Jesus this chapter is gonna take a while but here we go. So for Angelica and her boyfriend, I am going to make it more historical, for the DRAMA.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————

First day of 8th grade, and things had changed!

The first thing being, Alex got his braces off!

Somehow, despite all his friends leaving, Alex became so popular he had more friends than he could ever dream of.

He and Burr joined the debate club very early in the year and Alex was crushing it. Every topic he knocked out of the park with a hint of showmanship.

However, with showmanship came assholeship. He would constantly not let Burr speak, or blurt out when he was speaking. John was Alex's moral compass, so when he left, all hell went loose.

Then, when he was chosen for the school board convention, oh god. He had been squealing about it for days after Washington picked him to be his secretary for it. And when he actually got to the convention, he would not stop talking.

He tries to propose a new way of teaching. As an 8th grader. Idiocy mixed with genius radiated off of him. Let's just say the school board was not very impressed.

And for the love of god he would not stop writing! It was all he did all day, unless he was arguing with someone on the internet.

(just realized this part of the chapter just sounds like burr ranting about hamilton to Theodosia lol)

—————————————————————————————————————————————————

One very strange day, Alex showed up at Burr's door at 11:00 pm to talk.

"Alex, why are you here? It's super late."

"Can we talk about something?" Alex asked

"I guess, what's up?"

"You're better than me at debate club."

"Go on." Burr said proudly

"You are persuasive, you are calm, you are quiet, you are smart. I need you to help me back this topic."

"What is it?"

"....the sports funding papers.."

"Nope, nice try!" Burr rebuffed.

"Come on man! We will write essays defending the funding in the school paper!"

"Nobody will care." Burr said arguably

"Yes they will!"

"We both saw the funding papers, it is a mess."

"Yeah it needs some changes but so does our school! Will you please help me?"

Burr stood there for a second, thinking about it.

"No, Alex. Not all of us are popular like you, we can't just bounce back after humiliation."

"Fine, see you at school, pussy." Alex replied

—————————————————————————————————————————————————

Later that week, Alex was spending time with Angelica, without Eliza.  Angelica clearly wanted to tell him something, but was scared.

"Angie, you know you can tell me anything." Alex comforted her, seeing her withdrawal from telling him.

"Alex, I am going to England Prep for highschool."

Alex froze. He felt the crack in his heart from when Laurens left grow wider. Did he love Angelica too? He just couldn't tell.

"What about Park vista, haven't you been going there for the past few weeks?"

Angelica sighed. "I met a guy, but he goes to England Prep, so I am going to board so I can go to school with him. Also, my father wants me to get a private education so I am prepared to go into real estate with him."

Alex stood quietly, just looking at her with sorrow. She smiled sadly at him, and squeezed his hand.

"I'll text you everyday, I promise." Alex told her. He hugged her close, and as they let go their lips almost touched. Angelica's heart fluttered, but she sank the feeling down. She was the girlfriend of a senior at a prestigious highschool. She did not have time to fonder over childish 8th grade crushes.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————

On Friday night, Eliza was over at Alex's house. (Not that he was paying any attention to her.)

Alex was doing homework at his desk while Eliza played with Phillip. She was clearly annoyed that Alex barely looked at her since Laurens left, but she tried to keep quiet about it.

She walked up to him, wrapped her arms around him, and kissed his cheek. "Hey, wanna play with Phillip?" Eliza inquired

"No honey, I have to finish this essay." He replied with an irritated tone

"Well, I could help you! What class is this for?" She reached for anything to interact with him.

Alex scoffed. "Sweety, this is for debate club, a very advanced club. You couldn't help me."

Eliza jerked away from him. He had never talked to her like that before, and she did not like it one bit.

"Alex, in case you haven't noticed, You and I have the same grades. The only difference is I don't show them off like trophies."

He turned around in his chair. "What are you talking about! I need to get this essay done, and you are making this all about you!"

"YOU JUST TOLD ME I WAS STUPID!" She yelled back, months of hidden rage spilling out.

