My chest tightened.
No one in that room, except me, knew the full story.
“I glued her braid to her desk,” Mark said.
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
“It means a lot to our students.”
The auditorium buzzed with students, parents, and faculty. The annual assembly had grown since our time there. A banner stretched across the stage that read: Words Have Weight.
I stood near the back, arms crossed, exactly where I could see him without being seen immediately.
Mark stood offstage, pacing. He looked worse than he had in my office. His hands flexed at his sides as if he were a man preparing to walk into fire.
For a brief second, I wondered if he’d run.
Mark stood offstage, pacing.
Mrs. Dalton stepped to the microphone. “Today we have a guest speaker who wants to share a very personal story about bullying, accountability, and change. Please welcome Mark.”
