TW: mild homophobia
"By next class you will need to have your topic for your project picked out," Mr. Lee was saying. "It can be anything as long as you can relate it to this year's theme, Breaking Barriers in History, and it took place at least 10-20 years ago. It is also good to find a topic that will have at least 30 thorough, academically trustworthy sources, with at least 5 of those being primary, because those are the requirements." Alex and John exchanged glances. 30 sources?! It would be hard to find that many no matter what topic they chose.
"Class is almost over and I got finished slightly earlier than I anticipated, so I will allow you the last few minutes to brainstorm. Oh, and another thing: You will be given very little class time to work on NHD, so if you're working with a partner, you and your partner will need to exchange numbers and figure out a place to meet outside of class, whether that's one of your houses, the library, the park... Now get to work, you've got 3 minutes left."
John turned to Alex. "So?" he said. "I honestly have no idea," Alex responded. "How about we each just make a list of topics that seem interesting? Then we can go over it during lunch." "Sounds good," John replied. They barely had time to exchange numbers and scribble down a couple ideas before class was dismissed.
When it was lunchtime, Alex went to his usual spot. "Hey guys," he said, prompting a "hey" from Herc, a "hi" from John, and a "bonjour" from Laf.
"I got bored, so I wrote down a couple ideas during math," Alex said, pulling out a full sheet of notebook paper covered front-and-back in dozens of messy bullet-pointed ideas. "Um. Okay. So here are my ideas," John said, pulling out a list of 6 neatly numbered ideas. Alex stared at his sheet of paper and asked, "Did I go overboard with the ideas?" "Yeah, maybe a little. But it couldn't hurt to have a few extras," John said, laughing. Gosh, Alex was so in love with this boy's laugh. "How about we start by seeing if any of our ideas match?" Laurens suggested. "Sure," Alex responded. "Okay. Civil rights movement. First woman in space, I forgot her name. Emancipation Proclamation. Ada Lovelace. Something to do with World War 2, I don't know what but I feel like that could be interesting. And the gay rights movement." His voice seemed to get a little quieter on the last one, but Alex wasn't sure.
"I have all of those, except first woman in space, plus I have a some more specific World War 2 topics. Anyway, out of those, my two favorites are Ada Lovelace and the gay rights movement. What about you?" Alex said. "I like all of them, but I think the civil rights and gay rights movements are my favorites," Laurens replied. "Well then gay rights it is!" Alex said. "Actually... I'm not sure my dad would like that very much. He's super homophobic," Laurens said quietly. "Hmmm..." Alex said. "Of the six topics you listed, which do you think he'd be the most okay with?" "Probably the World War 2 one." "Okay, then if he asks, tell him your topic is..." Alex paused to scan his list. "The development of nuclear weaponry! If you're okay with lying to your dad, of course." "Oh, I'm fine with it. I lie to him about so many things, what's one more?" John said bitterly. It was clear John and his dad didn't have a great relationship, so when they got to the topic of where they would work, Alex quickly volunteered his house. John didn't complain.
"What's your topic?" John asked Laf and Herc. "We were actually thinking of doing the transgender rights movement," Laf said. "Oh, cool!" Alex said. "That's actually a really good idea! I bet there won't be very many other people doing transgender rights, and having a unique project always sets you apart with the judges." Laf replied, "Quoi? I thought this was your first time doing NHD." "Yeah," Alex said, "but I do my research."
The next history class, they mostly moved on from NHD and began learning actual history. On a completely unrelated note, Alex found it slightly strange that there were historical people named Alexander Hamilton, John Laurens, Hercules Mulligan, Marquis de Lafayette, George Washington, Martha Washington, Charles Lee, George Eacker... the list went on, but they were all completely identical to his friends, parents, and teachers' names... How strange. (A/n: ;) ) Anyway, at the end of class, they needed to tell Mr. Lee who their partner was (if they had one) and what their topic was. They were one of the last tables to be called on.
"Laurens," Mr. Lee said. "I'm working with Alexander and our topic is the gay rights movement," John replied. Snickers spread across the room. "John and Alex are fags!" someone called out, but Alex couldn't tell who. "Calm down, class," Mr. Lee said, but he gave John and Alex a stern look and scribbled on his paper. John's face turned bright red and he looked down, embarrassed and angry. Before he realized what he was doing, Alex reached out and rested his hand on John's arm to comfort him. "Ooooh!" the class taunted. "Quiet down!" Mr. Lee said firmly. "Alex, John, may I speak to you after class?"
aaand here's a cliffhanger bc why not. ik i promised we'd meet jeffmads, the schuyler sisters, and maria but i kinda completely forgot until just now so maybe next chapter idk
also I wrote like 90% of this in one sitting so i'm proud of myself bc it's also the longest chapter i've written so far. but i'm also not that proud of myself because i never got around to studying for my biology test tomorrow, but honestly idc
ok byeeeeee ;)
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Just You Wait (Lams High School AU)
FanfictionWhen Alex decides to go to high school for his junior year instead of being homeschooled, the last thing he expected was to fall in love. However, that's exactly what happens when he meets John Laurens. ON HIATUS UNTIL I HAVE MOTIVATION TO KEEP WRIT...
