Chapter 8: Hanging Out with Ric

Once I finished fixing my makeup, I put my phone in a clutch that I got with the sisters and grabbed a coat before walking out the door. Every cast member that I passed told me to have fun and soon I was at the stage door where Ric was talking to Lin

"Give her the time of her life, you got it," Lin was saying, "I don't know when the last time that she had a lot of fun but make sure she enjoys herself."

"I will do my best," Ric said, "I have some foster friends that say that life isn't easy when you're a foster kid. Whenever I ask why they don't go into detail, only shrug it off; I don't want her to feel responsible for anything that may happen," he finished which is when he noticed me

"Hello gentlemen," I began, then looked at Lin who was already dressed for the show, "don't you have a show to do?"

Lin paled a little then nodded, "Yes I do I was just giving a few more threats to him that Renée forgot to add," he explained as I sighed. "You both have fun," he said before turning on his heel to leave

Ric sighed in a sign of relief, "I see that you're ready," he said offering his elbow

I smiled politely, "Yes I am," I answered as I took the offered elbow, "sorry you had to deal with another threat," I added and he smiled. "Care to tell me where we are going," I asked as he smiled

"That is for you to find out later," he said before shrugging, "it's fine, I'm guessing that isn't something you'd expect."

I smiled as he opened the door to the car, "No it wasn't," I began, "I didn't have a lot of people care for me that much in a long time much less friends that would take me on fancy hangouts."

Ric smiled, "Well then," he began, "I guess this is the first time you've hung out with someone in a long time," he said as he got into the car

I nodded, "Sadly it is," I began, "I wasn't able to go anywhere or have any friends in any of my foster homes," I explained and he nodded

"Well then," he said as he buckled in, "since you are not from here let me be the first to give you a kind and official welcome to New York City. The town that never sleeps alongside its people; buckle up and enjoy the ride," he said while he started the engine as I chuckled

Once the car was started, we turned onto streets that I did not recognize as I never went anywhere aside from school and the houses that I lived in. There were many tourist shops all down Broadway having to do with the musicals that were currently being shown. But throughout the city, there were still tourist shops, glowing signs, and businesses that all had streams of people going in and out even at this time of night. After we were finished with the twists and turns Ric parked in front of an Italian restaurant. As we walked in, I couldn't help but look all around the building at the details in the ceiling and around the walls. After Ric gave the waitress his name, we were led to a table for two people; he pulled out a chair for me while taking my coat before hanging it up with his own on a nearby hook.

"This place is amazing," I began as I picked up the menu, "how did you plan this?"

He blushed a little, "I had some help from Lin if you don't mind me telling," he began as he sat down. "Before you walked up, he was telling me how he didn't want you to know that he had a hand in planning this for one reason or another," he paused, "Please don't tell him I told you."

I smiled, "It's fine," I began, "I won't tell him for you; I'm still getting used to knowing him if you know what I mean. I wasn't expecting to meet the whole cast in a span of two days along with finding out that someone wants to adopt me the second day they knew me."

"Can't blame you there," he said as he grabbed the menu, "I wouldn't mind being adopted by someone famous or the whole Broadway cast of my favorite musical."

I smiled before resuming my scan of the menu, it had a lot on it so I chose spaghetti and meatballs. Soon a waiter came over to take our orders after I said my order, I found out that he was having Fettuccine Alfredo. As we waited for the food to come, we made some small talk to know each other a little better. What I found out about him is that he likes the blue as well as I do, he plays as a quarterback in a high school football team and has two little brothers. He likes to sing and act along with doing sports, he has two favorite sports to participate in which are soccer and football. Once the food came the small talk ended as we started eating

I didn't know how hungry I was until I was halfway through eating the spaghetti and meatballs. "How's your Alfredo," I asked Ric once I swallowed a mouthful of food

"It's amazing," he said with his mouth full of food, "it's one of my favorite foods," he added once he swallowed

"It's mine too but I liked my mother's the best since she'd make killer spaghetti and alfredo. Those were my favorite foods until the crash happened," I explained as I started to remember the table talk that I had with my mother and stepfather. Before I knew it, a tear went down my cheek as I remembered all of the memories of being with them

"Don't cry," I heard Ric say as he dropped his fork, "I didn't mean to bring back any bad memories," he added as he patted my hand.

