Chapter 20: The Request

Preston did not mention Ben.

He thanked the trustees, and he thanked the college, and he said the Lowry Family Foundation was proud to give back.

He said it all in the voice he used for Instagram, warm and slow.

His father, in the second row, did not move.

"Before I go on," Preston said, "I want to deal with something that happened here a minute ago."

The room went quiet.

"A guy who works the board decided to make a speech. I get it. People do strange things for attention."

A few people laughed, uneasily.

"But I'm not here to be bitter."

He turned to me, standing at the edge of the stage with my guitar still on its strap.

"Rory, I forgive you."

The hall stayed silent.

"You've had a hard month. You said no to me, you said things about me, you wrote me that letter."

He spread his hands.

"I'm not angry. Come up here. Say you're sorry to Sage, ask nicely for your jacket, and we're done."

He held out the microphone to me, smiling.

I looked at it.

I looked at the camera's red light, and the second row, and the glass window with Ben behind it.

Ben nodded once.

I walked across the stage and took the microphone out of Preston's hand.

"Thank you," I said. "I accept your offer."

His smile widened.

"I'd like to ask for something first."

"Anything."

"Ben," I said into the mic. "Could you play the first file?"

Preston's smile stopped.

The speakers hissed.

Then Preston's own voice filled the hall, clear and cheerful, with a coffee shop clattering behind it.

Keep reading free with an account. Start His Public Confession Was a Lie, So I Stopped Loving Him from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.