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Show overreacting, not giving him his space, not allowing him friends. Years later, her uncle Keith emailep her ayvideo he had taken of her during those years in college. Because her parents lived in Hawaii then, her aunt and uncle often served as surrogate parents at various campus events. Which is why, the fall she was on the Homecoming court, they drove to Lincoln and attended the lunch for parents and then the Homecoming game itself before taking her out to dinner. The video is short, less than a minute, and shows her aunt Joline pinning a corsage onto her dress. The dress is cream and fits tight around her waist before flaring in a circle of fabric below her knees. Wind blows her shoulder-length hair. You can't hear the conversation; there isn't much. They laugh as Joline arranges the flowers against her shoulder, recall other past moments involving corsages or pins or flowers still damp from the refrigerator. Someone passes by, outside the frame of the camera, and she nod to them, know them, give them the smile that one gives when they are making someone feel comfortable, welcoming them into their home. It is a warm smile, a confident one. Fifteen years later, looking at the video clip of this girl, a woman really, but also this girl that was me, I see someone who at least for a moment owned the world. She is pretty, actually pretty. Her hair shines in the sun, making me want to touch it, know how it feels. She has been chosen-by a committee or a vote or somehow-to be on the Homecoming court along with women who are popular and beautiful, women she can never hope to be included with and yet somehow has been. Her dress is well chosen, the cream a good color for her complexion, the style sophisticated. Maybe to those who pass by, those who maybe know her from one of the campus groups she is part of or the Greek 219 |