Wish: A Hamilton Fanfiction

Chapter 18: Too Close

Everything was working out.

"Now, we're going to do a full run through!" I called to everyone. A dress rehearsal full run through would be the most stressful thing we had done this far. Everyone knew this meant we were getting far too close to opening night. 

Somehow everything went okay. As usual there were mistakes here and there, but nothing we couldn't end up fixing. I felt that we could probably pull this off somehow.

But, all good things have to get messed up somewhere. 

I went to a random shelf I had stashed my bag on and headed back to where everyone else was, swigging from my water bottle as I walked. As soon as I was within hearing range I could her Mariah shouting about something.

"Carson! You have to be more careful where you're going!" she said. She didn't sound extremely angry, only like she was telling him off. 

"I'm sorry, Noelle, I'm so sorry, that's my bad..." he said, sounding nervous. Finally I rounded the corner and I could see what was going on. There was a tear in the bottom of Noelle's dress, and from what I could tell, Carson had stepped on it.

"It's really not a big deal," Noelle said, even though she did seem annoyed. "The costume people can fix it and it will be ready in time, we still have a few days." 

We really badly needed something to ease the tension. "There's a cafe near the theater, we should go there after rehearsal." I tested my idea on Amelie and she seemed to agree. I announced it to everyone and we made it our plan.

Rehearsal ended and a bunch of us made our way to the cafe. Thankfully the line was short, and after ordering, we sat down at a bunch of tables in the general vicinity of each other. 

I was so glad I had suggested the idea; I could feel everyone loosening up as our visit went on and it was fun to spend time outside of the theater together.

Suddenly the alarm on my phone went off, startling half the people at the table. "Sorry, my parents flew in today so I'm going to meet them at the subway station with Noelle. Their train should be getting in soon," I said, shoving my stuff in my bag and standing up from the table. Noelle got up to follow me. I was surprised to notice that I was sad to be leaving the cafe. I hadn't had fun with people in a very long time.

Maybe everything was changing.

It was clear and cold, I hummed to myself as we headed down the sidewalk towards the station. Yes, it was exciting to see my parents again, but I had been glad to be out of the house. Hopefully they would acknowledge that my dreams were real things since I'd gotten this far. 

There were a few minutes before the train arrived so we stood in silence, looking around. It pulled in and a rush of people flooded out. I fidgeted nervously with the strap of my bag before I spotted both of them.

They looked the same as ever, and I was glad all my changes had been internal.

"Zoey!" my mom said, hurrying over with her suitcase, my dad trailing behind her. I smiled as they both hugged me. 

They had a million questions about the program and the people that I'd met. I tried to keep myself from talking about Claire. My guess was that they would support me but I wasn't sure. And I didn't even know if I liked her. Besides, nobody else knew and nothing would ever come from it. 

Their hotel was within walking distance of the subway station so I walked with them to it. When they had finally checked in I hung back near the desk. I knew that they wanted me to stay in the hotel room with them for the night but I wasn't so sure I wanted to. Opening night was in a few days and I didn't want to disrupt my routine. And at this point I felt more comfortable with Noelle's family than I did around my parents. 

"Zoey, come on, we're going up to the hotel room!" my dad called. 

I took a deep breath. I could do this. "I think, well, I think that I'm actually going to stay with Noelle still." 

They looked shocked. "Don't you want to see us again? We've missed you!" 

I couldn't breathe for a minute. Calm down, it's going to be fine. "Well, yeah, but I've been staying with Noelle for a long time now, so I want- I mean, I have missed you but I- my routine- sorry." I turned around and walked out of the hotel. 

Going better to where I was meeting Noelle, I felt different. Everything and nothing felt the same. 

"It'll be faster to take the subway home. I don't remember what the train's called but it'll be nicer than walking," Noelle spoke up. 

"Don't we usually walk though? And we could use the-" 

She cut me off by grabbing my arm and pulling me with her towards the train. Waiting at the platform, I thought I saw someone familiar but I knew that was stupid. So many people in New York looked like someone else that I recognized. I walked closer to the map to figure out which train we had to take.

Someone bumped my arm and I turned, ready to move away (not tell them off, this was very typical), before I realized that I really did know the person there. "Angela!" I said, shocked. She grinned and threw her arms around me. 

"I hope I didn't give away the surprise earlier when I was asking you so many questions about where you were going...I'm visiting my aunt and I thought it might be nice to surprise you, and I really want to see your performance!"

An announcement came over the loudspeaker before either of us could say much else, announcing that a train was leaving. "I'm so sorry, that's the train I have to take to get back in time, I'll see you for opening night! I made sure to buy a ticket." She started running.

"I like her." Noelle proclaimed. I just laughed. 

I was glad I had made the choice to stay with Noelle longer, she felt like part of a family I never knew I could have. 

Now, if only opening night could go perfectly.

a/n

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