December 31, 2019 7:00 pm PST

Promise pulled on some outerwear: a shirt, some warm pants, her giant jacket, her thick socks, and lastly, her boots. It was an extraordinarily long process just to go outside, but she knew she had to or the cold of the ski resort would get to her. 

It was New Year's Eve in 2019. She was going with her family to see Mammoth Mountain's fireworks display with her family: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton-Washington, and Martha Washington. Oh yeah, and her friend Peggy and her brother's friend Lafayette. Since the ski trip was to celebrate her birthday, which had come on the 20th, eleven days ago, she got to bring a friend. But since Alex had complained that he'd be bored, he'd asked if he could bring a friend. Originally it was going to be John Laurens, but he was with his father, who wouldn't allow it, so he asked if he could bring Lafayette. Promise wasn't complaining. Lafayette... they were... she couldn't even find words to describe them. She was absolutely smitten with them, from their accent to their breathtaking deep brown eyes (hAlp I've forgotten that other eye colors exist) to their cute little smirk. Ah well. She knew she should probably stop thinking about them, since they were a) three years older than her and b) her brother's friend and c) way out of her league. Plus he was technically related to a Jefferson, being Thomas Jefferson's cousin-once-removed, which was a big no-no in their family, especially with George. When Martha wanted to do the "talk" with her, she'd sent George out of the room, but before he left he'd said, "I don't care what you do as long as it's not a Jefferson," to which she'd giggled. Martha, sweet Martha, didn't even disagree. But a girl could dream, she supposed. 

She made her way out of the rented condo, boots making a muffled clomping sound on the carpet. She passed several people just coming in from their last run on the mountain, their boots thumping on the ground loudly and angled awkwardly, covered in goggles, scarves, hats, helmets, two jackets, and a layer of snow and carrying skis. She nodded at these people and they nodded back, grinning at her. Everyone was excited. It was a new year soon! Just five hours! She giddily made her way down to the lobby, where her family was waiting. New Year never got old for her.

December 31, 2019 8:00 pm PST

After meeting Lafayette with their grandmother and Peggy with her chauffeur/father figure since her father had to attend some business meeting in the Mammoth Village square, Laf somehow managing to look stunning in puffy winter clothes, they'd gone for dinner. Promise and Peggy spent the time doodling on napkins with the pens that Peggy kept in her pockets and making up games with the random stuff they also found in Peggy's pockets, including her phone, which they used to video-call Emmaline. "Hey!" she'd squealed. She was in her mom's room, getting ready to watch the New York ball drop like they did every year. They talked for a bit, constantly getting shushed by their parents. The three of them were extra giddy because they were all in the presence of their crush: Emmaline liked Peggy, Peggy liked Emmaline, and Promise liked Lafayette. Emmaline and Peggy were super oblivious, and it bothered Promise to no end. But since she wasn't sure, she couldn't say anything. It was annoying.

December 31, 2019 8:30 pm PST

After dinner, Emmaline had hung up, saying she had to go, so they'd put Peggy's phone back into her never-ending pocket, which Emmaline jokingly referred to it as her "beaded pocket" as a reference to Hermiones's beaded bag. Standing up, pulling on their jackets and pushing open the door, feeling the chill of the cold air rush into the restaurant. Once everyone had filed  out, they walked towards the center of the Village, where there was a large statue of a skier in the middle of an elevated platform. The group sat on the platform, getting ready to see the fireworks. George took one look at the ice on the platform and shook his head. "Nope, nope, nope-ity nope," he said. "I refuse to sit on that. My bum is going to get wet and I'll slide off and break my bones! And my back is killing me right now! I'd rather talk to a Jefferson." Martha laughed. "C'mon, old man," she teased. "Surely you can handle a little bit of cold?" George sat when Martha pushed him towards the platform, but continued to grouch about the cold and the height. It really wasn't that tall, but he'd said he'd rather talk to a Jefferson, so he had to live up to that level of hatred of the platform.

