It must be nice... (Jamilton)

'Guess what I overheard'

~~~~~~~~

The next day had quickly come around and students were flooding the halls before their first lessons. It was 8am. Way too early for any type of bullshit - however, this was a school. This was the bullshitiest place, filled with little broke rats. 

Jefferson's face looked un-amused as he walked through the hallway of chattering teenagers, how did they have so much energy this early? The boy opened his locker, his friend had not yet appeared so he occupied his time looking as if he was grabbing stuff from his locker, when in reality he was just avoiding looking awkward. Thomas scanned the inside of it, not seeing anything too interesting, as expected. He had moved his hand to once again close it, when he heard the chattering of two girls from behind his open, metal locker door. His selective hearing knew when interesting conversations were happening, to his luck. 

The two young women's voices were low but just close enough for Thomas to be able to make out a few words - "Just go for it" whisper-yelled the first girl, to which the other responded. "No... I'm too scared" she said shyly, causing Thomas to raise an eyebrow as he eavesdropped. "Girl... I will drag him over if I need to" said the other, to which her gossip-buddy protested - "Don't you dare." Just in that moment, the bell had rung, signifying that students had five minutes to get to their classes before they were sentenced to a waste of time. "Shit, got to go" said the first girl, "Yeah I'll see you later" the second replied. "Ok, we'll talk about it later" the first spoke again, to which the other young girl hummed. Students had started to pack up and rush around the small hallway like busy bees, but with caffeine in their systems. Jefferson abruptly closed his locker at once, looking towards the space in which the voices had come from. Two girls had started to part, and Jefferson recognised them in an instant: two of the Schuyler sisters. They were some of the prettiest girls in their year, at least in Thomas's opinion. He watched the two walk away for a moment, he wasn't usually interested in girl gossip, but he just got this unusual feeling in his gut - which felt almost like a physical notification. He couldn't help but be curious. How odd.

Jefferson sighed as he looked around, where on earth was James? He would be late sometimes, sure, but this was taking the piss. And as Jefferson had pulled out his phone - there appeared James. He looked rather out of breath as he panted and leaned over to pant slightly. "Jesus. What happened to you?" asked Thomas, as he glanced to his friend, watching him cough breathlessly. "Oh god.. don't tell me you're sick again" he reached out to pat his friend's shoulder, feeling him slightly shudder under his fingers. It took a few seconds for James to recover his breath properly before he stood up and looked to Thomas, who had a slightly concerned expression on his face despite being used to this type of behaviour. "Are you good..?" asked Thomas, as James nodded, "I think I'm sick again.." he said, "Oh for god sake.."

The two boys soon made their way, and as they walked through the near-empty halls, on the brink of being late. They entered the class just moments before the bell had gone, signifying the beginning of the first lesson. The eyes of the class landed upon them, and whilst Madison smiled nervously, Jefferson ignored all the attention, already heading wordlessly to his seat - followed by James who had begged the teacher just about a year ago to place their seats together. He used the excuse that Jefferson took care of his medical problems, obviously. The teacher resumed her chattering, grabbing about half of the classes attention as she read from digital computer slides. Students sat bored, or secretly on their phones, waiting for her to get through the entire slide show which they see almost every single day of their lives. Jefferson reckoned he could probably recite it word for word if he was bothered enough. It took about a tedious seven minutes before the teacher had gone through the school rules and expectations, (that no one listened to anyways), and had sat back, allowing her students to talk. Jefferson sighed, relieved that there was no extra task set that morning, before turning to James. "Guess what I overheard" he said, instantly getting James's attention as the boy looked to him. "What?" - "Two of the Schuyler sisters were gossiping about  something" he said, to which James raised a confused eyebrow. "Which ones?" He asked. "Angelica and Eliza... I believe" replied Thomas, before speaking up again "I think one of them has a bit of a crush" he explained. "Okay... what does that have to do with us?" asked James, still a tad confused. "Well... nothing" Thomas shrugged, "But, I wanna find out who is it. It's always a big deal when it's the Schuyler sisters" he said lightly, to which James looked to the desk, then to Thomas. "Well.. Alright.. what about the Alex situation then?" asked James, Jefferson already groaning at even the name. "Right.. well, it's your idea so you can go sort it out and let me know how it goes" James nodded, "You'll like it" Jefferson smiled at James's words, "I already know it..." he said, his voice overly trusting and cocky. "And whilst you do that, I'll be spying on the Schuyler's" - "Deal."

