Theo lowered the paper.
“I almost didn’t come.”
I looked at him.
He said, “My dad told me not to wear it. My mom said people would misunderstand. My sister told me I was insane.”
Then he glanced down. “But she gave me the dress anyway.”
A young woman near the back covered her mouth.
Theo’s sister.
I’d barely noticed her.
Theo looked at me.
“I didn’t want to upset you.”
That broke me.
Because he’d been sitting ten feet away, terrified of hurting us, while I’d been wondering whether to have him removed.
I stood.
Daniel looked at me.
I walked toward Theo.
He froze.
For one horrible second, I think he thought I was coming to take him away from the microphone.
Instead, I hugged him.
