Echoes of the Night

library, I scrolled through social media a

She Came to My Concer

a year's savings on two tickets > I sang her heart into joy, and I sang her heart into tears > Three years

ics, I felt two tear

d me a tissue, speaking s

ented, then shook my head. "It's just

about my youth

an earbud. "W

earing aid with a ge

w my hand. "I'm s

oulders, repeat

is head with a smile. "It's okay, I'

wn at Wesley's profile picture

or at least, that's

n into a classmate f

over, saying, "Aren't you Wesley's gi

mered, unsure

f you two on the campus gossip page last mont

as Wesley who'd protected me fr

e photos, convincing her to remove them. He even got in touch with

this, and he hadn'

d out my identity after seeing my student ID and knowing my background; he's sharp, afte

ought it up, an

it was Wesley who had

throughout high school, Wesley had always played this quiet, protective r

lay awake, una

laying in my mind, intertwined w

age seventeen to twenty-

self that he was someone

on over the radio. I pulled the

t two kids who shared a

ame a knight, and the girl became a princess. The knight then placed the princess in the h

pounding, and finally dialed int

ugh the line, warm and clear,

o, We

e. I knew he rec

incess in your story was Fiona and didn't love the prince, but

and then, after a moment, he replied, "No. In that case

y, a message popped up from Wesley, "

r, the person I felt the most

looked at me, his eyes an almost

nt smile pulling at his lips. "I guess I should have m

...

new. I knew from the very beginning that it was you. Oth

othing to do with your weight. I like you because... you're you. You didn't

ned, froze

as t

e I even started to wonder. But now..

. I'm sure that, despite everything you've

curved into a wry smile as he removed his hearing a

en so grateful for my right ear's deafness. If I couldn't hear anything, ma

olas

dn't hear m

in his fist, he asked, "

ng him, feeling my he

d left. Staying woul

op, Wesley walked over a

tared at him, feeling

id you like me, even back whe

ed so much of himself with me during our counseli

ust because we were

ancing sideways at me.

hoping for; it felt almos

hand free, but his

ated. "I guess... I've just ne

use

are. What does any of that have to do with appearance or weight? Think about it – there aren'

t dodging t

"You might see it differently,

"Then why did you lose w

ter, then why did he go t

d at me. "Because... I had s

pected that I froze, s

id and already facing stomach cancer. I didn't transfer to Nortic

smile, but it ma

weight. It just happened because

slimmed down and co

urt or teased and just brush it off, laughing in front of others and crying later, alone. I wondered if I'd be okay, if I'd ever get to eat all those snacks wi

n't kn

d regret washed over me. Back then, I sh

led me, but I d

ut he transferred without a w

temper; how could I b

s different, beca

pologizing. "I... I should have been there for

me why my show is called "Echoes of the Night". You were right – it's about you, about us. I asked

– really. I don't want you to be t

er my shoulder and teased, "Enough of this talk. Let's go grab some din

e, and I poked him in his

d playfully shoving each other dow

son, I felt the ne

ow illuminated his face, casting delicate shadows a

aised his phone and showed me a familiar image: the co

in my head, I could a

dults say goodbye like they don't care > Go out with friends,

wouldn't see e

a girl mea

id in his right ear, could you do something for m