A/N: We meet again! I am so happy to announce chapter 5 of my Hamilfic! I hope you guys enjoy it, please read and review!
A couple of days after I had my cast removed, I heard my door open.
"Hello, John."
I scrambled to jump off my bed and stand up facing my father before he yelled at me for a bad sitting posture. "Yes, Father?"
"I want you to know that your grades are the most" - *hiccup* - "horrid I have ever seen. I was the top of my class, I can't have any, ANY, descendant of mine have grades these atrocious!" He yelled, stepping forwards. "And don't think that I will go easy on you. I will not hesitate to go harder. Do you understand me?" He yelled between hiccups.
"Yes," I said, taken aback from his approach.
"What did I tell you about addressing adults?" He slapped me across my face. I stumbled backward, not enough force to make me fall over. I have gotten stronger over the years with all of the abuse leading me on. I clutched my face in pain, holding a hand behind my back to find the wall to lean upon. "You will address me as 'Father' when you respond to my questions! You cannot address another adult by their first name, only by a Mr., Mrs, or Ms. and their last name!" He shouted, stepping closer to me. He belted me in the gut. "Do you understand?!"
"Yes, Father," I choked out.
"You will fix your grades. You have until the end of the week," he said, before turning around and leaving me to be.
The next day I headed to school on my phone, checking my grades. I had all good grades except for math. A C+. I was never great at math, and I know I never will be. And o have until the end of the week. Good thing it's only Monday… my thoughts were interrupted by Peggy's squeal.
"Hi, Laurens!" Peggy engulfed me in her signature hugs.
"Hi, Pegs," I faked a laughed once she let go. I hoped it sounded genuine. "Hey, Eliza. Hi Angelica."
"Hello, Laurens!" Angie and Eliza said in unison.
"Bonjour, mon ami!" Lafayette appeared out of nowhere and slapped a hand on my back. I practically jumped I flinched so hard. When Father punched me last night my spine and back slammed up against the wall, leaving a big bruise. "Mon ami, are you okay?" Lafayette and the Schuylers gave me a look of concern.
"I'm… fine." I said, sighing. I pushed past them and went on towards my first-hour class - math. It was my grade I needed to fix, anyway. I could practically feel the four boring their confused eyes into the back of my head as I headed towards the library to find Alex. He was the only one who wouldn't pry.
By the time I reached the library, I could already see Alex in his small corner. Alex said he refers to it as our corner because I go there every morning to hang out with him. When he first told me that I almost jumped with joy. Of course, I bottled it up and blushed instead. "Hey, Alex."
Alex POV
"Hey, Laurens," I said, picking my head up ever so slightly to give him a nod. He nodded back.
Something seemed off. He would normally say some sort of turtle fact or something that can relate to a turtle. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a sketchbook. He started to draw silently. Yep, something was definitely off. I decided against asking what was wrong.
He scribbled things down. I looked like a man, but not like anyone in the library. He started drawing him, I could tell by the curly hair and facial details. He started drawing his sister later and other little kids. Probably his siblings. There was no mother. I saw out of my peripheral vision him scribble a jagged line over the older looking man. He dropped his pencil and sighed. I looked at him and noticed a mark next to his left eye. "Laurens?" My voice cracked.
"Yep."
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but what's that mark by your eye?" I pointed to his face.
"What?" He ran a hand over to where I was pointing. He flinched when his fingers brushed over it. "It's… nothing. I fell down the stairs this morning."
Lies. I knew they were lies. But, he told me a lie because he didn't want to talk about it. I'm not going to pry. He went back to drawing, giving extra details to the people in the picture, every so often sighing and scribbling more at the oldest looking. His father? He looks like Laurens' sister Martha. I watched him draw, careful not to make it seem like I was staring. He started to draw some broken hearts and devils around the father figure. I could only imagine what was going through his brain.
John POV
I hate him. I drew my father and scribbled him out and drew hate pictures around him. I could see Alex sneeking a glance at me every so often, probably wondering if I'm okay. This is why I like Alex. He will only pry if you let him. I wish I could vent to him… the bell rang, disturbing my thoughts. I shoved my sketchbook in my backpack recklessly without bothering to zip the bag up. I slung the bag over my shoulder and walked away, leaving Alex behind. I wasn't in the mood to talk today. Besides, I needed to fix my math grade. I headed off to math with high hopes I could do some extra credit.
Alex POV
I watched Laurens stand up quickly and leave when the bell rang. Something is definitely up. I watched him shove his sketchbook and pencil in his bag without zipping the backpack's zipper. He took off in a rush, not even bothering to wait for me. Did I do something wrong? I sighed and picked my stuff up quickly and headed over to push Laurens' chair in, which he took off too fast to notice. I then stepped on a book, muttering under my breath, "Does anyone have respect for a library and its books?" I stooped down to pick it up when I noticed a cartoon turtle, handpainted, on the cover with a tiny signature that read, "Laurens '20" under the turtle's tail.
