Bad Things Happen

Birthday!

Warning: Angst, mentioning of death, abuse, abandonment, guilt, pain. A whole lot of angst is in here.

It had been three days since the first day of school, and everything was going well. Fall was starting to arrive and a brisk breeze blew over the trees. Classes got to the point where kids were already wishing it was summer again.

US History.

Alexander spent the whole class staring over at Eliza. Normally this didn't happen, Alex was an excellent student. But since she asked him out, he hasn't kept his eyes off of her.

"And can anyone tell me who would have been the President at that time?" Washington began. "Mr. Hamilton."

Whenever nobody raised their hand, Washington called on Alexander, knowing he would answer it. But this time, Alex wasn't paying any attention.

"Uh, what?" Was all he could muster out.

"Christopher Jackson." Washington replied. He looked back at Hamilton with a shocked look on his face. But continued to teach the class.

After the class had ended, Washington pulled Laurens aside. George read in his file that today was his birthday, and since no one else would probably notice, he wanted to be nice.

"Happy Birthday by the way." He said, handing him some money for lunch. He had done so everyday since the boy had arrived at the school.

Laurens tilted his head in confusion before it hit him.

"It is your birthday, right?" Washington asked.

Laurens stopped caring about his birthday a long time ago. His mother died in child birth and his father had always blamed him for her death. To Laurens, it was just a day to grieve.

'It's not that big of a birthday anyway' He thought, not wanting to say it out loud. 'Big deal, I'm seventeen now.'

He nodded and gave a fake smile before walking out of the class. Washington's heart broke for him. He knew being the foster parent of two teenage boys that it's a very hard life. Then he remembered reading that his mother died in child birth, and it all came together.

When lunch rolled around, Alexander and Lafayette sat at their usual table. Alex signaled Eliza to come over and sit with them. She grabbed her tray and made her way across the cafeteria to their table.

"You have to stop devoting your life to just staring at me." Eliza laughed. "Washington did not look happy when you couldn't answer a simple question."

"If it's so simple, why didn't anyone else answer it?" Alexander questioned.

"Because we don't want to." She giggled. "You're the smartest guy in class. When Washington calls on you, you always answer. He's going to be upset in American Government."

Both boys knew that Washington wouldn't be upset. He probably would wait after until after school to ask, then get all excited when he found out Alex got a date. He was such a 'stereotypical dad' kind of guy.

"I think he will be fine mon amie." Lafayette chuckled.

Laurens went to his usual spot in the court yard. He loved nature, mainly because he spent most of his life in the city and never got to see it that often.
Everyday Aaron Burr showed up around noon, but Laurens didn't care. He had been abused for years by his father, who left him when he was only five. After that, he went to worse schools, with worse people. Not to mention if something bad happened, even he couldn't help it, some of his foster parents would let him have it.
Then just as if timed, Aaron Burr walked up right on cue.