~~~~~~

The hours were long and tedious, but Thomas had finally made his way to lunch. He was upset about the pretty uneventful day, hoping that at least a fight would break out, just to cure him of this insufferable boredom. The boy had waited in the lunch-line, which ate away about 12 minutes of his free time. It was a small debt he had to pay to fill his stomach. Madison smiled at Thomas as he finally sat at his table with a plate of food. They were the only two there. People would say they're lonely - Jefferson would say he's VIP, and that only worthy people sat in his presence. "So, any news?" he asked tiredly, deadpan as he picked up his fork. "Yes, actually" said Madison, causing Jefferson's eyes to expectantly and desperately flicker to him. "I talked to the guy, but... he said he wasn't sure about it" Jefferson sighed, his face dropping into a slightly annoyed expression. "God dammit. Why is nothing going as planned today??" he let out a heavy huff, taking in a fork-full of food. "I know..." James slowly brung out his own food, watching as Jefferson ate his own in disappointment. The taller man swallowed and looked to James, "Try to convince him." he stated, his voice featuring an undertone of determination, though it was overall commanding. James nodded, as he himself started to eat.

Lunch came to a close with the ring of a bell and the two said their goodbyes as they headed to their separate lessons. Jefferson was pleased to see that one of the Schuyler sisters, Eliza, was in fact in that day's class with him. Though his smile dropped and his interest was replaced with pure dread as his eyes lay on Alexander, who sat across the room engrossed in his notebook. God, Jefferson forgot how much that face made his nerves go off the rails. He looked away, not wanting to have Alex in his sight any longer, moving to his own seat. Jefferson could barely believe that a time before his hatred for Alexander existed, but the more the jerk let his true colours show, the more their rivalry grew, and the more that Thomas's feelings of hatred grew. He sighed as he put down his bag, looking to the person beside him briefly, watching as the guy typed on his phone, hiding it under the desk. 

Jefferson had neatly gotten out all of his equipment, prepared to start the lesson, but a hold-up occured when the teacher failed to arrive. "Great" groaned Thomas. He sighed as he looked around the room - the teenagers started to chat loudly, it would descend into complete chaos in a matter of seconds if they were still left unattended. His eyes quickly lay on Eliza, who was brushing her fingers through her long black hair before pulling away her hand and looking down into her lap. Too bad Thomas sat two rows behind, so he could not see her face, even if he wanted to. He took a breath as his patience waned, just waiting for something to happen. And just as expected, chaos broke out among the annoying teenagers and a pen was launched across the room, accompanied by a few laughs. The pen took a dive through the air before hitting the girl in the head, an audible gasp was heard as Eliza looked up. Jefferson himself, felt a tinge of annoyance as he looked around to find the one guilty, how can someone treat a girl like that? "Oh god I am so sorry" came a voice from behind, belonging to one of the more troublesome boys in the class, Eliza dismissed the situation shyly with a pink blush on her cheeks, yet secretly scowled once the boy left her alone. 

The class went back to being preoccupied with their own personal conversations pretty soon. Getting virtually no work done. Not as if there was any to get done anyway... Alexander had found himself growing irritated by the noise and animalistic behaviour of the class. The boy looked up from his notebook a little while ago just in perfect time to watch the pen collide with Eliza's head. And now he was sitting there wondering how much worse things could get. He sighed and closed his small notebook at once, slinging his bag around his shoulder before calmly getting up - and since barely anyone gave a shit, he had no eyes on him. Almost no eyes. Alexander made his way over to Eliza slowly, smiling nervously as he cleared his throat. The girl looked up at him, her eyes widening slightly as a blush quickly extended over her cheeks - "Can I sit here?" Asked Alexander. "O-oh- yeah! Of-course.." the girl stammered as Alex took a seat beside her, placing down his notebook. "Are you okay after the pen hit you?" he asked, to which Eliza nodded lightly - "Oh, yeah! I'm alright" she smiled sweetly, her black eyes glistening like a sun-lit tide at a warm beach. Her smile just as welcoming and warm as a cozy cup of tea on a cold day. Alex looked at her, obliviously smiling back at the pretty teenager as she helplessly stared at the boy. 

Just two rows behind, Jefferson had his eyes squinting suspiciously at the two, a smile had slowly formed as he watched the two awkward teenagers interact. He caught Eliza's blush, her smile, her eyes, and came to a conclusion. "Bingo."