I hired an actor to stand beside me at my high school reunion because I couldn’t face my bully and my ex-husband alone. I thought I was only buying myself one night of courage, but when my bully recognized him, the story she’d told about me finally started to fall apart.<\/p>\n
That afternoon, I erased the words\u00a0‘Unreliable Narrator’\u00a0<\/i>from the whiteboard as my last literature student filed out of the lecture hall.<\/p>\n
“Don’t forget,” I called after them, “the person telling the story isn’t always the person telling the truth.”<\/p>\n
A few students laughed, and for one quiet minute, I felt like myself.<\/p>\n
Then my phone buzzed.<\/p>\n
I glanced down.<\/p>\n
“Come to our reunion. All our friends will be there, and even your ex, Mark, now my fianc\u00e9. We’re really looking forward to seeing you. XOXO, Miriam.”<\/i><\/p>\n
Just like that, I was 17 again.<\/p>\n
\nI erased the words\u00a0‘Unreliable Narrator’\u00a0<\/i>from the whiteboard.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
***<\/p>\n
I sat down hard and read the message three times.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nThe words didn’t change.<\/p>\n
Miriam had made my life unbearable all through high school. She mocked my thrift-store sweaters, my library books, and my careful answers in class.<\/p>\n
She called me “Miss Perfect” until people stopped using my name.<\/p>\n
Years later, she found Mark, my husband, and fed him a new version of me. Cold. Judgmental. Hard to love. The kind of woman who made a man feel small.<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n\nThe words didn’t change.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
Mark believed her.<\/p>\n
By the time I understood what was happening, my marriage already had Miriam’s voice in it.<\/p>\n
For two weeks, I stared at that reunion message every night.<\/p>\n
My friend Claire found me in my office one afternoon.<\/p>\n
“Delete it,” she said after reading the message. “You’re not going.”<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n“If I don’t, she’ll tell everyone I was too scared to show my face.”<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n“You’re not going.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
“So let her talk.”<\/p>\n
“That’s the problem,” I said. “I always did.”<\/p>\n
Claire softened. “Then don’t go alone.”<\/p>\n
That night, I opened my laptop and did the only thing that made sense to my tired, wounded brain.<\/p>\n
I hired an actor to be my plus-one. Not a boyfriend, not an escort.<\/p>\n
An actor, through a real talent agency, for a social event. I didn’t need romance. I needed one person beside me who hadn’t already been handed Miriam’s version of me.<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n“Then don’t go alone.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
His name was Norton, and we met two days before the reunion in a coffee shop near campus.<\/p>\n
He arrived in a gray blazer, handsome enough to make me consider fleeing through the back door.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n“You’re Daphne?” he asked.<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n“Unfortunately.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
His mouth twitched. “That bad?”<\/p>\n
“I’m hiring a stranger to help me survive a high school reunion. What do you think?”<\/p>\n
“Fair.” He sat across from me. “Your booking notes were clear. No fake romance, no kissing, no jealousy act.”<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n“You’re Daphne?”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
“I’m an English lecturer,” I said. “I hate cheap fiction.”<\/p>\n
He laughed, and I relaxed a little.<\/p>\n
“So what exactly is my role?” he asked.<\/p>\n
“A steady witness,” I said. “Miriam bullied me for years. Then she helped end my marriage by telling my ex-husband the same kind of lies. Now she’s invited me to watch her stand beside him.”<\/p>\n
Norton’s face changed. It wasn’t pity. It was attention.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n“So what exactly is my role?”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
“That’s cruel.”<\/p>\n
“She’s very good at cruel.”<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n“Do you want me to pretend we’re together?”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
“No,” I said. “I don’t want to lie more than we have to. I just want one night where I don’t feel like I’m apologizing for existing.”<\/p>\n
Norton nodded. “Then look back when she looks at you like she won.”<\/p>\n
My eyes burned. “You make that sound easy.”<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n“She’s very good at cruel.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
“I didn’t say easy. I said possible.”<\/p>\n
He signed the contract.<\/p>\n
“Steady witness,” he said. “No grand romance. No lies we can’t walk back from. We have a deal, Daphne.”<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nOn Friday night, I changed dresses three times before choosing the navy one with the silhouette that made me feel seen.<\/p>\n
When Norton knocked at 7:00, I opened the door before I could lose courage.<\/p>\n
In the car, he glanced at my shaking hands. “Want to rehearse?”<\/p>\n
“No. If I rehearse, I’ll sound rehearsed. I was horrible at drama.”<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n“We have a deal, Daphne.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
At the high school, music spilled from the gym. The reunion banner hung over the doors.<\/p>\n
