At school, Cy asks about Manny, and Addie realizes there is not much she can share, as he didn’t spend much time with her. This makes Addie wonder if he had been intentionally avoiding her. Instead, she tells Cy about the twins and Mateo, as well as her plans to spend the next weekend there, despite Lourdes’s reluctance.

In drama class, Mrs. González hands out copies of the cast list, reminding the seventh graders that the leads will work with the director to develop the special twist. Cy is delighted to discover that she is the director, while Brandon, one of their classmates, is the nutcracker, and Gus is the Mouse King. To Addie’s horror, she is cast as Marie.

After class, Addie tries to convince Mrs. González to give the role to someone else. When her teacher refuses, believing that Addie is simply scared, Addie explains that she just doesn’t feel like Marie; she is not delicate or light-skinned, like Marie is described to be.

Mrs. González admits that for years she has been casting someone white as Marie because of her own subconscious bias; however, she wants to break out of this bias and envision the production differently, especially because she is retiring next year.