Some whispered.
Some laughed openly.
Students held phones up.
One boy near the graduating class leaned toward his friend, grinning as he filmed Ethan.
My son saw every one of them.
Still—
he kept walking.
And I was almost the only person in that auditorium who knew why.
TWO WEEKS EARLIER, ETHAN TOLD ME HIS PLAN
It was after two in the morning.
Neither of us had been sleeping much.