Summer Nights | Lams

June 3rd

"The girls are gonna be here, John!" Is what John Laurens was awoken with that Wednesday morning. John cocked an eyebrow at Alex.

"You're gay."

Alex scoffed. "I know I am, that's not why I'm excited about them. The Schuylers are the only friends I had every other summer I was here, and this year Peggy is with them!" he whispered excitedly.

"Who's Peggy?" John asked, not fully awake yet. "Was she not here before?"

"You're gonna meet her at breakfast, she turned fifteen this year, so she wasn't old enough. Now hurry up, we have to get going!"

"Do I have time to change out of pajamas?"

Alexander glanced at the clock. "No."

Alex and John silently climbed down from the bunk bed and left the cabin, John still in his pajamas. As they approached the cafeteria, both boys recognized the smell.

"Pancakes," they said in unison, before picking up their pace. They hopped into line and excitedly loaded their plates, John slightly more excited than Alex.

They walked away from the line, both with three pancakes. Alex simply used maple syrup, whereas John went slightly crazy. One pancake had raspberry syrup, one blueberry, and one strawberry. He used more whipped cream than three normal people combined would use, then some more syrup on top, along with plain berries. John was oblivious to Alex, who was holding back laughter from the extravagance of the pancakes.

The two sat down in their normal spot, right in front of George and Martha. George raised his eyebrows at John's plate, but Martha didn't bat an eye. The four ate in silence for a couple minutes, until George spoke.

"The Schuylers are showing up today, right?" Alex grinned and nodded.

"They should be here in the next, like, half-hour," he replied, visibly excited.

"Why did they come late?" John asked. Alex rolled his eyes.

"Their dad is a rich, fancy guy, and he had a gala he had to go to yesterday, and he wanted the whole family there," he explained. John nodded, shoveling a forkful of fruity pancake in his mouth.

They ate in silence once again, Alex looking up at the cafeteria door every few seconds. Just as Alex and John were finishing their food, the door open and in came three girls, all beaming. Alex practically jumped out of his seat before running over to them.

"I missed you guys!" Alex practically yelled. The three girls laughed and hugged him.

"Has Thomas been bad?" asked the girl with long, straight black hair. Alex grinned.

"Actually, I haven't even talked to him," Alex practically sang. "There were three new guys this year, and I have all of them in my cabin!"

"And they're... good?" asked the tallest girl. Alex nodded, still beaming.

"All of them!" Alex turned and looked at John and gestured for him to come over. "That's John, he's pretty cool."

John walked over and stood next to Alex, painfully aware of the fact that he was still in his pajamas. "Uh, hey."

"See how cool he is!?" Alex said happily. John snorted.

"I'm Angelica," the tallest girl said, smiling at, and probably questioning the outfit choices of John. "And these two are Eliza and Peggy, my sisters."

"I can introduce myself!" the shortest, Peggy, said before turning to John. "I'm Peggy Schuyler, I think we'll be friends."

Alex laughed. "He was my friend first, Pegs."