@Theatre_Trash22  is awesome! They had a great idea and are letting me use it, so, thank you! 

~3rd grade~

John loved wearing crocs, and, why the heck not? They were comfortable, breathable and his favorite color, green. However, some of the other kids thought crocs were hideous. They made fun of him for that. "Crocs are so stupid! So you're stupid!" They shouted. John's only friends were the Schuyler's and Maria. 

~7th grade~

John's POV

I slump against the plastic table in the courtyard holding my phone tightly. I'm about to finish my game when I hear voices. I freeze and slowly look up. It's them. It's Francis and his stupid idiot gang. And their heading my way. I stand up, turn off my phone and push it into my pocket. Then I start walking away very fast. I feel something catch on my shoe, flat tiring me. I slam onto the pavement, face first. 

When I get up, my palms are scraped and my face is bloody. I jerk up to a standing position. 

"What was that for?" I demand.

"For being a ugly idiot and wearing those stupid excuse for a shoe." Francis spits out.

"THEY ARE SHOES!" I scream. 

"Freak." One of the guys in the back of the group mutters. 

Tears begin forming in front of my eyes, but I can't cry. I can't let them see me cry. They can't have that satisfaction.

"I-I'm n-n-not a f-freak." I stutter.

Shoot, I better stop talking before one of them points out that I'm crying. All of the sudden, we hear someone shout,

"Hey! Leave that person alone!" 

Francis whips around to the voice. It's a little kid, and I mean little, like 4'3 ft. It's a boy, and he has jet black hair tied back into a ponytail. He is wearing a casual T-shirt and pants. His chocolate brown eyes glitter. And he's wearing...crocs. 

"Hey, look. It's another one of those stupid croc kids." Francis cackles, elbowing his friends. 

"What did you say?" The short boy asks. 

"I said," Francis bends down to his level and puts his face annoyingly close. "It's another one of those stupid croc ki-" 

He gets cut off by the short guy punching him square in the nose. Ouch.

"You little pervert! When I get my hands on you!" Francis bellows. 

I've never been so afraid in my life. Short guy kicks Francis is the shins. Double ouch. Francis screams in pain, hopping around and holding his bloody nose. I let out a giggle, but quickly cover my mouth.

"What are you doing? Don't just stand there!" Francis screeches at his group. 

They are all backing away slowly and shaking their heads nervously. I let out a laugh as Francis mumbles something under his breath and scampers away. I stand up.

"Hey, thanks for what you did there." I say.

"Don't mention it." 

"Nice shoes." I say

"Thanks! I like them a lot! My favorite color too!" He says, brightening up. 

The crocs are a very deep blue. 

"Nice! Mine too!" I say.

"What's your name?" I ask.

"Alexander Hamilton, but you can call me Alex." 

"Ok, nice name!"

"Thank you! What's yours?" 

"John, John Laurens. Call me John." 

"Ok." 

We talked for a while, then agreed to eat lunch together. After he left, I felt lighter than I had felt in a long time. I smile played on my lips.

"AHHHH!!!!! JOHN HE IS SO CUTE FOR YOU!" Peggy shouts, jumping out of a nearby bush. Angelica and Eliza are behind her. 

"Yeah." Eliza says, unenthusiastic.

"He is so cute!" Angelica says.

We all look at her.

"For you, I mean." She quickly says. 

Maria sneaks up behind Peggy. I manage to stifle a laugh. They both are crushing on each other so hard, but they don't know it.

"Hi Pegs!" Maria says. 

"AHHH!"  Peggy shrieks and turns around.

"O-oh, it's you." Peggy says.

"Yup, listen, I'll catch you at lunch, ok?" Maria asks.

Peggy just nods. After Maria leaves we all make oohing noises while Peggy blushes.

~Alex's POV~

"Hey, honey?" My mom asks.

"Yeah?"

"I won't be home tonight, I have to work an extra shift." 

She says this every night.

"Ok mom." I say.

She pulls out a box and hands it to me. 

"What's this?" I ask.

She gestures me to open it. I do. Inside it is the most beautiful pair of shoes I had ever seen. They were navy blue with some air holes, a strap at the back, and grips on the bottom. I loved it.

"Thanks mom!" I shout, and hug her. 

She straightens out her glasses and hugs me back after a short hesitation. 

"I hope you like them, Alex. I put all my extra earnings into them for you." She smiled, her eyes crinkling. 

