Talie stumbled into fifth period on Monday with bags under her eyes. She looked terrible and upset. The bell rang as she plopped down in her chair and put her head down. She set her feet on the shelf underneath, curling herself up in a little ball.

I went over to her quickly as the class began writing. "Talie? Are you okay? Do you need the nurse?"

She just shook her head, not moving. Obviously, something was wrong, but I knew her well enough not to push it right now. She wouldn't want to be embarrassed in front of her peers. I let the class free write for five minutes and Talie didn't participate. I started class, stealing glances at Talie every once in a while.

When the bell rang to end class, Talie moved slowly. I smiled at my students as they left and shared some quick words with them. As Talie peeled herself off her chair I approached her.

"Hey," I said gently, sitting on the desk in front of her. "Something's going on with you. Are you okay?"

She shrugged and didn't look at me. She looked absolutely miserable. I wondered if she'd been bullied, or if something had gone on at home over the weekend.

"You know you can talk to me, right?" I reminded her, trying to tilt my head to look at her eyes. She was good at avoiding. Still, she didn't respond. "If not me, we have a counselor."

Students were laughing in the hallway and Talie looked over, obviously wanting to escape. She obviously didn't want to talk right now so there was no use keeping her.

"Go ahead and get to class," I told her. "Come see me if you need to."

She nodded and walked out quickly. I sighed, looking around my classroom. Most of the kids here were pretty well off with over involved parents. It made the troubled kids stand out even more. I wanted to help Talie, but I wasn't sure how. I stood up and walked back to my desk. It was my prep period. So far, I'd had no luck contacting Talie's father, but I decided to try again.

I pulled up her record on my teacher portal and found her father's cell phone number. I dialed and was surprised when he picked up on the second ring.

"Juan Rodriguez," he answered.

"Mr. Rodriguez," I changed the phone to the other ear, surprised. "Hi, my name is Lin-Manuel Miranda. I'm your daughter's English teacher at Hunter High. How are you today?"

"I'm fine, thanks," he said. "Is there a problem?"

"Well, not exactly, but I've been wanting to talk to you about some concerns," I began, fishing out a pad of paper from my desk. "Lately, she's been really tired in class and today she seemed really upset in class. Is everything okay at home?"

He sighed. "Well, I'm sorry to say I can't really give you a very good answer. I have a very demanding job so I'm not home that much. I wouldn't be surprised if she was staying up late."

I nodded. "She mentioned she went to bed around midnight or one most nights," I said. "I've been trying to convince her to go to bed earlier. Umm...did anything happen over the weekend? She was really upset in class today."

I heard him breathe out. "Well, I did have to tell her that I'd be going to London for several months for work," he said. "We have decide if she's coming with me or staying here."

No wonder she was so upset. Her father, the only adult in her life as far as I knew, was leaving the country for an extended period of time. "Would she be staying with family in the city?"

"No, we don't have any family in the city. I told her she could stay with friends or stay by herself at home."

My mouth dropped. "Stay by herself? Sir, she's fifteen."

"She's mature for her age," he said. "She's been taking care of herself pretty well the last couple years."

If 'taking care of herself pretty well' meant that she'd become a shell barely functioning, I guess you could say so. Poor kid. I could never imagine letting Sebastian or Francisco letting them fend for themselves. Talie was barely keeping her head above water.

"Right," I said. "Well, I could make some phone calls to see if there are any community houses she could possibly stay in if she wants to stay here."

He dismissed my offer, saying that the decision was up to Talie. He seemed in a hurry to end the phone call. I gave him my number, but wasn't sure if he actually wrote it down. I sighed as I pressed 'End' on my phone and tucked it away. Now that I knew what was going on, I needed to talk to Talie.

At the end of the day, I went to the main office to check my mailbox. Talie happened to be coming out of the principal's office, scowling.

"Go straight to detention," Dr. Fisher called after her as the bell rang. Talie was about to storm by me but I caught her arm.

"Hey," I said gently. "What happened?

"Nothing. He's an ass," she growled, arms crossed. I sighed and put my hand on her shoulder.

"Dr. Fisher?" I called to the principal, and he spun around. "Would it be okay if I kept Talie for detention today? I need to talk to her and she needs help on her English paper."

"Sure," he told me. I steered Talie down the hall towards my classroom as the other students streamed out. When we got to my room, I closed the door and she sat in a seat in the first row. Surprisingly, she started crying. I was never quite sure what to do when students cried. My first instinct was to hug them, but I knew that some people might not think that was appropriate, especially with female students. I got a couple tissues from the box and handed them to her.

I pulled over my chair and sat next to her, patting her back a couple times.

"Talie, I can tell you've had a rough day," I began as her crying lessened. She sat up and began dabbing at her eyes. "And a rough weekend. I finally talked to your dad."

