Helpless: A Hamilton Cast Fanficton

Chapter 30- First Read Through and Understudy

Liv's POV

     I woke up to my alarm. I slammed it off. There was shuffling around the apartment. It's probably Lin or Vanessa making breakfast. I rolled out of bed and got dressed. Plain black leggings, turquoise top, and a grey sweatshirt I still had from my birth family.
   The door opened, "hey Liv." Lin came in and sat on my bed with me. "You ready for school today? First rehearsal!" He sounded excited. More than me.
   "Ready as I'll ever be," I stood up, picked up my backpack, and walked to the kitchen. I set my bag down by the door and my shoes. Vanessa had already set breakfast on the table and was feeding Seb.
    "I made pancakes. Your favorite, chocolate chip." She smiled at me. I didn't return the smile. I sat at the table and didn't eat. I poked at it, but it didn't make me hungry.
   "Aren't you going to eat? I know you have a late lunch, so breakfast is a big deal," Lin looked a little worried but like always tried to hide it.
   "Not hungry and my lunch is 6th period. Not that late in the day," I looked at the clock for help. "We should get going. I want to get there a little early so I can meet up with Emily and Anna." Lin and Vanessa exchanged kisses. They whispered some things that I couldn't hear. I grabbed my bag and headed towards the door waiting for Lin. He grabbed his coat and keys.
   "You need your coat." I shook my head no. "You need your coat." He was more stern this time. I gave in and grabbed it. "Put it on," he was being so bossy today. Usually he's perfectly fine and laid back.
   The drive was quiet. The only noise was the Into the Woods musical soundtrack. I occasionally hummed along, but I couldn't shake the feeling someone was watching me. I shook it off as Lin making sure I wasn't having a flashback.
   We finally pulled up to the school. "Call me when you're done rehearsal. Someone in the cast, most likely me will pick you up." I gave Lin a quick hug then went into the school. I was immediately greeted by my friends hugging me.
   "Congrats Eliza! I can't believe you're going to be the lead!" Anna was always excited about something. "Has Lin or any of the cast tried to help you practice?"
   "No. They already have enough going on. I'm not going to bug them about this. I already know all of the music from learning to be an understudy." I tried to sound like I wasn't bragging. I still had a hard time with calling these people family and not a Broadway cast.
   "Oh right! How is that going my sweet Eliza?" Alex put an arm around me. I tried to hide my red cheeks.
   "Good. I've almost learned every part. I know all of the Schuyler sisters, John Laurens, Philip, and Lafayette. Still working on Jefferson. He's harder than he it looks." They looked at me like they wanted to hear more about it. "I might have to go on today for Anthony. He looked like he was sick yesterday." I tried not to sound like I was bragging.
   "That's awesome! Maybe after rehearsal we can hang out and run lines. And if Liv goes on we can ask Lin if we can watch from the wings." Dustin said.
   "That sound awesome. What do you think Liv?" Alex's arm left my side.
    "That sound good. I'll text Lin before rehearsal. We should be done rehearsal before their call. Then we could walk together." Everyone nodded in agreement and it was set. Everyone split ways to go to first period.
   The day went by pretty fast. Before I knew it we were sitting in a circle on the stage going through the script. Since the show is mostly music, so we basically had a dance party. It was so much fun. I was walking back to get my stuff together when my phone buzzed.
From Lin:
Get to the theater now!
Anthony just puked
everywhere!
We need you to fill in!
Hurry!

