Page 79 of Juliet's Echo

I smiled.

Mic drop time.

“When you classified gender, you changed the conversation and turned this into a completely different debate,” I said. “If we're discussing nepotism as a whole, then keep it as a whole.”

The theater quieted.

Even Psalm stopped talking.

“Because let's be clear. Women are more than capable of earning positions based on merit alone. Most would've held those positions anyway if they weren't too busy carrying households, raising families, managing everyone's emotional labor, and helping build the very foundations men stand on.”

The audience got louder.

People started nodding.

Some even stood.

“So if we're being honest, behind a lot of successful men is a woman who saw value in him before anybody else did, invested in him, believed in him, and delivered success right to his front door.”

The room fell silent.

For one brief moment, all I could hear was my own breathing and feel Psalm staring at me.

Then the theater erupted.

People jumped to their feet.

Students shouted.

Professors clapped.

Somebody whistled.

Professor Hamburger started hopping up and down like he'd just won the lottery.

“Bravo!”

“A-plus!”

“THAT'S HOW YOU DEBATE!”

Psalm looked at me.

I looked at him.

Despite being completely blindsided by that ridiculous slide, despite being annoyed enough to avoid him for the rest of the day, a smile still tried to creep onto my face.

We bowed together.

He accepted the applause.

I accepted the victory.

And remained absolutely pissed.

Three days until the spring semester officially ended, all my grades were posted, securing that 3.93 GPA, and somehow I had managed to go an entire week without speaking to Psalm.

I was still annoyed over that fiasco Hamburger called a stellar performance.