Shaken (An Adopted By Lin-Manuel Miranda Story)

t h r e e

(Short filler chapter. Make sure you read it, though. It's got important information. Enjoy, my lovelies.
Danii.)

I'd been walking the streets of New York since the day I arrived, but only recently had I started to walk alone. I'd pop my earbuds in and focus on the task at hand, to arrive at church on time. I'd toddle around the streets, lazily taking steps, relaxed. I wasn't stressed about anything, I was just... there. For once I was just a regular person, walking along the streets, going with the flow of people. Everyone was the same down the streets of New York. Colour, size, height... none of that mattered. You didn't know the people down the sidewalk, you had nothing to judge them by. So I felt invincible walking down that paved ground, like even though the world isn't perfect, for some reason, the streets of New York were.

You could usually see things like the normal stores. The Gap, Payless, Forever 21. You'd see the classic fast food places-McDonald's, Arby's, and KFC.

But what you'd never see, unlike a small town, are small businesses.

New York was for big name brands, not for small companies with less than enough money to pay for a flat for the next ten years. Especially not where we were. But for some reason, when I was just about to cross one of the average streets I cross on the weekly, something caught my eye.

A sign, lit with neon lights, the most attractive colours of yellow, pink, and blue showered across it like splatter paint. But that was only the far left corner.

Now, growing up in New York, they teach you not to be curious. They try to tell you that if you see something cool, even if it's downtown, don't go near it. There are weird people out there. But as I stood there, waiting for the light to turn to the walk symbol, my thoughts ran ahead of me. Before I knew it, I was turning right down a road I had never been down before, a new street to explore.

There were more stores, office buildings, and apartments, just like what you'd usually see. I wasn't focused on that, though. All I wanted to see was what the sign said. I was worried that I wouldn't make it to church on time, scared on what Daisy and Adam would think if I didn't show up for the first few minutes. But I didn't want to think of that, oh no. I was just a little kid, wanting to read a simple sign.

Every step closer that I took revealed a new letter, until lo and behold, words began to form. I started walking quicker, slipping through spots between people in the filled pavement. I stood on my toes, trying to get the best glimpse at the bright and breathtaking sign, until finally, I could make it out.

At the very end of the street, I saw three words that would change my life forever.

'Jean's Classic Diner.'

Lin's Point of View

All I wanted was some freaking tortillas.

I swore to goodness, there was nowhere in the whole state of New York that sold good tortillas. All that there was were packed together fast-food chains, without anything that even remotely resembled what I wanted.

I was just having a bad day, I guess. I shouldn't have blamed it on the tortillas.

But what could I have said? I wasn't in the best mood that day. My head was in the clouds, and all I wanted to do was lay on the floor and sleep. But alas, work existed, and I needed to eat, because my stupid fridge was empty.

I decided to go out, after the events that happened in the past few weeks. And because of the media, everybody knew.

The whole world knew that I got a divorce from my wife exactly a year ago today.

It wasn't my fault, if I do say so myself. She was a really nice girl, or so I thought. I was in love with her, but she didn't feel the same way. She claimed that she never did, and that she just couldn't find a way that she could let me down easily. She said that she didn't want to ruin my ego by saying the word 'no,' but that fateful day that I told her I loved her before I went to bed like any other night, she cracked. Fast forward a few months, and a year ago today, I was signing a paper to finalize the plans. I was to keep the flat that I had, and Vanessa was to get one half-way across the city.

Half-way across the city, where you could get good tortillas.

But I didn't have time for that.

Next thing you know, I see a sign that would change my life forever.

'Jean's Classic Diner.'