Homework (Lams AU)

Crossing Every "T"

I read over the text again. 

John Hey, can we talk?

I hadn't heard from him since the whole incident at his house, and it was starting to worry me. I knew he was one to skip school often, but never for a full week.

A.Ham Yeah, of course. Did you want to call or..?

John No, no..Will you meet me at the park we usually meet up at after school?

A.Ham Okay, yeah I can do that. See you in a little bit.

I sigh and put my phone away, looking at the clock on the wall. Twenty more minutes. I could wait twenty minutes. 

Well, not really, because I'm impatient as hell, but it's okay. I was in a study hall and all my homework was already finished, so I got to sit and play on my phone for the rest of the class. 

Once the twenty minutes finally pass by, the bell rings and I bolt out of the classroom. I walk out of the school and walk at a very fast pace to the park. I wanted so bad to talk to him. I then stop myself. 

Why was I so excited to see him? That's not a normal thing, especially not for me. I sigh and return to walking, but at a more normal pace instead. When I get to the park, I see John on the bench, as usual, and someone sitting next to him. 

I walk closer to try and figure out who it was, and once I see the yellow outfit, I realize it's none other than Peggy Schuyler. I freeze and try to turn and leave before she saw me, but John had heard me I guess. He turns and smiles gently at me. 

"Hey, Alex." He says. Peggy turns and looks me over and I nod.

"Uh, hi John..Peggy.." I look over at her and then give John a confused look, slightly scared of what was going to happen. 

"Calm down, pip squeak." Peggy rolls her eyes. "I'm not gonna hurt you or anything."

I stare at her cautiously. "Forgive me for being afraid of the person who bullies me everyday." I say.

"Alex, it's okay." John says, scooting over and patting the spot next to him. I sit down next to him, John being in between Peggy and I thankfully. 

"Um, so.. Why-why is she here?" I ask, fidgeting with the sleeves of my jacket. I hadn't told anyone but Theo, and now I'm worried she may know and tell everyone.

"Well..She um....I-" John stutters. He blushes gently as he continues to try and say a sentence. "I told-Well, she asked, and um, well..Yeah.." He says, as if it made sense. 

I raise an eyebrow and look over at Peggy, who rolls her eyes again. "I know, Alex. I know what happened last week, is what he's trying to say." 

John blushes even more and hides his face in his hands. I feel myself blush a little bit as well and I nod. "Oh. Uh, okay...So..Now what? You're going to tell the whole school?" I scoff. 

"I would never do that to John." She sends me a subtle glare, as if I should've known that. "No, your secret is safe with me."

I sigh a breath of relief. "Okay, so why are you here, then?"

"He asked me to be here. So he could tell you something." She says, placing a hand on John's shoulder. 

John looks over at me and I raise an eyebrow at him, silently asking what it was he needed to tell me.

"Um..Uh..I uh.." He looks around and then reaches into his backpack, handing me an envelope. I open it and see two separate papers in them. I look up at him. 

"What are these?" I ask. 

"Acceptance letters." He says quickly. I see Peggy frown and look to the side, but I don't question it. 

I open the letters and see he got accepted into both schools he applied for, which wasn't a surprise. I smile up at him and nod. "That's great. I knew you'd get in." 

He nods. "Yeah, well, it's like you said, I would get in because I'm rich.." He says, downplaying it. 

"I mean art school, not Princeton. They liked your art!" I say. He shrugs. 

"I guess, I dunno."

I give him a stern look before sighing. "Whatever, is there anything else you wanted to talk about?" I ask, hoping he did for some reason. 

Peggy looks at John and he hesitates before shaking his head. "Nah, what else would there be to talk about?"

I nod. "Right..Well, I guess um..If you get your missing work I'll do that tomorrow night." I stand and wave awkwardly to them. "Um, it was nice talking with you..Bye." I say, walking away. As I walk away, I can hear Peggy scolding John, though I can't tell exactly what they're saying.

I sigh and walk away from the conversation, feeling disappointed. I'm not entirely sure why, though. I have nothing to be disappointed about. What was I expecting him to say? That he liked me or something?

I don't know why I would even think that. Of course he doesn't like me, and I don't like him. Not in that way, anyway. He made it very clear that whatever happened was just a one time thing, which is fine. 

I don't want that, anyway. 

Timeskip brought to you by Jamie not failing so Cathy can be comfortable

"Hey, Bastard Orphan." I hear a feminine voice call out. I turn and see the youngest Schuyler standing in front of me. I raise an eyebrow. 

"Can I help you?" I ask with a bored expression. 

She sighs and drags me to an empty classroom. She closes the door and looks at me. "What the hell happened the other day?" She asks. 

"You were there, Peggy. You saw what happened." I roll my eyes. 

"You know what I mean. You didn't want to talk about what happened with you two?" She asks. "I mean, come on, you don't really think he brought you there to talk about something he could've texted to you, right?"

I shrug. "I'm going to assume that yeah, that's what he did because it is literally what he did. Maybe he just really wanted to tell me in person that he got in. What happened between us meant nothing, he made that very clear."

She groans. "For someone who is so smart, you really can be dumb. I can assure you that it didn't mean nothing to him."

I shake my head. "Sorry Peggy, but I believe facts over opinions. The fact is that John told me it was just a fling and didn't mean a thing. The opinion is that you think it meant something else."

She shakes her head back at me. "You are impossible. And irritating. You know that?"

"Wow, hadn't noticed you didn't like me." I say sarcastically and she sighs. 

"Look, John is probably the closest friend I've got. I want to help him no matter what, and right now, that means helping you." She explains. "My sisters don't even know anything about you two-"

"There's nothing to know." I interrupt. "I do John's homework so he can pass his classes, and he pays me so I can afford to go to college." 

She shakes her head again. "Unbelievable. You are so dense, Alex. Open up your mind to the possibility of something more between you two, or you'll both end up hurting." She starts to leave and then she stops and stares at me. 

"Also, don't tell anyone I was talking to you. It's weird." I nod and she walks out, leaving me alone in an empty classroom, questioning literally everything. 

1311 Words