young, scrappy and hungry | a hamilton story | √

Chapter 21

Kasey changed out of her costume and grabbed her stuff before heading to the stage door. She knew there would most likely be a lot of fans outside, especially since it was their re-opening.

When she stepped outside, she was immediately hit with a gust of cool air, and then the fans started screaming.

Kasey pulled out her black Sharpie and just started going down the line, taking pictures and talking to them.

"What's it like?" one little dark-haired girl asked softly. Kasey bent down to hear her better. She gently took the program out of the little girl's hands.

"Is what like?"

"Being away from home," the little girl said, still very quiet.

The girl's question broke Kasey's heart a little bit, and she could now just make out the little girl's British accent.

"It's not fun, sometimes, but it's also fun to be with my friends," Kasey told her, while signing her name in a scrawl on the program. "I'm away from some of my friends, which is hard sometimes."

"Do you ever miss your mommy and daddy? I miss my mommy and daddy. They're gone," the girl said, her big brown eyes shining.

Kasey swallowed. "Yeah, I miss them a lot. I miss them all the time, but you know what? If your parents love you then they'll always be with you, no matter how far away from home you are."

"But how do you know?"

"You can feel it, right? You know they're watching," Kasey said. She handed the program back to the little girl.

"Thank you," the little girl said, throwing her arms around Kasey.

Kasey hugged the little girl back and then continued down the line. Finally, she got through almost all of the fans.

She reached out to take one of the final programs that was being extended for her to sign.

"Kasey."

Kasey looked up. It was Jace. She hugged him. "I didn't know you came to the show," she said. They pulled apart.

"I couldn't have missed you perform," he told her. "It was wonderful. I see what all the hype is about." Kasey smiled, quickly signing his program and handing it back to him.

"Thank you, that means a lot, Jace," she said.

"Do you maybe want to see Wicked with me?" Jace asked, sticking his hands in his pockets. "I've been wanting to go for a while, but I've never found anyone that I really wanted to see it with."

"Sure," Kasey agreed. "Just let me know when, and I'll see if I can make it."

"I think the tickets were for Wednesday's matinee," Jace said. "Is that alright?"

"That sounds like it will be fine," Kasey said. "I'll just have to ask Lin for a show off."

"We can meet in front of your theatre. It'll only be a four block walk, but wear comfortable shoes if you want," Jace said.

"I will," Kasey laughed. "Good night, Jace."

"Amazing job tonight," Jace said.

"Thanks. I'll see you later, then," Kasey said, waving goodbye and heading down the street to the loft.

~~~~

The next day, they didn't have rehearsal. Kasey was glad, because a: she didn't feel like rehearsing, and b: she had some things she needed to get done.

She and Carleigh decided just to stay in until they had their evening show. They were both on their laptops- Kasey guessed that Carleigh was looking at Youtube, by the way she was smirking, and Kasey was filling out her application for dual citizenship.

It was something she'd been thinking about for quite some time. She'd been living in the United States since sophomore year in college, and only returned home during the summer to retrieve her personal belongings.

Becoming a dual citizen was important to Kasey. Even though she'd lived in the UK for most of her life, the US had been a fresh start. She already had more friends and better memories here rather than her birth country.

At the same time, Kasey hadn't wanted to give up being a British citizen. That was a part of her, too, and part of Kasey thought that if she renounced her British citizenship, she'd be abandoning her family and the principles they based their lives on before they died. She didn't want to stop being British.

Kasey scanned over the requirements to apply for dual citizenship. She met them all. She thought about it for a couple minutes, and then decided to fill it out and send it in.

There was no time like the present. If it got accepted, then she would have to go and take the American History test to make sure she knew American history well enough.

She hoped she did- she definitely knew the revolutionary war and the time after that.