Wait For It | a Hamilton fanfiction | wattys 2017

Chapter 79

Lana's next song after 'Take a Break' is 'The Reynolds Pamphlet'. Thankfully, it was a long ways away. She sat on stage right to watch the ensemble and the rest of the cast rehearse. She was only half-paying attention, but she could hear Daveed yelling over the music occasionally.

She could tell, however, that most of the ensemble was getting tired and fed up with James' incompetence. Lana could see that most of the guys were starting to cast angry looks in James' direction whenever they had to stop rehearsing.

She looked up from her Instagram to see Carleigh dance past. She could tell that the other girl was extremely tired- they'd run every ensemble number in its entirety at least twice. Even then, they'd also done separate sections of some songs.

"Alright, finally," Daveed said at last. "Moving on."

They were on 'Hurricane' now, so Lana stood up to start getting ready for 'Reynolds Pamphlet'. She was really starting to feel like crap. The stage seemed brighter than usual. Lana usually found the stage to be too warm, but now, she was starting to shiver.

Brett was doing a fantastic job, at least. Lana was impressed.

"STOP, STOP, STOP," Daveed shouted. "Jessa, if you can't handle it, then step off. Thayne, just don't, and Carleigh, just go. I never thought I would see dancing that badly, but you changed that, so congratulations.Go review your choreography, anywhere but onstage. Kaley, you're covering Carleigh."

Lana shook her head. Daveed, what are you doing?

Carleigh came offstage towards Lana, wiping tears off her face.

"Hey, Carleigh," Lana said gently.

"I'm so tired of this. He treats us like crap and expects us to dance at full energy, when honestly, at this point, he really just needs to let one of the swings take James' spot or something. And we're getting blamed for it," Carleigh said. She looked so tired.

"I'm sorry, Carleigh," Lana told her. "Don't listen to Daveed. You're amazing."

"It's not your fault," Carleigh reassured her. "And Lana? You're a really good person, you know that? At first... I don't know. But you're cool."

Lana blushed. "It means a lot."

"FROM THE TOP OF 'THE REYNOLDS PAMPHLET," Daveed screamed. "AFTER WE'RE FINISHED RUNNING THROUGH THE SHOW WE WILL RETURN TO EVERY SINGLE ENSEMBLE NUMBER AND RUN IT AGAIN AND AGAIN UNTIL IT GETS THROUGH ALL OF YOUR HEADS THAT THIS IS NOT A JOKE."

Lana stood up. "Well, that's me," she said tiredly. Carleigh looked around the corner.

"CARLEIGH BETTIOL I DO NOT WANT TO SEE YOUR LAZY AND USELESS FACE UNTIL THE SHOW IS OVER," Daveed shouted at her. "FROM THE TOP."

Lana could see Carleigh's face fall and tears glisten in her dark eyes. "He doesn't mean it," she tried to reassure her friend.

"It doesn't feel like it."

Carleigh turned and walked away, disappearing down the stairs and heading toward the rehearsal rooms. Lana wanted to go after her friend. She knew how it felt, to be treated like crap. She hated seeing Carleigh go through the same thing, especially since it was James' fault.

Lana turned back to the stage just in time to hear her cue.

She took a deep breath and stepped onstage. Immediately she could tell that the atmosphere was different. Everyone was tense, and it definitely wasn't the fun-loving rehearsal that they'd gotten used to with Lin.

Lana only stumbled over her words once, and that was because a spotlight moved so that it was shining in her face. It didn't help her headache at all, but she recovered quickly.

"MOVING ON," Daveed said in the breathless silence that followed the final notes of 'Reynolds Pamphlet'. Lana could see the ensemble visibly relax, relieved. "PHILLIPA, YOU'RE UP NEXT."

Rest in peace, Lana thought. Daveed hadn't even called her Pippa. That was the first time, to Lana's knowledge, that Daveed had called her Phillipa. It had always been Pippa, with an affectionate, teasing tone.

Lana didn't really have time to go find Carleigh, as much as she wanted to. Daveed seemed extremely inconsistent, and she didn't want to risk missing 'It's Quiet Uptown'.

Jazzy flopped down next to Lana as she sat back in her old spot on stage right. "You alright?" Jazzy asked.

"Honestly, no. I'm stressed, tired, cold, my head hurts, and I feel like I'm going to cough up mucus any second," Lana admitted.

"You need sleep," Jazzy instructed.

"I can't, this rehearsal is lasting forever, and if I miss 'It's Quiet Uptown' or 'Who Lives', then Daveed is going to yell at me for eternity," Lana groaned, flopping down so that she was lying on the stage.

"I'm sorry. After this, you can sleep," Jazzy promised. "Unless Daveed's like ANOTHER FULL RUN THROUGH GUYS!"

"Pippa, stop, just stop," Daveed snapped. "What are you doing?"

"What are you doing, Daveed?" Pippa asked gently. "You're yelling at everyone and making everyone feel bad about choreography that they've been nailing. I don't understand why you're so mad at them. They're trying their best, and they're exhausted."

"What did you just say?" Daveed demanded. "If they can't make it through an all-day rehearsal, then frankly, they don't belong on this tour. They're the ones who are dancing like crap, and I'm sorry, Pippa, but quite honestly, you're not up to par either. So. From the top."

Jazzy stood up, about to go onstage and yell at Daveed. Pippa looked offstage and just shook her head at Jazzy.

As soon as Pippa made it offstage, Lana could see the tears shining in Pippa's eyes. Jazzy hugged her friend tightly.

"Shhhh, Pips, it's okay. You're okay. Don't cry. You were amazing. He's just frustrated. It's not your fault," Jazzy told her.

"I feel like such a failure," Pippa sobbed.

"BLOW US ALL AWAY, PEOPLE. ENSEMBLE, ONSTAGE, NOW. EVERY SECOND YOU MAKE ME WAIT IS ANOTHER MINUTE OF 'YORKTOWN' REHEARSAL," Daveed bellowed. "WELL, THAT'S ANOTHER FIVE MINUTES OF 'YORKTOWN RIGHT THERE. OH, LOOK, FIVE MORE MINUTES. GUESS WHAT, YOU GUYS, YOU JUST ADDED THIRTY MINUTES OF 'YORKTOWN' TO THIS REHEARSAL. AT THIS RATE, YOU'RE GOING TO BE REHEARSING UNTIL THE SHOW. MY PATIENCE IS RUNNING THIN."

~~~~

band camp done! yayayayyay it actually went pretty well!

i forgot how savage daveed started to get whoops