So I ended up scrapping the writing idea. I just couldn't figure out what to say that didn't sound overly creepy or stalker-like.

I did get sleep. If you count a half an hour of tossing and turning, half-conscious and restless as sleep.

"Have a good day at school, Philip!" Pa called, poking his head out of the kitchen as I was going out the front door.

"I will!" I turned and waved at him.

Aunt Peggy picked me up for school, like she usually did.

"Alright kiddo, let's hear it." She flipped on the radio and slid a CD in.

Driving to school with Aunt Peggy was my favorite part of the morning.

The beat filled the whole car. I got a feel for it before starting.

"My name is Philip,

I am a poet,

I'm with my aunt,

she's the best and you know it!

Yesterday was a rollercoaster,

Today might be the same,

But I'm takin' it in stride,

Livin' up to my dad's name!"

Peggy laughed. "Way to go, kiddo. Have fun today." She pulled up in front of the school and flashed me a peace sign, her brightly painted nails catching the sunlight.

I grinned and got out of the car, swinging my bag over my shoulder. "You too, Aunt Peggy!"

She pulled away from the curb, her 'I'm the coolest teacher you'll ever meet' bumper sticker clearly visible. Some of her students had bought it for her a few years back.

Dom was leaning against the school building, waiting for me.

"Only you, dude."

"You're just mad because you don't have such cool relatives." I smirked at him.

He smiled. "Whatever."

"You're smiling because you know I'm right."

"Just shut up and let's go inside." He shoved me jokingly.

"Right." I laughed.

I barely focused on my classes, too busy thinking about Theodosia again. I couldn't take my eyes off of her during Algebra, but couldn't pluck up the courage to talk to her either.

"You're acting like a puppy." Dom informed me in his ever-so-helpful way. He didn't know it was Theodosia that had my attention, but he had figured out that it was someone.

"Shut up."

"Excuse me?" A sweet voice asked.

I turned and came face to face with the one person I was sure I'd never speak to, mostly cause I felt like I was gonna make a fool of myself.

"You're in my Algebra, right?" Theodosia asked. "I took a wrong turn on my way to Biology, could you help me?"

"We're gonna be late fo-"

"Yeah, I can help you." I blurted.

"Dude, we're gonna be late!" Dom hissed at me. "Professor Ellen is gonna give us detentions!"

"Then you go. Just tell her I'm helping the transfer, I'm not a total demon in her eyes." I told him.

Dom sighed. "Fine. But you'd better actually show up."

"I will." I grinned at him.

Dom rolled his eyes and walked off. I took a deep breath before facing Theodosia again. "Okay, who's your teacher?"

"Professor Penn," she smiled. "And thank you for helping me."

"Any time."

My face felt like it was on fire. My stomach felt like it was doing triple backflips. But surprisingly, I wasn't tripping over my words.

"It's this way." I told her, pointing down the hallway.

Theodosia walked with me. Her hair was in a ponytail today, and it bounced lightly as she walked.

"So you went to school upstate, right?" I asked, trying to keep a conversation going.

"Uh huh." She flashed a smile that made my stomach do another flip. "It was a boarding school."

"Why did you transfer?" I asked. Her expression changed a bit and I quickly continued, "you don't have to tell me, if you don't want to."

Theodosia shook her head, "no, it's fine.... My mother passed away and Dad transferred us down here. He claims it's because he can be closer to work, but I think he just doesn't want to be in the house she lived in for their whole marriage."

"Your dad's a workaholic too?" I asked with a small smile.

She nodded. "He's a lawyer."

"Same here!" My stomach was starting to calm down a bit. I had a lot in common with her!

Theodosia smiled. "Maybe they've worked together. I wouldn't know though, my dad doesn't talk about his work much."

"Mine doesn't either." I shrugged. "So, uh, do you like it here?"

She looked around. "It's quite a bit bigger than my old school, but I kind of like that. And the teachers have been quite polite. So have most of the students."

I smiled at her. "That's good. We always try to be as welcoming as possible to new people."

"I've noticed." Theodosia looked down for a moment. "We have other classes together, right?"

I nodded. "Algebra, Composition and Writing, and Music."

"Are you in music to sing or to play an instrument?"

"I play piano. My mom taught me when I was little." I smiled.

"I play violin, but not very well." Theodosia admitted. "I only started about a year ago."

"Well you'll get better, I'm sure. It just takes practice." I told her. "A lot of it."

"So I've been told." She smiled. "You know, violins and pianos go together well. And Ms. Holm told me yesterday after class that we have to do a duet with someone for class at some point."

"Are you saying you'd be willing to work with me?" I asked hopefully. I'd already known about the duet and was stressing a bit, seeing as I didn't have any friends in music class.

Theodosia nodded.

"Well my dad doesn't have a piano, so we'd have to work on the weeks I'm at my mom's house, but I think that would be great." I grinned, stopping in front of her classroom.

"Divorced parents?" She asked sympathetically.

"Not officially." I shrugged. "They just...don't live together anymore."

Theodosia nodded. "Okay. Well, I'll see you in class...what did you say your name was?"

I blushed and slapped a hand to my forehead. "I totally forgot to introduce myself, sorry! I'm Philip Hamilton."

Theodosia's smile dropped. "Oh no. Oh, no no no." She shook her head.

"What's wrong?" I asked frowning.

"You're a Hamilton."

"Yeah.... Is there something wrong with that?" I asked worriedly.

Theodosia looked up at me, a sudden fire in her eyes. "Oh yeah there is, Hamilton."

"Why?" I frowned at her.

"I haven't introduced myself properly." Theodosia said, cocking a hip sideways. "I'm Theodosia Burr."

Burr.

My stomach dropped to my toes.

"Oh."