Ghost Boy (Lams)

The Crush

John made his way through the crowded, stuffy school corridor with his hands shoved in his pockets and earphones blocking out the obnoxious chatter of students.
Just another fantastic day at Princeton Senior High School. Sarcasm, that was dripping with sarcasm. There were only three things at this school that John didn't utterly hate as much as humanly possible.

1. Art Class
2. The apple and cinnamon muffins at the canteen
3. Alexander Hamilton

John had the biggest, most horrendously painful crush, on Alexander of all people, but was never noticed as Alex had far too much on his plate for romance. Stellar grades and stunning stature, Alex was, to say the least, a high school heart-throb on his way to fame, and John wasn't his only fan.

Speak of the devil. As John shuffled through the hallway his eyes landed on a figure up ahead, his piercing gaze angled down at his phone in ignorance to the girls flocking around him. Alexander looked handsome as ever, glancing up from his phone every now and then to nod at whatever Elizabeth Schuyler had to say, not that it looked like he was actually listening.

As John made his way past, Alex didn't spare him so much of a second's glance, as usual. John wouldn't be surprised if Alex didn't even know he existed, not many people did. John continued on to class reluctantly, mentally preparing himself for another slow-ass day of bullshit.

---

As the final siren of the day rang through the school, John hastily threw his computer and tablet into his backpack, slinging it over his shoulders smoothly, eager to catch Alex in his usual route home, and then get the fuck out of here. He jogged down the hall before it got too crowded, students spilling out the doors of classrooms behind him. He reached the bike racks and slipped his bike out, stepping up onto the pedal and pushing off, swinging his other leg over to sit down while the bike was already moving.

He sped down his usual path swiftly as he had every other day of the school year, gliding over the bridge at the front of the school and parking beside it on the other end. He found his usual rock and left his bike on the grass, climbing up onto it and pulling his phone out as not to look suspicious.

He waited
And waited
And there he was.

John watched in awe as Alex walked over the bridge with his friends Lafayette and Hercules beside him, the wind whipping his hair and his tight fitting uniform hugging in all the right places. Hot damn. The extent John would go to get a piece of that.

He watched Alex cross and walk right by John, waving Hercules and Lafayette goodbye as they moved to separate bus stops. When Alex was by himself, texting on his phone, John grinned and hopped off the rock, ripping his bike up and hopping back on. He pushed off and glided down the street, whizzing past Alex in a colourful blur. He looked back right as Alex looked up from whatever he was typing on his phone and they made eye contact for a millisecond before Alex looked back down, as if it had never happened. Of course. 

John sighed and turned back, continuing to ride home feeling the same way he did every time he made a bold attempt to catch Alexander's gaze, just for a moment. They called it a crush for a reason.