Who am I?

Chapter 3.

When we were all sitting down in the early morning eating breakfast I knew that it was one of the best chances I would get to ask about this Lin guy. I places my silver ware down on my plate, swallowed and took a deep breath, totally not ready to face the consequences of this choice.

"Mother, is father really my birth father?" They both immediately looked up, shocked that I would ever ask such a question.

"Of course he is, how dare you even ask such a thing Meredith?" My mother scoffed, looking at my father in a sort of desperate manner.

"Well you see, at the doctors when I had to get blood drawn I found out that I was type A. Now that should be physically impossible considering you both are O negative, so I starting thinking, I act nothing like either of you, and let's not even talk about my looks, I mean I look nothing like you. That was when I knew that if I wanted answers, then I would have to get some sold evidence, so I went on a hunt for my birth certificate. On my way to that, I found some pictures of you with a man, a man named Lin Miranda who looks like he could be a clone of mine. Now mother, I ask again, is my father really my father." During this she had gone paler than I ever thought possible. My father did the exact opposite, he was beat red, furias.

"Who do you think you are? With that impostor as story, and now this? I do not want to see your ungrateful face again until tonight, go get ready for school. Now." He shouted in my face, and I smirked knowing that I had gotten all the information that I needed, before turning around and racing up the stairs to my room.

My parents leave a half an hour before I have to go to the bus, and today I was not going to the bus, or at least the school bus. I went back into my parent's room and grabbed one of my mother's extra credit cards and then went and logged on to my laptop, searching up Hamilton tickets. Turns out the cast was performing at the Richard Rogers tonight, and a bus went straight there. I purchased one ticket for the show, and packed a duffel bag with only the necessities for the weekend, knowing that because today was Friday everything would work out.

The public bus station was a good fifteen minute walk from my house, and I also had to stop at the ATM to get money out of my mother's account before she freezed it. By the time I got to the stop the bus had already left for the hour. I sighed in annoyance and sat down, looking up more about Hamilton, finding out that it was a rap musical about Alexander Hamilton. The more I read about it the more excited I got to see it.

The bus came back an hour later and I hoped on, looking as confidant as possible giving the driver some money and taking a seat, hoping that no one will question the fifteen year old girl going on to the bus alone with a duffle bag during the school day. Once the bus took off, I grabbed my headphones, and started playing the soundtrack, ready to relax for the hour ride.

When we got near the concert hall it was around four at night, giving me time to go get some food and do a little sightseeing before the show at seven. I went to a little deli and got a BLT then started to walk around New York City for the first time. It was early November, and the first snow had just fallen and the city was light up with Christmas lights, giving everything a magical feel.

About an hour before seven I found myself back at the theater, ready to see this show and hopefully meet this Lin guy. Outside the theater there was a big group of people of people standing outside the theater doors with music playing loudly. I approached the group super intrigued and realized that the cast was outside singing. I pushed my way through the crowd, using my five-five frame to my advantage. Once I got to the inner circle I saw the cast singing and dancing full of enthusiasm. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before. The singers had the entire audience in the palm of their hand, swaying to the music, clapping to the beat. I realized that a huge smile had stretched across my face and that I too was dancing with my hands above my head, shivers running up and down my spine at their voices. This must be what life is supposed to feel like, not uptight rules, essays, and painted faces. I wish that my life could be like the melody flowing out of their mouths, strong, powerful, inspiring, happy, and full.

When the song ended laughed and pulled my arms back around my body to keep the heat inside my coat. People started to disperse when I saw him. The picture man. Lin. I walked over, hoping that this would be my chance to talk to him, just as he went in the door, making me lose my chance just as quickly. I sighed and walked over to wait in line, pulling out the ticket I had printed out at home and giving it to the usher.

When I walked into the theater itself I lost my breath. This was the most amazing place I had ever seen. There were three huge levels of red velvet seating, probably over a thousand seats put together. All around the seats where Greek looking columns lined with gold paint, and right above the stage and covering the ceiling were these beautiful murals or small angels, gods, music and people singing. The stage itself was covered in hard wood, and had a simple red curtain covering it, but over the curtain were crystal threads hanging down in a curtain formation. All together I think I could have been convinced that I was in heaven. The next best thing was watching as every seat filled up as people from all over came and took their place in the show. They may not have been the performers or musicians, but they played a part that was just, if not more important role as they feed said performers the energy and the emotion to keep going. It was an endless cycle of emotion and strength.

I started walking to my seat, lucky enough I was able to get a seat on the first level, and even though it wasn't front row it was still very close to the stage. I took my seat in between a young couple and an older couple, and waited for the show to start. As the lights got darker and the curtain rose you could feel the excitement and expectation rise in the room, and I found myself holding my breath. As the first character walked out onto the stage rapping the first lines I felt my entire body light up with shivers that I knew would not go away for a while. Throughout the entire show I felt as if I was right there with the characters, I cried when they died and laughed when they smiled. I watched Lin through the entire thing and I was amazed out how good he was. I immediately knew that I wanted to be like him, no matter what my parents said, if I could be have the person he was I would lucky.

After the show I walked down to the lobby where I saw the cast out greeting people. I stood in the back of the room, waiting patiently, and totally not procrastinating for a chance to talk to Lin. I watched as they greeted every fan with a smile and hug, laughing animatedly as they talked about the show and joked with each other. Before I knew it an hour had gone by and I was one of the few left. I took a deep breath and walked over towards them, not sure if I was ready to do this, but knowing that I had too. When I was in front of them I finally looked up again and into the eyes that mirror my own, took another unneeded breath and spoke.