Once again, I found my uncle pacing back and forth on stage. He was looking at something on his script and frowning.

"Shayna is in a mood," I said.

"Uh-huh," Uncle Anton barely even looked up. "What did you do?"

"Why does everyone assume it was me?" I asked. "I struck up a conversation."

Uncle Anton looked me square in the eye. "Jack, you have to get along with her."

"I've tried," I held up my hands in surrender. "She is unreasonable."

"Have you talked to her about it?" Uncle Anton asked.

I bit back a groan. Everyone thought whatever problem she had with me could be resolved with a simple conversation. She didn't want to talk. That made it kind of hard to have a dialogue.

"I've tried," I said. "I've even asked around. No one knows why she hates me."

"Please, try and get along," Uncle Anton said. "The festival isn't far off. After it's over, I'll take you and the girls camping when Jamie comes to town."

"Your New York City girlfriend?" I laughed. "What makes you think she's a camper?"

Picturing Jamie in a tent was unfathomable. The idea of a triple threat on Broadway sleeping in a tent and gathering firewood was laughable.

Thinking of my sisters in the woods wasn't much better. Mary would be lost, and Maddy would beg for cell service. I'd have to remember to gently let my uncle down about the camping idea later.

"I don't know what to do," Uncle Anton said. "My sister is dying. My play is in disarray. Work with me, Jack. I worry about you."

The others began to file into the theater. Jules and Novah were arguing with Hugh about something. I heard Jules say something about basketball. Rita looked exhausted, and Carson was bopping to music on his headphones.

"Rehearsal is about to start," Uncle Anton said. "Now, I want you to take Shayna aside after rehearsal and talk to her. Do what you have to. Call a truce, but I expect no fighting at future rehearsals."

"I'll try," I said.

Uncle Anton glared at me. "You'll do more than try, son."

"I am not your son," I snapped.

As much as Uncle Anton tried to raise me, he wasn't my father. Fathers were angry and worked way too much. Uncle Anton was fun and shared an apartment with his roommate. He didn't have children or hang around kids other than his actors.

I didn't want to think of him as my father. No matter how much he exerted himself in my life, I'd never think of him that way.

I walked down the stage steps and sat in one of the chairs at the front of the audience. I was tired, and we still had a whole rehearsal to tackle. Then I'd go home and try to keep my father calm.

"Hey, Jack," Hugh called. "Nice game last night."

"It was a good game," Rita chimed in.

Football was a big deal at our school. Rita and Hugh just weren't usually the type of people that showed up.

"You guys went?" I asked.

Rita grinned. "Hugh invited me. We were in the student section. We were all there except Carson."

"Somebody say my name?" Carson rotated his headphones.

"You weren't at the game last night," Jules said.

I couldn't picture Jules at a football game, either. They tended to favor standing at school's mandatory pep rallies off to the side with their arms crossed and a scowl.

"Yeah," Carson hung his headphones around his neck. "I had this gig with the band at the coffee shop. Went really well. Almost finished our demo."

Carson was a part of a moderately successful local band called The Rasping Whispers. He played as much as he could whenever possible. His fellow bandmates made fun of him for being in the play, but he told them he was only here for school credit.

Sometimes, I could hear Carson practicing next door from my house. His parents bought him various instruments, including a drum set, a grand piano, a violin, a bass, and his favorite electric guitar.

The more impressive part was that Carson could play all of the instruments. He was exceedingly talented musically. His parents kept trying to press him to apply to the top music schools in the country, but he wanted to play in his band.

His parents didn't have a ton of arguments against his band. His band was regionally famous, and they were working on an album. I loved attending Carson's concerts. He used real life to inspire his music, and he and Foster wrote smart and snappy lyrics.

Shayna pushed a huge rack of costumes on stage. Jules and Rita rushed to see them. I followed behind as the girls examined them all one by one.

"They look fabulous," Shayna said.

"Very Shakespearean," Rita said, running her fingers over brass buttons on an ornate tunic.

"Jamie helped us get them," Uncle Anton said. "Straight from New York."

