Caleb had buried his grief by locking Lily’s memory in dark drawers, asking us to move on and never speak of her.

Julian’s best friend had walked away because he could not handle being seen beside a boy in a gown.

The school had tried to push him into something quieter, something that would not disturb their idea of a proper ceremony.

Julian had stood against all of that.

He had taken the jokes, the stares, and the judgment so a little girl who died seventeen years ago could keep her place in the light for sixty seconds.

PART 4 — The Kitchen at 2 a.m.