THE PLAY HAS ENDED. People rise to their seats and start to leave the auditorium.

Y/N, now out of his costume and in his usual tee and jeans, stands around and sees his mother approaching. She has a big smile on her face.

"Honey, I couldn't believe it. What a transformation."

Y/N smiles back. Anna hugs him, and he chuckles.

"Thank you." He thanks a bit embarrassingly. He parts. "But please stop."

She chuckles and rubs his arm. "Don't be home too late."

"Okay."

Mrs. L/N walks away. Y/N turns and sees Hailee and her father making their way out of the building. The girl is chatting with Mrs. Rosen.

Y/N keeps looking at her. Hailee's hair is back in her usual straight-down style, and she wears a regular tee. She wears no make-up. Hailee is Hailee again and not the angel that sang to everyone during the play.

But to Y/N, well...she will always be that angel.

As the boy stares, Reverend Henry gives him a warning look as he follows her out. This doesn't phase Y/N, but before he can make his move towards her, Danny gets in his way.

"Interesting rewrite you did out there tonight, bro." He tells him.

Damn. The reverend and Hailee are getting away. Y/N swallows and impatiently replies.

"Look, I did my best."

"And uh, your acting didn't suck too bad, either."

Y/N nods. Danny pats his arm and smirks.

"Gotta go. Take it easy, man."

"Okay."

Danny leaves. Y/N takes a step forward, but Mrs. Rosen walks in front of the boy to congratulate him.

"Y/N, you were marvelous." She says with a smile.

"Thank you."

He says so quickly and immediately leaves. Mrs. Rosen stands there, looking very pleased with how everything turned out.

Y/N feels relief now and is on his way to catch up with Hailee. He joins the crowd exiting the building, but she's nowhere in sight.

"Y/N?"

Y/N hears his name and turns around. His expression immediately falters upon seeing who it is. He rolls his eyes.

"Fine performance, son." His dad, David L/N, says with a smile.

"What are you doin' here?" Y/N shoots back.

"Your mom told me about it. I thought we might get something to eat after the show."

"I'm not hungry."

The teenager starts to leave. His dad calls out.

"Y/N, don't walk away."

"You taught me how." Y/N retorts as he keeps walking.

Y/N leaves. David stands there amidst the crowd and sighs.

• • •

Y/N ENTERS THE school library, his backpack slung over his shoulder. He looks around, hoping to find Hailee in the room.

Nearby, Krystal and Laura are sitting at one of the tables studying. Krystal gets distracted by Y/N and watches him as he scans the library.

"Looks who's here." Laura whispers and turns to Y/N as well.

Y/N is still searching the library. Laura continues to whisper sharply to her friend.

"Don't look at him. You don't want to stare too much."

Y/N starts to leave through the other exit, passing by their table. Krystal glances at him as he does.

"I guess he doesn't want to sit with us." Laura remarks.

It's lunchtime. In the cafeteria, Hailee sits alone but isn't eating her food. She is reading instead.

Y/N enters the cafeteria and spots her, inviting himself to her table. He sits down, garnering her attention, to which she glances at him before returning to her book.

"People can see." She says matter-of-factly.

"And that would ruin your reputation how?" He replies, then looks at the book. "What's that?"

She holds it up and shows him the title. It is To Kill A Mockingbird. Hailee speaks as she keeps her eyes on the pages.

"I'm reading all the books on Mr. Parker's list of contemporary American authors."

"And how many books are there?" He asks.

"A hundred. But then there's his British list and his European list."

The boy nods. There is a beat before he speaks again.

"So, is this all on your list? To read all these books?"

Hailee ignores him and picks up her apple juice box, slurping loudly. Y/N lets out a sigh.

"Hails, I'm trying here, okay? Maybe..." He speaks gently. "Maybe I miss spending time with you."

She doesn't say anything and continues reading her book.

"Maybe you inspire me." He adds.

Hailee finally looks up and scoffs, shutting her book. "Sounds like bull."

"Which part?"

"All of it."

"Well, it's not."

"Prove it." She snaps back coldly.

Hailee stands up, taking her book and backpack with her as she hurries out of the cafeteria. Y/N sighs, waits a moment, then gets up to go after her.