  I hurried my stuff together. I ran over to my friends. "Guys I can't hang out. I have to fill in for Anthony. Can we do it tomorrow? The cast has a two show day so we can ask them for some help in between shows." I was speaking so fast. To be honest I was terrified to fill in. Today is my first time.
   Alex put his hands on my shoulders. "Calm down. Let us at least walk with you. Maybe convince Lin to let us stay." I sighed and nodded. We all walked out of the school together.
   "I got to go. Mom forgot to mention I have a dentist appointment today. I'll see you guys tomorrow!" Anna left and hopped into her mom's car.
   Dustin looked at his phone. "My mom just texted me. My dad came home early so we're having a nice dinner. Sorry. Got to go," he also hopped into his mom's car.
   It was just me and Alex. Emily left halfway through the school day feeling sick. I really hope something isn't going around.
   Alex and I got to the theater. Everyone was running around. I saw Anthony on a chair hugging a small trashcan. He called out, "the kids here!" before puking. I felt so bad for him. He was so sick he didn't notice Alex.
    Lin ran over, "hey you gotta go get ready!" He noticed Alex. "What is he doing here?" He looked ready to punch out all of Alex's teeth.
   "It's fine Lin. He was originally coming over to run lines. He's now her for moral support. I was wondering if he could watch from the wings?" I felt Alex's comforting smile on me.
    Lin looked at me like I was crazy. "Not backstage. I was going to give this to Nessa, but she can't get here in time." He handed Alex a ticket.
   "Thank you sir! This is amazing!" He hugged Lin. I saw Lin give an annoyed eye roll during the hug. Alex quickly pulled out. "I should go find my seat." Now I was alone. Great.
    I walked to the dressing room Lin gave me for these kind of days. It had all of the costumes that were made for me. As soon as I walked in and closed my door I started to panic. I'm only 14. I'm not ready for this! I did my makeup very shakily. It looked horrendous because I was shaking so hard. I heard a knock at the door. "C-Come in..." I was able to mangle out.
    Pippa walked in. "Hey Liv. Came to check on you." I guess she saw my bad makeup and my shaking hands. "Are you okay?" I broke down into thousands of tears.
   "I-I'm not ready to do this... I haven't p-performed in front of a l-live audience in so l-long... What if I m-mess up?" She hugged me and wiped my tears.
   "You aren't going to mess up. If you do that's what improv is for. You'll do fine! You have rehearsed for weeks. You know this role forwards and backwards. You'll do great!" She gave me a big hug and helped me fix my makeup. After she fixed my makeup I got my mic and did my mic check. Only 15 minutes. I started to panic again. Daveed walked over.
   "You okay kid?" The room was spinning. I didn't want him worrying about me.
   "J-Just nerves..." I managed to get out. My voice was leaving. This can't be happening. There are standbys just incase but this was my first time.
   "You sure?" Daveed put his hand on my shoulder, "you don't look too good. Want to sit down?" I was going to answer when I lost my balance on nothing. The room was spinning faster and faster. "Liv!" Daveed was trying to help me up but I was too dizzy. "Someone get Lin and some water!" He used his hand to fan me. I was sweating bullets. The room still hasn't stopped spinning.
    Lin ran over with a bottle of water, "what happened?" He handed Daveed the bottle. I took a small sip before almost puking.
    "I was talking to her because she was really nervous. She got really pale and fell down. She doesn't look good Lin." Daveed was freaking out. Lin comforted him. They had one of the standbys go on instead. At least I think. Soon after Lin walked over I blacked out.

Lin's POV

    I was getting ready when I heard someone call for me. I was just about done. After I quickly finished up, I headed down the stairs. What I saw was something I didn't want to see. Daveed was fanning Liv who was on the ground sweating. She was pale and looked so sick. I ran over after someone handed me a water bottle. I handed Daveed the bottle and asked what happened.
     He said he thought it was just nerves but she got really pale and lost her balance. We had one of the standbys go on instead of Liv. I felt really bad. She was about to go and perform on Broadway for the first time but she gets sick.
     I reluctantly went on stage to perform. People said they would switch out with watching Liv and Anthony, who was still puking uncontrollably.
    After the show I was getting ready to leave when Alex walked in. I completely forgot he was in the audience tonight. "I didn't see Liv play Laurens and Philip tonight. Did something happen?" Man was this going to be awkward.
   "Liv wasn't feeling well. She got really pale and passed out fifteen minutes before." I gestured to the still unconscious Liv. "I think it's the same thing Anthony has." He smiled my sleeping niñita. I cleared my throat.
    "I have something to ask you sir." I nodded for him to continue. He looked really nervous. "I-I was. I wanted to ask... May I take your daughter out in a date?" This shocked me. I just met him a few weeks ago. I don't know if we can be trusted yet.
   "No. I don't know if you are right for my daughter yet." With that I picked up Liv and walked out. He followed behind me begging. I said a final no before getting in my car and driving to the apartment. Definitely don't trust him.

(A/N: Hey guys! Happy Halloween! So this is my longest chapter with 1773 words (not including this note)! I'm so happy you guys love this story. I may write an adopted by Janthony story but not sure yet. I've seen a lot of them and I'm starting to get writer's block with this story so I might take a break from this story and start another or continue one that already exists. I hope you liked this part! What do you think about Liv and Alex? And what happened to Emily? Will Lin ever let Liv and Alex in a date? Will Liv get better? Will Anthony stop puking? Find out (hopefully) in the next part!)