3 Set In Stone

In which college is now on the cards

"Hey, Alex! First day of college! Let's go! Now!"

"Reveillez toi, Hamilton!"

"GET UP!"

"Gah!" I cried, jumping up in a start. "Of course," I facepalmed myself. Lafayette threw a fresh set of clothes at my face as I hurriedly changed. They didn't have time to explain anything, nor did I have time to fix myself. We bolted to the front gates in a frenzied panic, the sun illuminating the pastel blue sky.

"Well, well, well. Who is the new kid on the block?" A tall man casually leaned against the gates, his frizzy hair obstructing the day's beauty.

"Move, Jefferson. We don't have any time to waste with you." Mulligan casually remarked.

"What do you mean? Am I causing you harm?" He directed his gaze over at me. "Call the police for the new kid! He's been fatally wounded by the mere sight of me!" He jeered mockingly, pointing at my untucked shirt, unkempt hair and overall dishevelled appearance.

"Shut up, Jefferson." I retaliated, "I'm sure you have a class to get to."

"Yeah..." he smirked, "You see, loser, Jefferson doesn't do classes. And if he does, it's only the classes that matter, such as learning about how to avoid pests like you! And with that, au revoir!" He fanned a hand at us, supposedly to shoo us away, striding off like the aristocrat he was.

"Scélérat! Comment osait-il abuser de la langue française comme ça!" Lafayette clenched his fists.

Laurens rapidly flicked through his book, "Woah, buddy, he's just being him!" he intervened. "And anyway, he just said goodbye..."

"Scélérat!" He muttered under his breath.

"Ugh..." Mulligan groaned, staring down at a wonderfully coloured sheet of paper, "My first class is double chemistry. What a bore! What's on your agenda, guys?"

"Yes! Double Latin!" Laurens raised a fist to the air.

"Biologie! Et puis plus de Biologie!"

"I dunno," I shook my head, "I haven't been provided with a timetable. And I don't know where to get one..."

"I'll take you!" Mulligan said enthusiastically. "Anything to get out of double chemistry."

"Ha!" I chuckled, "Sure thing." He led me through several long corridors, passing classes illuminated with energetic activity, as well as troublesome, winding stairs, "This is the only route to G Wash's office, unfortunately." he puffed.

"Who's G Wash?" I questioned.

"He's Dean of the school. Also teaches several subjects. He's one of the lenient guys Laf was talking about." He stopped in front of a beige timber door and knocked on it three times.

"Come in." The voice was full of gravitas. Hercules motioned for me to open the door, which I cautiously did and stepped inside.

"Hello?" My voice echoed through the dimly lit hallway. There were two long desks at either side of the corridor, stacked with all kinds of papers and reports. Mulligan followed from behind me. "Hello?" I repeated.

"Ah!" The man swivelled around in his spinning chair, "Oh, my favourite student, Mulligan." He gave him a large eye roll.

"I'm not here to discuss anything about me," Hercules quickly sidetracked, placing a hand on my shoulder, "But about my friend here. He doesn't have his timetable..."

"You've been mailed!" His eyes bulged, "You're so irresponsible, too lazy to check the mailbox..." He listed with his fingers.

"With all due respect, sir, I'm..." I choked up a little at the mere memories, "An orphan. Don't have a house. Not much money."

"Then where do you live?" His voice showed no concern. It was as if my perfectly correct reasoning was a sob story, which it was, but not in a fake context.

"Unimportant. I need my timetable. Can't be late." I firmly held out my hand.

"You already are. Name?" At that point, I was desperate to scream at his unapologetic expression, but I refrained. He is the Dean, after all. Hercules watched as I subconsciously began clenching and unclenching my fists and furrowing my brow.

"Hamilton."

"I meant your first name."

"I-I-I'm sorry, Alexander." My speech wavered, not because of a disability, or a bitter chill in the forever biting air, but because of strangely overwhelming intimidation. The thoughts of raging screams disappeared in an instant.