"I do! I do! I really do." I say jumping up and down. 

~3 years later, all of the characters except for the mom are in 10th grade~

"Love you mom! Bye!" I called to her

"Bye Alex!" 

I jump off of my porch and race to school. How could anyone not like school? It's awesome! And this is why I'm a nerd. 

I see John in the courtyard talking to someone I recognize, Francis Kinolch. 

Ugh. That bastard beat John up last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, and th-. Ok I think you get the just. 

They look happy talking to each other. I see John smile at him and nod yes. Then, god, words can't even tell how disgusting this is. I saw, with my very own eyes, John lean forward, and kiss Francis right on the lips passionately. I jerked back and turned around not wanting to see it. 

Tears filled my eyes and trickled down my face, when I think, You know what? I'm not going to get sad, I'm going to get mad. 

So I stomp right over to John and Francis and shove John out of the kiss. 

"What the heck, man?" Francis says. 

"Sorry, I need to borrow him for a sec." I drag John out of ear range. 

"What the heck?!?" John demands, shoving me off.

"WHY WERE YOU KISSING YOUR BULLY? The guy who harassed you since third grade?" 

John looks down and mumbles,

"Because he's cute. And sweet, and as long as I don't wear crocs, he said that I'm cute. So now, we're together, and I know your upset. But your just jealous, you can't even be happy for me." 

"So the bullying meant nothing?" 

"Nope, because I trust him now, and I love him." 

"But-"

"No Alexander." 

I was taken aback, this is the first time he used my full first name. I gulped.

"I bet he's just using you because you are the most beautiful person ever and he will hurt you!" I hiss. 

"What?" John says, smirking.

I register what I said and then cover my mouth.

"Nothing!" 

"Did you just-" 

"NO! Just, he's not good for you Johnny." The smirk slides off of John's face. 

"Don't call me that." His voice cutting through the air like ice. 

He walks away and I sit on a bench, hands covering my face. How could I have been so dumb and not noticed John  staring longingly at Francis? Or that whenever they talked, John would always blush? I sigh.

~3 long months without John later~

John's POV

Peggy runs up to me her face flushed from running. (How come when I was writing this I was thinking, she turned red led me to her- ok)

"Peggy, what's wrong?" I say, standing up so she can lean on me.

"I-I-I hold on gimme a sec." She says, rasping for air.

15 awkward seconds of holding her, listening to her breath steady later. 

"So, I saw Francis kissing Charles in the courtyard! So I went to tell you!" 

"Wait, what?" I say, not being able to process what happened.

"Francis. Cheated. On. You." She says very slowly, like I was a baby. 

I sit down very quickly, leaving Peggy to try to regain her balance.

I tried to contain it. I really did. But I couldn't.

"I thought he was mine! I loved him with my heart! And now he just cheats on me? Wait, Francis does love me, your lying!" I shout, pointing a accusing finger at her. 

"You don't believe me? Fine! Go see for yourself!" 

She stalks away as a rush to the courtyard, only to stop short at the scene. Francis is not only kissing Charles, he's making out with him!" 

A low growl grips my chest. I slowly come up behind Francis. 

"Francis?" I say quietly.

He turns his head his face contorting into panic at the sight of me.

"We're over." I say darkly, ripping off my necklace that he got me, and throwing it at him. 

Then I leave to find Peggy again. After 30 minutes of apologizing to her, she forgave me and we were besties again. Alex comes up to us and sees my tear streaked face. He drops everything and runs to my side.

"You-you were right Alex." I sniffle.

Peggy explains.

"Oh that bastard!" Alex shouts.

A few people turn their heads to look at us. 

"How could Francis not see how amazing you are! You know what? Francis doesn't deserve you! You deserve someone much better! Francis will never love you like I do!" 

I look up at Alex. Has he always been this cute? Alex continues his rant.

"I LOVE you John! Francis never did! But I do!" 

I blush a little. Peggy looks uncomfortable and says,

"Uh, I'm going to leave you two to that." She says, and slinks off.

"Alexander." I say softly. 

He turns his head to me as I stand up. I'm a few inches taller than him. 

"I love you too." I say taking his soft hands in mine.  

Then I pull him into a gentle, passionate kiss. He tastes kinda sweet. When we pull away, he is looking straight at me.

"Do you want to go out sometime?" He asks.

"Of course!" I laugh. 

Then he leaned in for another kiss.

Longest story so far! Yeet