MARCH 10

I took my final bow, still reeling from what I had seen in the audience. Or who I had seen in the audience. Tonight was the first performance of our play, and nearly my entire family had come to watch. Mom, Dad, Bexley, Jaxson, and Cayson. Mamie and Pappy. Grandma and Grandpa Amala. Aunt Harper, Uncle Aaron, and their daughter, Rebecca. Uncle Samuel, Aunt Maddison, Nathan, Michael, Emily, Erica, and Joshua.

I had expected to see all of them. I had invited all of them. My family was big on supporting each other. Whenever I had a play, or Bexley had an important soccer game, or any of my cousins had something big going on, my whole family was there to support us. So of course I expected to see all of them.

Who I hadn't expected to see was Jonathan.

How had he even known about the play? I hadn't talked to him since January, not really. We'd exchanged texts here and there, mostly him wanting to meet up and me stalling and finding reasons not to.

We finished our bows and then ducked backstage.

"Hey, Stryk," Mallory said, putting her hand on my shoulder in concern. "Are you all right? You look a little shaken up."

I shook my head slightly. "Yeah, I'm…okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Um…Actually, no. I need to, uh, check on something. My biological dad is here, and I don't know why. I'm going to go find out."

"Oh. Okay." She stood on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to my lips. I had just reached six feet tall, and Mal was only about five feet four inches, so there was a bit of a height difference between us. "I hope it all goes well. See you later."

"Yep." I kissed her again, ignoring the catcalls I got from my friends. It was a pretty common thing for them to do if they saw us kissing. Mal and I had learned to just ignore them.

I went to where my family stood first. I'd go see Jonathan in a minute.

Pappy smiled and clapped me on the shoulder. "When did you learn how to do that amazing British accent?" he wanted to know.

I shrugged. "Sometimes when I visit Mamie after school, before you get home from work, we watch Doctor Who or Harry Potter together. I'd quote lines from them. I've been doing it for a few years now. I've gotten pretty good at it."

"I'll say," Pappy said. "Great job. And your acting is amazing."

I grinned. "Thanks."

"You were really good," Mamie said. Then she got this sly grin on her face. "I bet you enjoyed those kissing scenes with your girlfriend."

I groaned. "Not you, too, Mamie."

She shrugged, looking entirely unrepentant. My grandmother had a bit of an ornery streak. It didn't come out very often, but every now and then…

I turned to my mother. "Did you invite Jonathan?" I asked quietly.

Mom frowned, her gaze going to my biological father. He was standing near the doors, looking awkward, like he wasn't sure what to do. "No, Stryk. I didn't say anything to him. I thought you invited him."

I shook my head. "No, I didn't – Oh, wait. I think I did mention being in the drama club and performing sometime in March. He must have looked it up." Huh. I hadn't expected him to do that. I was a little surprised that he even remembered me saying that. And, to be honest, I was a little impressed that he had.

"Do you want to go talk to him?"

I sighed. "I guess I should."

"Stryker," Mom said sternly. "That is not what I asked. Do you want to go talk to him?"

I thought about it. "Yeah, I think I do."

"Then go. We'll meet you back at home. Your dad and I will order pizza for dinner." Mom leaned over and gave me a very quick hug – she'd never been a big fan of hugs. Or any kind of touching, really. So it was always a big deal when she gave me one. "I love you."

"Love you, too. And thanks for coming. All of you."

"Of course, Stryker," Aunt Maddie said.

"Keep up the good work," Uncle Sammy said.

"I will."

My family started to make their way out of the auditorium. I took a deep breath and wound my way to Jonathan.

"Hey," I said, stopping next to him. It was weird, I was about an inch taller than him. I hadn't really noticed that last time, because we'd both been sitting. And I think I'd grown just a bit since I last saw him.

He gave me a brief smile. "Hey. Great play. You've got some pretty impressive acting skills."

"Thanks. Um, I don't want to sound rude, but…what are you doing here?"

He sighed, like he was expecting me to ask that. "You mentioned doing a play in March. I was…curious. Acting isn't my thing, but it's yours. I guess I just wanted to try to find some kind of connection with you. And maybe that doesn't mean that we have to like the same things or anything. Maybe that just means that I'm here to support you in your interests."

I studied him. He was trying, I had to give him that. He was trying very hard. He didn't know what he was doing any more than I did. But he was making an effort, and I had just been blowing him off lately.

"Do you want to meet up this weekend? Maybe get some shakes and talk?" I asked.

He looked surprised. "Really?"

"Yeah."

He smiled. "I'd just about give up on that."

"I know. I'm sorry. I haven't been the most…open-minded, I guess."

"Not that I can blame you."

"Saturday sound good? About two?"

"Sounds good, Stryker. Thank you."