Chapter One

Alexander Hamilton shifted his computer bag as he squeezed in-between two large men who were carrying big, black cases. His wire-rimmed glasses threatened to slip off his nose and he pushed them back up. If they fell, they would be crushed immediately underfoot by the many pedestrians bustling about the streets in the early morning.

As Alex walked up the street to King's College, his current institute, he thought about those two men, and who lives in their life, who died, and who tells their story.

Their story!

Alex almost stopped walking. Yes, of course! Everyone has a story here. Even I do.

He smiled to himself. Yes, I have a story to tell, I suppose, even if it is one that I do not like. I wonder who else on these streets has a story much like mine.

He amused himself by looking at the innocent, boring passersby and creating stories for them. When a rather hassled-looking young woman rushed past, Alex imagined that she was escaping a screaming child, or perhaps a horrid lover.

As a stricken man stumbled past, Alex wondered if he was experiencing the shock after learning about the death of a loved one. He knew that feeling very well.

Stop that. Don't think about that. You live in the present, Alexander, so stop obsessing over your past.

He pushed the memories away. Alex lost himself in his thoughts of people's stories until he was unpleasantly jolted out.

"I'm so sorry!" he exclaimed as a young woman, about his age, stumbled and almost fell. "I didn't mean to crash into you!"

She straightened up and gave him a piercing glare. "Watch where you're going!" she sniffed. Her dark brown hair was a bit messy and it fell into her eyes. She pushed it away.

Alex held up his hands as an apology and made his way towards her.

"Are you okay?" he questioned. "Do you hurt?"

"Excuse me?" she asked, one eyebrow cocked.

"Um, never mind!" Alex stuttered, taken aback by her attitude. He took a pace back.

She sighed and then extended her hand. "I accept your apology. I'm Elizabeth, Elizabeth Schuyler."

Alex shook her hand and he introduced himself. "Alexander Hamilton."

Elizabeth smiled. "See you around, Alexander."

She winked and spun on her heel and marched away, glancing at him from over her shoulder.

Alex's legs turned to mush and he clutched a nearby lamppost for support. "Maybe…" he whispered.

For the rest of the morning, Alex could only think of the mysterious Elizabeth Schuyler.

She's around my age. She probably is in college. Maybe she's in King's. There is a possibility, even though I've never seen her before. I mean, it's only September, and the school year just started a couple of weeks ago.

Alex took his usual notes, which ended up being twelve pages, front and back, after his two morning lectures. The only difference was that he couldn't recall what exactly the lessons were about. Cursing himself silently, Alex used his free hour reviewing his notes, which actually helped a lot.

After throwing himself vigorously into his afternoon classes, Alex was completely worn out. He was just about to exit campus when he saw her.

Elizabeth Schuyler!

She was talking to two girls, one a bit shorter than her, one a bit taller.

Alexander rushed towards her and he called out her name. "Elizabeth!"

Elizabeth turned around, started, but relaxed and smiled as soon as she saw who had yelled out her name from the other side of the campus.

"Hey, Alexander," she greeted a panting Hamilton, "I wondered when you would realize that we went to the same college."

Alex blinked. "You knew? And you can call me Alex."

Elizabeth smiled. "Yes, Alex, I knew. I saw you around once or twice."

"Elizabeth, why didn't you tell me this morning?" Alex demanded.

She shrugged. "It was kind of irrelevant to the conversation."

One of the girls, the taller one, said, "Eliza, we ought to get going. We'll miss the bus to the concert if we wait any longer."

Elizabeth glanced at her. "Okay, Angelica." she conceded.

"And plus, Daddy said to be home by sun-down!" the shorter one squeaked, pouting.

"Yes, Peggy, I know." Elizabeth said soothingly.

Alex shifted from foot-to-foot, unsure of what to say.

"Um…" he said, "I guess-"

Elizabeth clapped her hands to her forehead. "Of course!" she exclaimed.

Alexander was startled.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't introduce you guys! I'm so rude!" she said.

