Washington's Academy for the Abnormally Gifted

Chapter One

Pop!

Another glass turtle appeared in the tank. It splashed in, regained its balance and swam around its new environment. John smiled at it through the glass, his own creation, there in front of him. Someone knocked at the door.

"Another one?" Lafayette asked from the top bunk, his French accent thick.

"The others were getting lonely," John retaliated while he tucked his pen behind his ear.

There was sharp, repetitive knock at the door, before it burst open in a flurry of wool and fabric, filling the doorway. A head popped up out of the chaos.

"Herc, what the hell!" John yelled.

"Sorry guys, but I'm just so excited! My new roommate arrives today!"

"Speaking of new students, we have a surprise assembly in five minutes." Laf said looking up from his computer.

"It must be him!" Herc said gathering up all the wool he had spilled.

"Well, we'd better get going if we don't want to be late." John smiled leading the other two towards the door.

                                                               ~      ~      ~    

"Students of Washington's Academy for the Abnormally Gifted, we now have a special announcement from our principal, George Washington."

Everyone clapped as George Washington walked on and a very shaken Samuel Seabury tripped his way off stage.

"Thank you Samuel. I am privileged to announce that we have a new student joining us this year. Everyone please make welcome, our newest recruit, Alexander Hamilton!"

A short boy with dark hair pulled into a ponytail walked confidently onto the stage and up the podium next to George.

"Alexander will be joining Squad One. Please make him feel welcome."

The assembly ended and students tumbled over each other, eager to get out of the stuffy hall. John and Laf began to walk out with the crowd, but were pulled back by some rainbow scarves.

"Guys! We have to go and meet the new guy!"

They walked around to the side of the stage, where George was talking to Alexander.

"Ah, here are your roommates now. I'm sure you'll settle in just fine."

Hercules bounded up towards the small boy and shook his hand vigorously.

"Hercules Mulligan, aka Sewing Spy. I'm your dorm buddy!"

"Erm, nice to meet you. You are...?" he trailed off looking up at Laf.

"Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, aka The Fighting Frenchman."

"Hey, I think I've heard of you. And you are..." He trailed off again, this time in awe. In front of him was the most beautiful boy he'd ever seen. Freckles littered his face like stars in the sky and his curly brown hair was pulled into a ponytail. They locked eyes for a moment and Alex was lost in the large, chocolate brown orbs in front of him.

"Er, I'm John Laurens, The Illustrator. Dude? Are you okay?" John said, waving a hand in front of the new boys face.

"Um yes, of course, nice to meet you. I'm Alexander Hamilton, except you already knew that, of course."

Hercules cut in quickly, before anymore awkwardness could ensue.

"Alright, Alexander. Let's get you up to the dorm. You are going to love it."

The four boys left the main hall of the campus and made their way over to three large towers across the green space. They walked through the automatic doors of the first building, and over to a desk where a young woman sat, smiling, and with perfect posture, unmoving. There was a small "ding!" as the group crossed the threshold. When the woman heard the sound, she sprung to life.

"How may I help you today?" she inquired in a mechanic voice.

"A robot?" Alexander whispered.

"Yep!" Herc assured him, "This is Janet, our receptionist."

Lafayette walked ahead and pulled a card out of his pocket and held it up to Janet's face. Her eyes glowed a soft green for a second before she said, "Calling elevator to for floors one to thirty."

As she called the command, a door opened behind her. The three friends smirked at Alexander's awe-struck face as they all moved into the elevator.

"Y'know," Alexander said after some silence, "The robots are cool and futuristic and everything, but an elevator? Really? You'd think they'd have a teleporter or something."

"Dude, you haven't seen the half of it." Herc grinned.

The elevator eventually reached the top and the doors slid open, revealing a room with pristine white walls. At least until you looked down the carpet was covered in indistinguishable stains, dirty plates and cups littered the table and sofa, and the kitchen bench was drowned in food scraps.

John shuffled his feet and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry about the mess, we probably should've cleaned up before the assembly."

"No prob-Woah!" Alex started, but was pulled towards a set of doors next to the elevator by a seemingly over-enthusiastic Hercules.

Herc cleared his throat and gestured towards four circles on the ground.

"I believe, my friend, that this I what you were expecting?"

"Are they...teleporters? Oh my god can I try one? This is amazing! Please let me try one!"

He was bouncing so much that John thought he would explode. He grabbed Alexander's arm just before he stepped on one of the circles. Alexander turned and frowned at him.

"You'll just be disappointed. These things are only activated if there's and emergency and we need to be on the field quick. Otherwise, G Wash shuts 'em off."

"Well, anyway," Herc continued, "that's the lounge, kitchen and dining, bathroom's on the other side of that wall, the door to the right is John and Laf's room, the one in the middle is the communal closet, and the door on the right is our room. You should probably get unpacked."

"Right, of course," Alexander said, making a beeline for his new room. He stopped suddenly and turned around, looking up his three new teammates. "I just wanna say, er, thanks for welcoming me. Not many people would usually take me in with open arms."

"It's cool dude, we're pumped to have you here!" Herc grinned and the other two nodded in agreement.

Alexander smiled and turned around towards the door. His smile dropped immediately. No matter how nice these kids were, Alex knew that he, an abandoned kid from a forgotten island, would never fit in.