"Here," He rapidly rummaged through the excessive white wasteland and held out the leaflet, "Now, please leave." We heard Washington breathe a sigh of relief as we dashed out, equally glad.

"You call that lenient?!" I shouted at Mulligan's face.

"I mean, he's more often lenient than not..." His voice trailed off, "You have your timetable!"

"Right. Double chem." I pointed to two light pink squares.

"Oh. At least I'm not goin' solo anymore! C'mon!" He raced ahead of me. I was surprised he gained such sudden energy, considering how much he despised chemistry. Perhaps the incident between Washington and I gave him some kind of satisfaction. Maybe he enjoyed watching me crack under pressure. Whatever he thought of me, I couldn't ponder on it. We collided into each other, Hercules bumping into a white door, which was closed. I happened to topple over him. A young woman opened the door and greeted us. Her hair was blonde, tied up neatly in a bun.

"Come on in, Mulligan."

"Sorry, Miss Finnigan." he apologised, tentatively stepping into the classroom and taking a seat in the front row next to two girls, who were listening intently.

"Who are you? Oh!" she stared down at a piece of paper she was holding, "You're the new kid, Hamilton. Come in."

I nodded approvingly, quickly collecting myself and striding straight through. I caught sight of several sets of steely eyes, one of them being Jefferson's.

"Good Lord," I muttered under my breath, taking a seat next to him. It was the only one available, unfortunate for me.

"As we were saying," Miss Finnigan started, "Before Hamilton arrived, we were taking a closer look at the periodic table. Hamilton, if you don't understand, don't worry. Do contribute, if you are so inclined," she smiled, leaning back in her chair, "Alright. What are the first twenty elements?"

I shot my hand up but spoke spontaneously. It was rather an impulse, where I don't exactly think about what I'm being asked, but I just always know the answers. "Hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, neon, sodium, magnesium, aluminium, silicon, phosphorus, sulphur, chlorine, argon, potassium and... calcium!" I listed with my fingers.

"Well done, Hamilton!" she clapped. "How did you gain such impressive knowledge?"

"I read a lo--"

"It's not that impressive." Jefferson interrupted, "Let's be real. You probably learnt this from your pathetic public school!" He crossed his legs, pulling out his phone from his pocket, aggressively typing.

"Thomas!" She jumped out of her seat and snatched the phone right from his grasp, "No phones in class! Also, you should congratulate your fellow students on his or her successes!" She stowed the phone away in a drawer and locked it.

"Come on!" he whined, "His successes don't need celebrating! I was looking up the periodic table, too!"

"You have a laptop for that, or even better, the poster." She pointed to the wall, a periodic table hanging from it.

"Hmph!" he huffed, casting a steely glare my way, which I casually rebuked with an eye roll.

"Enough of that!" The teacher briskly strode to the back of the class, pulling out a lone desk and dragging it next to one of the girls.

"Hamilton, here. Now." She puffed.

"Thank you, Miss. Anything to get away from Jefferson." I moved over to my newly assigned seat, the girl beaming at my arrival. I felt the hair at the back of my neck stand on end.

"Just a chill!" I thought, averting my gaze over to the periodic table.

"So, what are you interested in?" She asked, hastily scribbling in the corner of her page. The drawing was a black and white sunset, a thing of beauty, I might add. It was so visually appealing that I could picture the horizon in our reality shifting into the one that she had drawn. I attempted to bring my focus back to Miss Finnigan, who was prattling on about the difference between atoms and molecules, which successfully backfired. "Hello?" she continued.

"I'm sorry... That drawing... It's marvellous!"

"Thanks. I'm Angelica."

"I think you already know my name." She brought her luscious gaze up to my level.

"Hamilton!" she chuckled. "Might I ask, why are you so enticed by my sketches?"

"Well... I dunno, they feel inspiring. Also, you smudged that line there..." I pointed to the stroke, which was ever so slightly smudged.

She paused, before speaking again, "Has anyone ever told you that you are too smart for your own good?"

"No. Why?"

"You commented on my drawing, which was just a distraction method from Finnigan's awfully long ramblings. You know, not many people would notice such insignificant detail."

