Chapter 17

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The girls left their seats and went out into the lobby area to wait for Mandy. When came out she looked around for Becky, when she eventually found them she went and gave them all hugs. "Thank you girls for these last 2 days, I've never had so much fun at a stop on a solo tour."

"No, thank you for coming Mandy, its been an experience I'll never forget." Becky responded.

"I'll never forget it either, because it was the time when I met you Becky."

"Gosh, don't make me cry again." They quickly took a whole group photo at Chris's request.

"You should go say hi to everyone that came. We still have a few hours together before you have to leave. We'll go back into the main room, see you in a bit." 

Mandy went and met all the other people who were at the show. Chris, Lin and Karen joined her as everyone wanted pictures with them all. The girls headed back into the main room.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Becky asked Christy.

"So..." Christy explained her idea to the girls. They wanted to do something else for Mandy, this time to say thank you. "Chris, Lin and Karen are all in on it. And Chris said he'd message you when there are only a few people left so we can get into positions.

They all went over exactly what was going to happen, they couldn't fully practice as Mandy would be able to hear from the lobby. Becky pulled her laptop out from her bag that was still in her seat. She plugged it into the main system. She quickly made some last minute additions to the video including the picture, Chris had requested to take on behalf of her. She saved and then loaded the video ready to play on the screens.

Becky's phone buzzed.

Chris - Just finishing up now, are you all ready. Were you able to get the pictures from the show in?

Becky - Yep video done and ready to roll. Let's do this.

The girls all got into their positions in the two small rooms off the sides of the main room. Becky was off the side to man the laptop for when Mandy came in. She really hoped this worked, they hadn't actually practiced it.

She heard the door open, she peeped round the corner, perfect Mandy had walked in first. Becky saw her look around, a confused look on her face. She then paused when she saw the screens that said 'Dear Mandy...' written on them. Becky took this as her cue. She started the video.

Dear Mandy... We figured that having to say this out loud may be hard, we wanted to make sure we were able to vocalize what we had to say, without tearing up, and forgetting what we wanted to say...'Everyday', was playing quietly in the background.

Mandy walked forwards towards the stage. The video rolled through clips of all the girls each saying a short message to Mandy. The girls started to come out from the back of the room. Thankfully Mandy didn't notice. After all the messages passed, the song changed to 'Smile'. Becky could see Mandy wipe tears away from her eyes. Clips and photos played from the weekend. Chris, Lin and Karen started to tear up at this.

Mandy, Thank you for an amazing weekend.

The girls from around the room then started to sing along with the song. Mandy turned around to see them all singing. Just as Becky had hoped. Becky stepped onto the stage, the girls walked round the edge of the room to the steps on either side and walked up onto the stage.

"If you thought that no one noticed, If you thought your all alone and hopeless, When the road ends." They all held hands and looked towards Mandy.

"I've been waiting just to see you smile again, We had it all for a little while, But we tossed it to the wind. Now the spring is near, The weather's clear, Yeah the winters bound to end. And I've been waiting just to see you smile again, Yeah I've been waiting just to see you smile again. Yeah I've been waiting just to see you smile again." They all had tears in their eyes now. Mandy ran up to the stage, as fast as she could in heels.

"Oh My Gosh, I don't know what to say, that was beautiful. When did you put that together?"

"I made the video last night. After you told us to sleep. My sleep pattern has been off centre for months now, so I'm used to going to bed between 1 and 3. So we filmed and put this together then. We did sleep, just a few hours later. Earliest I've slept in a long time." Becky responded.

"I should have known it was you behind the video, Becky. Thank you so much again." Mandy paused of a moment. "Actually, I have something I need to talk to you about Becky. Come sit." Becky looked at the others, they all nodded, and Becky followed Mandy to one of the tables. Mandy took a hold of Becky's hands in hers.

"Okay, so I know you've always wanted vocal, dance and acting lessons." It wasn't a question, but Becky answered "Yes."

"Well, being in a different country shouldn't limit us. I want to be your vocal and singing teacher."

"Wait, what. You want to be my singing teacher?" Becky looked around the room in complete shock. "Why me though?"

"Because you have a real talent Becky. Even if you can't see that yet, I do, and I want to be able to help in any way possible. So, I want to offer you free lessons, I'd do anything to help you improve and to achieve those dreams you've probably had in the back of your mind that you've never verbalised because they're so unlikely. We can do twice-weekly skype lessons and then during your school holidays, we can see if I can get you out to New York for a few physical lessons together. How does that sound?"

"Amazing, I would love you to teach me. It wouldn't get in the way of your current schedule? Would it?"

"I'd probably have to adjust my vocal sessions, but that's easy as I have lots of free time that just aren't suitable times for you. So I can easily move them around a bit to fit you in. I've really missed teaching. I did quite a lot after I had Maribelle, but when I initially booked Hamilton, I had to stop due to rehearsals, and getting used to doing 8 shows a week. But now its been a year, I've got the time to do vocal lessons with you."

Becky jumped up from her seat, ran around the table to Mandy, and gave her a massive hug. "Thank you so much Mandy, you've no idea how much this means to me."

They all took multiple individual pictures with Mandy, Chris, Lin and Karen and then had to make their way to the airport. The girls all shared one last hugs with Becky, Liv and Kerrie before making their way through security. "Bye everyone, I love you all!"

Mandy and the others were all on a later flight, so they stayed with Becky, Liv and Kerrie for another hour or so. When they finally had to leave Becky started tearing up. They all gave her one last hug before they went through security. Chris, Karen and Lin went though while Mandy pulled Becky to one side.

"I love you Becky and don't cry sweetheart." She pulled her into a hug, holding her head against her chest. "We'll see each other again really soon, I promise. I'll contact your parents when I get back to New York to talk to them about your lessons. Stay fearless dear. You have my number if you need me. Keep doing what you're doing and don't let anyone push you down. You have the girls, you have me and you have Chris, Lin and Karen to talk to if you need them. I'm going to miss you, but I can't wait to see you again."

"I love you too Mandy, thanks for everything. You're the best. I'll see you soon." Becky hugged Mandy just a little tighter before letting to and waving her off.

Becky, Liv and Kerrie all said their goodbyes to each other and parted their separate ways. Becky was on the train home when she got 8 notifications. Her heart almost stopped beating for a second out of shock. The first 4 were all 'new follower' notifications. 'Mandy Gonzalez, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Christopher Jackson and Karen Olivo followed you' displayed on her phone. She then had messages from Karen, Lin and Chris, all of them were something along the lines of:

Thank you for an amazing 2 days Becky. I can't wait to meet you again. Enjoy your lessons with Mandy. Focus on what she's saying, learn from her and most importantly enjoy it.

Becky still struggled to believe everything that had happened. She had a lot to tell her friends at school. She couldn't wait for what was to come. Little did she know just how crazy her life was about to get.



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