"No, it's okay," Alex reassured her.

"Well, Alex, these are my sisters, Peggy and Angelica. Angelica, Peggy, this is Alexander Hamilton. We ran into each other this morning. Literally."

The sisters smiled at Alex. He smiled back.

"We really need to gooo!" Peggy whined suddenly, tugging at Elizabeth's sleeve.

"Okay, Peg." Elizabeth said, patting her sister's head.

Peggy hissed like a cat and drew away. "No head-patting!" she growled.

Alexander, Elizabeth, and Angelica laughed. Elizabeth swept a lock of hair behind her ear and smiled at Alex. Alexander smiled shyly back.

"Well, see you around!" Elizabeth said cheerfully.

"Good-bye, Elizabeth!" Alexander called as the sisters walked away.

"Call me Eliza!" Elizabeth called back. She waved, and Alex waved back.

"Good-bye, Eliza!" Alexander hollered.

She smiled at him over her her shoulder. Alex turned away and started the long trek back to his apartment.

Alex worked late into the night. When the final sentence was added to his essay, only then did he stop to take a break. Alex stood up and stretched, looking around at his small, dingy apartment.

There was one rickety, old table and chair, a threadbare mattress and three old blankets, a couch that was leaking stuffing, and a small and slightly dysfunctional bathroom. There wasn't much choice; Alex was very poor and this was the only apartment room that he could afford.

Sure, he managed to get by, but he used all of his free time doing odd jobs and working behind the counter at his favorite coffee shop to earn money. The full academic scholarship covered his school tuition, so he didn't need to worry about paying off student loans and such.

He was grateful.

Alex, famished and exhausted, curled up on the mattress and fell fast asleep.

"Hey, Peggy!"

Alex was running up the street, chasing a small head full of dark, curly hair.

"PEGGY!"

Peggy finally heard Alex and turned around, her face lighting up in a grin.

"Hey, Eliza, look, it's that Alex boy!" she called.

Eliza appeared next to Peggy's side and laughed.

"Hello, Alex!" she greeted him as he rushed up to her.

"Hey, Eliza! Hey, Peggy!" Alex greeted the sisters.

"Aren't you goin' to school?" Peggy asked innocently and sweetly, her dark eyes wide.

"Yeah, it's Thursday." replied Alex, a bit thrown-off by her question.

Of course I'm going to school! She knows I go to the same school as Eliza. Isn't that obvious?

Alex came to the conclusion that Peggy was either just messing with him or she wasn't very bright. Alex, attempting to be a nice person, chose to believe the first option.

"Stop messing with me," he scolded, and was rewarded with a bright white smile.

I guess she was just messing with me…

Eliza cleared her throat.

"Hey, you two, hurry on up! Don't forget that we have school!"

Peggy giggled and snatched Alexander's hand before he could protest, and dragged him up the street.

When they approached the Martin Luther King Jr. high school, Peggy relinquished her hold on Alex's hand and waved good-bye.

"Bye you guys!" she called.

"Wait," Alex said, "I thought Peggy went to King's!"

"No," Eliza laughed. "She's a grade lower than I am."

They continued walking up the street.

"I saw her on campus yesterday." Alex frowned.

Eliza smiled. "That doesn't mean she attends the school. She was meeting us near the statue of old King Georgie so we could catch the bus and see a concert together."

Alexander nodded. "Yes, you're right, and I guess I shouldn't jump to conclusions."

"No," Eliza agreed. "You probably shouldn't."

They smiled at each other and for the first time, Alex realized that Eliza was actually very pretty.

"Today, you will be working on a partner-project. I already have preassigned partners, so don't get too excited, Jefferson."

The last sentence was aimed at Thomas Jefferson, an annoying prat of a college student whose IQ was aggravatingly close to Alexander's. Thomas was grinning and waving towards James Maddison, a shy and sickly sort of boy. Alex had no idea why they were friends, but he had concluded long ago that both society and its standards were strange.

"So," Mr. Woodruff resumed, "I will be reading off the partners. Don't move until I say so, and you will have the rest of the period to work on it."

