Dare

Chapter Nine-James Reynolds

Alexander weaved through the crowd of students, his boosted confidence hoping to find John. As moments passed, his hopes sunk like a treasure to the bottom of an ocean. Alexander eventually tired of looking and stayed at his locker, defeated.

"Hi, you look familiar." A beautiful girl said to him, tilting her head to figure it out. Alexander looked up at the girl, seeing past the makeup at the bags under her eyes, a well-concealed bruise, her scrawny figure...

"Oh, I'm Alexander Hamilton. I used to live here, but I moved, and then moved back." Alexander said, snapping out of his concentration.

"Ale... Alexander Hamilton?" The girl whispered, stumbling backwards as the truth smacked her in the face. By the looks of the concealer, it wouldn't be the first thing to. "I... I'm Maria Reynolds."

Alexander could barely remember the lovely girl in the red dress, but he knew he recognized that name. "I think I remember you from the haunted house."

Maria closed her eyes, swaying back and forth flightly. "I was a kid, and those things seemed so much worse than they are now."

"Who hits you?" Alexander asked, fingers twitching to observe her. "Your father? Mother? Family members?"

"My boyfriend, James, but don't worry. He's only doing it whenever I mess up, so that makes it okay!" It was easy for Alexander to struggle through the strong facade to find a crumbling shell of a girl.

"You shouldn't be hit, no matter what." Alexander stated, reaching for his book. "You should read this, it helps deal with pain."

"I couldn't." Maria whispered, eyes clouded with regret. "James doesn't like it when I bring home more junk."

"Tell someone!" Alexander insisted. "What's holding you back?"

Maria's tears were on the brink of spilling over. "I have a daughter! I have to protect her from this horrible life, and James promised to keep her safe if I stay with him!"

"Maria... you're in high school, right?" Alexander tried to confirm.

"Yes, and god I know I should be doing something, but I can't!" Maria sobbed, burying her face in her hands.

"I'll tell someone, and you can keep your daughter safe." Alexander said decisively, wrapping his arms around Maria. "It's going to be okay."

Maria pushed him away. "No, Alex. I... I'll be fine. I can't do what I did in kindergarten on a larger scale. He'd... he'd make me hurt you or something."

"You won't hurt me." Alexander said stubbornly. "Besides, all we did in kindergarten was talk about people. The worst we could do is fight over people."

"You don't understand... do you?" Maria asked, shaking her head at Alexander. Her wide eyes darted around the hallway, and she pushed herself onto her tip-toes to reach Alexander's ear. "My daughter isn't safe. Please... please stay away."

Maria's hands trembled as her eyes latched onto something behind Alexander. "What's wrong?" Alexander asked her carefully, taking her hands to comfort her.

Maria snatched her hands back, a furious expression on her face. Alexander could see right through her act, and took a step back to humor her. "Alexander Hamilton, don't you dare touch me!"

"Oh no." Alexander said with a deadpan expression. "I shall not touch you."

Alexander froze as he heard a false cheery, insane-sounding voice. "That's nice! If you did touch her, I'd have to take measures to make sure you don't!" The voice dropped into a bass, and Alexander shuddered  as he felt hands placed on his shoulders. "Hmm... you look familiar."

"I-it's Hamilton. Remember him?" Maria squeaked, drawing backwards while avoiding looking him in the eye.

"Not really. Remind me, Maria." James ordered, and Alexander fought the urge to turn and punch the guy.

"He... um... remember in kindergarten? W-when we first met him?" Maria asked, nervously pulling at her dress and glancing at Alexander.

"Huh. That pipsqueak turned into this dude?" James asked, and Alexander felt the hands leave his shoulders. "Well, Alex, follow me. Maria, excuse me from class."

As Alexander walked away unwillingly with James, he felt someone's eyes following him.

***

Alexander shuddered as James directed him to a dimly lit classroom at the end of the school. Ripped papers littered the floor and the little sunlight streaming in through the window was quickly caught by the dusty curtains.

"Been a while, hasn't it?" James asked, a sneer on his face as if it was meant for his face.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean I forgot you." Alexander said calmly, the river of emotions being held back by a makeshift dam.

"Ah, so you can defend yourself." James said with a snort. "I see you've met my girlfriend, idiot of a girl she is."

"Have you been hitting her?" Alexander asked, hands balled into fists as anger broke through his facade.

"Why does that matter?" James asked, sitting in the teacher's chair with his feet on the desk. "Have a seat, Alexander. I need to talk to you."

"So you do remember me." Alexander said in an accusing tone, eyes narrowed into slits.

"Hard to forget the loudmouth brat who talked my girlfriend's ear off." James replied with his eyes fixed on Alexander.

Alexander heard a knock on the door, and saw James startle. A familiar voice called, "Students are not supposed
to be in this classroom at this hour. Please proceed to your classes."

Janes cursed and jumped up to crawl out the windows. Alexander looked to the door to see the doorknob wiggling around, and then turning. "This isn't over." James snarled, before escaping.

A small freckled boy holding the hand of Mrs. Soo opened the door, grinning proudly. "I did it! I opened the door! Where's Daddy?" The boy said gleefully, his face falling a bit as he asked the question.

"Anthony, Daddy's not here to watch, but he would be so proud. Why don't you wait outside while I have a quick talk with Alex?" Mrs. Soo asked the boy, and then strolled over to Alexander.

Alexander sighed. "I'm sorry, I should have been in classes." He looked away, not being one to tattle.

"No, no, Alex. John informed me that you looked like you were forced to go somewhere by James Reynolds, and frankly, that's concerning." Mrs. Soo told Alexander, a bright smile on her face.

"You... John?" Alexander repeated, the gears in his head turning. "John helped me?"

"Yes." Mrs. Soo responded, walking back to the door. "I'll give you another late pass and maybe you can thank John after school."

"Believe me, I will." Alexander said, almost collapsing with relief. "I've been late so many times, I'll spare some time to apologize to the teachers. By the way, who's your child?"

Mrs. Soo flashed a grin. "This is Anthony, my adorable six year old."

"He reminds me of someone I used to know." Alexander said, with a long stare at Anthony, who started to squirm. "Someone I'll try to know."

A/N: I'm going to take a second to thank wolf__princess for Anthony, so thank you!