{"id":39,"date":"2026-08-13T03:32:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T03:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/?p=39"},"modified":"2026-08-13T03:32:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T03:32:11","slug":"at-6-i-promised-my-best-friend-with-down-syndrome-wed-go-to-prom-together-12-years-later-mom-said-i-could-go-with-him-only-on-one-condition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/?p=39","title":{"rendered":"At 6, I Promised My Best Friend with Down Syndrome We’d Go to Prom Together \u2013 12 Years Later, Mom Said I Could Go with Him Only on One Condition"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

When I was six, I pinkie-promised my best friend that we’d go to prom together someday. Twelve years later, he arrived at my door holding my corsage. I was ready to leave when Mom pulled me upstairs, locked the door, and said I could go with him only after hearing the truth she’d hidden for years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

My mother locked my bedroom door on prom night.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

That was the moment I knew something was wrong.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

I knew something was wrong.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Downstairs, Noah was waiting for me in a navy suit and the bow tie he’d been talking about since November.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I could hear him chatting with my aunt through the floor.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Then Mom turned toward me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“You can go with Noah tonight, Chrissy. But only on one condition. I need one promise from you.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“But only on one condition.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

I stared at her.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“I know. That’s generally how dates work.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“I’m serious.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Her voice sounded strange.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Okay…” I actually laughed. “Let me guess. Midnight?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“No.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Eleven-thirty?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Christina.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The fact that she used my full name wiped the smile off my face.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Mom’s hands were trembling.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Her voice sounded strange.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

“You have to hear something first.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“About what, Mom?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Her eyes flicked toward the closed bedroom door.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“About Noah.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

My heart pounded.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“What about him?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“And about me.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

She sat on the edge of my bed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“What about him?”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Then she said something I never expected.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“I owe both of you the truth.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Noah and I met because of raisins.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

We were six.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Our first-grade teacher had given everyone those little red boxes during snack time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I was quietly stuffing mine beneath a napkin when the boy beside me whispered, “That’s smart.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“I owe both of you the truth.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I looked over.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

He was doing exactly the same thing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“You hate them?” I asked.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“They’re old grapes.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

I considered this.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“They are.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Old grapes are gross,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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That settled it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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By lunch, we were best friends.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Then dinosaurs helped.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\n

By lunch, we were best friends.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Noah knew an unreasonable amount about dinosaurs and had strong opinions about which one would win in a fight.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I drew them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Badly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The first time I showed him my Tyrannosaurus rex, he stared at the page for several seconds.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

“What is… that? It looks like a potato with arms!”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

” It looks like a potato with arms!”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I shoved him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He laughed so loudly our teacher separated us.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Noah had Down syndrome.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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At six, that mattered to me considerably less than the fact that he cheated at dinosaur trivia by memorizing the answers before asking me the questions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Our friendship was simple.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Until another kid made it complicated.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\n

Noah had Down syndrome.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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One afternoon, our teacher announced she was getting married.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The class exploded.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Everyone had opinions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Chocolate cake.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Vanilla cake.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Flowers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Music.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Somebody insisted a wedding needed a trampoline.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Noah raised his hand.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“My wedding will have chocolate cake.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Our teacher smiled.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Excellent choice, Noah.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“My wedding will have chocolate cake.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

“And no slow songs, Miss Veronica.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“Why not?”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“They’re boring.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

A boy across our table snorted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“You’re not getting married, dude.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Noah looked at him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Yes, I am.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“To who?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“I don’t know yet.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The boy laughed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Nobody’s going to marry you.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I remember the exact second Noah’s smile disappeared.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“Nobody’s going to marry you.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

He looked down at his hands.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Something hot rose in my chest.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“That’s mean, Roger.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The boy turned toward me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“What?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Somebody will love Noah.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Then you marry him.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

A wave of giggles rippled through the classroom.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“That’s enough, boys and girls,” the teacher said, silencing the room.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“Somebody will love Noah.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

