July 4, 2015

The day after her big birthday party, Denise woke up super tired. She dragged herself out of bed, and went to shower. After the shower, she straightened her hair. It took two hours, but afterwards she looked pretty, and ready for the day to come. She put some light makeup on and put on the blue dress Pippa bought for her. Today was going to be an important day, because she was going to meet Lin's parents. She didn't want to admit it, but deep down, she knew she was going to stay with the Mirandas longer than she thought before.

A few hours later, Denise, Lin, Vanessa and Sebastian were standing in front of a huge apartment in Washington Heights. A small Latina woman opened the door. She started talking to Lin, very fast and in Spanish. Lin answered something, and the woman turned to Denise: "And you must be Denise! I'm Luz, Lin's mother."

"Hi Luz," Denise said.

"You look gorgeous in that dress!" Luz exclaimed.

"Thank you," Denise said shyly.

"What is your shoe size?" Luz asked curiously.

"[insert shoe size here]*" Denise answered, "Why?"

"Come with me," Luz said. She took Denise inside the house, and took her to a walk-in closet. Or well, actually it was more like a room. A dressing room. Luz rummaged through a few drawers, until she found what she was looking for. She held up a pair of heels. "We have the same shoe size, and I have these shoes that match your dress. If they fit you can wear them today."

It was true. They were white heels with blue jewels on it. They were gorgeous. Denise tried them on, and they fitten perfectly.

"They're... amazing! I love them!" Denise looked at Luz: "Are you sure I can borrow them? They're so beautiful, I wouldn't want to make them dirty!"

"Shh," Luz silenced Denise, "Of course you can borrow them!"

During dinner, Denise felt quite awkward. The food was amazing, but everyone was talking in Spanish. Sometimes, Luz or Luis tried to start a conversation with Denise, but Denise only replied shortly. Soon, they gave up and continued their other conversations, leaving Denise alone with her thoughts. Denise thought about her biological grandparents. She had never met them because of a family fight. Her father came to America as a 'person of extraordinary ability in dancing'. His parents didn't know he was a dancer, and disowned him for 'acting like a girl'. Nevertheless he followed his dreams and went to America. There he got a job and met Sally, Denise's mother. They lived together happily until that one fatal day in 2010. Denise sighed. Her father's story was so amazing. Fighting his parents and moving to a different country to be able to do what he loved. How could she live up to that? What had she done to follow her dreams? Nothing! Or well, she used to work for it. From a young age, she had known that she would have to be twice as good as the white kids to get a role. She didn't care much at first, she was willing to work for it. But soon, she learned that even while working hard, there were no roles for her. Then she got cast in the Sound of Music. She felt like her world was complete: finally someone noticed her! Her hard work had not been for nothing! And then everything changed. In one abrupt moment, everything was taken away from her. She swore to never do theatre again. It had only given her false hope.

"Are you okay, Denise?" Lin interrupted her thoughts.

"Yes..." Denise said, "I'm fine..."

"What were you thinking about?" Luis asked.

"Nothing..." Denise said, "My parents..."

"You've never told us about them," Vanessa pointed out.

"There isn't much to tell," Denise said, "My father was a dancer-"

"That's awesome!" Lin interrupted her.

"Lin, don't interrupt people when they're talking," Luz said.

"Sorry mamá," Lin said.

"Well," Denise said, who had lost track of what she was going to say. She picked up her story: "Anyway, my grandparents didn't want him to be a dancer and disowned him. They said dancing is for girls. I've​ never known my biological grandparents, and no foster parent has ever bothered taking me to their parents. This stuff is all kind of new to me."

"I don't like your grandparents," Luis stated, "Anyone should be able do what they love."

All the adults around the table nodded. Denise shrugged: "I suppose so."

"What were the other foster homes like?" Luz asked.

Denise shrugged again: "They needed the money. They gave me everything I needed and for the rest they didn't pay much attention to me. It was okay, I guess."

Lin and Vanessa shared a look: Denise was suddenly very open.

"Didn't they give you love and toys?" Luz asked.

"Tobi?!" Lin asked surprised.

"No. But I still had my stuffed sheep from before. He was all I needed."