December 31, 2019 9:00 pm PST

The group got bored of listening to the adults chat about nothing, and Promise wondered aloud why they'd come out so early. "To have dinner, duh," Alex said, earning him a glare from Lafayette. "Do not speak to her that way, she is your sister," he said, frowning. Promise blushed. "It's fine, he's just teasing, but thanks," she said, Peggy poking her in the side and whispering "oooooh". Promise rolled her eyes. "Shut up! I swear you're like an immature high schooler! Oh wait- you are one!" she hissed back. Peggy giggled. "You're getting better at those!" she said. In lieu of answering, Promise pointed out someone selling little glowy-things. She tugged on George's sleeve. "Dad! Look! Can we go see what's up with that?" she asked, pointing at the seller. He frowned, wanting her to be in his sight at all times, but Alex knew how to manipulate their father. "Only the Jeffersons have that level of protectiveness," he'd goaded. George pinched his lips together, a battle of wills raging in his head. He wanted to protect Promise, who was only just 18, but then again... the Jeffersons. Eventually, he hmphed, told her to stay within sight of the statue, and let them go. Rolling her eyes internally at her father's protectiveness, she ran towards the seller, Alex, Lafayette and Peggy trailing behind her. Well, Alex and Peggy trailed behind, but Lafayette and their absurdly (Alex called it absurd, Promise silently called it hot) long legs caught up to her quickly. But the seller wasn't that far, so Alex and Peggy were there before she had a chance to say anything. 

Upon further inspection, and some questions directed at the seller, they figured out that the little sticks/helicopter-things lit up, and you pulled it back on a rubber band and made it fly. When the thing flew, it spun, all the while lit up, and the effect was unreasonably fun. Peggy bought one for each of them with her father's money, which she'd obtained from her chauffeur before she ran to the seller. Promise and Lafayette protested, saying that they'd both buy their own, but Peggy insisted. Alex, however, was all for it, earning a glare from Promise. "What? She offered to do it! And her dad is loaded!" Promise and Lafayette groaned, while Peggy looked amused. "Do you have no tact at all?" Laf asked him. Alex shrugged, and Lafayette looked at Promise and mouthed, "You see what I have to put up with?" Promise giggled, and Peggy poked her in the side again. Promise poked right back.

December 31, 2019 9:45 PST

The helicopter-spinners kept them occupied for a while, and many other children had bought them, leading to a sky full of little lights and colorful spinners. George and Martha watched their children play, smiling at their peals of delight. They watched Promise giggle with Peggy, saw Peggy poke her in the side when Lafayette talked to her, saw them running around, laughing, the cold air invigorating their spirits. George narrowed his eyes at Lafayette whenever they got close to Promise (he wasn't blind, after all), but Martha would put a hand on his shoulder. He relaxed, but continued to watch Promise and Lafayette closely as they joked around and played. Martha sighed. "It reminds me of when we were children," she said, leaning against George. He wrapped his arm around her. "I doubt we were that rowdy," he joked. Martha laughed. "No, we weren't, that was the Jeffersons,and George smiled. Even after all the years they'd been together, everything they'd been through, Martha's laugh never got old. He still loved her as much as he had when they'd been dating, as much as when he'd proposed, as much as when they'd gotten married. And he would continue to love her the rest of his life. "I love you, George, dear," Martha murmured. Reading his mind like always. He smiled. "Love you too, Martha."

December 31, 2019 10:00 PST

A short distance away, another couple watched them. Alex snuggled into his boyfriend, his jacket not giving him enough heat for his small frame. Or maybe he just wanted a hug. Thomas Jefferson smiled, hugging him closer. "You sure your parents won't notice you're not with your sister?" "Oh yeah, definitely, George is focused on making Lafayette doesn't do anything with Promise," Alex said. Thomas snickered. "Yeah, making their daughter doesn't get it on with an educated rich guy, while their son cuddles a Jefferson," he said. Alex laughed. "Rather, the Jefferson cuddles him," he responded. "Oh, pinning it on me now, are you?" They both laughed. The fact that they weren't supposed to be together constantly hung over them, but they both coped with it, covering it with jokes. Suddenly, all the streetlights went off. Alex jumped. "Gotta go, Tommy, Martha'll be worried," he said, springing off Thomas's lap. Thomas watched him go, sighing. He resolved that one day, they'd watch these fireworks together, the two of them celebrating together. One day.

That chapter was going to be super long, so I'll do a Part Two instead. Did you like it? I had so much writing it. It took me longer than usual, but it was worth it. Keep an eye out for the  next part, and don't forget to like, comment and subscr-wrong platform. Don't forget to follow me, vote and comment! Just comment idk or smthng, I just want to see who's reading this. Don't worry, there'll be way more innuendo in the next chapters, just hang tight. I'll probably update once every two days or so, less than my last book, but the chapters'll be better. I have learned from previous mistakes.

~The Mysterious Miss M