Ray had spent most of his teenage years trying not to be seen. Blending in was easier than fighting for attention in a house where someone else always seemed to shine brighter. But on the night of his high school prom, everything changed—not because of a dance floor, or a suit, but because someone finally saw him for who he was, and who he’d been all along.
Ray’s childhood was marked by quiet losses. His mother left when he was seven, offering only vague promises about “finding her joy.” That silence shaped him, and so did his father Richard’s attempt to fill the gap—first with awkward affection, then with quick remarriage.
Sophia came and went, leaving behind the scent of candle wax and unread bedtime stories. Leslie came next, smiling too brightly and arriving with her teenage son, Stuart, who immediately took center stage. While Stuart got the better meals, the newer clothes, and the louder praise, Ray learned how to shrink himself to fit the space that was left.
Leslie didn’t yell or punish. She undermined. She rearranged the family to suit her and quietly erased Ray from the center. And whenever Ray tried to explain, she twisted the truth just enough for his father to believe her version instead.
So when prom came around, Ray clung to it. Not because he cared about dancing or posing for photos—but because of Taylor, the girl who laughed without holding back and passed him folded-up notes in pre-calc. She’d said yes when he asked, on one condition: he had to dance with her. He had promised he would.
Richard, in a rare attempt to connect, took both boys suit shopping. Ray chose a navy three-piece. Stuart went with charcoal. Leslie smiled as if she approved of both—but she already had a plan.
On prom day, Ray returned home to find the remains of his suit in pieces, torn and mangled like something had clawed it apart. But there were no teeth marks. Just calculated cuts. Precise, destructive, intentional.
Leslie feigned innocence. A lawnmower accident, she claimed. She’d just wanted to air the suits out. Only one ended up destroyed. Hers was a performance worthy of a daytime Emmy.