"It was my pleasure!" I smiled.

"That's the problem! Such nitpickers get into trouble! Speaking of which, wanna talk after class?"

"I'd like that. A lot."

"Now, what's the answer to question three?"

"I can't do your homework."

"But I don't understand the concept of the atomic model. You know, inner and outer shells..."

"Yeah, she does!" A voice piped up. It was the other girl next to Mulligan, "I know that full well! Don't try that on him."

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Eliza. Angelica's sister. She's only trying to grab your attention. She's a smart cookie too. Oldest and wittiest." She tossed her head to the side.

I decided that today I didn't want to be involved in any disputes, other than with my new rival, Jefferson. He has high goals and a snobby attitude, the kinds of traits I often liked battling against. To be honest, this was an ongoing battle I've been facing since childhood. A battle which was more often lost than won. Now, I can finally settle the score, after I figure out my priorities, which was at the moment, making it through the day. More like the next half an hour. I placed my head in my arms, as the teacher continued to blabber. She explained for ages, and when she finally finished, she'd remember something. A related topic, perhaps. Or a statistic. Or some overarching message of how we need to save the environment.

"The question? Have you forgotten?" She nudged my shoulder.

"I thought you would've figured it out by now if you're as smart as your sister suggests." I kept my head down as I spoke.

"She's not in her right mind. Nor am I. That's why I need your help."

"Why? You hardly know me." This became a common retort of mine, only because it's true.

"Would you help a damsel in distress?" She questioned.

"If you are heading in that direction, I'm no prince. I never will be..."

"And why's that?" This kind of response always gave me motivation, no matter how much of a miserable mood I was in. The question where the other person wonders. A question where you have something to prove.

"First of all, a common trait of a prince is his appearance." I sat up now, "I'm not striking, nor likeable. The reason for that is because I have a brain. Princes are often blinded by love, which I don't think will happen to me. They also have an undeniable sense of bravery and recklessness, which I'll admit, I have a fair bit of. But that's not the point! Are you convinced?"

"Ha!" she chuckled, "It's what I expected. A witty response. But I do think your charms are intriguing."

"Nice to know," I thread my pencil through my hair, nestling it gently on top of my ear. The bell's melancholy chime reverberated through the room.

"Class dismissed!" The teacher exclaimed, carefully organising the books on her desk. "Except for you, Alexander." Jefferson poked his tongue out at me. Another casual eye roll. That was my best method of defence against him until I have the energy for something of a higher calibre.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Look, Alexander. I see you are fitting in quite nicely. And you have a special something-something for that Angelica dear. Very bright, that one."

"Excuse me?" I remarked.

"Yeah, you do!" She playfully smiled.

"I don't. And if I do, then it's none of your beeswax."

"I have a PhD in Psychology, young man. Don't test me." Her voice turned stern.

"Go teach that, if you're so passionate!" I retorted. "Look," I paused, my voice teetering on the edge of exploding, "In my eyes, whatever you are trying to achieve here is clearly an invasion of privacy. I'd prefer it if you halted your attempts." I stomped away from her, slamming the door shut.

"Good Lord, he's one of a kind, that kid. One of a kind."

The concept of the invasion of privacy is one thing I am figuring out how to handle, because, no one wants that. And it is invasive, hence the name. I didn't understand why Miss Finnigan was so nosy, especially since I was new here, and bonding was something I had to partake in...

"Hey! What's up?"

I returned from my internal thoughts to find Angelica, sitting gracefully under a tree, still beaming at me.

"What?" I questioned, slightly frazzled. "Right. You wanted to talk."

"Yeah! I wanted to learn more about you. Your backstory, so to speak. You are the new student, after all. Come! Sit." She patted the grass next to her.

"Ok..." I hesitated, before following her instructions.

"So?"

"I'm an orphan. Pretty self-explanatory." I shrugged.

"That's why there is so much loneliness in your eyes..." She trailed off.

"What?" I shivered, turning to face her.