"I wish I could go back in time and prevent that crash from happening," I began with a sniff as I put my fork down. "The years of pain and starvation could've been prevented if it wasn't for that stupid crash," I finished as yet another tear went down my cheek

"That it would but if it wasn't for that crash you wouldn't mee that people that you have now," he began as I started feeling circles being rubbed against my back. "You wouldn't have met Lin, Renée, Daveed, me; if it weren't for that crash you wouldn't end up here in New York," he explained as I noticed that he got up from his chair to comfort me. "I know how you feel about wanting to change the past, my father died in the same kind of crash that you survived," he added as he knelt to me face

"Really," I asked in disbelief as I looked at him in his ocean blue eyes

He sighed, "Sad but true," he began, "He left when I was ten because he didn't appreciate the money trouble that we had. Two years later we found that he got into an accident with another girl; that same year was the year that my mother was diagnosed with cancer. She's still alive but she's very weak."

"She'll pull through," I said with a sniff and a small smile as I squeezed his hand, "I know it."

"Thanks," he said returning the squeeze before he returned to his seat

Soon after that, we finished our food and he led me to the cheesecake factory where we had amazing cheesecake. After that we found ourselves walking around the theater district as I pointed out which show I wanted to see.

"It seems like you want to see every show on here," Ric said with a chuckle. "If you were to pick one to see now what would it be," he asked me with a smirk

"Phantom of the Opera," I answered without a second thought, "it's one of the ones that I've grown up with my whole life and my topmost favorite."

He chuckled once more, "Then we'll see Phantom of the Opera," he said before purchasing the tickets. Once we took our seats the show started, during the intermission I admired the inside of the theater for the whole time until Act 2 started. Once the show was over, I was standing in applause, even though it would've been better with the original cast it was still great.

"So, what did you think," Ric asked as we made our way back to the car that was still by the restaurant

"That was amazing," I said with a grin on my face, "some days I think I could reach Christine's highest note in the musical. I never really tried it since I don't want to pay for possible home damages or medical bills."

"That's probably why they don't have glass in the theater as part of their props," Ric began. "That could've been both painful to clean up during a performance," then his eyes widened before he made the motions of something exploding. "I would hate to be the person subjected to an eardrum explosion," he finished as he scrunched up his nose. "That would probably be the messiest," he added as I started laughing at his facial expressions to where I snorted and a tear ran down my cheek. "You okay, I've never heard you laugh like that before," he asked as I regained my breath.

"Yeah," I began, "I'm fine I just haven't laughed like that in a long time," I replied as he opened the door to the car

"You haven't told me much about your life," he began once he sat down in the car. "Would you like to tell me about any of the homes that you've been in or how your life was before the crash?"

"How much did Lin tell you," I asked him with a sigh, "I would like to not talk about the abuse," I added as he nodded.

"He only told me that you were orphaned by a semi crash and that you've been through some abusive foster homes," he answered and I nodded

"Three abusive foster homes, five homes in total," I began, "before the crash everything was fine. I would get straight As, be recognized for academic excellence in both my early high school classes and my elementary and middle school. I was an involved student as I performed for many people both for the school and for the city. My mother was a writer while my stepfather traveled for his job and my father was still living with his parents working at a grocery store. The crash happened as I was heading to celebrate my friend's birthday," I said off the top of my head. "I wish I could talk to her again, or even see her for that matter, maybe I'll do that tomorrow with the phone that Lin got me. What about you, you haven't told me so much about your life; you haven't talked about your brothers, what are they like to you?"

"They're everything to me," Ric began with a smile, "almost as much as my mother is. The second eldest is Alexander. He is twelve and excels in school while John we just got from adoption about a week ago. He's ten years old but sadly he's already been through too much that he doesn't know how to trust anyone," Ric sighed. "If my mother dies, I won't be able to take care of them and we all will be forced into foster care," he finished as I saw the familiar shadow of a tear rolling down his cheek

I reached over and wiped the tear from his face, "First of all," I began, "if I'm not allowed to cry neither are you," he chuckled. "Second of all, I'll be with you no matter what; same goes with the cast," I turned toward him and sat on my knees, it was a little uncomfortable but I wasn't going for comfort. I was going for reassurance. "If all goes to shit, I will still be here with you and I'm pretty sure the cast will help with whatever is needed."

"Promise," he said with a look of hope in his eyes as I grabbed his hand

"I promise," I smiled as we leaned over, soon there was a small gap between us and before I knew it, we were kissing