"STOP MAKING THIS ABOUT YOU! YOU DON'T TAKE DEBATE CLUB, THAT'S WHAT I MEANT! I DIDN'T CALL YOU STUPID! STOP TRYING TO BE A VICTIM!"

He got up out of his chair and grabbed her arm. She flinched away, holding back tears.

"What, now I'm not allowed to touch you? You're being overdramatic, you know I didn't mean it like that."

Eliza was quiet for a minute. Alex sighed and turned back to his computer.

"what happened in the locker room." Ever since the email, the sentence about the locker room had stuck with her.

Alex stopped typing. "What does it matter? Laurens is gone, stop thinking about it."

"Why won't you tell me? I saw how he would look at you. You think I don't see things, but I do." She was tired of being treated as less than him.

"You're delusional. Nothing happened! If you must know, Laff walked in and he told us about how he was going to break up with Peggy."

She knew he was lying. Laff and Peggy had already left by the time Alex and Laurens were both in the locker room.

"I'm going home. Phillip can stay at your house today. I'll see you at school." She said coldly, already walking out the door.

"Calm down, nothing happened!" He lied again.

"Tell that to Laurens!" She screamed back from downstairs.

Alex heard the door slam from behind her, as Phillip came up to him and cuddled his leg.

"At least you don't question me." He said.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————

Alex joined with two boys in his class, John Jay and James Madison, to write the essays defending the Funding Papers in a span of a week.

John Jay got the flu after writing 5

James Madison somehow wrote 29

HAMILTON WROTE

THE OTHER 51!!!!

—————————————————————————————————————————————————

Monday, two weeks later

Alex got called into his father's office one day. It was in a new place, other than the gym. It was also newly decorated, with his Degree hanging on the wall, surrounded by (faux) leather seats and dark brown bookcases with Washington's favorite history novels, biographies, and textbooks filling them.

"Wow, nice place dad, why the new office?" Alex asked, as Washington had only gotten it a few days prior.

"Well Alex, that's why I called you today. Recently our former Principal resigned, and the school board made a decision on who to hire."

Alex looked at him, already basically knowing what he was saying

"So, as principal I need to appoint the best students for the student council this year and-"

Alex stopped him before he could finish "What do you need me to do?" He said with a smile.

"Treasury"

"Let's go!"

—————————————————————————————————————————————————

That Wednesday, Eliza went over to Alex's house to pick up Phillip's favorite dog toy, only to find out about the student council.

"More clubs!?" Eliza shouted. "You barely have time to do anything as is!"

Alex was sick and tired of her yelling "This is what I want to do, you should have nothing to do with it. Hate to tell you this, but you are not my first priority!" He yelled back

"I don't expect to be! I am scared for your mental health. I know you better than you think and I can tell you haven't slept enough." Eliza rebutted.

It was true, Alex had been pretending to be asleep in his room when in reality he was writing more essays than anyone should ever write in a lifetime. His heart thumped louder at her knowing him so well. God knows there was only one person he knew like that, and it wasn't her.

"It's my body, I should be able to destroy it without your permission!" Alex said, enraged and clearly tired.

"I can't just sit by and do nothing while you torture yourself! In case you haven't noticed, people care about you! I care about you."

Alex didn't look at her. He didn't react.

"only one person cared about me, and he's gone"

Eliza was tempted to ask about the locker room again, but decided against it. Instead she paused and replied with,

"We both know that isn't true." She reached for his hand, and for the first time since Laurens left, he didn't flinch.

"I am not quitting the student council. But I am also not quitting you." He said, hoping that would ease her worry.

It didn't, but she didn't say any more. She just hoped that with Laurens gone

She would be enough.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————

YAY I FINISHED IT

AND IT ONLY TOOK ME A MONTH

WHO'D'VE THOUGHT

All seriousness, my life is pretty shitty right now, and writing this has helped so much. Thank you to everyone who has read or was interested in this story, you help me be happy :)