It's been a week since I moved to America, and honestly, it's not all it's cracked up to me. Don't get me wrong, I'd much rather be here than that tiny, terrible island on the other side of the world, but I thought America was this great place. I've been to classes for a week, and I've already been beaten up at least once every day, physically or verbally. 

I had also started quite a few fights, I suppose. Mainly only with Samuel Seabury and Charles Lee, but the two of them were idiots and deserved it. 

And then there's the whole roommate situation. John is super cute and friendly, but Hercules and Lafayette are over almost every night, being loud. I don't understand why they can't just go to their dorm instead. They always invite me to hang out with them, but I know better than that. They just feel bad, plus I have tons of work I need to get ahead on. 

Washington had taken a liking to me for some reason, and even gave me one of his old laptops to do my work on. He seems to be impressed every time I turn in an assignment, even if they are my worst, but I guess it's good to get a reputation now rather than later. 

Right now, I'm prepping for our first debate in debate class. I'm supposed to debate with Thomas tomorrow about our financial system, me being on the opposing team, but John doesn't seem to understand that. I hear the door open and I groan as I continue tapping away on my keyboard. 

I hear the three laugh and cheer and talk, all, night, long. They seemed pretty fun at the beginning, but now they're just getting annoying. 

The door to the bedroom bursts open and I look up, making eye contact with John. "Hey, Alex, you want to stop working for a few minutes and come to the cafe with us? Lafayette is going to try to flirt with the barista." He chuckles.

I sigh and look back to my laptop, continuing with my prompt. "No, John. I have to get ready for that debate tomorrow."

"Didn't you finish that two days ago?"

"Yes, but I'm fixing it and adding more. I need to make sure I win this debate." I say and he chuckles. 

"Ah, you're really competitive, Alex. How late do you plan on staying up tonight on that?" He asks, mocking me slightly. 

"Well, it depends on how loud you three are." There was a sudden burst of laughter from the living room and I look up at him, fake smiling. "Sounds like it might be all night." 

He frowns and looks towards the living room, then back at me. "Well, come on. You should get a coffee or something at least. why not come down with us?"

I look at the time and sigh. "You know, you're right. I do need coffee." I stand up and go to my drawer, looking through it. I pull out a ten dollar bill and hand it to John. "Could you get me some black coffee?"

John rolls his eyes and hands the money back to me. "No, Alex. You need to get out of this room for more than just classes. Just, come with us, it'll be fun."

"But, John-"

"I'm not getting you coffee." He says, crossing his arms stubbornly. 

I sigh and grab my hoodie off my bed and throw it on. "Fine, let's just make it quick, okay?"

John smiles and runs to the living room, whispering something to the other two. I see Lafayette smile and Hercules's eyes widen in surprise. "Come on, I have to finish my homework." I say to them and they immediately stand up and rush to out of the dorm.

Time skip brought to you by the music I'm listening to right now. 17. Se-se-17. Se-se-1789

We take a seat at one of the tables in the cafe, John making me wait until Lafayette was finished talking to the barista. She had a blue long sleeve shirt and dark jeans, along with a white apron tied around her waist. Her long dark hair was tied up in a ponytail, and her face showed no interest in whatever Lafayette was saying to her. 

"I don't understand why I can't go order my coffee." I complain, sitting back in my chair. 

"Because you'll distract Elizabeth, and then Lafayette won't have any chance." John explains.

"I don't think she's interested." I chuckle. "What's the big deal about her, anyway? She seems pretty plain to me.." I mumble the last part. 

"Oh, Elizabeth is one of the Schuyler sisters." Hercules says, looking to me like I knew who that was. I shrug and he raises an eyebrow. "You know, the most popular group of girls on campus? There's three of them." 

"Angelica is the oldest, she's a junior in college. That's Elizabeth, she's the middle child and also in the same grade as Laf, Herc, and I. And then there's the youngest, Peggy. She's a freshman in college, just like you." John explains to me.

"So..Why are they so popular?" I ask, sighing as Elizabeth laughs at something Lafayette says. From the look on his face, however, I don't think it was supposed to be funny. 

"Oh, their father is Philip Schuyler." Hercules says, and I shrug once again. "Jeez, have you been living under a rock or something?" He asks. 

"Hercules, Alex isn't from here. He wouldn't know who that is." John says and then looks back to me smiling. "Philip Schuyler is just one of the most powerful people in New York. He runs The New York Post."

I nod, not really caring about any of this. They however, seemed to be very intrigued about this topic. I look over at Lafayette and roll my eyes once again. "Yeah, she's not interested in him. I'm going to go order my coffee so I can get back to my paper." I stand up and walk over to the counter, ignoring John and Hercules's pleads for me not to go.

