Author's note 7/25/22

Hi friends. I'm writing this note eight years later to acknowledge something I could have done better. There is a scene in this story where Rose downplays her Hispanic heritage, saying that she's only part Latina and trying to distance herself from the Sharks. To put it simply, that's pretty darn racist. And also a good reason to cast shows like this accurately—when a white actress plays Rose, that's how a whole audience sees the character. I wrote Rose as downplaying the fact that she's Latina because my Rose Alvarez didn't look Latina (because in my school's production, she wasn't).

At the same time, that's not an excuse. I was younger, but I should have known better. I don't know if I'm going to go back and edit that chapter, but for now, I'm acknowledging that I was wrong.