You go to the play not because it is Phantom of the Opera, although it helps - but your main concern is to take a look at Sharpay Evans in her natural environment. You are surprised to discover that the girl got talent; apparently, all those protagonists over the years were not paid with daddy's money. You even reluctantly admit that Sharpay overshadows Gabriella when they are on stage at the same time, even more when they are not, and it makes you question Mrs. Darbus' decision a little, no matter how much you like Troy's girlfriend better. But then, you think, Christine is more of a Gabriella character - although, seeing Sharpay, you wouldn't deny the possibility of the blond girl pulling the sweet part well enough.

You don't know what to think at Troy being cast as Raoul. Sure, his teenage groupies would probably throw a fit at having him portrayed as disfigured, yet anybody with half of a brain has to be aware that the male lead belongs to the character the play gets named after. You are so unprepared to what comes next, that you barely move or even think until the production is over and the actors are collecting the public's applause. And it is then when a thought hits you with the force of lightning.

You know this kid.

He has been in your house.

And he is oh so good.

You would have felt more than a little ridiculous, barely restraining from jumping in your seat, clapping and cheering like crazy, were not for the fact that there are rows and rows of kids doing the same. Most of the adults are doing it too, although you can see some of them have different reasons than yours. And yes, you get confirmation when it is Troy Bolton's turn to bow, and it suddenly seems as if you were trapped in a bag with a hundred cats, so loud the girls' shrieks are. Then Sharpay Evans follows, and the ruckus is almost as deafening, although there are catcalls and about half of the voices are definitely male. Gabriella Montez gets a little less applause than the other two, but there doesn't seem to be as much insanity behind it, so it is okay.

Ryan Evans comes last, and you are pleased to see every adult in the room standing alongside their kids. But, despite his smile making patent he enjoys the well-earned attention, the Evans kid doesn't stay in the front as long as the other three actors did. Instead, he takes his sister's hand and kisses it gentlemanly before the girl rushes to embrace him. She looks so pretty and happy for her brother, that for the first time you feel guilty about judging a girl you've never met, and who has never done anything to you.

Then Ryan, with Sharpay's left hand still clasped to his right, takes Gabriella's own with a smile before leading the two girls to the front one more time. He stays a couple steps behind them, alongside Troy, and both of them clap and laugh while the public showers both actresses with flowers and more applause. Your heart is in your throat when the curtains fall, your eyes more than a little misty and your hands red and sore for all the effort you've made them do.

It is in that exact moment, with the whole audience trying to leave the auditorium first, that Chad rushes by your side from where he had been sitting with his friends, and says he's going to meet Troy at the backstage, and why don't you go home and I'll hitch a ride with one of the guys? Your soul constricts at it, because you are aware that he has no hurry to find his best friend, and that there's another person instead whom he wants to see. But you are not mad anymore at this person being Sharpay Evans. Instead, you are sad because your own son is keeping an important part of his life a secret from you.

And you vow to make it change.