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chapter one: the move

song: carried away by h.e.r.

Kaylee's POV

I look around, standing at in the Grand Central Terminal, squinting my eyes. Searching for a woman who consists of the slightly same features as me, I lift myself on my tip toes, stretching my neck, trying to match my eyes with my half sister, Phillipa Soo.

I really can't believe our mom sent me to New York City, away from all my friends before they all leave for college. She should've let me stay to spend time with them for a 'last hoorah,' but no... she had to send me away to New York three months early, just to "get the feel of my new college city." I think I could've gotten the "feel of my new college city" when moving into the dorms like any other regular college student would.

My main problem with moving to New York City is that it's a new place. I hate moving to a new place for a long amount of time. This one time, I was supposed to go to a sleep away camp for only a month about an hour outside of my hometown, but I was ready to go home right when I got on that bus, and that I did. The thought about devoting my life to this new city just irks me and makes me so uncomfortable. It's a change--and I hate change.

I continue to search through the crowded station, thinking about how my sister and my first in-person interaction will be since years ago. Even though I haven't seen her in a while, I would say I'm close to her. Yes, we're half sisters and everything, we lived in different houses, but we clung to each other during holidays, so we didn't have to hang out with our weird cousins. We've mostly keep in touch over FaceTiming and texting. We fight about different things a lot, since she's, what? Seven years older than me? She was out of the house and moved to New York to follow her dream to be on Broadway before I had even gotten into high school.

I can't seem to find her in the crowded, humid station, until I swing my head towards the right and my eyes land on her. I smile and look at her, recognizing only some of the same features as me: brown eyes, straight brown hair, and a beautiful smile. We both get it from our moms side. Besides those features, we look pretty different. I'm tanner, shorter, with slightly bigger eyes.

Seeing her makes my stressful thoughts of moving magically disappear.

She locks eyes with me and excitedly runs towards me. "Kaylee! God, I haven't seen you in person in forever! How long has it been? You are so grown up now," She asks, talking extremely fast. "19 and no longer vertically growing," I laugh. "I have some news for you," she says, smiling from ear to ear. She pulls me down, and we both land on the bench beside us, as she is still holding my hands on hers.

"I was asked to sing for a part in an upcoming musical!" She says excitedly. "Oh my gosh! Congrats!" I hug her tightly. "But what about Natasha Pierre?" I ask. "That's how they found me! God, I am so excited and thrilled for a change. Of course, I loved working in Pierre, but this... this musical is special," she says with her eyes bright. "All musicals are the same for me. What makes this one so special?" I ask. "The music! Everything about it! I am so excited to tell you about it."

"I'm happy for you, Pip," I say to her, smiling. "Well, c'mon! I'll take you home to the apartment to settle down. Maybe later I could find out if you can hear the soundtrack of the musical!" She says pulling me up from the bench and towards the exit of the station. "What's this musical called again?" I ask, as she drags me to the cab.

"Hamilton."

• • • • • •

"I am exhausted," I say, slipping off my boots from my sore feet. "Long travels huh?" She smiles, setting her sunglasses and keys down on the big island in the middle of her kitchen. "You're really excited about this, aren't you? You haven't stopped smiling since I've gotten here," I say, plopping down on her couch. "Or I could just be excited to see my little sister," she says huffing. I raise and eyebrow and laugh. "Okay... Yes. I'm excited about the musical. The acting, the dancing, the music, and especially the people. I cannot forget about the people. They are just an amazing cast," she says getting some food ready for me.

"Pip, you don't have to do that. I'm not that hungry," I lie, feeling like I'm intruding. "Oh please. I know how you are. Sit down and relax," she says, continuing her cooking. I sit on a kitchen stool, facing her.

"So how's the boyfriend? Beau is it? Or is it Mo? He's a sweet one. I haven't seen you like that with a boy in a while-" I interrupt her before she tries to ramble about him. "Uh- I kind of broke up with Joe," I say, scratching the back of my neck. "Really? I thought you really liked that guy," she said, she stops stirring the pot to pause to look at me. "Pip, you know me. I'm not the commitment type," I say, giving a short laugh, playing with my drawstring on my hoodie, and avoiding eye contact. "Have you ever thought that you're like this because of Mom? I mean, I know we've talked about this before," she says, going back to stirring. "but have you ever thought about it again? Maybe changing it up in college and trying to trust people and start dating seriously?" she says. "I don't know. Seeing Mom jumping from family to family doesn't really give me much hope for me," I say laughing, trying to lighten up the conversation. "I've already told you that I don't commit because I don't know if I can give my whole self into a relationship, and I know I get it from Mom. I was leaving for New York, so what was the point of staying with him? I wasn't even dating him for that long. What was it? Two months? Not even two months. He was a cool guy, but.. I don't know. Also, it's the main reason why I only hook up with people-"

"Okay, I definitely understand, but I don't wanna hear about my little sister hooking up with guys," she says, laughing and lightening the mood a little more. "But that's good that you're still thinking about trying to change your dating habits at least." I laugh and shake my head.

Getting up from the stool, I look around her apartment and study it. The grey walls perfectly accent the dark wooden bookshelves and cabinets. I look around her kitchen that contains silver appliances and a white marble countertop. I walk over to look at the pictures hung in dark wooden frames on the wall, catching a glimpse of a picture of us while we were little. "Aw, you have us up here?" I ask, touching the side of the picture frame, and smiling, remembering the old memories. "Of course," she says, still mixing the pot of mac and cheese.

I keep looking at the pictures and see a big group picture on what looks like a Broadway stage. "Who are these people? This stage doesn't look like Natasha Pierre," I say, studying the picture heavily. "Oh, that's the new cast," she says, bringing a bowl of food over to me. After thanking her and taking the bowl, I continue to study the picture, and she joins me.

"Who's next to you?" I ask seeing two girls on her right. "Renee and Jasmine. They were casted as my sisters," she says, smiling at the photo. I look at who's standing next to her on the left. Wow, he's good looking. "And on the left?" I feel her glance over at me and laugh. "What? It's an innocent question," I ask, eating a spoonful of mac and cheese. "Oh, stop. I know your type. His name is Anthony. He plays Hamilton's best friend and my son," she explains. "Nice," I say, ignoring eye contact with her, pretending to search around the picture more. Even though I try to seem like I'm looking around the picture, my eyes keep falling back to this Anthony guy.

Phillipa takes a seat back on her couch, and I join her. "So what are you doing tomorrow?" she asks. "Probably just hang out here if that's alright with you." She raises an eyebrow. "It's your first day here, and you're gonna sit in my boring apartment, looking at that picture of Anthony all day?" she asks. "No! I was just gonna chill out here. Not look at that picture of Anthony," I say, rolling my eyes. "Why don't you come with me to run some errands tomorrow?" she asks. "That sounds like a blast!" I say sarcastically. "I'm going all over the city tomorrow, so you could check out some 'touristy' places. C'mon! It'll be fun!" she says, grabbing my arm. "Alright, alright. I'll go," I say giving up my plan of staying bed the whole day.

"Good. Eight o'clock. Bright and early!" she says getting up from the couch, kissing me on the forehead, and walking into her bedroom.

I put down my empty bowl and sigh, slouching into the couch.

"Bright and early," I mumble.