Epilogue: The Girl Who Made Me Human Again

Then Uncle Ray pointed at me.

“This fool spent twenty years pretending he wasn’t in love with you.”

Charlotte looked at me then, smiling the same slow smile she wore in 2006, and the silence between us held more than words ever could.

Later, she slipped her hand into mine.

“You kept those pictures all this time.”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

I told her the plain truth.

“Because when the whole world made me feel invisible, you made me feel worthy.”

She held my face in both hands and whispered, “Then it’s my turn to spend the rest of my life making sure you never forget it.”

Charlotte didn’t make me popular that night at prom.

She made me feel human again.

And I plan to spend every day making sure she knows she did.