Call Me By My Own Name

The day of the exhibition, Mom laid out a black dress for me.

"Don't wear red."

"Today is Audrey's day," she said. "Don't let anyone get the wrong idea."

I looked at the dress, the kind you'd wear to a funeral, and didn't reach for it.

"I'm not going."

Dad's face went dark at once.

"The account is in your hands. At the end, the exhibition has to link back to the original inbox."

"If you don't go, what happens to the proposal?"

So they'd never wanted me there to witness anything.

They just needed me to finish the last step.

Audrey came out of her room in the red dress from the airport.

She said quietly, "Sis, help me one last time."

"Once Wesley proposes, I won't bother you again."

"One last time?"

I looked at her. "At the airport, you also said half an hour."

She looked away.

Then Mom grabbed my arm.

"If you make a scene today, we'll pretend we never had you."

I laughed.

"Haven't you always pretended that already?"

The hall was crowded.

My letters hung on the walls.

*Everdawn, I turned eighteen today.*

*Everdawn, Mom says again that I have everything, so I should be good and let others come first.*

*Everdawn, if we ever meet someday, will you know me at first sight?*

Beneath every letter was Audrey's name.

Some praised her devotion.

Some praised her talent.

She stood beside Wesley and took in all of it.

A reporter asked her, "In seven years, what's your most unforgettable memory?"

She smiled and said, "Every single day."

Wesley glanced at her.

The hesitation in that look ran deeper than before.

But he still took her hand.

When the host introduced me, all he said was:

"This is Miss Audrey Hughes's older sister, the one who put the letters into words."

Someone in the audience sighed.

"The little sister falls in love, the big sister writes her love letters. So sweet."

"With writing that good, the sister must have given her a lot of real feeling to work with."

I stood backstage and didn't explain.

Before the proposal began, Wesley came to me to connect the account.

He said in a low voice, "Don't embarrass Audrey today."

"After this is over, I'll get her to sit down and talk things out with you."

I asked, "Do you still remember what else there was, besides the red dress, when we agreed to meet seven years ago?"

He froze.

"How do you know there was something else?"

"Audrey didn't tell you?"

His face changed, just slightly.

Behind him, Mom's voice came.

"Wesley, Audrey's looking for you."

He hesitated a few seconds, then turned and walked away.

Onstage, the lights came up.

Wesley stood before a backdrop wall made of eighty-four letters, reading my words out loud, line by line.

"Audrey, you told me the thing you fear most is being left behind."

"From today on, I'll never make you wait again."

He dropped to one knee and took out the ring.

Audrey covered her mouth, crying, and nodded.

As the applause broke out, Mom gripped my hand hard.

"You see it now?"

"The one Wesley loves is her."

"After today, you hand over the account, and you never bring this up again."

She squeezed my wrist until it went pale.

But I couldn't feel the pain anymore.

As they embraced, the big screen suddenly went black.

Staff rushed to check the wiring.

A few seconds later, the screen lit up again.

Not the proposal photos.

An email.

Sent seven years ago.

Delivered today.

The subject line read: *To Everdawn, Seven Years From Now*.

The first line appeared slowly.

*Wesley, I'm Rita.*

The applause in the hall died away, little by little.

The second line jumped out after it.

*When we meet, you have to call me by the right name first.*

The smile on Wesley's face vanished completely.

Across the whole crowded room, he slowly turned his head.

For the first time, he truly looked at me.