I am not stupid // Lams

Alexander Hamilton

My right leg was bouncing with excitement as I sat in the back seat of the large Mercedes. My parents were talking to each other, but I looked at the terrain of mid-state New York. It was much different than the city. There was much more land and large houses dotted the landscape. Cows grazed the green grass and every time we passed a new selection of cows I yelled out to my parents, "COWS!" as one is supposed to when spotting cows.

I felt like I was on the way to Disney land again for my 7th birthday. But really, I was on the way to King's College. I had a full scholarship to the law program, and I just couldn't wait to get there.

"Alexander, dear, are you sure you don't want our help setting up your dorm room?" My mother asked gently, brushing away a bit of my long hair which had fallen into my face. I gave her a proud smile and shook my head.

"I'll be fine mama. I want to do this all on my own. Plus then I can meet my new room-mate, maybe he can help me!" My mother nodded.

"Call us every day, k Alex?" My father placed his large hand on my small shoulder. I laughed softly and shrugged.

"Maybe, maybe. I won't be gone for too long, I'll be back to the city for Christmas." I smiled again, and embraced my mother who I could tell was getting emotional.

"Make us proud Alexander. I love you," she whispered in my ear. I gave her a sweet kiss on the cheek, embraced my dad, then grabbed my back pack.

"Love you guys." I put my back pack on and grabbed my large duffel bag and large suitcase. I felt like I was over prepared, but I had never lived without my parents before, so I needed to make sure I had everything. And, well, this was far from everything. 

I had already gotten my dorm number the week before, and I trudged up four awful flights of stairs, stopping frequently to catch my breath and re-situate my bags. To my joy, I reached the dreaded fourth floor and opened my phone to check the room number again. As I reached the corresponding room number, I fumbled for the key which I knew was in one of my pockets. I finally found the damned thing and shoved it in the lock, turning the door and stepping in. There were two beds side by side, but a large gap spacing them out and two large night stands in the gap. There were two desks adjacent to the the two beds. On my right a medium sized closet stood, doors open. I assumed my room-mate and I would have to share it. Speaking of my roomate, I noticed there was another man in the room. He had dark skin and very curly hair that messily fell past his shoulders. He was standing over his desk putting something in a large tank that took up almost the whole flat of the desk. I let the door fall closed behind me, and the man turned to face me, a bright smile lacing his face. But as his eyes landed on me, it faded. That was odd. 

"So... uh, you're my new roommate then?" I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly. "What's your name?"

"John." He spoke with sharpness in his voice

"Hi John, I'm-"

"I know who you are, Alexander Hamilton. No need for you to be treating me like I'm some stupid little..." John paused, looking very flustered. "Uh- idiot! If anything that's you."

"Hey! I am not stupid." I shook my head in shock. What the hell? What was this dudes problem? "And, how the hell do you know who I am?" I spoke with hostility in my voice. I didn't mean to come across as angry, but this kid just called me stupid. Which. I. Am. Not.

"Who doesn't know. Please, you're father owns Hamilton Tech, or whatever. Your dad is that crazy rich dude who sends shit into outer space."

"Well, that's exactly it. You know who my father is, who doesn't, but me? Nobody knows my face with my name!" I was used to people knowing my father, and sometimes even my mother by face, but me? Yea, Alexander Hamilton was a recognized name, but nobody ever knew my face went with that name. John's face seemed to grow red and he turned back to his desk. I just shook off the encounter and sat my stuff on the bed further away from the window, since his bags were placed atop that one. "So, this is my half of the room?" I asked politely. John didn't answer. "Uh, John?" I said, turning to face him. His body leaned against his desk, arms cross over his chest, while his eyes glared at me. 

"What do you think, Mr. Rich Kid." He snapped. I said nothing in response and turned my back to him. I really hated my room-mate and we've only known each other for two minutes. 

I had almost finished unpacking all of my things. I had my desk all neatly organized, my laptop placed neatly shut in the middle. My notebook on the right side of it, and a little basket of pens and highlighters just above the notebook. There was a tiny pad of pink sticky notes besides the bucket of pens, and in the top left hand corner a salt lamp sat plugged in. I saved the rest of the left side of my desk for different studying books and energy drinks I would be using throughout the year. 

My bed was neatly made. I had brought a pink (if you can't tell, pink is my favorite color) blanket from home. It  was very fuzzy, and I placed it lightly over the bland blue comforter that the college supplied. I also had a few different stuffed animals with me; my favorite stuffed wolf, Denali, a large heart pillow which my little sister, Theodosia, had given me, and a little stuffed turtle. I still didn't have a name for him, but his body was green and his shell was bright pink.  

The only thing left to unpack was my clothes.

"Hey John?" We had spent the past hour fixing up our things without speaking, and I was not happy to be the one breaking the long silence. 

"Hmm?" I glanced over in his direction. His side of the room was not nearly as neat as mine. He had a ton of pillows that were dirtied, on his bed in no nice order. His books and school materials were strewn on his nightstand lazily. But he sat at his desk hunched over the large tank. Curiosity got the best of me and I made my way over to his desk, peeking over into the tank. It was a large habitat filled with water and rocky land. I saw no living thing in there, but I didn't have much time to look as John snapped at me. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, Uh, sorry. I just wanted to see what you had there." I shook my head. "I need to put my clothes in the closet," I gestured in that direction. "Can we figure out how to divide it?" I asked, still trying to get a peek of whatever was in the Tank. John stood up blocking my view and walked to his bed picking up a small stack of clothes. "Get all your clothes so we can figure it out easily." He just stared at me. 

"These are all my clothes Mr. Hamilton." His face blushed in either anger or embarrassment, I couldn't tell. I just nodded, not saying anything and going to get my clothes. I held a much heftier stack than him, but that really shouldn't matter to either of us. Right?

Just as our room was laid out, he got the right side of the closet, and I the left. I smiled at how neatly the closet looked. I turned to look at John, but he was sitting back at the desk. I sighed. This was going to be one hell of a year.