Oh hey, what's this? A new chapter? On the same day I updated my other story? It's a December miracle! Speaking of a December miracle, it's actually getting chilly and staying chilly over here! I can go outside without melting. Hopefully you lovelies enjoy this chapter. If you need me, I'll be enjoying the cold. ~Shaymie

What the heck do I gotta do to be with you? John sighed as he watched Alexander from across the cafeteria. It was drizzling outside, which meant that nobody was allowed outside in the courtyard. John was sitting in the furthest corner of the room, picking at a salad. He didn't really like school lunch, but he had been too high this morning to focus on packing a lunch. He had planned on skipping the rest of school today, but it had started raining and he didn't have an umbrella. So he reluctantly trudged into the cafeteria, paid for the crappiest salad he had ever seen, and sat himself down at the only empty table in the room.

Hamilton was sitting with a few of his friends, talking excitedly about something, his hands gesturing wildly as he spoke. His lunch sat forgotten in front of him, but when Eliza Schuyler nudged him, he stopped talking long enough to take a few bites of his sandwich. John felt a surge of bitter jealousy course through him when he saw the girl touch Hamilton. He reminded himself that he wasn't dating him or anything. He wasn't even sure if they could be considered friends. He had been getting tutored for two weeks now, and at the very least they were… acquainted? Some of the ice had melted between them, and they were able to have civil conversations. They were even on a first name basis.

Hamilton had a lot of opinions on a lot of things, and he wasn't afraid to let the whole library know. At least three times a session, he had to be silenced by Aaron Burr, the college student who worked at the library and seemed to be his boss. The shorter boy would grumble and mutter some less than pleasant insults in Spanish under his breath, causing John to laugh loudly, and then they'd have to be silenced for a completely different reason. It wasn't like anyone was ever at the library. At the most, two or three people would visit a day. Public libraries weren't really that popular anymore.

John nearly jumped out of his seat when a loud rumble of thunder rolled through the air. He sighed as he looked out the window. While he was spacing out, the slow drizzle had turned to a full on downpour. It was going to be absolute hell to walk through to get to gym later. He looked back over to Hamilton's table and frowned. It had been occupied just a few seconds ago, but now it was completely empty, the group's lunches sitting abandoned. Where did they go? Lunch was almost over. Had they left for class early? They didn't seem like the type of people who would leave a mess behind, though. He had seen Alexander and Eliza cleaning up the cafeteria after lunch on multiple occasions.

John threw away the rest of his disgusting salad and grabbed his messenger bag. He couldn't stand being in the cafeteria for much longer, especially since Hamilton was nowhere to be seen. He didn't really have a reason to be here anymore. There was still a little bit of time left in lunch, so maybe he could walk around school for a bit. He wasn't going to bother leaving until the rain died down some. He didn't want to deal with his father complaining about him dripping water all over his perfect little wooden floors.

He shoved his hands into his pockets and sighed as he started walking around randomly, not really caring where he was going. Most of the school was still in class, so he decided to walk towards the art wing, which was completely empty for lunch. At least there he wouldn't have to deal with any irritating teachers. He stopped in the middle of the hall to look at the art that was being displayed.

Another flash of lightning cracked down, causing John to nearly jump out of his skin again. He hissed a curse as the lights flickered out and reached into his pocket to pull out his phone. He was in the middle of unlocking it when he heard a whimper. He turned his flashlight on and looked around anxiously. If this was someone's idea of a prank, it wasn't fucking funny. Maybe a dog just got into the school again, he reasoned. It wouldn't be the first time it had happened.

He turned into a dark stairwell… and tripped over something. He uttered a swear under his breath and shone his light towards the curled up lump on the floor. A pair of dark brown eyes glistening with tears stared back at him, and he had to do a double take. Yeah, it was definitely…

"Alexander? What's wrong? Why are you… on the floor?"

"None of your business." Alexander sniffled and pulled himself into a sitting position, propping himself up on the bottom stair. John followed his example and sat down, pulling out a pocket pack of tissues and handing them to Alex. He sighed and set his phone down, shining the light at the ceiling. If Alex didn't want to talk about it then fine, they wouldn't talk about it.

They sat in silence until the lights flickered back on. John turned the flashlight off and checked the time. It was time to go back to class. The bells probably weren't working because of the blackout. He didn't want to be stuck in a boring math class for an hour, but there was no way he'd be able to get home with it pouring down rain like this. If he was going to skip, he'd have to be smart about it, since the principal had recently assigned certain seniors to be hall monitors, and he knew that they wouldn't hesitate to snitch if they found him roaming the hallways without a pass. They got extra credit for every person they busted.

"It's time to go to class, you know," John said quietly. He didn't want to be the one responsible for corrupting the good kid. He looked over at Alex, who was dabbing at his eyes with the tissues.

"Since when have you cared about going to class?" Alex asked, handing the pack of tissues back. Their hands brushed against each other briefly. They both blushed at the short contact and pulled their hands away from each other.

"I couldn't care less about going to class. But I know that you have a perfect record. No absences or tardies. And the great Alexander Hamilton wouldn't want to ruin his perfect record, would he?" John checked the time again. "You have like three minutes to get to class."

"Oh shit!" Alex jumped up from his seat and grabbed his backpack where it lay discarded on the floor. He dusted it off and slung it over his shoulder. He started walking up the stairs, but looked back at John, a shy smile on his face. "Thank you for… sitting with me. You're… not as bad as I thought you'd be."

"...Thank you?" John asked, frowning. Could that be considered a compliment? "We still on for after school?"

"Yeah. I'll be a bit late since I have some business to take care of first, but I should be there before the end."

John smiled and waved to Alex as he left. As much as he didn't want to admit it, his tutoring sessions with the guy were the best part of his days. It beat sitting at home alone, getting high and cursing out randos on Overwatch. His father was determined to keep his siblings away from him at all costs and signed them up for dumb activities after school. Anything to keep them out of the house as long as possible. He sighed and put his headphones on.

Time to wait until after school..