Emilia made her way back to Brooklyn. She couldn't imagine what she'd look like on the subway home, with sunglasses on at eight pm. She had been trying to draw as little attention to herself as possible and, aside from the glares of the passengers, she thought she managed to slip enough under the radar.

Throughout the ride, she kept checking to make sure the manila envelope was in her pocket, no doubt looking like she was in the middle of a drug sale. She could even imagine the headlines, "Say No To This? Lin-Manuel Miranda's Daughter Drug Dealer by Night!" Even she had to shake her head at her own absurdity. She had debated texting Hunter for her opinion, considering she was the only other teenager she talked to who didn't go to her school. But she didn't want to make her newfound family view her as a cheater, or worst have it get back to Lin. What would he think of getting a daughter who not only sucked at history, but had bought a test to cheat to get by?

She slipped her key into the keyfob of her apartment. Once she got in, she breathed out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding, as she leaned against the closed door.

"Hey Lia,"

Lia's hand immediately went to her chest as she realized she wasn't alone, "God, mom," She said breathless, "You scared me."

"I scared you sitting on our couch inside our apartment?" Vanessa raised an eyebrow at her daughter.

"I thought you'd be asleep,"

"It's eight o' clock," She replied bluntly, setting aside her laptop that she had been working on.

"Oh," Lia hadn't even taken the time into account. She checked her phone and saw that it was still early. She had just assumed it would be later. Didn't all illegal acts happen late at night? "Well, I'm gonna go take a shower,"

"Wait," Vanessa interrupted, "Between work and school, I feel like I've hardly seen you lately, let alone had a conversation with you. Think I can steal my daughter away for a few minutes?"

Lia gave a timid smile. It did seem like she hadn't spent a lot of time with her mom lately, a contrast to a few months ago when all she did was spend time with her. She missed it, too. She just wished her mom hadn't chosen the moment she desperately wanted to go to her room to choose to get sentimental.

"Sure," She replied, slipping her boots off and taking her coat off slowly and folding it onto a chair to ensure the envelope wouldn't make its appearance.

"How was the study group?" Vanessa asked, with a smile, as her daughter sat next to her on the couch.

"Fine," Lia responded, getting under the throw blanket.

"It sounds like you're getting a nice group of friends. Any chance I'll get to meet any of them soon?"

"Maybe," Lia shrugged, "I'm in high school though. People don't just introduce their friends to their parents,"

"Unless one of your parents happens to be a famous Broadway star?" Vanessa quipped with a knowing smirk.

"What do you mean?"

"You said that your friends wanted to meet Lin after your get together a few weeks ago,"

Lia had completely forgotten that she had told her mom that cover story, "Oh. Well, that was different. Lin isn't like a 'parent-parent'. He's..."

"Fun?" Vanessa added.

"Mom," Lia drew out the word, giving Vanessa a sheepish look, "I don't mean it like that,"

Vanessa shook her head, "No, no. It's fine!" She patted her leg in reassurance, "I love that Lin's in your life and you're getting along so well." She meant that. Sure, a part of her may have a twinge of jealousy that she was viewed in Lia's eyes as only the 'parent-parent', but she knew how much happiness Lin had added to both of their lives.

"You seem to be getting along with Lin pretty well, too," Lia's guilty look turned into a smirk.

Vanessa couldn't help but nervously chuckle, "We're co-parents. We're supposed to get along."

"I didn't know that kissing was a prerequisite for being good co-parents,"

Vanessa felt her face heat up. She wasn't used to being on the other end of a cross-examination, certainly not by her daughter. "Okay, yes. Lin and I have kissed, but it's not fair to him for me to talk to you about us without talking more with him."

"So... you're basically friends with benefits, then?" Lia perched up, a wide tooth grin prominent on her face at her mother's expense.

"Emilia!" Vanessa exclaimed as she took a couch cushion and playfully hit her smartass daughter with it, "We're finished with this conversation," Vanessa wouldn't admit it out loud, but she did feel like she was being called out a bit. She and Lin would have to talk through things soon.

"Fiiine," Lia replied with a laugh.

"As I was saying," Vanessa changed the subject, although enjoying the easy banter with her daughter, "I'm glad you're starting to find people you get along with. And I really appreciate that you didn't give me a hard time about the driving or having them over. I know it can seem like I'm overprotective, but I just worry about you, especially with everything that's been going on."

Lia felt her stomach instantly tie into knots. How could a ten minute conversation remind her of all of the lies she had been telling over the past several weeks? Of course she hadn't given her mom a hard time about driving with her friends, because her mom thought Lin was sending her taxis in the morning and Lin thought she was driving to school with another parent.

"Maybe, and don't automatically shoot down the idea, but maybe this weekend or next you could invite a few of them to meet us for pizza. Totally informal and I promise I won't do anything intentionally to embarrass you,"

Lia hated that her mom could be so nice to her when she knew how deceitful she'd been, "Yeah, maybe," And with each lie she told, she had to keep building upon it, "Lin really liked them so I think you would too,"

"Lin told me he didn't get to meet your friends because he wasn't going to be done until late."

And now she was including Lin on more of her lies, "That's true," Lia tried to save herself, "I meant moreso from what I told him about them. I'll ask them about pizza tomorrow," She added the last bit knowing it would make her mom happy, and hopefully change the subject.

"What's wrong? It's not your arm, is it?" Vanessa questioned, knowing her daughter well-enough to know when something was wrong. She took the aforementioned arm that had been castless since the beginning of the week and looked it over.

Emilia nodded her head, finding a route to explain away her look, "It's just been sore a bit today, that's all. Probably from all the writing I did at school," Lying was becoming easier and easier.

"The doctor did say that some soreness was to be expected." Vanessa remarked with a sympathetic look.

