At 6, I Promised My Best Friend with Down Syndrome We’d Go to Prom Together – 12 Years Later, Mom Said I Could Go with Him Only on One Condition
From just beyond the front door, Noah’s voice filtered in.
“She said that 15 minutes ago!”
Traitor.
I finished the earring and checked myself in the mirror.
Pretty dress.
Hair curled.
Makeup that had taken my aunt almost an hour.
I was nervous.
Not about Noah.
About everything else.
I was nervous.
Prom had always seemed like one of those things that happened to older people.
Then suddenly I was the older person.
I grabbed my purse.
Before I reached the stairs, I heard Mom open the front door.
Then silence.
Not normal silence.
The kind that makes you stop moving.
Prom had always seemed like one of those things that happened to older people.
I stepped closer to the landing.
Noah stood in the entryway.
Navy suit.
White shirt.
That ridiculous bow tie perfectly straight.
In one hand, he held a small corsage.
He was smiling.
Mom wasn’t.
She was staring at him.
“Mrs. Jane?”
Mom blinked. “Oh. Noah. Hi.”
In one hand, he held a small corsage.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
But she wasn’t.
I knew my mother.
Something had changed the second she saw him.
Her eyes dropped to the corsage.
Then to his bow tie.
Then back to his face.
For one strange second, she looked like she’d seen a ghost.
Something had changed the second she saw him.
“Chrissy is almost ready,” she said quickly.
“I am ready.”
Mom turned and saw me on the stairs.
Her face changed again.
“Come upstairs with me.”
“What?”
“Just for a minute.”
“Mom, Noah’s waiting.”
“I know.”
Noah lifted the corsage. “I have this.”
“I can see that,” I said.
“It’s rosemary.”
“Come upstairs with me.”
I paused halfway down.
“Rosemary?”
“The florist said it means remembering.” He looked extremely pleased with himself. “And I remember promises.”
My heart sank.
Mom made a small sound behind me.
When I turned, her eyes were wet.
“Mom?”
“Upstairs, Chrissy.”
This time she didn’t ask.
“And I remember promises.”