He didn't mention that they'd been from a condemned production of some Shakespeare play that was off-off-Broadway, and Jamie had altered them herself. Uncle Anton said that where we got them didn't matter and had asked me not to tell anyone the costumes' origins.

"I love the tunics," Hugh said.

They were nice costumes. Jamie had done an amazing job. I needed to remember to shoot her a text later to thank her.

Shayna held up what I guessed was Touchstone's harlequin costume. "Carson, you're going to look good in this."

"Cool," Carson said, completely unembarrassed about the old-timey clown suit. "Love the checkers."

Jules and Rita examined their costumes while Kai came on stage from the lighting booth. He smiled when Shayna handed him his costume.

Uncle Anton walked up next to me and handed me a sandwich. I'd completely forgotten the silly little errand I'd made Lilly run.

I walked to the lighting booth to eat while the others tried on their new costumes. I didn't want to eat around the others.

Lilly was eating her hot roast beef sandwich in the booth, which was probably a bad idea, but I didn't want to tell her. She was using lots of napkins and kept the sandwich wrapped.

"Why aren't you up there?" Lilly asked between bites.

"Boy's gotta eat," I said. "Besides, I know my costume will fit. Jamie had all our measurements."

"She had your measurements before you ate that sandwich," Lilly joked.

Shooting my sister a nasty look, I unwrapped my sub. The ham and melted cheese oozed down the sides of the toasted sourdough sub. Lilly even remembered to ask for pickles and olives sans onions.

It was perfect. I loved my sister for remembering my sandwich order even when she was annoyed that I was making her run errands.

When I finished eating, I stole one of Lilly's napkins and threw my trash away. Then, I made my way back to the stage.

Uncle Anton nodded at me and clapped his hands for attention. "We're going to start in twenty minutes. Make sure your costume fits and that you've eaten. We're going to run as much of the show as we can today."

Rita offered to make a run down to Sully's after she took a poll and found out she, Kai, and Shayna had neglected to eat already.

I went to the dressing room and tried on my costume. It fit well enough, although I wasn't a fan of the huge poofy sleeves.

I hung it back on the rack when I was done. That's when I noticed my cell phone buzzing. I checked it and saw my mother was calling.

I held the phone up to my ear. "Hey, Mom."

"Jack," she said. "How are you?"

"Good," I said. "We won our game last night."

"I tuned in on the radio," she said. "I bet your father was proud."

I winced. Lilly, Uncle Anton, and I had made the executive decision not to worry her about Dad. Some days, it was hard, but it boiled down to not wanting her to worry about us.

"He was," I said. "Did the doctors say anything new today?"

Mom was silent for a moment. "They never have good news, Jack. And I don't want to distract you."

I sighed. "It's okay, Mom. I love you. So do the girls. I think I'll have time to visit this evening if they let me."

"I'll ask Nurse Kelsey," Mom said. "I know you're busy. Your uncle says you're showing real talent in that play."

"I guess so," I said. "I'm at rehearsal right now. Uncle Anton gave us a break."

"Tell my brother I said hi," Mom said. "How's Jamie?"

"The costumes she helped get came in today," I said. "But I haven't spoken to her in a while. She hasn't visited in two months."

"I always liked Jamie," Mom said. "And she likes Anton. I hope the distance doesn't hurt their relationship."

Jamie and Anton had been dating long-distance for almost a year now. They talked every chance they could. She thought he was funny and smart while he respected her career and loved her fierce personality on and off stage.

"They love each other," I said. "And Jamie is about to be in another show. I think that directing is Uncle Anton's true calling, though. I've heard he wants to convince the school to hire him full-time to teach drama."

"Wouldn't that be nice," Mom said. "I do miss seeing him perform. Even in an ensemble, he was always great."

"I'll tell him you said hi," I said. "And I'll let the girls know you send your love."

"Thank you, Jack," she said. "I love you. Never forget that."

"I love you too," I said. "Bye, Mom."

After I hung up, I went to where the others were munching on fries from Sully's. I sat down on the edge of the stage and flipped through my phone.

The guys from football were chatting about the cheerleaders in a group chat. Mary posted a piece of a new sketch she'd done this morning on Instagram. Maddy's soccer team won, and she posted pictures of the team celebration at the pizzeria.

