History Has Its Eyes On You ~ A Hamilton Fanfiction (Book 1, Act 1)

Bullseye

(Cornelius POV)

"FIRE!"

Another miss.

At this rate, we weren't going to get anywhere. To lose against a man with such significance would ruin your legacy. Your honour. Your pride. We weren't achieving what we could if the most we can muster was the scrape of the target board. The soldier needs a miracle, and perhaps a rather big one for the chances of pulling this off. Of surviving this war alone. Alas, I must try my hardest to accomplish my duty.

But if only I could tell her.

(Y/N POV)

"I'm useless, Cornelius. Useless!" I exclaimed, burying my face into my hands.
"To what extent do you believe that?" he asked.
"To a hellish extent. There's no chance of me winning this!"
"Wrong again, Mr Miller." he responded confidently. "You have every chance at this. This man may be much older than you, more experienced, but if you have the courage to succeed then I'm almost certain you will."

"Almost." I repeated him.
"Study shows, Mr Miller, that the more you persuade yourself that you can achieve something in your mind, you're more likely to achieve it in this world. You just have to focus."

"So close your eyes." Cornelius told me.
"No!" I protested.
"Close 'em or I'll hold them shut myself."
I gave in, shutting my eyes to be immersed in complete darkness.

"Imagine you're at this competition." he started. "A crowd has reformed around you, and Mr Peale is by your side. He's determined to succeed. Now, you feel that you have enough ambition within you to perfectly hit that target. As you aim your musket, as we've trained, you become focused. Focused on the objective." I was intoxicated merely by the sound of his voice, swooning through my ears. "You put your finger upon the trigger... and with passion and desire, you pull. That single bullet skids the air, following the route you scouted out for it.

And it hits."

I opened my eyes back up again, staring at my musket. "It will never be perfect the first time," Cornelius reminded, "But I know you can do it. There's a reason that General Washington chose you: you're fierce. You're easily able to construct a skilled idea; you just need to apply it."

I aimed the musket, as he'd said, focusing on the bullseye. I carefully laid my finger onto the trigger, steadying my grip. At the right moment, I pushed down, sending the bullet off. It hit the outskirts of the bullseye, only millimetres off.

"See?" Cornelius questioned. "You've got this. It doesn't matter if it didn't hit this time, but once the time is right, I promise you that you will make a clean shot right at the centre."

"I have faith in you, kid."

~

"Ladies and gentlemen! Gather round, gather round!" Mr Peale attracted the attention of those around him, including me. I was sitting paranoid with John, waiting for this precise moment to come.
"Here we go." John sighed. "We'll be there the whole time, so don't worry about it, alright?"
I nodded, making my way towards the target course.

Mr Peale pointed at me. "This boy has challenged me to a competition, in which I willingly accepted!"
"...He challenged me..." I muttered.
"That's obvious." John backed me up.
"The competition, you may ask, is simple. We both start at 180 points. There are 10 boundaries to this target. Hitting the bullseye is worth 100 points, which will be deducted from your 180 total. The outer bullseye 90, then 80, then so and and so forth. The first man to lose all of their points win."

I frowned, considering how long it'd take me to do it. "You've got this, kid." Cornelius whispered from behind. He handed me a musket, turning my body around to face my target. I dared not even to glance at Peale, for I could already smell the selfishness within him. Like... he already knew that he was about to win. That I'd be humiliated for good.

"Ladies first!" Peale implored. How ironic. Laughter erupted from the men surrounding him, and I scoffed. I aimed the musket, firing without further hesitation. Bad move. I just barely touched the 20, now at 160 points. More and more laughter emerged, bringing back the memories of my childhood.

"Ridiculous." Peale shot instantaneously, marking a 60. That's 120 points for him.
"C'mon, Miller, I know you can do this!!" Cornelius urged.
"I can't-- concentrate!!" I shot again, but even worse. A 10. I was now down to 150.

"This just keeps getting better, doesn't it!" Peale chuckled. At this point, I was merely embarrassing myself, mocked by the others. I so dearly wanted to just drop my musket to the ground and leave, but I knew then that it would ruin my honour. I'd be a coward. I just waited for the moment that Peale would shoot, that he'd only lose more points and I'd--

No.

Something happened.

As all went silent, I witnessed a glimpse of his bullet missing the target completely. "W- What?!!" He slapped the weapon, aiming it up again.
"Ah ah! It's Miller's turn." Lafayette informed. I took a breath, positioning my eyesight again. John came close to my face, and I could feel the warm air of his breath send shivers down my neck. "Take it steady. You've got this, Sophie."

I took a moment to examine my surroundings, putting my mind into focus. I slowly pulled the trigger... It hit a 50.

100 points to go.

"Rrgh!!" Peale irritably shot off again, and once more, it hit a 10. 110 points to go.
"This is it. If you go for near that bullseye, you'll only have a few points left." John reassured. To make sure I was in the moment, I closed my eyes as we'd done before. I envisaged myself hitting that target straight in the centre, humiliating Peale. It was... overwhelming.

I could do this...

I can do this.

Suddenly, my hand led the way, and the bullet spiralled out through the air. It was as if time itself had stopped, that all hope was focused on this single bullet. It could change my reputation forever.

Then...

"...Bullseye..."

"...That's..."

"...100 points..."

The crowd stared in awe, forgetting that Peale was even there. "You... hit the bullseye." John repeated. He began to laugh like a lunatic, grabbing my wrist and throwing my hand into the air in victory. "MILLER HIT THE BULLSEYE!" Many began to cheer, clapping their hands. Peale screamed curses, tossing the musket to the ground in rage. I smiled as men shook my hand, views changed entirely. Cornelius gave me a thumbs up, smiling in proudness.

"What is going on over here?!!" Washington called, emerging from nowhere.

"...Oh no."

~~~~~~~~~~

239 years ago today that Y/N would've been appointed right hand man 😂