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This entire period has been more exhausting than usual. It's Study Hall. It's supposed to not be stressful. But somehow, this gay couple and some rando pretty girl decided it would be acceptable to invite Frances to sit with them at a table in the library. ...Well, of course she accepted. She doesn't have anywhere else to be. But the conversation—something she didn't even want to be a part of in the first place—turned a bit dark. Apparently George has problems with his father. Philip said that "Everyone happens for a reason," insisting that George isn't a mistake. Well, he might not be, but that "everyone" who happens for a reason probably doesn't include Frances. Because she's reminded constantly of how much of a mistake she is.

And now that George guy is trying to talk to her one-on-one about serious things. Ha. What a joke. "What killed your spirit?" Well, as of right now, it's all of them who are trying to bother her with these silly and pointless conversations.

Fine. She'll humor him. But she's not going easy on him. So, what killed her spirit? "Life." It's a simple response. And it's not at all a lie.

"So your life kinda sucks, too?" he asks, tilting his head.

"Heh... yeah, you could say that." Definitely.

"You wanna talk about it?" George asks yet another question, leaning against the table. "I might understand more than those two." He gestures to Philip and... What was her name? ...Theo, who are poking each other and messing around. She studies him, trying to decide whether he's worth talking to or not.

"...Really?" Fine. Alright. If he wants to hear, she'll speak. "Fine then. My dad is gay and I was an accident. He doesn't know how to take care of a teenage girl. My mom died a few months ago and we had to move out of the country to this stupid city for no apparent reason."

George nods, like he perfectly understands how she's feeling. What does he know? "Alright. I was an accident in college that made my dad completely hate my mother. My brother was beaten to death two years ago. The school hates me. My dad is passing a law against gay people. My dad and mother are fighting for custody over me, and my dad has a better chance of winning and is only doing it for the win and his reputation. He hates me." With that, he gives her a thumbs up.

"...Wow. That's pretty bad, too." Frances thinks that maybe he is worth talking to after all. He does seem like he could actually understand.

"And now we're on the same terms," he claims.

That's where he's wrong. "...At least you've got him," she says, pointing towards Philip, who is still messing around with Theo. They're such children.

"Yeah. And if my dad wins, I'll be cut off from Philip. He'll have full control over my life." He sighs. "And now you have us. We want to be your friends. It's worth a shot, right?"

Is it worth a shot? Frances actually considers it this time. They're not the best company to be around, but they're... slightly endearing. She thinks she might be able to handle them. "...I guess..." George and Theo and Philip... They could be her friends. Actual friends. She doesn't need friends. ...Or does she? ...Wait—Philip. Philip... Philip who? "...Wait, hold on. His name is Philip... What did you say his last name was again?"

George raises an eyebrow, no doubt confused about why it matters. "Hamilton. Why do you ask?"

"...I knew his last name sounded familiar. I just forgot why..." Frances definitely recognizes the name Hamilton. And now, she remembers why.

"His dad is Alexander Hamilton..." George reminds her, as if she didn't already know that. "...that one lawyer who is really good at his job but also has tons of enemies." He chuckles, as if the mention of the man is a sort of joke to him.

It's not a joke. "...I knew it. And, yes, I know who Alexander Hamilton is. I know he's a lawyer, but I also know something else... the reason why the name 'Hamilton' really rung a bell." She isn't sure if she wants to mention it. But she will.

"I'm confused now." Of course George is confused. How could he know anything about this subject?

"I've heard so many things about Hamilton from my dad. Whenever my dad gets drunk, he rambles on about him. He's literally all he talks about when he's drunk. And, believe me, the things I've heard about Hamilton from my dad would scar Philip if I said them out loud." Seriously. She's heard things about a grown man's body that a child—especially a female child—should never hear—especially from her father.

She didn't notice at first, but Philip has turned to look over at them. "What about scarring me?"

George shakes his head and—fakely—laughs. "It's nothing. You keep doing what you're doing." Theo raises an eyebrow.

"That laugh was very fake," Philip states before returning to what he was doing. Ouch.

Frances lowers her voice so that doesn't happen again. "...The reason my dad moved away from New York originally, back to South Carolina... the reason he met my mom... the reason they had a crazy, drunken night together... the reason I was born... was Alexander Hamilton."

George blinks, seemingly processing that. "What? Wait... is your dad the guy Philip's dad...?" His voice trails off. "Oh, Lord."