"You didn't have a stuffed sheep with you when you came to us," Vanessa pointed out.

"My last foster parents threw him away because I was 'too old for stuffed animals'. That's why I ran away."

"Nonsense," Luz said, "Lin here carried his stuffed pig everywhere until he was nineteen!"

"Mamá!" Lin yelled.

Denise laughed: "It's okay. Your secret is save with me!"

After the dinner, they went to the Richard Rodgers to watch the fireworks from the roof.

When they arrived there, Tommy walked towards Denise. "This arrived at the theatre this morning:" He handed her a package. Curiously, she opened it. Inside was a book. She opened it on the first page. There was a letter. She read it:

'Hey Denise,

Happy birthday! We are Liza and Anna. We're twin sisters, we're fifteen years old and we're from Chicago. We gathered all letters and drawings people made for your birthday and put them together in this scrapbook. Because you're not as active on social media as your dad, we don't know you very well. From what we've heard you're a really nice girl, and you've gone through a lot of crap. So we decided we wanted to do something for your birthday. So here we are, the first two letters are ours.

Love,

Liza and Anna'

Denise scanned through the scrapbook. It contained a lot of letters, a bunch of drawings and a few pictures of her and Lin. Tears welled up in her eyes: this was so sweet! These people, who she haven't even met, cared for her birthday! They put time and love in this, and they did that for her!

"Denise, are you okay?" Odessa walked towards Denise, a pulled an arm around her.

"Yes," Denise sniffed, "just a bit emotional. It got late yesterday and I'm on my period and I got this beautiful scrapbook and it's just a bit too much."

"Do you want to look up a quieter place?" Odessa asked.

Denise nodded.

"Let's go to the roof," Odessa suggested, "There won't be lots of people there as the fireworks didn't start yet. We could watch the sun go down."

"Good plan," Denise agreed.

When they got upstairs they sat down on a bench.

"Thank you," Denise sighed, "It's much cooler out here. I didn't realise I needed the air."

"No problem," Odessa said, "That's what friends are supposed to do, right?"

It stayed quiet for a while.

"You have a beautiful view from up here," Denise broke the silence. They indeed had a beautiful view. On all sides they could look over the city. In the south, you could see the high skyscrapers from Manhattan, and in the west, the sun was slowly disappearing behind the horizon.

"Yeah," Odessa answered, "it's gorgeous. Anyway, why were you crying?"

"Because I got this," Denise gave her the scrapbook.

Odessa looked through it: "That's so sweet!" Then she turned to Denise: "But why would this make you cry?"

Denise sighed: "I just feel like I don't deserve this! These fans don't even know me, but they're a fan of Lin. They're giving this to me because of things he did, not what I did. I did nothing to deserve all this love!"

"Denise..." Odessa said, tears were forming in her eyes, "I don't even know what to say. Of course they did it for you! If they wanted to make Lin happy, they would have written fanmail to him, and not to you!"

Denise shrugged: "Maybe."

Odessa pulled an arm around Denise, and together they looked over the city. It stayed silent for a while, while they looked over the city. It wasn't an awkward silence, it was a comfortable silence. They were both lost in their own thoughts, together.

That was, until the silence got violently interrupted by Denise's phone ringing. Denise sighed: "Probably my dad, asking where I am."

Then Odessa's phone started ringing as well. Odessa laughed: "Probably your dad, asking where we both are."

Denise looked at a phone: one tekst message from Meyrin.

'Denise, tell her! Now!'

Denise blushed, and wrote back: 'Tell who what?'

'Tell Odessa that you love her, duuhh'

Denise quickly looked over her shoulder, to see if Odessa wasn't looking at her. Odessa was texting as well, presumably with Meyrin.

Denise quickly texted back: '😳 is it that obvious?'

'Hell yeah'

Denise smiled at her phone screen. She knew that she had befriended two weirdos, but she would never had guessed that it went this far.

"Odessa? I might want to tell you something."

Odessa looked up: "Is it what Meyrin just texted us about?"

Denise blushed, and nodded.

"I love you too," Odessa simply said.

Denise blushed even more: "I love you too."

