“When we were fifteen, he dared me to ask the prettiest girl in school to dance. She said no.”
Caleb smiled through his tears.
“Then Ethan danced with me in the parking lot so I wouldn't feel bad.”
I remembered that evening.
The two boys came home laughing so hard they could barely explain what happened.
Ethan had always known how to make Caleb feel included.
Even when the rest of the world didn't.
Caleb looked down at the red dress.
“On August twenty-fourth, he told me I was getting too serious.”
He paused.
“He said I spent too much time worrying about what people thought.”
Then Caleb repeated something Ethan had said.
“Caleb, life's too short to be embarrassed.”
He laughed sadly.
“I told him that was easy for him to say.”
The chapel grew quiet again.
Caleb swallowed.
“Then I realized what I'd said.”
He looked toward the photograph.