"...Yup. My dad has told me all about how good Philip's dad is... in bed... in detail."

"I suddenly pity you and have concern for your well-being." George chuckles half-heartedly. Oh, so now he pities her. For that. Cool. "How often does your dad get drunk?"

"Hm..." She has to think a second for that one. It's pretty often. "About once a week. Maybe twice a week sometimes if he's especially down. Recently, it's been almost nightly, though," she realizes. "Because of my mom. I'm kinda a little concerned for him."

"I'm sorry. That must really suck." Yeah, you think? "I just recently learned that my dad goes to nightclubs and wastes our money on gambling and such."

"Yikes." Is he trying to compete at who has the worst dad or something? Two can play at that game. "But I guess, at least he's doing it to have fun. My dad kinda struggled with depression for some time before he just turned to alcohol... which doesn't really help."

George nods and then actually suggests something helpful. "Sorry you have to deal with that. You know, you can come over to my house anytime you want. It would probably help my situation and yours at the same time. My dad would want me hanging with a gal and you get away from your house for a bit." That actually doesn't sound like it'd be too bad, if Frances were more of a people person.

"Sure, I guess," she says with a shrug. She's kinda done with talking now. She's already said way too much.

George smiles. "Do you have a phone?" She just stares at him. Well, duh. She's literally been on and off her phone almost the entirety of Study Hall so far. How could he not have noticed that she has one?

He facepalms, seemingly realizing his mistake. "Sorry. Here, put your number in mine." He then hands her his phone, like he actually trusts her with it.

Why does he trust her with his phone? Well, Frances did trust him with information about her dad, so... okay. Maybe George isn't that bad. She puts in her number and gives him his phone back. "There."

"Thanks," George says right as the bell rings. "It's lunch now. Come sit with us." He turns to look at Theo and Philip, who are having an intense game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.

Philip cries out, "Nooo!!! I'm so bad at this gaame!" Guess he lost.

"Okay," Frances replies, although she's not confident whether it's a good idea or not.

She hears Theo laugh and watches disdainfully as she gets up, grabs her stuff, and approaches her. "Hello again!" She looks to George but he's already left her side to be with Philip. Cool. She's being left to her own devices against... this girl.

She gathers her stuff, not even looking at Theo. "Hey." Philip and George start their own conversation. Great.

"Are we friends now? I like new friends." Theo is practically bouncing as she walks with Frances towards the cafeteria. What is this energy? Where the heck does she get it from??

"I guess." Frances doesn't want to get too deep into another conversation right now.

Theo tilts her head. "You don't seem very extroverted."

She fights the urge to roll her eyes and just settles with an over-sarcastic "No, really?"

"I like talking!" Theo states the obvious again and looks at her. "You should talk more. It might be fun!"

"No, thanks. I'm good."

Theo frowns and is finally quiet for a few seconds. Just a few. "What do you like to do for fun?"

Frances notices that Theo is not watching where she's going. She also notices that she's about to run into a trash can. Before she can change her mind, she takes Theo's arm and pulls her to the side, out of the way of the trash can. "Watch out..." Now, she feels like she doesn't have to answer her question for doing that. It was a lot of effort.

"Oh, thanks," Theo says, laughing. She just goes back to looking at Frances, though. This girl never learns, does she? "I like photography." She sits down at the table that Philip and George have chosen. "I have this really cool camera. What's your hobby?" she asks again.

There's no avoiding it this time, apparently. She sits down before replying, "I have a few hobbies. They're not very interesting."

Theo leans against the table, propping herself up by her elbow. "I doubt it. What are they?"

Frances doesn't discuss her hobbies much. People don't actually care what she likes to do in her free time. "Just painting and playing on my drum set." She watches, out of the corner of her eye, Philip crawling into George's lap. Again, she fights the urge to roll her eyes. They're way too affectionate in public. It's not the fact that it's gay that bothers her. It's just that she's never going to get the same thing as they have and there's nothing she can do about it.

"A drum set? That sounds cool!" Theo comments with a smile.

Frances shrugs and rests her head in her arms on the table. She has to admit to herself, Theo saying one of her hobbies is cool makes her feel a tiny bit of pride. Just a bit. "I guess."

She can still feel Theo's eyes on her. "Do you play any cool songs?"

"Depends on what your definition of cool is." She thinks about her drum set. She wishes she could just go home right now and play on it.

"Just the idea of it is cool. I like rock music." Wait, what? "I may look and seem all bubbly, but I love punk things. My room is, like, half-pink, half-covered in rock band merchandise."