Odessa smiled at her friends. It was going to be alright. Her job here was done, she turned around and joined the other people downstairs.

Lin and Vanessa were standing in a corner when Denise and Odessa came downstairs. They were walking hand in hand and looked slightly uncomfortable.

"Do you think they're girlfriends?" Lin asked.

"I sure hope so," Vanessa answered.

Odessa climbed up a table, and then helped Denise up.

"Uhm... Guys?!" Denise tried to get the attention, but everyone kept talking.

"Guys!" Meyrin yelled at full volume, "Denise wants to say something!"

Everyone immediately fell silent.

Denise laughed nervously: "Hey everyone. I and Odessa have an announcement... Uhm..."

She turned to Odessa, who kissed her on the lips. Then Odessa turned to everyone watching, and shrugged: "That's the announcement."

Vanessa smiled, that was actually cute! Next to her, Lin was completely shook. He turned to his wife: "Did you know...?"

Vanessa shrugged: "Sort of. I knew Denise had a crush on Odessa, but that they're actually together is new."

"Why did you never tell me?!" Lin asked, upset.

"Because she asked me not to," Vanessa answered, "She's still figuring this stuff out, you know."

Lin looked down. He looked truly hurt. Vanessa sighed, she put a hand on Lin's shoulder: "She will trust you, honey. Just give her some time."

Lin sighed: "She can take all the time she needs. I just wish that would have been a little less..."

Vanessa sighed, and nodded: "I get it. We'll just need some patience."

Meanwhile, Denise and Odessa found Meyrin. Meyrin laughed: "I'm glad my little plan worked! I was kind of scared I was wrong about you two crushing on each other!"

"Thank you," Odessa said, "Without you, I would never have dared to tell her."

"I thought you weren't going to come...?"

"I managed to sneak away from my family's party," Meyrin explained, "The only one who knows I'm here is my... uhm... uncle Kurou."

"Kurou?" Denise asked, "I've never heard of that name!"

"It's Japanese," Meyrin explained, "Japanese names are weird. My mother is called Juki and my dad is called Ame."

"Anyway," Odessa interrupted her, "maybe we should go outside. The fireworks are about to start."

Later that night, Denise rolls into bed, exhausted. She had an amazing night, and feels like all she can do after those two amazing days is sleep. But then she remembers the scrapbook. She gets out of bed to get it. She climbs back in bed, and opens it on the second page. Comfy under her blanket, she starts reading.

'Dear Denise,

As the person who came up with this idea, I have the honour of writing to you the first letter. If only I knew what to write...

Well, I am Liza. I and my twin sister Anna came up with the idea for this scrapbook. I am in a wheelchair, and Anna is deaf. That makes us a very extraordinary couple. We are completely dependent on each other. I can't get in a car or even over a little bump without her help, and she can't talk to other people without my help. At school, most people view us as inseparable, one person even.

A question that we often get is if we have twin telepathy. I don't think twin telepathy is a thing, but we know each other so well that we can guess what the other is doing or thinking. Most of the time we're right, but sometimes not.

So you might be wondering why we did this for you. It's because we think you're a nice girl, and we'd like to get to know you. Lin is so happy with you, he tweets about practically no one else!'

Denise stopped reading. Was that true? She hadn't been on Twitter in a very long time. She picked up her phone and opened Twitter. She was surprised to see she had millions of notifications. She clicked them all away and then went to Lin's account. She saw some pictures of the Hamilton cast that night, and some pictures of Lin and Vanessa together. Then she stumbled upon a picture of her and Odessa looking at the fireworks. It was tagged with: 'Look at these cuties! My beautifulest daughter @DenisenotIsa and her gorgeous girlfriend @XxOdessaxX'

She scrolled more down to the previous day, and saw that Lin had tweeted 'Happy birthday to my beautifulest daughter @DenisenotIsa !! May she have the bestest of days!!'

She laughed and commented: '@Lin_Manuel not that I'm complaining but you know that I'm your only daughter?? So it's kind of easy to call me your most beautiful one??'

Then she noticed the other comments

@WickedWyvern7: '@Lin_Manuel Happy birthday @DenisenotIsa ! I hope you have a wonderful day!'

