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Back Act Cool Save as PDF
Chapters (35)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Act One: New York
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. Act Two: Grease
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Act Three: Conversion
  24. Nineteen
  25. Twenty
  26. Twenty-One
  27. Twenty-Two
  28. Twenty-Three
  29. Twenty-Four
  30. Twenty-Five
  31. Acknowledgments
  32. About the Author
  33. Books by Tobly McSmith
  34. Back Ad
  35. About the Publisher

“We knew this would be your path. Didn’t we? I knew it the first time I saw you onstage as Mary Magdalene.”

“We did know. Thank you for letting me be here.”

“Of course; I trust you and your aunt.”

“Are you proud of me?” I ask, feeling small.

She laughs. “How could I not be? I’m so proud of my daughter.”

I shut my eyes. I lied to my friends, ruined any chance with Yazmin, probably have Tess planning my death, all to hear that. That she’s proud of her daughter.

And what will I have to do for her to be proud of her son?

Act Two: Grease

Act Two: Grease

Twelve

Twelve

Friday, October 11

5:35 P.M.

I’m trying to enjoy this moment. It’s not every day that you stand in front of your first dressing room station at the School of Performing Arts. I know it’s mine by the card taped to the mirror with my name in cursive. This is my station. This is my chair. I earned this spot. The two weeks of rehearsals leading up to this dressing room station were brutal. Rehearsals during school, after school, on weekends. I’m exhausted. I’m behind on homework. I’m having the best time of my life.

Over this two-week rehearsal process, I’ve really come into my own. Well, not exactly my own. Nobody is impressed by a newly transitioned guy with a family who doesn’t accept him. I’ve come into my character. No more bit parts like Confident Guy and Party Guy. Now I am the Infamous August Greene, a student at the School of Performing Arts with talent and confidence, who’s quick to the joke and flirty, and who doesn’t have a lot of backstory.

The future is bright for the Infamous AG. Already booking a lead role at SPA, and the sky’s the limit. Basically, I’ve become the social media version of myself. Fake it until you make it, right? I can act big and bold and confident until I am those things.

Tech rehearsal for Grease starts tomorrow. Tech week is when we move into the theater and the sets are put up, lights are programmed, sound is checked, costumes are finalized, and the band gets added. Something always goes wrong. Most things go wrong. And the only thing guaranteed about tech week is blood, sweat, and lots of tears.

I hear “Auuuugust” from the hallway. Meena is coming after me. I must be late for something. She wasn’t kidding that first week of school: Meena is a hell of a stage manager. The devil doesn’t wear Prada—she carries a clipboard. And does not suffer fools. “Everyone is waiting onstage. Where’s your head?”