Blow Us All Away

Chapter Three

Hazel's POV

"You guys..." I say, "You don't have to do this."

"Yes we do," says Lin. "You deserve it."

The cast has cleared everything out of an old dressing room upstairs. They claim it is for me. "I can't let you do this for me."

"Well then deal with it," Phillipa says. I smile. I expected these people to be nice- I've heard all about them- but this is way more than I could've asked for.

"So we can buy some furniture once we contact the state to legally foster you, I think," Lin says.

I shake my head, "I don't want you guys to spend a bunch of money on me."

"Well then you're out of luck," Lin says.

After about an hour or so, the old dressing room has been cleared out, dusted, and vacuumed. We head back down to the stage, and it is already four. "We should probably start getting ready for the show," Jasmine says.

Lin nods, looking at me. "How would you like to see the show?"

My eyes widen, "Are you serious?"

"Of course!" He smiles at my reaction.

"Oh my gosh, I am a huge fan of the show! I know, like, all the songs and I love them! I am your biggest fan!" I ramble.

Lin laughs, "Wow." I smile. "Well, we should get rehearsing."

"Can I watch?" I question.

"I don't see why not."

"Yessss," I say, pumping my fist.

I follow Lin, Phillipa, Thayne, Jasmine, and Anthony downstairs to a dance studio. "Let's do Act II. We did Act I yesterday, and Act II has been a little shabby."

They get in their positions and begin to sing. I watch in awe as they fly through Act II. I cry when Philip dies, even though they aren't acting, just singing. When they finish, it is nearly six and my eyes are red from crying.

"How do you do that every night?" I sniff.

Anthony smiles, "Well, it's mostly me."

Lin punches him playfully, and Jonathan replies, "What are you talking about? It's my show!"

Now it is Jonathan's turn to be punched by Lin, "It's my show. I have the copyrights."

Jonathan rolls his eyes, "Fine." He pretends to pout. I laugh.

"You guys are amazing," I say.

"We know," Anthony and Jasmine say at the same time. They high five, and we all laugh.

"We should go upstairs before everyone gets here," says Renée. So we all file up the stairs and into the backstage area.

"You're in seat F12," says Lin.

I squeak, and he looks at me oddly, "I can't believe I'm seeing the show!"

He just chuckles, "You'll even get to come backstage and meet the cast!" Anthony says sarcastically.

"Wow, really?" I say keeping up the act.

"I hear they're really cool," Anthony nods. I burst out laughing. Suddenly we hear a collection of voices and the creaking of doors.

"People!" Jonathan says. "I love people!"

Lin looks around, "Thayne, can you take Hazel to the lobby the back way?"

"Absolutely," Thayne says. "We have to be very quiet..." He begins to tiptoe down a hallway.

I giggle. We walk down the hall. Someone begins walking toward us around a corner. Thayne pushes me against the wall, "Don't move." We stand completely still until Thayne says, "Oh. It's just Alex. Hi Alex!" He picks up my hand and makes me wave at Alex.

Alex waves back, walks by, and Thayne and I continue creeping down the hall. We finally make it to the lobby. He hands me a ticket, "Enjoy the show!" I smile. He begins walking back down the corridor. I take a huge breath and walk into the lobby filled with people.

Soon after finding my seat in the audience, the lights go down. I'm practically shaking from excitement. I clap loudly along with everyone in the theater as Burr comes out to begin the show. By the time it is over, my eyes are rimmed red and my cheeks are sticky with tears for the second time today. When everyone is cleared out of the lobby I go back through the same corridor as earlier. I reach backstage and find the cast sitting around drinking from water bottles.

"You guys were AMAZING!" I yell.

"I almost forgot about you," Lin says, "Almost." He smiles.

"That was... like... I don't even know!" I say.

"I'm glad you liked it," Lin says. He looks at a clock on the wall. "It's getting late. I would say you can stay at my house because the dressing room isn't finished, but I don't think you would get much sleep with Seb."

"I can just go back to my house," I intervene.

"She can stay over on the wonderful luxury of my couch?" Thayne says.

Lin looks at me, "Are you okay with that?" He asks.

"Sure," I respond, "but I really could just go back home."

"Absolutely not," Lin says.

So I follow Thayne once again down a series of hallways until we get outside to his car. I hop into the passenger seat, and her drives us to his apartment, which is pretty nice for New York. When we get up to the third floor and asks, "You hungry?"

"Not really..." I say.

"You are totally hungry," he pulls something out of a Cookie Monster jar. "Have a cookie."

I laugh, and gladly take it. He pulls out a sheet and blanket and lays them on the couch. "You'll be okay out here?" He asks.

I nod, so he goes into his bedroom. "Goodnight," he says.

"Goodnight," I reply. I fall asleep to the sounds of New York City beneath me, and images of Hamilton dancing through my head.