Wish: A Hamilton Fanfiction

Chapter 3: Saved

The crowd of people rushed around me as I fought my way to a bench. The wood felt smooth and glossy under my fingertips as my bag got shoved to the edge of the bench. Somehow being here felt less disastrous than it had felt all day, although the biggest problem was happening now. It almost felt calm; sitting on an island in the middle of a sea of people.

After around an hour of waiting I could feel my phone buzzing in my bag and started digging around to find it. A notebook, several pens, a couple wrappers, a book, a paper clip. Of course, the girl who plans out the place for everything in her life can't find the one thing she needs the most. Finally I snatched my phone from the bottom of the bag and slammed my hand down on the answer button. "Hello?" I asked. 

"I've heard that you are interested in buying a new car! Here at-" the operator said. Shut up, robocalls. I hung up before I could hear any more. I threw my stuff haphazardly back into my bag and put my head in my hands. Maybe this was supposed to be my dream but at the moment it felt like a nightmare. I busied myself looking at people until the phone rang again. This time the caller ID was a name I knew well.

"Hello?" 

"My family's here," Ellie told me. "We're waiting outside unless you need me to come in."

"Oh, I can make it by myself, thanks." I said with a smile. "Thank you so much, Ellie, you just saved me big time."

"Yeah! No problem, Zoey!"

I went outside. The air was cold and the smell of exhaust lingered in the air. I narrowly missed getting run over by a shuttle as I crossed the lanes. There was Ellie standing outside a car. She looked the same as she always had. "I'm so sorry for making you do this," I apologized.

"It's fine! I've been wanting to see you again anyway." She hugged me and I got in the back of the car with her.

"Hi Zoey," her parent said from the drivers' seat. "It's very nice to see you again."

"You too!"

"What brings you to New York?" Ellie asked.

"Oh...it's a long story," I explained.

"We have time! It's a super long drive back to my house."

"Okay...I wrote fanmail to Lin-Manuel Miranda a long time ago. You know, the creator of In the Heights and Hamilton? And in my letter I brought up the idea of a Broadway shadow program. I didn't really know who else to send it to. Anyway, he thought it was a good idea, so we started planning. And tomorrow is the first day of this program I helped to create. I wish it was done with someone else, but at least I got it to happen!"

"What do you mean, a shadow program?" Ellie's parent asked.

"Um, like, actors of a Broadway musical are going to be rehearsing. But they're going to have aspiring tween and teen actors shadowing them to learn more about the business, things like that."

"That's amazing! I can't believe you pulled that off, I wish I could do something like that," Ellie said in wonder. 

"Well, hopefully the program will spread to get a lot bigger, it'll expand to more musicals besides Hamilton and more times, especially if this becomes successful."

"That's amazing," she proclaimed. I laughed at her usual dramatic way.

"Thank you."

"So, you need a place to stay. You can stay at our house for as long as you need until you can figure out where else to go. We live by a subway station, so don't worry about the commute to anywhere."

"Oh, thank you so much."

The rest of the drive went by quickly; it was getting late. "Can we get dinner somewhere?" Ellie asked. "Have you eaten?"

I shook my head.

"There's a really good pizza restaurant coming up here that we should totally go to. Can we, L?"

The parent, who I assumed went by L, nodded. "Okay, but only because you have a guest."

The pizza was really good, and it made me realize I hadn't eaten anything pretty much the entire day. I felt like I was part of their family. It was so nice to know there were people who cared about me while I was away from home.

Ellie could not stop talking about everything from school to acting lessons to taking the subway. It had been years since we had really talked, besides fleeting congratulations on my part for a role she'd gotten, and her telling me she was moving to New York. Finally we pulled up to a house.

"This is it," her parent said. 

"Thank you...um, so much for the ride. I can't tell you enough how much this has helped me out." They really were saving me.

"Oh, it's no problem. And you can call me L if you want, I know it's been a while since you've seen me," they said.

"Alright, L."

Ellie lead me inside and we went upstairs to her room. "Do you need anything else? Want to take a shower, or...?"

"I think I'm good, it's been a long day."

"Yeah, I feel you. You can change in the bathroom and then I'll set up where you can sleep!"

I got my pajamas out of my suitcase and changed into them before heading back into the room.

"I have this for you. It's not a lot but it's actually pretty comfortable." Ellie gestured to a cot she had set up on the floor with a pillow and a couple of blankets.

"Okay! This is great, thank you so much."

"You can stop thanking us, you know. We're happy to help you in any way that we can."

She went off to do something downstairs but I climbed into bed, too tired to think. I was so ready for tomorrow.

The day my dream would come true. 

a/n

this chapter is finally edited oh my god

"was i swooning over anthony ramos?" damn right you WEREN'T what the hell was my problem

andddd i was obsessed with lmm. i can't with my former self. i'm changing this whole storyline i hate this

have a good day!