Hailee walks out of the building, rushing down the school steps as fast as she can. Y/N is not far behind her and calls out.

"Hailee!"

She keeps speedwalking. Some students and a couple of teachers pass by and look on as the boy continues to shout.

"Hailee!"

"You don't know the first thing about being someone's friend." She exclaims back, still speedwalking ahead.

He finally reaches her and walks beside her.

"I don't wanna just be your friend." Y/N says.

"You don't know what you want."

"Well, neither do you, okay? Maybe you're just too scared that someone might actually wanna be with you."

She finally stops and turns to face him, looking up at the young man.

"And why would that scare me?" She shoots back.

"Because then you wouldn't be able to hide behind your books or your frickin' telescope or your faith."

Hailee wheels around to resume walking. Y/N quickly acts.

"No. No."

Y/N grabs her arm, spinning her back so she can face him.

"You know the real reason why you're scared...is because you wanna be with me, too."

Hailee gives him a look, suggesting that he is indeed...right. Like Y/N, something sparked between them during their performance in last night's play. Still...she wasn't really sure what to feel.

Without answering him, she turns and heads for her car. Y/N throws his hands in the air in defeat and watches her walk away, dejected.

Y/N is back at home in his garage fixing up his motorcycle. Andres is with him, who sits by the stereo and connects his phone to it.

One Dance by Drake starts to play from the stereo loudly. Andres begins to bob his head.

"Woo! We gonna get this party up in here jumpin' real right. Come on."

Grips on your waist
Front way, back way
You know that I don't play
Streets not safe
But I never run away
Even when I'm away

Y/N shoots Andres a dirty look and returns to working on his bike. Andres dances in a goofy manner.

"Can we turn down Drizzy just a notch, all right?" Y/N asks. "Some of us are actually trying to work."

"You really know how to bust a compa's groove up in here, man."

That's why I need a one dance
Got a Hennessy in my hand
One more time 'fore I go
Higher powers taking a hold on me

Y/N chuckles.

"It's all good 'cause you know what?" Andres asks. "We gonna get Club Y/N and Club Andres really jumpin' up in here. What do we got here?"

Andres grabs Y/N's phone from the table and connects it to the stereo. He goes to his Spotify app and unthinkingly plays his recently added songs.

Immediately, Elastic Heart by Sia begins to play. It catches Andrea off guard.

"Oh, ye—ohhh. Whoa. Okay, okay."

And another one bites the dust
Oh, why can I not conquer love?
And I might've thought that we were one
Wanted to fight this war without weapons

Andres grabs his Pepsi and sits down beside the stereo. He rubs his chin.

"You're not feelin' Drizzy, but um, what the hell is this, man?"

He takes a sip of his soda. Y/N glances at him before going back to his bike.

"Hailee told me about her." He says matter-a-factedly. "Sia."

It is true. During their couple of times going over their lines a month ago, Hailee showed him some Sia tracks. He had never really heard of her before and honestly enjoyed them.

I've got thick skin and an elastic heart
But your blade it might be too sharp

"Mm. Now she's got you listening to her type of music." Andres replies.

"Okay, her type?"

"Yeah, uh, her..." He sets the Pepsi down and stands up. "Bible huggin', stale clothes wearin', if-you're-lonely-come-listen-to-this type of music."

"She's not like that." He retorts.

"Well, uh, you know you got, uh, Krystal thinkin' that little lip action between you and Hailee was kinda real."

Andres expects Y/N to reply or deny it, but the boy doesn't say anything. Andres sighs.

"What's with you, man?" He asks Y/N. "It's like you don't even have time for your real friends anymore."

"I dunno, bro. I'm just over it." Y/N responds, still working on the bike. "I'm sick and tired of doing the same old shit all the time."

"This girl's changed you, and you don't even know it, man."

Y/N laughs. "All right, let me guess. Krystal say that, too?"

"No."

Y/N looks at his best friend. Andres is more serious than he usually is.

"I did." He adds.

Y/N doesn't respond. He looks down momentarily before going back to his repairs.

Late in the evening, Hailee sits on her porch swing, reading. Y/N walks up her steps carrying a bag. She looks up and is surprised to see him.

"You."

