Nothing exciting happens on the weekend. Philip stays in his room the entire time, not ready to face his mother yet. On Monday, Philip gets up, getting ready for school as usual. He's happy he'll get to see George today. Unfortunately, that means he'll have to face his mother first. After he gets dressed, he stalls in leaving his room. He doesn't know what she'll say. Or even if she'll say anything at all. Sometimes, she just shuns him, and it hurts more than when she actually yells at him. Once he's finally left the room, he heads towards the kitchen for breakfast. His mother is in there, cooking. But he doubts he'll be allowed to have any of the food she's making. He's relieved to see his pa at the table, reading a book. At least he won't have to face his mother alone. Like George has to face his father alone. Poor George. Philip misses him a lot and hopes he's okay. He goes up to the table, wanting to be closer to his pa to make him feel safer. "Morning..." His mother looks up from what she's doing briefly and then looks back down without a word.

He sees his pa eye his mother. "You haven't come out of your room all weekend, so I didn't get the chance to ask: how was the dance on Friday?"

"It was really fun! I made a new friend! I think..." Frances was difficult to understand.

"Hope it's a girl," his mother comments.

"Eliza," his pa warns her before looking at Philip. "What's their name?"

"Her name's Frances!" Philip explains excitedly. Having a new friend is really exciting. "She just moved here a few weeks ago, so she's new at school. Oh... and her last name sounds familiar, but I can't figure out how..."

His mother finally looks up from the food she's making. "It is a girl!" She smiles. Philip missed seeing his mother smile. But now it's not the same anymore. She doesn't... feel the same. "Your father might know it."

"What's her last name?" his pa asks.

"Um..." Philip has a weird gut feeling about the name, so he doesn't say it too loudly. Instead, he whispers "Laurens...?" quietly to his pa.

He nods and looks over at Philip's mother. "Never heard of it." Thankfully, she shrugs and seems to just let it go with that, continuing making herself breakfast. His pa stands up from his chair. "I've gotta go to work. Want a ride to school, Philip?"

Philip nods, still wondering about the name. If his pa didn't know anyone with the last name Laurens, how can Philip recognize the name? "That'd be cool," he confirms, briefly glancing at his mother. "Bye..." He pauses. He was about to say, "Bye, Ma." But his mother told her not to call her that anymore. So he leaves it at that and follows his pa to the car. Once they're outside, his pa gestures for him to go into the car and pulls out his phone, calling someone. Philip gets into the car and buckles up, ready to go so he can finally see George again.

—————

John is at home, getting ready to go to work, when he hears the familiar yet rare sound of his phone ringing. He sighs and picks it up after a few rings. "Hello?"

"John, hi!" comes Alex's voice from the other side of the phone, cheering him up drastically. It sounds like he opened and closed a car door as well. He must've gotten into a car. Well, duh, John, of course he did. Probably.

"Oh, Alex!" he chirps. "Hey! What's up?"

"You didn't tell me you had a daughter!" John heats the sound of an engine start. Yeah, he's definitely in a car.

But how did Alex find out about his daughter? It's such a strange thing to bring up, too. Sometimes even John forgets he has a daughter. "Oh! Uh... you didn't ask!"

"Philip met her. Says they're friends," Alex says.

"Oh, really?" John replies, genuinely surprised. Oh, that makes sense. Well, it doesn't make much sense that Frances would make a friend, but maybe Alex's son somehow got through to her. "Frances isn't generally one to make friends..." Maybe Frances isn't actually as closed off as John thinks she is. How well does he actually even know his daughter? That thought scares him a bit, as a father.

"Let me rephrase that. He thinks they're friends now. He didn't really elaborate much," Alex admits. "What year of high school is Frances in?"

"She's a senior," John explains. "I feel kinda bad, moving to a big city all of a sudden... After I... uh... met you... I moved back to South Carolina. That's where... mistakes were made and Frances was born. But I would never consider Frances as a mistake. Neither did her mother..." John doesn't want to dampen the mood, so he doesn't elaborate on her mother.

But then, Alex asks the dreaded question: "Where's her mother now?"

'Where's her mother now?' indeed. John prefers not to think about it, much less speak about it. Martha was a really good friend to John. They raised Frances together, as well as they could. John never had real romantic or sexual feelings for Martha, but he was loyal to her anyway, and Martha was fine with it. She was fine with raising Frances together as just platonic friends, seeing as John is gay. And he really respected her for that. It still hasn't even been that long since she... "...She... ...She's dead... We moved back here because everything reminded us of her... She... She was... a good friend..." He can't help tearing up. He misses her. She wasn't just a good friend; she was his best friend. It hurts to lose a best friend.

