I walked.
I didn't decide to walk; my legs just started moving, away from him. The mask felt like it was suffocating me, the edges pressing against my cheekbones, and I pushed through the nearest door into the corridor outside the main hall and kept moving.
Vanessa is marrying Alexander.
The thought kept arriving like it hadn't landed yet, like it needed to keep trying.
Alexander. She is marrying Alexander.
But he, I had loved him since I was small enough that I didn't know what loving someone meant yet, had just known that when he was in a room, I wanted to be in that room too. He was the reason I had stood at family gatherings looking at the floor. He was the reason I had never said anything to anyone, not even Emily, because saying it out loud would make it real, and real things co