I gasped. It was Laurens' sketchbook! It must have fallen out of his backpack when he left in such a rush. I was tempted to open it when I realized that he would get mad at me for snooping around and probably wouldn't trust me ever again. That's the last thing I would want to lose - his trust and friendship. I shoved the book into my bag, planning on giving it to him in the next class we had together.
John POV
I begged. "Please! I need this extra credit!"
"I don't know, I don't usually give out extra credit like some drug dealer and his weed…" Mr. Adams said, rubbing his beard with thought.
"Please. My father will not be happy if my grade doesn't change by the end of the week."
"Fine. Have these worksheets done by Thursday so I can at least change the grade on Friday." He handed me a stack of three papers full of complex math problems we had been working on last week. I grabbed them quickly and thanked him profusely.
"Thank you so much!" I said, taking my seat in the back of the classroom next to Laf.
"Mon ami, what is 'zat?" Laf gestured a hand towards my extra homework.
"My father told me to get extra credit to bring my math grade up by the end of the week. Otherwise, I'm going to be in trouble," I sighed, flipping through the papers. I looked at question one on the first page. Already didn't know what it was. I skipped almost every question until I found an easy one. I kept switching questions to find easier ones.
"Mon ami, that's incorrect." Gilbert pointed to one of the questions. I banged my head on the table in anger as the bell rang.
"Of course with is. I suck at math." My voice was muffled by the table and papers. I grabbed my stuff as Gilbert was rambling on.
"Maybe you could ask Mon Petite Lion for help. He is in advanced math class," he said as I shrugged. I would probably end up going to him first with homework even without Gilbert's suggestion.
"Yeah. Maybe."
Alex POV
I know I shouldn't… I opened the sketchbook in my first-hour class. I saw a portrait of his sister Martha. The next page was one of him and Martha. There was another one where he was with the Schuyler Sisters. There was another of him and Laf, one of Laf, one of each of the Schuylers, one of the Washingtons, one of me, and multiple pictures of little kids I didn't recognize. There were also multiple turtles. Then I flipped to the next page. It was the one he was drawing earlier today. It was a family portrait it seemed, but his father figure was scribbled out with hate words like "son of a whore" "bitch" "asshole" "bastard" and other mini hate drawings sprinkled around him.
I closed the book, realizing that he didn't like his father. I went to give Laurens his book back in English when he just brushed my hello off, focused on his math homework. I jostled a little bit, sighing before sitting down in my assigned seat. I never had the chance to talk to him all day, and neither did anyone else. He seemed to be ignoring everyone so he could finish his homework. Then out of nowhere, he asked me if I could help him with his homework.
"Sure," I said, remembering about the sketchbook, "also, you left your sketchbook in the library. It must have fallen out of your bag when you left." I rummaged through my bag to find his book. I pulled it out with a little "aha" and handed it to the wide eyed boy.
"You didn't look at it, did you?" Fear was taking over his emotions.
"No, I would never," I said, lies seething between my teeth. I almost cringed hearing my own lie.
"Thank you."
We headed towards the library and I helped him with his homework. He seemed to understand it fully once I gave him a few examples and tips on how to do it in a much quicker, simpler way than however, his teacher did. He made small noises like an "oh" and a "that makes sense" every now and then. My face flushed at how cute he was focused on.
We split after a bit, having all of his homework done besides a couple of questions at the end for him to do on his own. "See you, Alex."
"Bye, Laurens" I waved. He shrugged it off and walked towards his driveway. He entered his house without another word. That boy is hiding something.
John POV
I entered my house and ran upstairs to finish my math homework. Alex explained it so well compared to Mr. Adams. I finished my math within a half-hour and headed downstairs to help Martha cook dinner.
"Hey, Martha," I said as I pulled her into a hug and kisses the top of her head. I let her go as I grabbed some sauce for her spaghetti.
"Thank you," She said. Martha tiredly mixed the pasta and sauce together as my little siblings ran into the room. Good thing Father isn't home yet… I thought. Father never let them have fun. "Do you have any friends who can help us?" Her sentence caught me off guard making me nearly choke on my cup of water.
"What?" I set my cup down, wiping my mouth with my sweatshirt sleeve in between coughs. Martha rubbed my back repeating her question, "Do you have any friends who can help us?"
"... I might have one friend who can help us, but I don't know if he would want to help. He keeps to himself a lot."
"Okay. I haven't met anyone who isn't my friend for my looks," said Martha, sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose, "What's his name?"
"Alexander Hamilton," I said after pointing out the kitchen window to the Washingtons' house, "he's Mr. Washington's foster son."
"I think he could help us, John. Mr. Washington is even nice to the students he doesn't have. Certainly, he and Alexander would be willing to help us."
"Mar, I'm still not sure about him. He seems to have a secret that even his closest friends don't know."
"Okay. Just… I don't know what to do," Martha broke down in tears, "everything is do hard, with Father always drunk, we don't have anyone to go to, and the kids are going to get older faster than we will expect and we won't be able to help them, and - and," she hiccuped.
