Adopted by Lin Manuel Miranda and Phillipa Soo

A New Beginning

Harper POV:

"Anything I can help you with, sweetie?" a perky, smiling checkout girl wearing way too much pink lipstick asks me. She reeks of a sickly sweet perfume that my third grade teacher wore daily. I detest the scent to this day.

I force my face to meld itself into a position that resembles a smile. "Oh, just browsing," I respond. I quickly grab a magazine off the rack to prove my point. The girl smiles again and leaves me alone. I wrinkle my nose after she leaves, her perfume lingering. I dump the magazine back on the rack. 'HAMILTON' STARS JASMINE CEPHAS JONES AND ANTHONY RAMOS ENGAGED, the headline reads. Under it, a pretty woman and man, clearly very much in love, gaze into each other's eyes. I smile, remembering how my parents used to look at each other like that.

Shaking away the memory, I look over my shoulder at the checkout girl. She's occupied helping a lady and her daughter buy some makeup. Satisfied, I slowly and stealthily reach out and stick a pack of Trident in my pocket. I back away towards the door, keeping an eye on the checkout girl at all times.

Once I'm outside, I take a deep breath. I hate to shoplift, but being an eleven-year-old orphan in New York City with no relatives and no connections requires a little bit of naughtiness. (A/N Matilda anyone?) At least I got out safely.

"Hey! You girl!" the checkout girl calls. "Did you take a pack of gum?"

I stand corrected.

I break out in a run as the checkout girl screams, "I'm calling the police!" Darting behind a trash can, I run quickly down the street, pushing past annoyed New Yorkers. Soon enough, I end up in Times Square, one of the busiest places I'm NYC. Blending in here is child's play.
"This the girl who stole a pack of gum, Miss?" a police officer asks.

Never mind.

The checkout girl, who had magically appeared next to me nods. "Yeah, she's the one."
The officer looks at me again. "Her?"
For once I feel grateful for my shortness and scrawny frame. The checkout girl rolls her eyes. "Yes!"
"Empty your pockets, young lady."
I sigh. I know when I'm caught. Slowly, I reach in my pocket and pull out the pack of gum. The checkout girl smiled smugly at the police officer.
"See?" she smirks.
"Actually, um, I bought it for her."
I whip around to face a pretty woman and man. The lady has shampoo-commercial brown hair and seems to emate a warm, cinnamom-roll like glow. The guy, possibly her boyfriend has warm brown eyes and shoulder length brown hair.
"Uh, you weren't even in the store," the checkout girl points out. The woman bites her lip.
"I bought it earlier today, from a different store," she responds, handing the officer a receipt. He examines it.
"I'm sorry, Miss," he says, turning towards the girl. "I think you're mistaken. Besides, the police have more important things to do than petty shoplifting crimes."
The fuming checkout girl reluctantly leaves, glaring at me the entire time. My heartbeat returns to normal.
"Who are you?" I ask the woman.
"I'm Phillipa Soo," she responds. "And this is, um, my boss Lin Manuel Miranda."
"Oh my God. You guys are in Hamilton."
"That is correct."
"I can't believe I stole a pack of gum in front of the Hamilton cast."
"You shouldn't really steal," the man - Lin Manuel Miranda- pipes up for the first time. "But we forgive you."
"I'm sorry if I'm intruding, but are you okay? For a girl so young, you look really thin and, well-"
"Raggedy, I know," I interrupt."I'm an orphan."
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry," Phillipa says. "Are you, um, staying with relatives?"
"I don't have any. Both my parents were only childs and my grandparents are all dead."
"Well, then, where are you staying?"
"You're looking  at it."
Phillipa looks around. "The streets?"
I nod."Home sweet home."
Lin asks, "What's your name?"
"Harper Hope."
"Well, Harper Hope, you're coming with us," Phillipa says determindly. Lin gawks at her. "She IS?!"
"Yes. You can stay in our apartment until we can find a more permanent situation for you."
I pause. "Thank you. That's the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me."
"No problem."
"Also, you said our apartment. Do you guys live together?"
"Yep."
"Are you dating?"
"Oh! No, not at all!" Phillipa says, turning red. Lin stares at the ground, his cheeks also a ripe pink. Phillipa starts to laugh nervously. "Well then, let's get on to our place, shall we?" Lin says awkwardly.
"Sure."

Thanks for reading the first chapter! It's so bad, but whatever.
Q: What's your favorite cast member?
-B 🤖