“Everybody got teased,” she muttered.
“No,” I said. “Everybody didn’t have a camera pointed at them while they tried not to cry.”
The organizer stepped beside me. “Eva, I’m sorry. That clip should never have been accepted.”
I nodded.
Then I faced the room.
“I don’t need anyone thrown out. I don’t need a perfect apology. I just need us to stop calling cruelty nostalgia.”
“That clip should never have been accepted.”
Madison’s eyes shone, but I couldn’t tell if it was shame or embarrassment.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “I didn’t think about what it felt like for you.”
“That’s the problem,” I said. “You didn’t think of me as someone who felt things.”
I picked up my clutch and walked out before Madison could say anything else.
***
I found my cardigan in the restroom, still folded on the counter where I’d left it.
For a second, I held it against my chest.
Madison’s eyes shone.
Then I put it in my bag.
Outside on the terrace, the cold air hit my face, and I finally cried. It wasn’t the old kind of crying, where I tried to stay silent so no one would hear.
This was different. It was quieter and cleaner.
The door opened behind me.
“Eva?”
Ashley stood there, arms wrapped around herself.
I finally cried.
I wiped my cheek. “If you’re here to defend Madison, don’t.”
“I’m not.”
“Then what?”
She stepped closer, then stopped like she knew she hadn’t earned the right. “I should’ve said something back then.”
