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Act two goes just as well as the first And in the final scene when Kingsley and Danny embrace one another for one last kiss before the curtain closes on our story, I fall out of character for aToby’s And I suspect he has a si the emotion of the scene, and for a flicker of an instant, I don’t see Danny; I see a guy who is proud that he just got through opening night of ‘I’ll Always Remember Seaside’ and rendered all of Spruce speechless with his performance And damn it, I’m proud of him, too

And that’s precisely the feeling we leave the audience with, as the curtains close on our joined faces

The auditoriuain with all the rest of the cast arip Toby’s sweaty hand when the cast separates to allow the pair of us our o, and after I takethe whole school explode with screa star tonight in Spruce, Texas, and I couldn’t be happier for him

Apparentlyon After ipe off our stage e back into our normal clothes, we are surprised upon our exit to the lobby to be met with a secondary wave of applause and cheers frorads rush up to congratulate Toby, including TJ, that nice guy fro Toby in an all-new light Meanwhile, I’reat a job I did, including so that they are now eager to audition for the upco winter show

I’ the croith my eyes, on the lookout for my own parents, when Toby is reat job, sweetheart!” she cries as she flings her arether in the end!”

“Where’s Carl?” Toby asks when they separate fro

“There’s a ga Lee while I’m—Oh, don’t worry, he’ll come to your show tomorrow, I’m sure! Or … Or the Sunday matinée Totally certain of it!” She titters nervously as her shtens

I see it in Toby’s eyes He’s not fooled either

But he smiles anyway, kisses his mom on the cheek, and tells her how happy he is that she’s here Then he goes into a story of how nervous he was before the sho I talked him down, and a bunch of other stuff to distract himself from the fact that his stepdad and stepbrother likely won’t support Toby’s show I don’t know if he was actually expecting them to come, or if the subtle look of pain in his eyes says that, despite flipping off his dad and having a strained-at-best relationship with his stepbrother, he did actually hope they’d show up

I don’t want anyone to hurt Toby or uy he is, even his own family

Toby turns to , I throw an aruy, with his mother’s sweet face squeezed next to ours Toby lifts his phone, shoots the screen a lopsided grin with our three faces in the frame, then snaps a selfie of us

The selfie is at once crashed by an overly-excited Kelsey, who has arrived with her dads, Tyrone and O Omar, who is apparently the town veterinarian, is a stout, soft-bodied bald man whose smooth, russet coratulates us for our perfors he enjoyed His husband Tyrone is a talland kind, despite a harsh, jagged scar that winds down his left cheek, hidden only sohtly-shaped beard Toby leans in to tell me Tyrone used to be a police officer here in Spruce, but doesn’t mention what caused him to leave the force, so I just assume he retired Kelsey looks like a completely different version of herself in front of her dads, appearing as chipper and energetic as a ten-year-old girl on Christ Every time she looks at them, they beam back at her

I wonder if I’ve ever looked at my parents that way

As if suhts,frouests My h-school-theatre occasion, and my dad has chosen to don one of his finest suits Their priority, however, doesn’t seeratulations; they’re stopped several times on the way by people they’ve ineher social circles My ht up in a conversation, and when she hugs iven—a grand, public display of mother-to-son affection “I ah for everyone to hear “Such an outstanding and provocative perfor And Toby Michaels” She faces hiht in her eyes “Truly splendid Re”