I thought marrying Claire would prove that people can change. Instead, our wedding day dragged an old secret into the light and made me realize I was the only person in the room who didn’t know the full story. I had braces all through sophomore and junior year.
Not the cute, discreet kind. Full metal. I was awkward, skinny, always talking too fast when I got nervous.
Claire noticed all of it. “Do that smile again,” she’d say in class, loud enough for half the room to hear. “Pretty sure the lights bounced off your face.”
People laughed.
At lunch, in the hallway, before school. She knew exactly how to get a crowd going. And once people started laughing, she would lean back like she’d done everyone a favor.
I got good at pretending it didn’t matter. It mattered. I learned to look down.
I learned to joke before anyone else could. I learned that if I laughed too, maybe it would hurt less. My mom hated her.
She never met Claire properly in high school, but she knew enough. She’d see me come home quiet. She’d ask what happened.
I’d say, “Nothing.” She stopped believing that answer pretty fast. Then life moved on like it does. Then one night, at a mutual friend’s engagement party, Claire walked in.
I almost didn’t recognize her. She looked the same, obviously, just older. Softer around the edges.
Less sharp in the face. Less sharp everywhere, honestly. She saw me, froze, and I swear the color drained out of her face.
Later that night, she came over while I was standing by the drinks table pretending to text. “Hey,” she said. I looked at her.
What happened next changed everything… FULL STORY on the next page.
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