Maria:
Lily is still talking when the car slows to a stop.
She has been talking since we left my room. About my dress, about my hair, about how if anyone cries tonight it should be me and not my mother because apparently that would be “on brand.” I let her fill the space because it keeps me from thinking too much.
The venue comes into view and something in me settles before I even step out.
It is exactly how I wanted it.
Soft lighting. Controlled entry. No flashing cameras, no cluster of unfamiliar faces pretending to belong. Just quiet order and the kind of security that does not need to announce itself.
I pause for half a second after I step out of the car, just to take it in.
“I like this,” Lily says beside me, glancing around. “This is very you.”
“It’s how I asked for it,” I re
