Then I heard it.
“Hailey Marie.”
I rose to my feet. My hand lifted toward her, waiting for her arm to find mine the way it always had.
But she did not look at me.
Her lips shook as she passed my row. For one second, I thought she might stop. Instead, she kept walking, her eyes fixed somewhere past the bleachers.
I slowly lowered my hand, telling myself she must not have seen me in the crowd.
Then she stopped beside the track.
The school janitor stood there in a pressed gray suit I had never seen before. His cap was clasped in his hands. His shoulders were trembling.
Hailey slipped her arm through his.
“Would you do me the honor of walking me across the field?” she asked softly.
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