My hand tightened around my purse.<\/p>\n
“I can’t do this.”<\/p>\n
Norton turned off the engine. “You can, but you don’t have to pretend it’s easy.”<\/p>\n
I looked at the bright gym doors. “She wants me to walk in small.”<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n“Then don’t.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\nSo I got out.<\/p>\n
Norton offered his arm.<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n“I can’t do this.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
I took it.<\/p>\n
The second we stepped inside, people turned. A few whispered, and my 17-year-old self reached for the nearest exit.<\/p>\n
Then Miriam appeared.<\/p>\n
She moved through the crowd like she owned the air. Mark followed half a step behind her, older than I remembered and less sure of himself than I expected.<\/p>\n
“Daphne,” Miriam said, spreading her arms. “You actually came.”<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n\nThe second we stepped inside, people turned.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
“I did.”<\/p>\n
Her eyes moved to Norton. “Well. You brought someone.”<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n“This is Norton.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\nNorton held out his hand. “Nice to meet you.”<\/p>\n
Miriam ignored it and looked him up and down.<\/p>\n
“Someone’s doing charity work.”<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n“Well. You brought someone.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
My face warmed.<\/p>\n
Before I could answer, Norton tilted his head. “Jealousy is a sin, ma’am.”<\/p>\n
A few people nearby laughed. Miriam’s smile twitched.<\/p>\n
Mark cleared his throat. “You look well, Daphne.”<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n“Thank you, Mark.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
He glanced at Miriam. “I’m glad you came.”<\/p>\n
I wanted to ask if he’d ever wondered whether Miriam had lied.<\/p>\n
Instead, I said, “It’s good to see familiar faces.”<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n“Jealousy is a sin, ma’am.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\nMiriam laughed softly. “Oh, Daphne. Still\u00a0so<\/i>\u00a0careful.”<\/p>\n
There it was. The little needle.<\/p>\n
Careful Daphne. Cold Daphne. Difficult Daphne.<\/i><\/p>\n
But this time, I didn’t shrink.<\/p>\n
“Norton and I are going to look at the yearbook table,” I said, and walked away before Miriam could answer.<\/p>\n
At the table, our senior album lay open to the drama club page. Miriam smiled from center stage. I was in one corner, holding programs.<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n\nCareful Daphne. Cold Daphne. Difficult Daphne.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
Norton leaned closer. “You were in theater?”<\/p>\n
“No. I wrote the program notes. Miriam said I had the face for backstage.”<\/p>\n
A woman beside the table glanced over. “Daphne? I remember those notes. They were funny.”<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nFor the first time that night, my smile came easily.<\/p>\n
Norton murmured, “See? Not everyone remembers her version.”<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n“Daphne? I remember those notes.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
For almost an hour, I moved through the room instead of hiding from it. I spoke to old classmates and even laughed.<\/p>\n
Then Miriam tapped a champagne glass.<\/p>\n
“Everyone?” she called from the stage. “Can I have your attention?”<\/p>\n
My smile faded.<\/p>\n
Norton leaned closer. “Stay with me.”<\/p>\n
Miriam lifted the microphone. “It’s wonderful seeing familiar faces tonight. Old friends, old memories, old stories.”<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n“Can I have your attention?”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
Mark stepped toward her. “Miriam. Don’t.”<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nShe smiled wider. “And speaking of stories, let’s clear one up.”<\/p>\n
My hand tightened around my glass.<\/p>\n
“Before everyone starts admiring Daphne’s handsome plus-one, you should know he isn’t her boyfriend. He isn’t even her date.”<\/p>\n
People turned.<\/p>\n
Miriam raised her glass. “She paid him.”<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n“And speaking of stories, let’s clear one up.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
The room gasped.<\/p>\n
Someone whispered, “Oh my God.”<\/p>\n
Miriam laughed. “She hired an actor because nobody would actually choose her.”<\/p>\n
Phones lifted.<\/p>\n
I looked at Mark.<\/p>\n
He stared at the floor.<\/p>\n
“Say something,” I whispered, though I knew he couldn’t hear me.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n“She hired an actor.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
He didn’t.<\/p>\n
I turned toward the exit, but Norton touched my elbow.<\/p>\n
“Your choice,” he said softly.<\/p>\n
My throat burned. “I can’t stand there while they laugh.”<\/p>\n
“Then don’t stand there. Walk.”<\/p>\n
I looked at Miriam, glowing under the gym lights like she’d already won.<\/p>\n
I refused to let that happen.<\/p>\n
I set my glass down.<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n“I can’t stand there while they laugh.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
“I didn’t come here to run.”<\/p>\n
Norton nodded once, then stepped onto the stage and took the second microphone.<\/p>\n