"Martha, shh. It's okay. Just, I am here and I know that I will find someone to help. Just give it time." I said as I gave her a hug.
"Thank you," she said as she finished dinner. We all ate our dinner having a normal discussion without being scolded by Father. The younger ones would talk animatedly about their day at school. Henry Jr. was a piece of work. He believes that his teachers are the nicest he's ever had before, so he came up with this hypothesis saying, "I like Mrs. Wenzel. She's the nicest teacher I have ever had before! That's why I think she's an alien."
I choked on my food as I snorted. Martha gave Henry a strange look. "He thinks that she's an alien because she doesn't act like other teachers," Mary spoke up.
"What?" I asked after finally dialing down my choking, "I have another hypothesis."
"And what might that be?" Martha questioned, elbows on the table and her hands intertwined delicately. Her head rested on her hands, mocking her intriguement. I stood up and placed one hand across my chest as I put the other hand in the air, index finger pointing upward.
"What if Henry's old teachers, the mean ones, were the aliens? Maybe nice teachers are how all teachers are supposed to be? Maybe his other teachers were mean because they are the aliens…" I trailed off waving my fingers in the air to add a mysterious effect to my monologue. I gave a smirk at the end, looking Martha in the eyes as she hung her head, trying to hold back a laugh. Henry let out a big gasp.
"You are absolutely right! That is a possibility!" He stood up just like I did before, making it seem like we were at a conference, "But, I will have you know, why were there so many more mean teachers than nice teachers? Maybe the nice teachers are making us like them so we do their bidding!" He exclaimed, whipping a finger under my nose.
"What if the mean teachers were making you afraid of them so they know that you won't disobey them if they tell you to get on their spaceship!" I said with jazz hands.
We laughed for a bit and we set our dishes in the sink. James decided to wash the dishes for me, saying that I did too much around here and I should get some rest. I hugged him, tears pricking at my eyes. "Thank you, James."
He hugged me back, tears falling from his eyes, "Anytime, big bro."
I headed upstairs, closing my door and peering out the window. I saw Alex at his desk. I waved. He saw me and gave me an enthusiastic wave back. I chuckled at him, resting my forehead in my hand. I heard my phone buzz.
NonstopHamMan: ayy what's up
TurtleBoi: Lol, when have you ever said ayy
NonstopHamMan: idk
TurtleBoi: geez you are one weird person
NonstopHamMan: Martha wants you to come over sometime like a playdate lol
TurtleBoi: we could study, no playdate xp
NonstopHamMan: lol if I said no playdate she'd be like 'well what do you want to do?' and if I said study she would sense that you are a fake xD
TurtleBoi: awesome. wow.
NonstopHamMan: ikr
Just then I heard my door open. I saw Father in the doorway. "Hello, John."
"Hello, Father. Can I do anything for you?"
"No, have you gotten your grade-" hiccup "- up, yet?" He asked, waving an empty alcohol bottle in my face. Vodka, I thought, using all of my willpower to not hold my nose or tense up at the stench coming from his mouth.
"Not yet, Father, but I was given-" slap. I should have assumed it was coming. I fell against the wall. I saw Father peek out my window at Alex who was busy working on his laptop. Alex gave me and my father a small wave. I waved back as if I wasn't just slapped. Do I want him to have seen me get slapped? Or no, maybe he can't be trusted… Father closed the shades, leaving me be.
"Stay away from that boy. He doesn't seem good enough to be your friend," Father said, swaying from side to side. He left my bedroom without another word, clutching the railing on the stairway for dear life. I could hear him grunt, attempting to not fall down. Why am I unlucky enough for him to not fall? No, that's not right. I'm not a psychopath.
I opened my shades and saw Alex stare at his computer with a look of disgust on his face. I started to text him.
TurtleBoi: hey are you okay?
NonstopHamMan: yes I'm fine
TurtleBoi: you look angry
I saw Alex look at me. I waved. He gave me a scowl.
TurtleBoi: no seriously did I do something wrong?
NonstopHamMan: that was your dad wasn't it
I looked at my phone for I don't know how long when Alex messaged me again.
NonstopHamMan: are you okay
TurtleBoi: yes I'm fine I was just sidetracked
NonstopHamMan: sure
TurtleBoi: what? At least I'm not the one who's always too busy to talk to anyone but me
NonstopHamMan: look up
I looked up and out my window to find a very pissed off Alex flipping my off with both of his fingers. I returned the gesture. I saw him start to laugh and I joined in.
TurtleBoi: hey quick question
NonstopHamMan: sure
TurtleBoi: why did you close your shades on me at the beginning of the summer
I didn't get an answer.
A/N: Flashback to chapter one! Alex is still mysterious about closing his shades on Laurens...
ALWAYS FIND THE GOOD IN A BAD SITUATION. STAY HEALTHY, STAY STRONG, AND WE WILL GET THROUGH THIS PANDEMIC TOGETHER. (gee, I sure miss those astronauts... I wonder if they miss us)