He stands in front of her. "Me."

Y/N extends the bag for her to take. Hailee looks at it curiously.

"What is it?" She asks.

"I got you somethin'."

He holds the bag out once more. She finally accepts this time and takes it.

"Thank you."

There is a moment of silence. Y/N puts his hands in his pockets and nods.

"Well, I'll see you at school."

Hailee nods back. "'Kay."

Y/N goes as Hailee opens the bag, smiling. Reverend Henry steps onto the porch and sees the boy.

"Mr. L/N."

"Later, Reverend."

Y/N leaves the porch. Hailee takes out the gift from the bag, which is a brand-new rose-pink sweater. She laughs quietly, pleased, and admires her present from the boy.

Reverend Henry makes his way over to her, sitting down on the porch swing. He looks over, seeing Y/N getting onto his bike and riding off. He turns to the gift on his daughter's lap and eyes it disapprovingly.

"Hailee. Boys like that..."

He points forward, hesitating a bit. Hailee looks at her father, waiting for him to continue.

"...they have expectations. You know the rules around here are not gonna change."

She nods, replying sweetly. "Fine."

"Now, you might not care what I say or think, but you should care about God's opinion."

She smiles.

"I think...He wants me to be happy."

There is a pause. Hailee glances at the gift and then turns to her father again.

"Dad, it's just a sweater. I'm gonna go make us some dinner, okay?"

She kisses him on the cheek and gets up, leaving the man on the porch. Reverend Henry sighs and shakes his head.

Y/N is at home in his kitchen. He and his mom are making dinner together, which the teenager offered to help with.

He lifts the lid off a boiling pot on the stove, stirring the pasta. Anna is sitting on the island behind him, grating some cheese.

"Well, I talked to your dad today." She begins. "He says he saw you at the play...for about ten seconds."

Y/N continues to stir and adds some salt to the pasta.

"Yeah. Sending a check once a month doesn't exactly make him your father."

He replaces the lid and puts the salt shaker back. Anna looks down.

"Y/N, there are a lot of reasons..."

"He left us, mom." He shot back.

David had left Y/N and his mom back when the boy was twelve. The man is a sports agent and travels a lot, which strained the marriage between him and Anna and the relationship with Y/N. He ended up remarrying with a doctor and moving to Thousand Oaks.

There was a beat. Anna continued to shred the cheese.

"You need to forgive him, too." She says.

Y/N hears this. He faces forward in silence, considering the notion.

• • •

KRYSTAL AND ANDRES walk down the school hallway. She hands the Latino her tablet, showing her a couple of photos she took from the school play.

At that moment, Casey approaches them from behind. He joins the two and checks out the pictures as well.

"Hailee Steinfeld!" Andres reacts, eying the pictures. "Que linda! Look at her. She was lookin' hot in that play."

Andres scrolls and shows Casey some of them, too. He nods and grins.

"She does not look hot." Krystal says.

Casey disagrees.

"She looked hot in—Yeah, I would have to say..." He mumbled a bit. "She looked hot."

Andres taps his arm. "Ah. Milkman?"

"What?"

"You into white girls?"

Casey snickers. "They're up there."

"Wait, wait." She stops them.

"What?" Andres asks.

A sly grin forms on her face.

"Oh, I have the best idea."

Later, outside by the steps, Laura laughs as she looks at her phone. She taps on it a bit, sharing the photo she just received from Krystal. Casey is with her and also chuckles.

Matthew joins them. Laura kisses him and shows the photo to him. He snickers and takes the phone to get a better look at it.

"This is fire."

Laura smirks. "Wait until everyone gets a look at it."

In the halls, Hailee comes around a corner, walking alone. Krystal, by a water fountain, sees her and makes her move.

"Hailee."

She turns, somewhat surprised to see the popular volleyball girl.

"Hi." Krystal adds with a smile.

Hailee smiles back. "Hi."

The two walk together. Krystal speaks.

"Listen, I just want you to know. But there's no hard feelings. Y/N and I are way over."

"I—I really don't know what you're talking about," Hailee replies, biting her lip and looking the other way.

"Hailee."

She once again looks at Krystal.

"You'd be so beautiful...if you knew how to do your make-up."