Found

chapter 2

Saturday past and now it was Sunday.  I explained how my school had a field trip for the theatre kids.  It wasn't a lie but also wasn't the whole truth.  Pain flooded my stomach as I finished my chores.  Taking an advil, I grabbed my bag and headed off to school where a bus was waiting to take off. 

The rest of the troupe was in the bus and I was the last one.  As I stepped into the bus, silence fell.  "What happened?!"  Thalia practically launched out of her chair.  She was the only one who actually knew what I went through.

"Fell down a flight of stairs.  Word of advice, don't dance and rap while running down stairs."  I quickly took a seat in the back.  With a sequel and a lurch the bus moved forward.  The theatre is a half hour away driving, so Thalia did some makeup to make the damage look better. 

As we drove on we sang songs from In the hieghts.  No matter how much we practiced it, we never got tired of Carneval Del Barrio and Blackout.  Since I was part Cuban and fluent in Spanish I was able to understand the Spanish parts easily, but the American members struggled.  We hit the last note of blackout when we got to the Richard Rodgers.  We were rushed into the theatre where the seats in the middle front was reserved for us.  I bought a zip up sweater and a water bottle.  Soon the music started and the theatre shushed.  That's when the first lyrics were sung.  "How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore....."
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After the finale I was silently crying and  rubbing of the tears.  Soon the seats emptied and we were escorted back stage.   Thalia was jumping up and down in excitement, she dragged me up to the front of the group.  Lin was talking to a man with the fluffiest hair to grace this planet.  "Yeah, they are really good.  When they preformed Blackout I got goosebumps!" 

The security got Lin's attention and motion towards us.  "HEY!  Daveed, these are the kids, I was telling you about."  

Talia was squeezing my hand so tight, it almost lost circulation.  We just waved as Lin and Daveed lead us to their break room.  The break room looked similar to the one at my school but bigger.  On one couch the Schuylar sisters were sitting drinking some tea, while king George was flinging paper balls to Hercules.  It reminded me of my theatre family. 

"Hey everyone, these are the girls I was telling you about."  Lin turned to face us.  "Girls meet the cast of Hamilton, Hamilton cast meet girls who did In The Hieghts."

We all waved to one another.  That's when the man dressed as King George stood up.  "I'm King George and I play Jonathan." 

I raised an eyebrow in confusion.  Did his brain flip on him or was he that dedicated to the role?  Everyone else just chuckled.  Soon everyone else introduced each other and then it was our turn.  One by one everyone said their names and the role they played.  Then it was my turn.  "I'm Hannah and I played Usnavi."

Daveed clapped his hands together.  "You're the one Lin was talking about!  He was going on about your rapping skills.  Lin said and I quote, 'She was better than I was!'"  

I just shook my head.  "I'm not that good."  

"Lies.  Lin showed us the video he took." Leslie pointed at Lin.  "If he didn't tell us your guys were a high school group, I would have been looking for tickets."  

I raised an eyebrow. "You took a video?" 

"Yeah.  Totally worth it."

Soon we were all brought of our shells and talked freely around the cast.  Renee had called me over to braid my hair. "Your hair is so long!!!!"

She wasn't lying, it was long enough that it passed my butt.  Not to mention the fact that its really thick.  Winter with this hair was amazing, it was a personal scarf, but summer...... I felt like I was in an oven.  Jasmine joined in and started braiding Renee's hair and Phillipa styled Jasmine's.  We laughed and talked about theater and school.  That's when a voice pipped up.  "BRAID TRAIN! I WANT IN!"  

Daveed ran over and threw him self in front of me.  In that moment I knew his hair was very fluffy.  I decided a tight French braid.  Thalia was eating cookies with Thayne, while Sophia was teaching Groff the dance moves to the beginning of In The Heights.   Soon I finished Daveed's hair and tied a hair tie at the end.  "Acabado."

"What does that mean?"  

"It's Spanish for finished."

Daveed laughed. "Lin's gonna get a kick out of this." He turned to face Lin's direction.  "LIN GET YOU BUTT OVER HERE!"

Lin walked over. "Yes, Rapunzel." 

"Your protégée also speaks Spanish."  

I rolled my eyes.  "I'm not his protégée."

"Hablas español?" Lins eyes lit up "Mis padres son de Puerto Rico"

I laughed.  "Sí. Yo nací en cuba pero mi familia y movimiento decidida empacar a Nueva York."

Lin cheered.  "The best thing about being bilingual is you can talk shit in front of others."

I clapped. "YES!" That was one of the benefits of speaking multiple languages. 

We began bonding over little things like the love for coffee and pastelitos.  Pastelitos are pasteries filled with different thing like guava, cream cheese, or both.  We got to talking about family and I explained how my family died in a car accident.  Soon the trip was over and we had to leave.  "Hannah," Lin pulled me away from the group, "How did you get those bruises?"

I remembered Thalia's makeup isn't water proof.  And during the show I cried a lot and rubbed the tears off my face.  "I fell down the stairs yesterday, word of advice don't dance while running down the stairs."  He took out a piece of paper and a pen and wrote down some stuff.  

"If you ever need anything call this number."  With that we bid each other farewell and I left to the bus.

Lins POV

Once the school group left I went to Renee.  I've busted my ass on stairs before and never turned out with that many bruises.  "Renee, did you notice anything weird on the back of Hannah's neck?  She has bruises on her face and sais she fell down the stair.  I don't believe it."

She nodded.  "There were bruises on the back of her neck that were yellow and green.  It looked like finger prints."  

"I don't think she's safe in her foster home."  I muttered to my self.  I headed to my room grabbed my stuff and headed to the car.   Vanessa was the smart one, she would know what to do.  If we can do anything.