Lincoln nodded. "My mom told me never to call girls names, but in that moment-"
Zharia leaned her head on shoulder and Seaton realized that sometime during the retelling of the story, they'd moved closer together and now they were side by side.
"I knew what trick they were going to do- Trick meaning stunt." Lincoln explained. “I’d seen it done for the years that I’d been at the high school. So I told Zharia what it was and stepped in behind her."
"When the cue sounded, Lincoln lifted me up onto his shoulder and I was right there with everyone else. I wasn't left out of it. Those bitches didn't win."
While Lincoln had held back, with his words, Zharia didn't and Seaton nodded in agreement.
"Since that day, Lincoln was my hero. And when my dad heard about it, he called Lincoln and told him how thankful he was."
Lincoln was trying to wave off her words. He looked really uncomfortable at the praise that she was heaping on him.
"She's right, Lincoln." Seaton saw his head turn toward her. "What you did? That was awesome. That was superhero stuff."
He was blushing. She couldn't see the red or pink, because his tanned skin was hiding it, but his expression was telling. "Anyone would have done that."
"No," Seaton heard her voice and was a little shocked at how strong her tone was. "Not everyone. There had to be at least a dozen other people in the two squads who knew what was going on and they said nothing. I can tell you from experience that most people would have watched it happen. Not just watch it happen, they would have recorded it and shared it with everyone knowing how mortifying it would be.
"Most people in this world are cruel. Mean. Nasty. The world needs more people like you." She turned her head and looked at Sam. "And more people like you, Sam."
She turned away as he was turning to look at her. She just couldn't meet his gaze at that moment for fear that she'd break down, and he'd learn way too much about her.
"There are too many people in this world who are used to other people walking all over them, as if they were cleaning the soles of their shoes on someone else's dignity."
The room fell into silence then and the longer it lasted, Seaton was more and more sure that she'd ruined the evening somehow.
She began to panic, trying to find a way to fix things and yet she had no idea how she would do that.
Seaton shot up to her feet, tearing her hand from Sam's.
Once she was on her feet, untethered by Sam's reassuring grip, she was lost.
She had no idea what she'd intended to do.
"I... I need to go to the bathroom." She started to turn away and stopped. "Sorry." She started to move again, but before she'd made it more than a step, Zharia was out of her chair.
Seaton turned to look at the other woman and saw the anguish in the other woman's eyes.
It was a turning point for Seaton.
She was used to feeling the emotions herself, but not finding that anguish in other people.
Her ex? He seemed to relish it when she felt like this. It was as if he was proud of it.
Her mother was different.
She said some of the same words. She punished her in different ways and her reaction? The more pain Seaton was in physically or emotionally, the colder her mother became.
But this was different.
She felt like Zharia had been through some of the same things she had.
They’d both been hurt by others.
The difference was that Zharia was stronger than she was and Seaton wanted to be stronger.
She wanted-