"You did?" she asked, surprised as I had been.

"Mmmhmmm," I said, crossing an ankle over the other knee. "He told me about him living in London for a while. That must've been hard to hear."

She nodded and fiddled with her tissues. "Yeah," she mumbled simply.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" I offered gently.

She shrugged. "What's there to talk about? My dad's leaving for at least four months. He's just gonna leave me by myself."

"You don't wanna go with him?" I asked.

"He'll just ignore me," she said. "What's the point. At least here I have...school."

She didn't seem that into school, but I dropped it. "Do you have a friend to stay with?"

She shook her head. "I don't really have friends."

That broke my heart. She was a bit unapproachable to say the least, but every kid should have at least one good friend. According to her dad, she didn't have any family in the city either. The poor kid really was by herself.

"Well, I'm gonna make some phone calls to see if there are any group homes you could maybe stay in," I told her. "That way you wouldn't be alone."

"Mr. Miranda, that's really nice, but I'll be fine," she said, balling up her tissues in her hand. "I can take care of myself."

"Talie, you shouldn't have to take care of yourself. You're a kid," I pointed out.

"I've been doing it for years," she said, getting out a notebook from her backpack. I watched her for a few moments, trying to figure her out. Deep down, she wanted someone to take care of her. She wanted her dad, but he was obviously too into his own world to care about her.

I stood up and went to my desk to let her work. I opened my laptop and began to search for group homes. As I searched, I mostly found that the facilities were for drug addicts and homeless people. They weren't really places you'd want a healthy teenager living. I scrubbed my hand over my face as I continued working.

The hour passed slowly, and towards the end Talie rested her head on the desk. The building PA system beeped and the principal dismissed after-school detention students. As Talie gathered her things, I scribbled my phone number on a piece of paper.

"When's your dad leaving?" I asked her.

"Friday," she said. I nodded.

"This is my phone number," I said, holding out the paper for her. She stared at it a moment before taking it. "If you need anything at all, you call me. I'm only two buildings down. Okay?"

It was the best I could do for her right now. She nodded and stuffed the paper into her jeans, then left. I gathered my things and took the subway home. My apartment was a cacophony of sounds - my mom cooking dinner, the boys playing, the TV going. Sebastian ran to me and hugged me, and I put on a smile. Talie was still on my mind.

I was more quiet than usual all evening. I couldn't stop thinking about poor Talie. What must it feel like to be fifteen years old and not have anybody? To have your father, your only living parent, up and leave for months at a time? I put the boys to bed and laid on the couch, thinking.

When my wife got home around 9:30, she made me move to the bedroom. She was talking to me about her day, and I tried to make thoughtful comments, but she finally gave up and just stared at me.

"What's going on?" she asked. "You're quiet."

I smirked. I guess I was an open book. "Sorry. I keep thinking about Talie."

"The girl who babysat Friday?" she asked as she began changing into PJs. I nodded.

"She was really upset today. I found out her dad's moving to London for a few months and she has nobody here. He plans on just leaving her to fend for herself."

"But she's fifteen," Vanessa knitted her eyebrows.

"I know," I said. "I don't know what to do about it."

"This guy at work is going to London for a few months because of this case," she went on as she pulled on her PJ pants. "Rodriguez. He's one of the partners."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Rodriguez?" I asked. "What's his first name?"

"Uhhh...Juan I believe."

I closed my eyes. "I think that's her father. She mentioned he's a lawyer."

Vanessa gaped. "Wow. I didn't make the connection. The dude's a nice guy but he's very caught up in his own world. I didn't even know he had a kid."

"He does," I sighed as I laid on my pack. I rubbed at my forehead, thinking. Vanessa brushed her teeth, then climbed into bed next to me. I got a crazy idea.

"What if she stayed with us?"

Vanessa stopped and turned to me to see if I was serious. "What?"

I turned onto my side so I could look at her. "She could live with us. You know her dad, and I know Talie, obviously. Why doesn't she stay with us while he's gone?"

"Lin, I don't know if that's such a good idea," she said.

"Why not?" I asked. "She's a good kid. She lives two buildings down. She was great with the boys. We'd have a built-in babysitter."

"Lin, she's a teenager," she pointed out. "What do we know about taking care of a teenager?"

"I'm a high school teacher," I reminded her and she chuckled.

"Lin, I don't know," she said as she settled in.

"Think about it," I said. I knew this was out of the blue, but it was the best scenario for Talie. She could stay with someone she knew, and someone who cared about her. I hated to think about her living at home, being alone all the time. She deserved to be around a family.

Vanessa sighed as she turned out the light and we both settled in. I needed to convince Vanessa. This was the right thing to do.