"Oh," is all Alex says before there's just silence. A bit later, he speaks again. "I'm sorry. It must've been hard."

"...Yeah. I don't even know how Frances took it. Sometimes I feel like she's just so closed off from the world..." It's the truth. John can never truly tell how Frances feels. He still doesn't understand teenage girls.

"Maybe Philip can get her to open up more. And his boyfriend might understand her a little. I'm not going to elaborate on that because it's not my business."

"His boyfriend...?" John's a little surprised at that. He's more than sure that Eliza wouldn't approve of that.

"Yeah," Alex replies. He hears him move the phone and call out, "Bye, Pip! Try to hang out with Frances for me, okay?️‍"

He hears a faint, "Okay, I will!" before Alex's voice comes back on the phone.

"I'll talk to you later, alright? I've gotta get to work."

"Alright. Talk to you later!" John has managed to return to his chipper-sounding self. Then Alex hangs up and he sighs, setting down his phone. He slumps over and continues on with getting ready for work, sparing a quick glance at Frances's bedroom door. He never even saw her leave this morning. He rarely sees her at all these days. He at least allows her to go to a private school. That's enough, right? He continues on his way to his room, not really sparing his daughter another thought as his mind makes way for today's plans.

—————

Philip is finally at school and far away from home and his mother. And he can finally see George again! He was a little confused at first when he heard his father talking to someone on the phone, but he realized that he actually did know someone with the last name Laurens pretty quickly. When they got to the school, he decided he'd ask him about it later. He's now walking towards the front of the school, when he sees one of his most favorite people in the world! He runs up to him, yelling, "George!"

When George sees him, his face lights up with a smile, much to Philip's delight. "Hey, Pip! You didn't take the bus today?"

"No, Pa offered me a ride, so..." He catches a glimpse of Frances across the schoolyard and remembers what his pa told him. "Hey, look! There's Frances! We should say hi!"

George looks over, following his gaze. "Alright," he finally responds, taking his hand and walking towards Frances.

Philip walks with him happily. Once they're close enough, he calls out to her. "Hi, Frances!"

She turns to them. "Oh... hi?"

"Hey!" George greets with a smile. "You seem kind of alone over here."

She looks around. Philip can't tell if it's because she's sitting uncomfortably or is looking for someone or something. "Yeah."

"What's your first class?" George asks, rocking back and forth on his feet, seemingly also sensing the awkwardness.

Frances stands up. "History."

"Let's see. That's in that building over there," George says, pointing to the social studies building.

"Thanks," Frances says before just starting to walk off towards it.

"Hey, wait. You don't have to go yet..." Philip tries to stop her so that they can hang out with her more, but she won't stop walking.

"Yeah. There's still a good ten minutes until we have to head to class," George tries with a smile. But she just keeps walking.

"Okay... You can sit with us at lunch, if you want!" Philip calls to her.

"I'm not giving up that easily," George says, running up next to Frances. "Hey, are you okay?"

Frances looks at him. "What do you mean, am I okay?" Philip watches them. It doesn't seem like it's going to go well.

George shrugs. "I'm not going to push anything, but you just seem... sad."

Frances scoffs. "Sad? Thanks." Uh-oh. That doesn't sound good. She continues walking.

George shakes his head and tries to follow her. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that! I just—" He sighs. "I didn't want you to be alone."

Frances isn't fazed. "I know what you meant. And it's none of your business." She's practically already gone now. Philip frowns. That didn't go well at all.

George stops and sighs, calling out to her one last time. "Philip and I are still here if you ever want to hang out..." His voice trails off.

A student standing nearby looks at George. "No one wants to hang out with a couple of f*gs," she mutters.

Philip ignores her, looking at George. "Pa says that I need to help her break out of her shell or something... I didn't realize how much he was right..."

George turns to him. "Hopefully we have classes with her."

"Mhm..." Philip is pretty disappointed that she didn't seem to want to talk to them. How's he supposed to be friends with her if she keeps walking away from them?

George gives him a sad smile. "Guess we better get to class..."

"Yeah..." he agrees. "See you in Study Hall!"

"Bye!" George says before leaving for his class. Philip heads to Biology. He sits in his seat and the teacher starts talking about what they're going to do that day. He tries his best to focus, as he usually does, ignoring any teasing or bullying from other students. He manages to get through the period without any major issues.

The teacher gives the class an assignment and then announces she's done for the day. Just as Philip finishes it up, someone approaches him. "Hi!"

Philip is surprised and almost was startled by the sudden greeting. He's happy someone's talking to him, though. He likes meeting new people. "Hi!"

"I'm Theodosia!" she announces, holding out her hand to him. "I've seen you and have been told not to go near you. But I just can't help myself anymore!"

