“I crossed mile twenty-two.”
“Twice.”
“Yes.” She had no room to move and still shifted backward.
“Walking.”
“Yes.”
“And then you registered for twenty-six miles.”
“I have time.”
“You hid it from Rose?”
Dani’s face answered. My stomach dropped.
“Rose does not know.”
“I was going to tell her.”
“When?”
“After I told you.”
“Which was after the roster had already made the registration discoverable.”
“No.”
“Truth?”
She closed her eyes.Truth?had become unbearable because we both knew what it required.
When she opened them, she said, “I don’t know.”
For once, the honest answer came too late. I walked offstage.
Behind me, Evelyn said my name. Vanessa answered before I could turn.
“No. Not now. Amy gets to choose who follows her.”
Quiet and firm. Not a performance. I kept walking.
Tessa followed me into the locker room. She did not speak until the door closed. Then she took my bag.
“I can carry it.”
“Yes.”
The phrase belonged to Dani. It hurt. I sat on the bench. My hands shook. Not panic. Anger. Humiliation. Grief arriving simultaneously. Tessa sat beside me.
“I loved her,” I said.
Past tense came automatically.
“You love her,” Tessa corrected gently.
“That makes it worse.”