“Miriam is right about one thing,” Norton said. “I am an actor. Daphne hired me through a professional agency as her plus-one. Not as a boyfriend. Not as anything shameful. As support.”<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nMiriam rolled her eyes. “Support. How sweet.”<\/p>\n
Norton looked at her. “You already knew what I was, Miriam.”<\/p>\n
Her smile slipped. “I don’t know you.”<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n“Miriam is right about one thing.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
“Yes, you do. Think.”<\/p>\n
“Norton,” she warned.<\/p>\n
That was the first time she’d used his name.<\/p>\n
Mark looked between them. “Wait. You know him?”<\/p>\n
Norton nodded. “We were once signed with the same talent agency.”<\/p>\n
Miriam stepped forward. “Don’t.”<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n“Wait. You know him?”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
“You were dropped,” he said, “after making complaints every time someone else got a callback.”<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n“That’s a lie!”<\/p>\n
“No,” Norton said. “It’s a pattern. You’d insult people, report them for reacting, then cry first.”<\/p>\n
A few people murmured.<\/p>\n
Mark stared at Miriam. “Is that true?”<\/p>\n
“You’re seriously asking me that?” she snapped.<\/p>\n
Norton turned to me and held out the microphone. “Daphne should answer the rest.”<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n\nYou’d insult people, report them for reacting.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
Miriam laughed. “She won’t say anything. She never does.”<\/p>\n
I walked up the steps and took the microphone.<\/p>\n
“I teach literature,” I said. “This week, I taught my students about unreliable narrators.”<\/p>\n
Miriam scoffed. “Oh, please.”<\/p>\n
“An unreliable narrator hides the truth,” I said. “Sometimes by lying. Sometimes by leaving things out. Sometimes by smiling while handing everyone a twisted version of someone else.”<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n“She won’t say anything.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
The room went quiet.<\/p>\n
“In high school, Miriam told people I thought I was better than them because I liked books. She said I was cold because I was shy. She said I was stuck-up because I didn’t know how to fight back.”<\/p>\n
Miriam folded her arms. “You were stuck-up.”<\/p>\n
“No,” I said. “I was scared.”<\/p>\n
For once, she had no quick answer.<\/p>\n
So I kept going.<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n“You were stuck-up.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
“Then Mark married me,” I said. “And Miriam handed him a new story. She said I was judgmental, cold, and impossible to love.”<\/p>\n
Mark looked up. “Daphne. Not here.”<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n“Yes, Mark. Here.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
His jaw tightened. “This isn’t fair.”<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nI almost laughed. “You mean public? Because unfair was coming home to a husband who’d already put me on trial. She lied because that’s who she is. But you believed her because it was easier than asking me for the truth.”<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n“Daphne. Not here.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
He flinched.<\/p>\n
Miriam stepped forward. “Don’t blame me because your marriage failed.”<\/p>\n
I turned to her. “I blamed myself for years. You don’t get that gift anymore.”<\/p>\n
Her face hardened.<\/p>\n
“For years, I thought Miriam stole you,” I told Mark. “Tonight, I understand something. She only opened the door. You walked through it.”<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n“Don’t blame me because your marriage failed.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
Miriam’s eyes filled with angry tears.<\/p>\n
“You’re all listening to this?” she cried. “She paid a man to stand beside her!”<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n“Yes,” I said. “I did. I hired Norton because I was afraid to walk into this room alone. Not because I needed a man to make me valuable, but because I needed one person beside me who hadn’t already been told I was worthless. I had no idea he knew who you were.”<\/p>\n
A woman near the photo booth stood up.<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n“She paid a man to stand beside her!”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
“She did it to me too,” she said. “You told everyone I cheated on my scholarship essay. I didn’t.”<\/p>\n
A man near the punch table added, “You told people I got my job because my uncle knew someone.”<\/p>\n
Mark stared at Miriam. “How much of what you told me about Daphne was true?”<\/p>\n
Miriam grabbed his sleeve. “You’re choosing her now?”<\/p>\n
I lifted the microphone. “No. He doesn’t get to choose me now.”<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n“You’re choosing her now?”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\nBeth, the reunion chair, stepped onto the stage and picked up the printed program.<\/p>\n
“Miriam,” she said, “you’re not giving the closing toast.”<\/p>\n
Miriam froze. “You can’t do that.”<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n“I just did.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
Beth looked at me. “Daphne, would you be willing?”<\/p>\n
I saw Norton in the crowd, giving me the room.<\/p>\n
“Yes,” I said. “I would.”<\/p>\n
I stood at the microphone and looked at the room that had once made me feel small.<\/p>\n