"Exactly." She pointed at the very centre of my eyes. I flinched. "It's obvious. You wander off, questioning your morals, your wellbeing, even your very existence! You keep trying to find yourself. Who you are. You think you have lost your identity, where in fact, you are just so bewildered by everything going on around you. You forget yourself." She exhaled greatly, slouching her shoulders against the oak wood.

"You're absolutely right." I closed my eyes, observing my surroundings, purely by my other senses. I listened to the wind whistle, dropping wintry leaves to the ground. I tingled as tiny bugs crawled up the chocolate bark behind me. I felt Angelica's head resting on my shoulder. Warmth surrounded me. I chuckled under my breath.

"Hey, bud? Alex?"

"Huh?" I jolted upright, opening my eyes to see Laurens staring down at me. Angelica lifted her head. "Hi." I groaned.

"I see you're acquainted. Hey, Angelica!"

"Hey, Laurens," she replied drowsily.

"What are you up to?"

"Just... Meditation." I responded.

"Just meditation?" he mused, "Come on, Alex, you've slept more than you've worked!" I quickly jumped up, realising the truth to Laurens' words.

"Goodness, I have been underproductive today! Surprisingly... underproductive." I frowned.

"Bye, Angelica!" I waved.

"Buh-bye, Hamilton!" She replied, a sudden spike of cheeriness in her voice. I viewed her dusting the fallen leaves off her lap, before slowly rising and dawdling off.

"How was Latin?" I inquired, in a desperate attempt to change the subject.

"Great! I enjoyed it, as usual. Burr was flustered, which was quite funny, to be honest." I stared at him with puzzlement. He halted in his tracks, "What? It was! Oh... You don't know Burr... Well, he's the excelling teacher's pet."

"Right." I nodded. "I bet I could knock some sense into him!" I thought to myself, rubbing my hands together.

"I see you enjoyed double chem," he smirked, starting to hustle again, "Don't worry. Angelica's a friendly soul."

"I know that!" I smiled, a little too zestily.

"Watch yourself!" My brain shouted, "Conceal, don't feel!"

"Ahem..." I cleared my throat, "Where's everyone else at?"

"The cafeteria. Now, before we go in, imagine hundreds of teenagers, yelling and running full speed." He pushed hard on a set of doors, revealing exactly that. Jovial chatter flooded the room, a whirlwind of ecstasy in almost everyone's voice. What I thought was more impressive than the amount of spirit, was the food. I viewed the cafeteria stalls, with all the cakes, pizzas, sodas, salads and bread to last a lifetime. My eyes widened, just a fraction more than expected, but my mouth salivated like a waterfall.

"Pull it together!" Laurens nudged me in the ribs.

"Ok! Ok!" I exclaimed, nudging him back, "I've always wanted to cook nice food, but this is even better!" I hurriedly grabbed a tray and picked up a morsel or two, although the temptation was running high. Laurens guided me to a set of seats outside, where Lafayette was already sitting, holding a vanilla milkshake.

"Bonjour!" he paused, smiling.

"Hello." Both Laurens and I responded, a little lack of enthusiasm in my voice.

"Hey!" An energetic voice flowed through the air. My ears perked up as I turned my head. It was a girl, standing next to Eliza and not Angelica as I was quietly hoping for. Eliza pushed the girl towards me.

"I'm Peggy! Peggy Schuyler!" She let out a bubbly laugh.

"Yeah. My sister." Eliza sheepishly smiled. "Well, we best be on..."

"No, sis!" Peggy remarked, "You are not the boss of me! Now, I'm going to stay, whether you like it or not!" She strode over to Laurens, sitting down next to him with an exasperated sigh.

"Ca va?" Lafayette asked from the opposite end of the table.

"No." she sharply inhaled, "No." She blinked several times, before glaring at Eliza, who shyly waved before walking away. "Well, that's a job well done."

"That's a bit harsh..." Laurens muttered under his breath.

"She gets on my nerves so much, Laurens, so much!" She smacked her hand on the table, recoiling in pain, "Frigonometry!" she half-whispered.