"Huh... that's..." She lifts her head up off the table a bit to look at Theo. "...actually pretty cool."

"Really?" Somehow, Theo's smile gets even wider. "There's this one band called AC/DC that I really like."

When she hears that, Frances does what anyone probably thinks is impossible for her to do, including herself. She smiles. "You like AC/DC?" That's, like, her all-time favorite band. And this girl, Theo, likes it.

Theo nods. "It's amazing. My parents, at one point, refused to get me headphones because they're a 'distraction.' So I decided that I'd blast the band until they got me some." She laughs. Maybe Theo's actually not bad. In fact, maaaaaaybe she's actually pretty great. Yeah, Frances could definitely be friends with her.

"Heh... that's amazing." The fact that Theo even likes AC/DC still amazes her. She's... wow. Just wow. She actually likes rock.

Theo suddenly points at her, concerning her for a second before she says, "I made you laugh... sorta," and then smiles goofily. What is that smile? It's... wow. What? Ignore that.

She smiles--again--and shakes her head. "You are an interesting person."

"I've been told," Theo replies.

Alright, that's it. Frances has to have earned this by now. She takes out her phone and creates a new contact. "Here," she says, sliding it on the table over to Theo. "Put in your number or something..." She's not sure what that "or something" would be, but shush, she's actually asking for someone's number.

Theo puts in her number and then hands it back for Frances to put back into her pocket. "There ya go." She sighs and looks up at the ceiling. "I have a test next period," she groans loudly out of nowhere.

"That sucks," Frances says, not knowing what else to say to that.

"Like, what kinda photography class give tests! The amount of homework is enough!" Theo huffs but then suddenly smiles. "But that's okay 'cause I like that class!"

Frances is both confused and amused at Theo's sudden transition between angry and happy. The sudden mood changes are... wow. Pretty off-putting. But also sorta exciting. "...Uh-huh..."

Theo takes out an apple from somewhere, taking a bite. "Did you bring a lunch?"

She shakes her head. "Nah... but it's fine because I'm not hungry anyway."

"Alright." Theo stares at the apple in her hand for a second, frowning. "It's got a brown spot." She throws it at a nearby trash can, a look of pure disgust on her face, but smiles widely when she makes it in.

"You didn't have to throw away the whole apple just because it has one brown spot... There's still parts of it that are good, you know. It's just brown 'cause it's bruised..." Frances's voice goes quieter as she finishes the last sentence, and she rests her head back in her arms. She's said too much.

Theo's mood seems to drop back down again, too. "Are you okay? I'm sorry if I made you sad."

"No, you didn't," she lies. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not. I'm really good with emotions; I know you're not okay." Theo sighs and leans forward against the table again. Great, now Frances has infected the happy one with sadness.

"It's not your fault. I'm always like this," she insists. It's the truth, anyway.

"I wanna help. I want to make you not sad," Theo declares, adding an "Emotions suck." and a huff at the end.

She scoffs. "Tell me about it..."

She looks up slightly, watching Theo as she turns around in her chair and swings her legs over the seat. "They really do." Theo pauses. "I would say my life is pretty great. Buuuuuuut." She emphasizes the "t" in "but."

"...But?" Frances asks, raising an eyebrow. But what? What's so bad about her life?

Theo sighs, getting upset for some reason. "Emotions just upset me."

"Alright then... I agree..." She decides to leave it at that.

The bell rings. Already? It seems too soon to go back to torture. Although, lunch at her old school was usually just torture for her, too. But today it wasn't. Not with Theo. "I've gotta go to class now." Theo smiles and stands up, swinging her bag over her shoulder. "I'm gonna fail this test." She groans in frustration before turning to Frances. "Do ya know where you're goin'?" she asks with a smile.

"Nope. I have Chemistry." Frances stands up, putting her backpack on.

Theo spins around on her foot. It looks strange, but Frances guesses she's just looking around. Suddenly, she stops and smiles, pointing towards a part of the building. "First floor to the right over there!"

"Thanks," she says, heading in that direction.

Theo giggles and waves as she goes. "Bye!" Man, that girl is all over the place. Normally, someone like that would exhaust Frances by just watching them. But with Theo, it's like her energy somehow transfers a bit to Frances. She feels like she has a bit more pep in her step now. Now, of course, Theo isn't a miracle worker. She's not a magician or a wizard. She's not perfect. She's just... wow.