he said.
“My brother,” I said.
“Come here, Noah.”
Noah looked like he wanted to disappear, but he walked up beside me.
The principal gestured toward the dress.
“This,” he said, “is talent. This is love.”
Nobody laughed.
They clapped.
Real applause. Loud and sudden.
An art teacher called out, “Young man, you have a gift.”
Someone else shouted, “That dress is incredible!”
I looked back into the crowd.
Carla was still holding her phone.
But now it wasn’t recording my humiliation.
It was capturing her own.
Later that night