"Are you alright, Peggy?" I asked.

"Yeah. Fine... Haha...Ha--" She eye-rolled, awkwardly laughing, before breaking down into muffled tears, holding her arm up to her eyes. "Don't look!" she sobbed, placing her head on the table. After a few minutes of sobbing and painful silence, I noticed that Laurens caught sight of Peggy, whose head was lying on the bench, motionless.

"Peggy! Wake up." Laurens violently shook her shoulder.

"Hm?" Angelica briskly walked over to us. "What's going on?"

I nervously chuckled, "Your sister, kinda... fell asleep..." Laurens pointed to her.

"Damn it! Not again!" She rushed over to Peggy, tilting her head upwards, pulling out a small container full of pills from her pocket.

"What?" I asked her, "What is it?"

She shook her head vigorously, before opening the container and shoving a pill down her throat. Lafayette gasped with shock.

"Peut-elle avaler ça?" he asked.

"I don't know what that means!" she said with frustration, moving Peggy's head in a circular motion. "Lafayette, the milkshake!"

He nodded swiftly, handing the beverage to her, which Angelica tipped down her mouth. She swallowed the concoction shortly afterwards.

"Ok, she should come back in a few minutes, but I'm staying here. Good Lord, this is dreadful." She sat down next to Peggy, one hand at her hips, the other still rotating Peggy's head.

"Can we have some information?" I asked.

"Sure." she paused. "She has a bit of cataplexy. Where she falls asleep or collapses, when she expresses certain emotions, but not all the time because that'd be catastrophic. It's spontaneous, and it seemed to come around when she moved into high school. Advice, stay calm, and don't overreact to anything she says." As Angelica spoke, Peggy jolted upwards. "Peggy!" She firmly held her shoulder. "Who did this?!"

"E--Eliza..." she stuttered, coming back to consciousness. "She always p-puts me in a bad mood, n-n-no matter what day it is."

"But she's your sister!" Laurens exclaimed.

"Shut up, Laurens!" she yelled.

"What did I tell you?" Angelica remarked, turning to face Laurens.

"Yeah. Whoops..." he chuckled.

"So, what did she do?" Angelica asked, turning back to face Peggy.

"She... made me upset."

"How?"

"She bosses me around and makes me feel irrelevant. Like I don't exist. I glared at her, perhaps a little too harshly, and then she walked away. Just when I thought I could talk with these guys... well... I was overwhelmed with anger, then I slowly sank into sadness. You know what happens next." She explained childishly.

"Ok, I'll talk to her. She does tend to do that. Did any of these guys trigger anything from you?" Peggy didn't speak, but rather directed her gaze over to Laurens, who raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I understand," Angelica responded.

"Look," Laurens piped up, "I'm sorry for triggering you and your..." he hesitated. "Medical condition of cataplexy. I didn't know you had it until now, but I'll be careful. We'll all be careful, right, guys?"

"Oui," Lafayette replied.

"Yes," I responded.

"Aww, you guys!" She pulled us all in for a hug, a beautiful smile lacing her face. It was at that moment I realised the struggles that other people face. That there is always a silver lining to life. As my thoughts were coming to a close, the melancholy chime rang once again.

"Well, see you around!" Peggy hopped up, skipping away from the rest of us.

"Angelica," I started, "How do you know if Peggy needs medical attention? Like, she could collapse at any moment!"

"We have trackers." She pulled a small white device out of her pocket, "It tells us whereabouts she is and her emotional levels. She has an earplug-like device in her ear, and that's how we gather the info."

"What about false alarms?" Laurens inquired.

"Well, that hasn't happened before."

"And severe situations?" I added.

"She could fall into a coma." Her voice wavered, "And that's the worst thing that could happen. Apart from death." She nodded her head subtly, before clearing her throat and walking off.

A/N - Whew! That was a long chapter! The next chapter will be shorter.

My schedule is a bit rigid atm, but I'll figure something out! Check out my other books as well! (Ofc, no pressure)