He smiles and shakes her hand. She's much nicer than Frances. "Nice to meet you! And I promise I'm harmless... but it's probably not good to talk to me. Talking to me can ruin your whole social life, heh..."

"I don't care! I love making new friends!" Theodosia giggles. Well, that's something they have in common, then. This is great! It's so much easier than talking to Frances!

Philip stands and giggles, excited. "I like making new friends, too! You can be my second friend!" He jumps up and down excitedly. Of course, Frances is still his friend. He isn't counting George since he's his BOYfriend. He's not abandoning Frances just because she's rude and hard to talk to. He's sure there's something underneath all that unpleasantness that's worth knowing.

Theodosia smiles at him. "You're not as bad as people say you are!" she comments with a giggle. "My dad is Aaron Burr; your dad probably knows him."

"Oh, yeah! Pa mentioned you might go here!" He smiles brightly. That's pretty cool! His ma—no, mother—will be really happy to hear about this.

"Oh, cool!" The bell rings, interrupting whatever Theodosia was about to say. "What do you have next?" she settles with.

"Study hall! Ooh, have you met George yet!?" Philip really wants her to meet George. He loves George. He just feels the need to show him off to everyone.

"I have Study Hall, too! I usually just check into the library and go off on my own, though. But now I have a friend." She pauses. "And are you talking about George Eacker?"

"Yeah, that George!" Philip kind of forgot that there are other George's in the world.

"I have George in my theater class. I'll have to say hello later." She stands up from the desk she'd taken a seat in. "Where do you go for Study Hall?"

"George is in Study Hall now, too! And we like to go to the library!" Philip grabs his stuff, excited to show his boyfriend off.

"Cool! I'm going to hang out with you now!" She puts on her backpack and starts walking out the door, Philip following close behind. They walk across campus to the library. There's a smile on Theodosia's face as they enter the library together.

Philip checks in and then hurries over to George when he sees him. "Hi, Georgie! We have a new friend!" He sees Frances, who's sitting with him, raise an eyebrow as he approaches.

Theodosia follows, waving at George and Frances. "I'm Theodosia! Just call me Theo." Well, that makes it easier.

"Hi! This is Frances!" George says, pointing to Frances.

"Hi!" Theo chirps to her.

"'Sup," Frances says, looking down at her phone and not really paying attention.

Theo is really energetic and positive. She'd be a good recruit to help in his pa's plan! He whispers to her, "We have to make Frances more happy."

She nods and sits next to Frances as Philip sits next to George with a smile, who, in turn, kisses his cheek. Because, of course, he's his boyfriend. Just the thought of the word "boyfriend" is still amazing, even though it's been over a month since they started dating. "Are you new here?" he hears Theo ask.

"Yeah. It's my second day." Frances looks up from her phone just to say that before returning her gaze back to it.

"How was your weekend?" George asks him, and Philip brings his attention to George, letting Theo handle Frances for now.

"It was alright. I told my mom about Frances this morning, and then she was suddenly a lot nicer," Philip says, vaguely registering that Frances and Theo are complimenting each other's hair, although both with different enthusiasm.

"My dad sucks. He literally pretended to be so nice and loving. He pretended like he cared and then right when the observer left, he was back to treating me like the mistake I am!" George rants, his voice increasingly growing louder. Theo and Frances look over, as well as at least half the people in the library around them.

Philip decides it's up to him, as George's boyfriend, to make him feel better. "You're not a mistake!" He cries, hugging him tightly before lowering his voice. "Everyone happens for a reason..." It might be just his imagination, but he thinks he sees Frances actually have a flash of emotion in her eyes. He's not sure what kind of emotion, though. Right now, George is top priority.

George just sighs. "Can the week end already...?"

"You okay, George?" Theo asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine. My dad's just aggravating," he replies.

He rubs his back, hoping he'll at least survive the week. "It's gonna be okay... hopefully..." That didn't come out exactly how he wanted it to.

"Wow, so encouraging," Frances comments.

George chuckles and sarcastically retorts, "You're bright."

"And the mood has crashed," says Theo.

Philip glares at Frances warningly, who just looks back down at her phone. "George, I'll help you anyway I can... even though there's not much I can do..." Still, Frances is right. Philip isn't doing well in his encouragement. He's usually able to be more positive, but he's not sure how to get George through this one.

George pulls away from him, which shocks him. What did he do wrong? "What killed your spirit?" George asks Frances. Oh, he wants to have that sort of conversation with her.

Theo, probably not wanting to be involved in that conversation, like Philip, stands and goes over to him, whispering, "Hello."

"Hi," he whispers back. This is better. Frances and George understand each other better, and Theo and Philip can just mess around together. He's fine with this arrangement. For now.