"I'll be fine, mom."

"Well, you already met with your study group. Why don't you change into some pjs, I'll pop some popcorn and we make fun of an incredibly cheesy Hallmark Christmas movie?" Vanessa suggested on the school night, thinking that they both needed a break from reality.

"Sounds great," Lia squeaked out as her mom went into their kitchen and Lia headed back towards her room with her coat in hand. She shut the door behind her, and felt the guilt of how she had been acting overwhelm her. She was a lying liar and her mom wanted to eat popcorn and watch movies with her. She stared at the manilla envelope with disgust. She was better than this, she knew that.

She looked up at her desk calendar, "Alright, you have six days before this test," She said out loud to herself. She stuffed the envelope into her desk drawer. She may have just wasted twenty bucks, but she couldn't keep lying. She would study harder for this test than she ever had before and hoped she could bring up her grade before finals began in three weeks.

She changed into a pair of sweatpants and threw her hair back into a ponytail. She headed back out to the living room. When her mom smiled at her and offered her the bowl of popcorn, she felt some of the knots in her stomach ease for the first time in weeks. She was going to get back to being deserving of her mom's pride; it might just consist of a few all-nighters before the next week.

—-

By the end of the week, Lia was ready for a release. She'd been holed up in her room studying all week. The test in history was Monday and she also had an English paper due. What sort of masochist gave tests on Mondays? It would be hanging over her head all weekend.

After school, her phone started buzzing with notifications from her group text. Marissa's parents had just headed out of town for the weekend unexpectedly so she had the house to herself. Apparently her apartment was off the chain. Her older brother at NYU could get them alcohol.

Lia managed to convince her mother there's a sleepover party at Marissa's house. She's talked to her before at this point and trusts them. Vanessa insists she gets a cab since their place is on the upper east side.

She packed a bag as if she was spending the night and figured she could hide it in a closet at Marissa's. Lia's spirits were riding high as she watched the buildings pass her window.

When she arrives around 9, she pays the driver and presses the buzzer. Marissa's voice tells her to come in and the lock releases.

It's only Marissa and Lindsay so far. Most people will arrive after ten, so Lia senses she must be actually making friends. They decide to do Lia's makeup and do her hair. Lia is happy to let them.

There's a little pre-party drinking as they blast music and decide on outfits. By the time the first guests arrive, Lia is starting to feel a little tipsy and at ease.

As the space fills up, she discovers Ayden is here. He is incredibly cute and is wearing jeans that hug his ass just right. Fueled by the jungle juice she's been sipping, she makes her way over.

"Hey Ayden," she grins, absentmindedly twirling her dark hair in her finger. Ayden gives her a once over and she can tell he's impressed.

"Lia!" He says. "What's up?"

"Oh, just hanging," she told him, swaying to the music flirtatiously.

"Yeah," he nods and takes a sip of his own drink. "Marissa's brother always has the hook up. She has the best parties."

"For sure," she agreed, watching their classmates having a good time. There's lots of flirting and giggling going on.

The conversation turned to his basketball game the next day. He asked if she would come and she agreed. Ayden got her another drink.

Things began to get blurry after that. There was dancing, laughing, and more alcohol. His face was next to hers as they danced closely. Lia thought he definitely wanted to kiss her but suddenly the room got incredibly stuffy.

Nausea swept over her quickly. A hand flew to her mouth and she ran for the bathroom. Luckily it was empty and she threw up her drinks. Her stomach lurched and she vomited again. After five minutes of trying to compose herself, there was a knock at the door.

"Lia?" It was Ayden.

"Just a minute," she called back, trying to sound cool. She washed out her mouth and tried to fix her hair and make up the best she could. When she opened the door, Ayden had a glass of water in his hand.

"Thought you should take a break," he told her, passing her the glass. Lia smiled and took it gratefully. She didn't realize how dehydrated she was until she started drinking. Ayden smiled at her and took her hand, leading her to the balcony for some air.

The lights twinkled in the skyline as she took some breaths of fresh air. She was just starting to feel better when the music shut off and there was yelling.

"Everyone, to the living room now!" A cop shouted to the party goers. Everyone looked terrified and Lia's heart dropped. Shit! Cops?

They made their way inside reluctantly, as the cops methodically began taking everyone's names and began calling parents to pick them up. Lia bit her lip as she waited her turn. Her mother would murder her for lying and then drinking alcohol. She checked her watch. It was almost midnight so Lin should be finishing up his show. She knew he said he wouldn't bail her out again but maybe he would just this once more if she begged him.

"Name?" One of the cops asked her, notebook and pen in hand.

"Emilia Nadal," she answered shakily.

"And a parent's name and phone number?"

She took a deep breath. "Lin-Manuel Miranda."

—-

Lin took another bow to more thunderous applause. He waved as he gazed out at the audience appreciatively. There was nothing quite like the rush of being onstage.

He hugged a couple cast mates and exchanged a few jokes as he made his way up to his dressing room. Lin loved performing but was always glad to be out of his 18th century wardrobe. He slipped on jeans, a T-shirt and a hoodie when he saw his phone buzz on the table. Typical, but as he picked it up he saw several missed calls from an unknown NYC number.

As a celebrity, he didn't pick up unknown calls. There was a voicemail so he tapped it open. He got a sick feeling as he listened - daughter Emilia - party - underage drinking - could he come pick her up.

His initial fear that she was hurt was pushed aside and replaced by disappointment. His sweet daughter had been drinking? She was only fourteen. A kid.

He was glad she'd had them call him, but quickly realized it was mostly because Lia didn't want them to call her mother. Lin called the number back, took down the address and told the officer he'd be there shortly.
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. There would be no stage dooring tonight.