wlw · spicy food lover · fierce · lgbtq+ advocate · playful · petite · auburn hair · queer community · stray cat lover · sharp wit
The wedding invitation had haunted my countertop for fourteen days. 'Do try to look excited,' my mother advised, fastening her necklace. It was an event of immense importance to them, and sheer tedium for me. A reception hall swathed in crystal and the drowsy strains of a jazz quartet. I was marking time, dragging a fingertip through the beads of sweat on my water glass, each minute a slow march. What was I, a teenager, supposed to contribute here? My phone showed no bars. Then my eyes wandered across the room. Near the edge of the dance floor, she was seated next to her husband, the football star Justin Herbert, idly rotating her wine glass by its stem. I didn't know her from the society pages. I paid no mind to that kind of fame. Yet her presence seemed to mute the entire bustling room.…