"Hey, Jack," Hugh said. "Rita bought four large fries at Sully's, and she didn't realize a large at Sully's is enough for two people. Want some?"

"Sure," I said. "Did she get the kind with cheese and chives?"

Hugh sighed. "Sadly, no. She got the plain ones. Just another reminder, we must teach her what's good to eat in this town."

"I'll take some fries," I said. "Did she at least get ketchup?"

"I'll make sure you get a few packets," Hugh said, and a moment later, he brought me a napkin full of thin, crispy fries and a few packets of ketchup.

I dipped the fries in ketchup and listened to Carson strumming on his ukulele. He was singing something about French fries and lost love.

"Is it really so bad I didn't know about the cheese and chives?" Rita asked Novah.

"Absolutely," Novah said between bites. "A cardinal sin. Sully makes the best chive and cheese fries this side of the moon."

"But crispy fries remind me of you," Carson sang. "And without chives, my fries are blue. Darling babe, you make my heart sing..."

"Carson," Hugh said. "Not sure that song's working."

"Not a fan of the artistic stylings of fries?" Carson asked. "Fine then."

"No, no," Hugh said. "I'm sure everyone else was enjoying it."

"How about we hear something your band has been working on?" I suggested.

Carson grinned and started strumming. I'd heard Carson play this particular tune with his band, but it sounded more acoustic on his ukulele.

"I'm tapping at the night

We've had some wild storms

Ooh, together, you and I

We danced across the sky

Ooh ahh, you and I

We danced across the sky."

I was just licking my fingers when Anton clapped his hands and stood back up on the stage. "Now you've seen the costumes, let's see some acting."

"Where's Juan?" Rita asked.

Hugh scratched the back of his head. "Probably with Samantha."

"We'll work around it," Uncle Anton said. "We'll do monologues again. Rita, let's hear 'All the World's a Stage.'"

Rita turned pink. "I think I've almost got it, but we'll see."

Everyone got off the stage except Rita, and I saw my chance to talk to Shayna alone. It was time to patch things up between us. I grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the theater's entryway out of everyone else's earshot.

"What are you doing?" She hissed.

"I need to talk to you," I said.

Shayna frowned. "Why?"

I took a deep breath. "Shayna, you're a reasonable person, so hear me out."

Rita started her monologue on stage, and I listened for a moment. "All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players:

They have their exits and their entrances;

And one man in his time plays many parts."

I shook my head and concentrated on Shayna. She was glaring at me with no small amount of malice.

"I know you think I'm a privileged baby," I said. "But it isn't like that at all."

"Do I look like I care?" Shayna asked.

Gritting my teeth, I tried to smile. "You clearly care what I think about you. So here it is: I think Shayna Porter is a beautiful cheerleader who is kind to everyone. Not everyone is nice to the new students like Rita. You have a big heart and are good with kids. I think you're an excellent person."

Shayna pulled away from me. "Jack Garrison, I could care less what you think."

"It's true," I said.

"You are so full of it," Shayna glared at me. "I'm not going to fall at your feet just because I broke up with Juan."

I needed her to stop and listen to me for once. It was time to be truthful. She needed to stop seeing her deluded version of me and see some truth.

"I know you hardly ever see your mother, and your dad walked out years ago," I said. "And if you want the truth, my mother is dying, and my father takes it out on me."

She covered her ears. "Jack, I don't want to hear this."

"Keep running, Shayna," I said. "One day, you'll have to forgive me for whatever I did."

"For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,

Turning again toward childish treble, pipes

And whistles in his sound," Rita continued behind us.

The door to the theater opened, and Juan and Samantha walked in laughing. They barely seemed to notice us at all as they sauntered by.

Shayna turned red, and her eyes glistened. "Tell your uncle I took five." Then she took off and ran out of the theater.

"But..." I said, but I figured chasing her would do more harm than help.

I glanced back at the stage where Rita was wrapping up her monologue. "Is second childishness and mere oblivion,

Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything."

Hanging my head, I shoved my hands in my pockets. Then I walked back into the theater, knowing I'd only pushed Shayna away again.