“That’s the problem—a child shouldn’t have to understand this feeling. We should have fixed this problem by now. If you love someone, how could you not accept them for who they are? It truly boggles the mind.”

I’ve caused my aunt pain. I’m messing up her life. I don’t want to be a burden on her. “If you want me to move out, I can figure something out.”

“Boy, you’ve lost your mind,” Aunt Lil says, pinching my cheek. “I would never push my future Tony winner out into the cold.”

“You still want to be in my acceptance speech, right?”

“Exactly,” she says.

“Aunt Lil, I could really use you at this dinner. I need your help to make this work. More than anything, I want to stay here and keep going to SPA.”

“Oh, dear love, I would never leave you. I will be there, and we will get through this together.”

“Thank you, Aunt Lil. I love you.”

“Love you more, muffin,” she says, then gives me a hug.

I take my egg-and-bacon sandwich—probably cold now—and head to my room. Before I leave, I turn around and ask, “Why is Davina mad?”

She smiles. “She says I won’t let her all the way in.”

I look around at the pineapple statues, the pineapple-shaped bowls, pineapples dancing on the tablecloth. My aunt is the most welcoming, loving, and accepting person, and all she was taught as a kid was the opposite.

When I get to my room, there are twelve text messages—all from Anna and Elijah in our group chat.

ANNA: Guys, have you seen the news?

ELIJAH: About Pokémon on Ice?

ANNA: No. What? About Conversion play.

ANNA: People are pissed about that Nickelodeon star

ELIJAH: He couldn’t help that Nickelodeon made him a star

ANNA: Lol. People aren’t happy that a cisgender guy is playing the trans part

ANNA: Augustus? Where you at?

ANNA: There’s going to be a protest at the school

ELIJAH: I’m there!

ANNA: You can’t be—it’s tomorrow night and you’re onstage

ELIJAH: Dammit.

ANNA: Augustus?

I’m over this day.

And too exhausted to handle much more.

I don’t know how to respond. Of course a transgender actor should be playing the transgender character—it’s so obvious. But why don’t I feel mad enough to protest? Why are cisgender people in my life more upset than me? Should I post online about it? Will people wonder why I haven’t posted about it yet?

AUGUST: People are really upset?

ANNA: UH-HUH. The Broadway World message board is on fire.

AUGUST: Why?

ANNA: August, really? It’s called REPRESENTATION. Trans people should represent themselves onstage. Why am I explaining this to you?

AUGUST: Do people only want to see transgender actors play trans characters?

ELIJAH: Not at all. Rizzo played by you, for example. . . .