Our Shot (LAMS school au)

Chapter 11: Spy Kid

John's POV

"There he is," I mumbled to myself as I made my way through the empty hallways.

School was over, and almost everyone had either gone out or gone back to their dorms. Not me: I was going to introduce Alex to the debate club. I had told him to wait for me outside his last class, so after that all I had to do was 'borrow' his schedule out of his book bag, photocopy it, and then I would know where he would be at any time of day.

When I finally laid eyes on him, however, he was sitting on a bench near the window, the sunlight reflecting off his hair perfectly, mind you; but he wasn't alone. Next to him was a girl I immediately recognized as the middle Schuyler sister, Eliza. The guys and I hung out with her and her sisters a lot: our parents were good friends.

After one more second it registered in my mind that they were sitting really close.

It's a small bench, I reasoned with myself. They were talking about something, smiling, but I was too far away to hear their words.

It seemed in my mind to be a little rude to spy on the two of them, but when it came to the cute new guy, those rules never applied. I wondered temporarily if he was straight or not, but was then reminded of that fact that when Herc and Laf 'told him about me' they for sure told him about me.

These days they practically introduced me to people as "their gay friend, John." I should have asked them what how Alex had reacted to that. Anyway...

Eliza reached into her pocket, pulling out a small shard of paper, and evidently asked Alexander for a pen because he soon supplied one from his jacket pocket.

She scribbled something, still smiling broadly, and gave it to Alexander. She said something else which made Alex's smile fade a bit, and he shrugged, standing up. He went on a bit of a speech, Eliza listening intently, but at the end she smiled and nodded.

They talked some more. Alex tried giving the paper back to Eliza, but she pushed his hand back, signaling for him to keep it. Her smile returned, and she simply waved and left out of my sight, but Alexander watched her go.

He looked down at the paper in mild confusion and sat back down, and I decided that it was time to make an entrance or we would risk being late.

Now don't make a fool out of yourself, Laurens, I told myself. Don't be awkward. Make a good impression- F*CK! My foot dragged, and I tripped over it with my other leg, sending me barreling downwards.

I barely had enough time to put my arms out to stop myself from slamming into the floor. 5 star performance; ten out of ten, would fall again, I thought to myself sarcastically, afraid to look up from my view of the gray tile.

When I did, I saw that Alex had stood up from his seat, mouth hanging slightly agape.

"You're not gonna laugh at me?" I asked in disbelief, slowly getting to my knees.

"Are you okay?" He approached me, ignoring my question, "A-are you hurt?"

"No, totally fine," I replied quickly, trying to stand and ignoring a subtle throbbing in the ankle I had tripped over.

He held out his hand to help me up, which I gratefully took. Once I had regained my balance, it took me a second before I realized I was still holding his hand, which I quickly let go of.

Then we were silent. "How was your first day of school?" I asked, shifting my feet.

Alex shrugged. "It was different; I've never gone to a real school before."

"So you were homeschooled?"

"No."

"Oh."

Alex seemed uncomfortable for some reason, so I didn't push it.

"Do you want to drop off your stuff in the dorm?" I asked him, changing the subject, and he seemed grateful that it had been done.

"I'll bring my bag along," he assured, glancing back at the backpack on his shoulder, "so where are we going?"

"Mister Washington's room," I explained, "Room 160. Just follow me."

"Will do," he replied smoothly, and we began to walk.

"So... what were you and Eliza talking about?" I asked, and he seemed surprised by my question.

"You know Eliza?" He asked, and I nodded.

"And Angelica; and Peggy. We hang out with them all the time."

"Oh. That might make things awkward."

"What?"

"Nothing."

There was a few seconds of silence as we walked until my eyes found his left hand, which I assumed still held the note from Eliza.

"What's in your hand?" I asked, trying not to make it sound like too much of an investigative question.

"Hmm?" He hummed, but opening his hand to reveal the crumpled sticky note, "Oh, she gave me her number."

"Oh. That's cool."

"Yeah."

I guess that solves that mystery, I thought in my mind, but just to be sure-

"Do you like her?"

He looked back at me, eyes a bit wide. "I-I don't wanna butt in to your business or anything, I just..." I assured.

He waved a dismissive hand, but still appeared tense as he answered me. "She's cool," was all he said.

"Did she ask you out? I mean usually when a girl gives you her number-"

"Yes, she did," he interrupted me impatiently, "Sorry; but yeah, she did."

"What did you say?" I asked, biting my tongue.

"I said yes."

Well shit.