What you know (Hamilton cast)

Nineteen

"Looks delicious, V." I say, kissing her on the cheek. "By the way, I brought a random kid I found on the streets home." She laughs.

"Hi, Kelsey." She smiles back.

"Hi."

"And Lin, she is not a kid."

"I'm twenty next week."

"Oh my god! Really?" She nods. "Oh, happy early birthday, hun."

"Thanks."

"We need to celebrate." I say. She shakes her head.

"No way."

"Why not?"

"Birthdays aren't my thing."

"They're everyones thing. Otherwise, you aren't born." I look back at V. "I need to talk to Kels, I'll be in the office if you need me."

"I have to pick up Seb in twenty. Can you watch this when I leave?"

"Of course. Leave out anything you need me to do." I kiss V on the cheek. "Hey." I try to peck her lips. She looks at me and sticks her lips out. I kiss them and then she looks at the pot and I sniff her hair.

"Strawberry."

"My shampoo." I sniff it again. Kelsey chuckles a bit and we look at her.

"You guys are weird. A good weird." I laugh too and lead her to my office and have her sit in the other chair.

Kelsey's POV
"Do you write with a recorder?"

"Yeah, check out my skills." He starts playing a song and I raise an eyebrow. I hear footsteps and then Vanessa peaks in.

"Great conversation you're having." He laughs and puts it down. "I had to come save Kelsey."

"I'm not that bad."

"Stick to piano."

"Come on, that was okay."

"Recorders aren't the best instrument." I say. "Unless you're in third grade."

"Okay, never mind." He puts it down and Vanessa leaves. "How are you?" He asks. I shrug.

"You?"

"Fine. What are you doing for work?"

"Teaching dance and babysitting."

"Oh, do people drop them off at your apartment?"

"No, I go to theirs."

Lin's POV
"What classes do you teach?" I ask, not giving her a chance to turn the conversation away from herself.

"Uh, preschool ballet, four pointe classes, one pre point, two hip hop, two contemporary, and an improv/choreography class." She lists. "They have teachers for the classes and they still get paid half of that even though I'm teaching. That's annoying but I need money somehow."

"Wow. Does that pay the bills?"

"Nope. That's why I'm babysitting."

"How often is that?"

"Three times a week. Not that often but the rest of the bill is paid by teaching."

"We did not work out a plan for you. This should have been a paid leave and we should have made you stop moving." She laughs. She can't rest and focus on getting better while doing all this.

"It's really not that much."

"You take class?" She nods. "I normally don't say this, but don't."

"You wrote a musical in college."

"Okay, let me lay down this rule right now. We are talking about you in here. You ask so many questions and you know everything about everyone. Why can't anyone know about you?"

"Um, I just told half of my high school teachers and over two hundred kids that I don't know, about my entire life."

"You're entire past. Now I want to figure out what's happening now. And you knew you will probably never see mist of them again."

"You really will never be satisfied."

"Why can't anyone in the cast know about you Kelsey? What happened to the young girl full of energy and defying a difficult past? Why has she disappeared into herself again? Why can't you ask me for help?" She picks at the hem of her sleeve. "Kelsey." She stands up and turns around. I wrap my arms arounf her waist, stopping her.

"Vanessa." She appears in the door.

"What?"

"Don't let her run." Vanessa looks concerned and Kelsey is about to cry. "What do you need help with? Just ask? In french. In sign language. Screaming, whispering, out of order." She is crying now.

"What's going on, Kelsey?" Vanessa asks, softly. "What's wrong?"

"I know something is wrong. Just tell me. Ask me for help. I just don't know what it is. Is it your past that's bringing back depression?" She shakes her head. "Are you depressed?" She nods. "I just want to help you, please!" I don't even know why I'm so emotional. I've only known her four or five months but for some reason, I feel like I've been standing here, watching her crumble to the ground, and it's made me desperate to stop it. She pushed my arms back, away from the arm that I'm holding and steps back. Her red and teary eyes look right at my curious and damp one. And then she looks away and pulls one end of her sweater over her head so she's in almost a black cropped tank top, ending around the bottom of her ribs. My hand goes over my mouth.