilton stumbled over his words, giving Susan a few seconds to brace herself. It seemed funny to her. Hamilton was nervous saying her surname, as if the Reynolds Pamphlet blog wasn't his doing.
"Susan Reynolds."
Might as well get it over with. "Here." She said, raising her hand.
The reaction was just as she was expecting. Heads turned and she could hear badly-concealed whispers. She caught the eye of Alexander Hamilton Jr, who glared at her. Susan glared back, a feeling of satisfaction filling her when he shrunk away in mild fear at the unexpected retaliation. Mr. Hamilton noticed the staring contest and placed a hand on his son's shoulder, shaking his head as if to say 'it's not worth it,' which infuriated Susan.
If Hamilton Jr wanted to fight, let him. Susan was ready. Before moving to Albany, she was in self defense classes for a few years. She knew how to stand her ground and was ready to defend her mother's honour.
"Okay, okay, quiet down!" Mr. Hamilton waited for the whispers to stop. "We still have a few names to go over, and then we'll start with the lesson."
Susan tuned the rest of the register out. The rest of the lesson was going to be unbearable. She caught glances and heard quiet talking between the other students, Susan herself being the subject of conversation.
The register finally ended and Mr. Hamilton took out his notes, starting to deliver some cliche introduction to high school literature. Susan could only hope the curriculum books were interesting enough to be a distraction from the class.
After the lesson, Susan and Fanny hung around until everyone else cleared out, not wanting to have any confrontations. Mr. Hamilton did a very good job of ignoring Susan's presence.
"You're going to the library after this, right?" Fanny asked.
Susan nodded. "Yeah, why?"
"Can I come with you? I want to check out a book or two."
"Sure." Susan picked up her backpack. "Let's go."
Once they were out of the classroom, Susan let out an exasperated groan. "I can't believe he gave us an essay on the first day."
"That's Mr. Hamilton for ya. Always writes like he's running out of time and forces us to do the same." Fanny shrugged.
By the time they reached the library, the hallways were completely empty. Susan expected the other kids whose parents were teachers to stay behind after class, but she guessed they had more stable homes to return to.
"Hey, mum!" Susan greeted her mother as the two entered the room. Maria lifted her eyes from a book and smiled at Susan,
"Hi, Susan. Who's your friend?"
"This is Fanny, she's in my class. Fanny, this is my mum." Susan introduced.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Reynolds. I'm just here to check out a book." Fanny smiled shyly.
As Fanny disappeared behind the row of bookshelves, Maria focused back on Susan. "How was your English lesson?"
"Mr. Hamilton decided to read the register aloud so now everyone knows who I am." Susan complained. "One of his kids is in my class, Alexander Jr, and he's just as much of a jerk. Oh, and he gave us an essay for homework on the first day!"
"That sounds like him…" Maria trailed off, staring into the distance.
"Mrs. Reynolds?" Fanny called out, a book held close to her chest.
Maria snapped out of her stupor and walked over to the table, writing down the book number. After she was done, she handed the book back to the blonde girl. "It's due in three weeks."
Fanny put the book in her backpack. "Susan? Do you mind if I head out? My sister wants me to be home for lunch."
"Of course, no problem." Susan smiled.
"Oh, that reminds me." Maria intervened, fishing a ten dollar bill out of her purse. "I didn't have time to make lunch this morning. Could run over to the bakery across the road and get us something?"
"The Lafayette family owns that bakery!" Fanny exclaimed happily. "Maybe you'll get to meet Georges and Marie!"
Susan pocketed the money and smiled. "I'll be back soon."
As the two walked out of the school doors, Fanny rambled on about how amazing everything made by the Lafayette bakery was, while Susan couldn't help but notice a few students waiting for the school bus sending glares her way.