Alex waited patiently for Mr. Woodruff to read off his and his partner's names. Finally, after what seemed like years, Mr. Woodruff said, "Alexander Hamilton and Hercules Mulligan."

Hercules Mulligan!

The name sounded familiar, though Alex was certain that he had never met its owner.

After the last two people were partnered off ("Maria Reynolds and Charles Lee."), Mr. Woodruff gave them permission to stand up and find their partners.

Alex stood up, wondering how he would manage to find his partner in this mess. It looked like a sea of people, swimming around desks and chairs, occasionally crashing into things such as stools and handrails and walls.

He wandered around, asking strangers if they were Hercules Mulligan for probably a good ten minutes before he heard someone below his name.

"WHERE IS ALEXANDER HAMILTON?"

Alex paused, amused, and considered yelling back.

"OVER HERE!" Alex called over the mass of students.

The crowd parted and a large, dark-skinned boy pushed his way towards Alex. He had a dark green beanie on. He grinned when he caught Alex's eye and for some reason, Alex smiled back.

"Hey, are you Alexander Hamilton?" he asked in a low, gravely voice.

"Call me Alex. I assume you're Hercules Mulligan?" Alex replied.

"Yeah, that's me alright." he said, his eyes twinkling.

"You know, for some reason, your name seems familiar to me. I'm not sure, but for some reason, I think of turtleneck sweaters when I hear your name…"

Alex thought Hercules might have blushed.

"Oh," he said. "That's, um, because of- uh, I mean, that's odd." Hercules swallowed nervously.

Alex grinned. "What are you hiding?"

Hercules was definitely blushing. "Nothing."

"Aw, come on! What do you stall for? I'm not going to judge." Alex said.

"Oh, alright, but you'd better not tell anyone, nosy boy."

Alex nodded eagerly, ready to hear what he labeled as "Hercules's Secret."

"You associate my name to turtleneck sweaters because I make them. Fine. There. Happy?" Hercules muttered, his eyes determinedly fixed on the floor.

"What did you mean when you said you made them?" Alex questioned.

"I, argh, alright, I'm a freaking tailor's apprentice! I own a brand of turtleneck sweaters!" Hercules said.

Alexander laughed. "Oh, so that's why I-"

"Yeah, yeah, wow, amazing." Hercules cut Alexander off, his eyes darting nervously around. "Just keep quiet, nosy boy, I don't want anyone finding out."

"Why?" Alexander asked. "There's nothing to be ashamed of."

"Yes there is!" Hercules insisted. "Boy, other people would judge me if they found out I spend my spare time sewing clothes! It's a girly interest, Alex, and I'd rather keep it hushed up."

Alex looked curiously at Hercules, whose ears were bright red by now. He wondered what it would be like if he was really passionate about something, but had to keep it a secret because society would judge him if it knew that he liked it.

Hercules cleared his throat, evidently uncomfortable, and suggested that they start working. Alex quickly agreed. They worked and talked the whole rest of the class, and there was not another single mention about Hercules's hidden passion for sewing clothes.

"Hey, since we didn't finish this project, you you want to come over to my dorm and finish it?" Hercules was walking out of class with Alex.

"Sure," Alex replied. "When should I come over?"

"Right after school would be fine, if you don't have anything planned." Hercules rumbled. "I'll write down my address, just wait a second…"

Alex accepted the scrap of parchment and hurried off to his next class, wondering whether he had just made a new friend or not.

Hey, y'all! It's me, the author! *gasp* I know I said there would be Lams, but never fear! You'll have some pretty cute Lams later, I promise, in chapter three. :) This chapter was mostly about introducing Alexander and establishing relationships with important characters in the book. I absolutely hate fanfics when after two seconds of knowing each other, the characters become best friends, or fall in love, etc. So~ how do you like my writing style so far? If you didn't notice, I had a few very small tastes of Hamliza in the chapter, and there will be more later. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of Hamliza, but I still support it. ;)