"Hi, I'd like a small black coffee, please." I say to the brunette. She looks at me with a smile and shooes Lafayette away.

"Nice try, Lafayette, but I have to serve paying customers." She rolls her eyes as he sighs dramatically and walks back to the table. "I'm sorry, could you repeat your order again, please?"

"Sure. One small, black coffee, please." 

"This late?" She asks, confused. 

"I have a paper I need to finish." I explain and she nods, studying me carefully. Suddenly her eyes widen and she smiles.

"Hey, you're that new kid from the Caribbean, aren't you!" She exclaims rather loudly. 

I cringe and rub the back of my neck. "Uh, yeah I suppose that's-"

"That's so cool! I've never even left New York, let alone been to the Caribbean. What's it like there?" She asks, leaning her head on her hand. 

"Uh, it's really not that interesting." I look back at the table and then back to the young lady. "You know, Ms. Schuyler, Lafayette over there is from France. Way more interesting than Nev- Wherever I came from. Why don't you talk to him about it after you make my coffee..?" I ask, really wanting to get back to my dorm already. I mean, how much socializing did I really need?

She scoffs lightly. "Lafayette is a try-hard, and not my type. Plus, France seems overrated." I nod and then hand her my money, hoping she takes the hint. She sees it and grabs it quickly. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I'll get that right out for you."

"It's alright, Ms. Schuyler." I say, sighing softly.

"Please, call me Eliza." She smiles. "Ms. Schuyler is way too formal." I nod and take my coffee before walking past the group and back to my dorm. 

Another timeskip brought to you by the definition of a legacy.

I sip my coffee slightly, typing away on my laptop, enjoying the brief moment of peace I had. Once it's interrupted, three males come into my room and close my laptop, snatching it away from me. 

"Why are you so cold towards us, Alex?" Hercules asks, crossing his arms.

"Is this really how you make friends?" I ask, holding my head slightly.

Ignoring me, Lafayette continues. "We're just trying to make you feel welcome here in America." He says, his French accent really thick.

"We want to be your friend, Alex, but that can't happen unless you talk to us." John explains, sitting on his bed and setting my laptop down carefully next to him.

I sigh. "Look, I'm not trying to be rude, I just have very little time for friends and stuff like that. Can I have my laptop back now?"

"Not until you tell us the real reason you won't even bother looking at us." Lafayette explains.

I raise an eyebrow at the three of them and then turn and grab a paper and pen and continue my writing. Soon enough, my pen is grabbed away from my hand and I groan. "What do you guys want? For me to be all buddy buddy with people I just met? Sorry to break it to you, but that's not how this works." I snap at them.

The three of them sit in silence for a few moments, something that had never happened before, but it was quickly ruined when John stood up and started walking towards me. 

"So what, we're not good enough for you? You don't even try to talk to us. You just roll your eyes at us and get angry with us constantly." He says, still walking towards me slowly. 

I stay sitting down and look up at him. "You know, maybe if you three weren't so annoying all the time-"

"Don't even act like that's what this is about. You seemed super friendly to us the first couple of days, and then you started getting caught up in your work and you just fucking ignored us." He says, pointing at me. "And then you started getting into fights and you turned cold towards us. Why? We're not the ones beating you up and telling you shit that isn't true." 

I bite the inside of my cheek, trying to keep myself calm. I had never heard John Laurens cuss before, so I knew he as really angry at this point. The others seemed to as well, because Lafayette put his hand on his shoulder and held him back. "Laurens, mon ami, calm down."

John stopped walking, but ignored what Lafayette had said to him. "Is this what you do? You act all friendly and then push away everyone? I tried to invite you to get out and hang out with us, and the whole time you just acted like you were better than us. Like we weren't worth your time. I'll bet you-"

"I've never had a group of friends before." I interrupt him, emotion finally appearing in my voice. "I've been abandoned my whole life and I thought maybe I could let you guys in, but then you got annoyed when I did the smallest little thing and I decided this time wasn't going to be any different. I'm just trying.." I take a deep breath as I make sure no tears escape my eyes. "I'm just trying to make people proud." I say quietly and look down.

I hear my laptop be gently placed against my desk and then some shuffling followed by a door closing. They had left. I knew they would. I don't know why I would've expected anything else. I freaked out at them, and they left. 

I feel a hand on my shoulder and I jump slightly and look up to see John smiling sympathetically at me. "I think maybe we should start over."

2011 Words

Also, side A/N, I wrote this in like a half hour. I'm proud.