Before she could answer, Dylan stumbled into their circle, eyes wide with disbelief. "Oh, come on," he scoffed. "We're not seriously acting like she's some prodigy. She's the janitorial staff, Evan. A scholarship sob story. They all look good on paper."
The words hit like gravel. Several guests stiffened. Dr. Armistead's expression slipped from warm to stern.
Naomi didn't flinch. She stepped forward, her voice calm but edged with steel. "You're right," she said. "I am the janitorial staff. I clean your floors, empty your trash, make sure your offices look presentable."
Dylan smirked, thinking she was proving his point.
"But what I clean," she continued, "has nothing to do with my mind, my heart, or my worth. And that's where you weren't looking."
A collective breath pulled tight through the crowd. Even the quartet slowed their playing. Dylan's bravado faltered.
"I... I just meant—"
"It's fine," Naomi said, lifting her chin. "You never meant to see me anyway."
Evan stepped in front of her, placing himself between her and Dylan with a quiet intensity. "That's enough," he said, voice low. "From now on, you don't speak to her. You don't speak about her. Not here, not anywhere."
Dylan scoffed, but it lacked conviction. Guests around them began to peel away, unimpressed by him, newly curious about her.
Naomi wasn't sure when it happened, but something had shifted so clearly it was almost tangible: the power dynamic, the respect in the room, the unspoken understanding that the woman they mocked had risen above them without raising her voice.
The presenter returned to the microphone, announcing the next segment of the evening. Conversations resumed. The ballroom flowed like a river, adjusting to a new path.
Evan turned back to Naomi. "I'm sorry," he said softly. "Tonight, I'm learning just how wrong I was."
Naomi held his gaze, the hurt still lingering but softened by something unexpected: recognition. Not of who he was, but of who she was becoming.
"You weren't wrong about me," she said. "You just never looked close enough."