Adopted by Hamilton

Chapter 119 - EduHam (3)

"So, we're going to open this up to you guys, any questions, raise your hand, we've got Thayne Jasperson running around, he'll get you a mic." Lin announced the Q&A, and I smiled.

"I guess you don't have any questions." Josh whispered to me.

"Oh, you'll see, I have plenty." I ended up pulling out my phone and texting Thayne.

(Hey, I have questions.)

I looked behind me, and I saw him hand the mic to a girl in the middle of the theater, then saw him yank his phone out of his pocket, check it, look at me and give me a thumbs up, then start typing. In about 10 seconds my phone lit up.

(Sweet, be right over.)

I smiled and put my phone away, I didn't hear the girls question, but noticed Thayne standing next to me with the mic.

"Hi." I said, standing up with the microphone. "So, my name's Abigail." I had barely gotten my name out when I heard Daveed.

"Oh crap, someone take that thing away from her." He was laughing, tossing his head backwards.

"I have a couple questions, is that cool?" I asked, looking at Lin.

"Shoot Niñita." He smiled at me.

"Alright, thanks, um, Leslie," he turned to look at me, "hi! Okay, so I was just wondering when do you get dressed? Like, prepped for the show? How long before the show?" I looked at him expectantly.

"Well Abi, I'm decently sure that you know the answer to that question. But, for all y'all, um, I generally get ready, about, 10 minutes before curtain."

"He's a freaking idiot." I heard Lin butt in.

"I'm always on time!" Leslie protested.

"Guys, if you ever come to see the show and we start like a minute late, it is because this man, is sprinting downstairs trying to yank his boot on I swear." Lin was yelling into his mic and it was amazing.

"Okay, I still have a couple more questions, okay, Daveed," I started.

"Yeah Kid." He acknowledged me.

"Um, so, how many Oakland shirts do you own?" I asked, referring to the one he was wearing.

"Um, hella." He replied, which merited a large explosion of laughter.

"Also, uh, can I ask about your first job at Pier 1 Imports?" I giggled as I said this.

"Oh screw that place!" He yelled, "I'm so sorry, this a room of kids. But seriously. I can't go within like a mile of that place without smelling it. Seriously, it sucked." He laughed and I turned to Oak.

"Oak, last question."

"Shoot kiddo."

"Awesome. So, do you ever, and this is off the top of my head, miss your cue for, say, Schuyler Sisters?" I asked, which merited a laugh from the cast, especially Renée.

"Who told you?" He asked, "oh, well, sure, we've all missed cues. Wait, Andy's not here right?" He frantically looked around. "I mean, ugh." He shook his head a little, "we may or may not dance before Schuyler Sisters, it's just to make Renée laugh." He looked to Renée, who smiled and put her hand on her heart.

"Thanks. I'm done now." I handed the mic back to Thayne, and sat back down, very proud of what I just did.

I sat through the rest of the Q&A, and the first half hour of the student performances, when I felt someone tap my shoulder. I turned around to see Pippa.

"Hi, come backstage, you need to change." She whispered, and I nodded, and got up and snuck out with her. "I loved the Leslie thing, by the way." She said, once we were out of the auditorium.

"Thanks." I smiled to myself.

"Okay, so, you sure you want to change for this?" She asked, opening the door leading backstage.

"Yeah, I want to see Lins reaction." I opened the door to Lins dressing room.

"You know he's going to kill you for this right?" She asked, rummaging through the closet, and handing me his costume for the opening.

"Yeah. But, it's going to be fantastic." We both laughed a little, and she helped me change from my school clothes into Lins full on Hamilton costume.

"Okay, you're ready. You got this sweetheart." She wrapped me in a hug, then took my hand and led me to the stage. "His costume is so big on you, and he's tiny." She giggled, shuffling me backstage.

"Niñita, you ready to go on, what are you wearing?" He asked, taking in the full glory of my attire. "Is that mine?!" He asked and I nodded. "Oh gosh, this is not going to end well." He snickered a little, then walked onstage.

"You got this." Pippa said, and gave me a little push onstage. They had a piano set up, mental note to thank Lac. I walked over to the piano, and grabbed the mic from the stand set up for the piano.

"Hi! So, you may be wondering what I'm wearing, and, uh, well, this isn't mine! I low-key stole this from Lins dressing room like, 5 minutes ago. Anyways, so, I'm going to sing for you. But, I'm going to sing as Alexander Hamilton, about John Laurens, so, I hope this doesn't suck." I smiled at the large mass of students, and sat down at the piano, putting the mic back and adjusting it to my height.

(A/N: At this point she plays a parodied version of I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables. I would love for you to read the lyrics... It was either post the lyrics or a video of my singing and playing this song, and NO ONE WANTS THAT. So, I hope you'll read the lyrics, and I apologize in advance.)

I played the intro to the song, praying that this would be a good run of the song, when I reached the opening line.

"I dreamed a dream in time gone by." Everyone in the audience was silent, it was surreal. "When hope was high and life worth living. I dreamed that he had never died, I dreamed the war would be forgiving."

"Then we were young and unafraid, his dreams were made, never used but wasted, there was no ransom to be payed, no song unsung no wine untasted." I sang the last lyric, thinking of Story Of Tonight.

"But the British came at night, their gunfire, soft as thunder." I sang about the night, on August 27th when John Laurens was killed, "as they tore my love apart, as they turned his dream to shame." I pulled the last note out, crescendoing until my mezzo piano reached fortissimo.

"THATS MY KID!" I heard Lin yell from where he stood watching, and my heart swelled.

"He spent that summer off at war, he filled my days with endless wonders! They took my love through blood and gore, for he was gone when autumn came." I tried to inflict the pain and passion of the song and the story into my voice.

"And still I dream he'll come to me, that we will live the years together, but there are dreams that can not be, for the war he could not weather!"

"I had a dream my life would be, so different from this hell I'm living." I almost just spat the word hell, "so different now from what it seemed," I let the feeling in my voice change from anger into grief, "for they have killed the dream I dreamed." My voice drifted down to a soft pianissimo, eventually drifting off with the last few lines of piano.

I stood up from the piano to the applause from the students. I was grinning as I took a little bow, only to be hit by Lin coming over hugging me.

"That was epic Niñita." He whispered, "now go change kiddo."

•••

Hi! So I'm sorry about the lyrics, I was going to post a video but then I realized I was crap and no one needed to see me attempt to do that ever, so, yeah...

11:41

I'm sorry her performance was anti-climactic.

Thanks for reading!

-Abi