“Rather than ask you for another chance to know you, I stole it. Because every time I tried to work up the courage, I—” His voice breaks. “I admired you so much. I knew I’d disappoint you. And you spoke to me like you saw me as your equal, not some nobody, like so many people around here do, putting on airs. You spoke to me like you saw something in me. Like you respected me, and…I couldn’t lose that.”