@AbsoluteHamiltrash: '@Lin_Manuel @DenisenotIsa Happy birthday Denise! Wish you all the best!'

@DefinitionOfHamilfan: '@Lin_Manuel @DenisenotIsa HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!'

@username: '@Lin_Manuel @DenisenotIsa How old is she?'

Denise replied to this one: '@username @Lin_Manuel I just turned 14 😊'

@Usnavi: '@Lin_Manuel @DenisenotIsa I'm sorry but it's "most beautiful" and "best" just saying'

Denise was starstruck by all the sweet messages and tweeted: 'Thanks for all the birthday wishes everyone! It really means a lot!'

Then she took a picture of the scrapbook and tweeted it with the caption: 'Thanks a lot to everyone who made me this beautiful scrapbook! Special thanks to Liza and Anna!'

Then she continued reading Liza's letter:

'he tweets about practically no one else! Even Sebastian and V (Vanessa) are becoming less frequently subjects in his tweets because he's tweeting about his "beautifulest daughter" Denise. I guessed you didn't know this because you're never online, and I thought you deserved to know. He really loves you.

That's kind of everything I think!

Bye!

Liza'

Denise shook her head. That girl had literally written down everything she was thinking. There was no direction in her letter. Then she started reading the next letter:

'Dear Denise,

I'm guessing my sister already told you our extraordinary relationship. I'm also guessing that she already told you that people think that we are one person. That's not the case. We're very different, actually. She is very outgoing, while I'm kind of socially awkward. She blabbers your head off, while I think carefully before I say something. This is probably because it's so much work for me to say something. I prefer to stay silent unless I have something important to add. She runs off (or, wheels off) to any place, while I prefer to stay where I am. If it weren't for her disability, she would probably have made a great actress. I would be way too shy to step on that stage. I love to dance though, because you're a part of a group. No one looks specifically at you.

What I'm trying to say is that no one sees me as what I am. People only see Liza. Because I'm not capable of communicating with other people than those who speak ASL, it's Liza who communicates for both of us.

I'm telling you this because I see the same happening with you. As you're not really active online, all the fans see of you is what Lin tells us about you. You're lack of online presence will give you exactly the problems that my lack of talking abilities give you. Don't let him overshadow you. Let us know who you really are, not only who he thinks you are. Otherwise you'll be put to the side just like me.

Just some advice from one girl to another! Anyway, happy birthday. I wish you all the best!

Love,

Anna'

Wow, Denise thought by the end of the letter, what a big difference from Liza's letter. But she realised that Anna was right. If she kept away from social media the only news from her would come through Lin. The question was if she wanted that. Did the fans really need to know her for who she was? They weren't her fans, after all. They were Lin's fans. Then she read the next letter.

'Dear Denise,

My name is Alex. I am a thirteen year old boy from London. I am an orphan as well, and a suicide attempt survivor. In a way, you saved my life. I want to tell you my story.

Last year, my parents died. I was fostered by an abusive couple, for privacy reasons I will not give you their names. My foster mother used to beat me up or worse, while my foster father looked away and didn't do anything about it. I was too scared to go to the police. Afraid of more beating and different things. It's still hard to write down, but I'll. She also used to lock me in a dark closet for hours or even days without any food. You'll understand that I was terrified of her.

I had lost all hope, even tried to commit suicide, then you appeared. A girl like me, who had lost her parents and lived in foster care. It gave me strength. You were being fostered by nice people who loved you, so why not me? I finally dared to go to the police and tell them of my foster parents' abuse.

Right now I'm living with an amazing couple who are fostering me and they're looking to adopt me. I'm still hurt, but together with my new parents I'm learning to get over it. I'm in therapy and my wound are slowly healing. None of this would have happened if not for you. Your strength gave me strength. Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Much love,

Alex'

Denise had tears in her eyes. She had never realised she had so many influence on people, even if she wasn't on social media much. Her presence was clear, if she wanted it or not. That was one of the downsides of being fostered by a famous person. She had no choice, she was famous as well. It had been such a touching letter, she couldn't bring herself to reading another one. She put the book away and fell asleep.