But I could see Noah was upset.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Later, after class, he looked at me with serious eyes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Chrissy… would you… love me?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I considered it for a moment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Maybe I will,” I said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Noah immediately looked up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Really?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I suddenly realized I had talked myself into a very serious situation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Maybe.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“Chrissy… would you… love me?”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

He considered that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Then I remembered something my older cousin had been talking about.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

“But first we have to go to prom,” I added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“What’s prom?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“A dance.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Noah frowned.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“We have dances now.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“No. Prom is when we’re almost grown-ups.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Oh.” He held out his pinkie. “Promise?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“What’s prom?”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I hooked mine around his.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Promise.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I forgot about it by dinner.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Noah didn’t.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Twelve years is a long time for a friendship to survive childhood.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Ours somehow did.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

We didn’t always have the same classes. We made other friends. We developed different interests.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Noah became obsessed with baseball.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

I forgot about it by dinner.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I became obsessed with art.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

He tried teaching me baseball statistics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I retaliated by making him visit art museums.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Neither campaign succeeded.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Then, when we were 12, my parents divorced.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

That changed me in ways I didn’t understand at the time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Our house became quieter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Then, when we were 12, my parents divorced.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Dad moved into an apartment 20 minutes away.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Mom started pretending she wasn’t crying.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I started pretending I didn’t notice.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

At school, I stopped eating much at lunch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Noah noticed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

He never asked me to explain.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

He just sat beside me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Sometimes he talked.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Sometimes he didn’t.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

He never asked me to explain.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Once, he spent 15 straight minutes explaining why our baseball team needed a new relief pitcher.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I understood approximately four words.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

It helped anyway.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Years later, when I failed my first driving test, Noah appeared at our house carrying two ice creams.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Why two?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“One because you tried,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

“One because you tried.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I smiled.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“And the other?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Because you drove badly.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I threw a pillow at him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

At 16, when I told him I wanted to quit art because a girl in my class had laughed at one of my paintings, he stole the ugliest dinosaur drawing I’d ever made.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“Because you drove badly.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

The next morning, I found it taped inside his locker.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Noah!”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“What?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Why is that there?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

He inspected it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Still looks like a potato with arms.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Then take it down,” I demanded.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“No.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Why?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Because you can’t quit yet, Chrissy.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Why not?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Because the dinosaurs haven’t improved.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“Still looks like a potato with arms.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

I laughed despite myself.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

That was Noah.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

He never gave speeches.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

He just stayed long enough for whatever hurt to become bearable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

And when my first boyfriend dumped me three weeks before junior homecoming, Noah showed up with chocolate ice cream.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

He sat beside me on the porch while I cried.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

He just stayed long enough for whatever hurt to become bearable.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

After 10 silent minutes, he finally spoke.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“I told you he was an idiot.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I looked at him through swollen eyes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

“No, you didn’t.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“I thought it.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“That doesn’t count.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“It should.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I laughed so hard I nearly choked on my ice cream.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Noah still tells that story.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I still threaten him every time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“I told you he was an idiot.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

So when senior prom came around, there was never really a question about who I wanted to go with.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

But Noah apparently believed there was.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

One afternoon in February, he found me by my locker.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Chrissy.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Yes?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Do you remember first grade?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I pretended to think.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“No.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

His face dropped.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Seriously?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“Do you remember first grade?”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Noah, I’m kidding.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

He glared at me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“That’s not funny.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

“It was a little funny.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“No.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Then he held out his pinkie.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

And suddenly I was six again.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Raisins.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Dinosaurs.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

A cruel little boy.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

A promise I had forgotten that afternoon and somehow spent 12 years keeping anyway.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

And suddenly I was six again.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I hooked my pinkie around his.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Prom?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Noah nodded.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

“Prom.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Then his entire face lit up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“I already bought the bow tie.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I blinked. “When?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“November.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Noah, it was November.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Exactly.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“What does that mean?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Stores run out of things,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“I already bought the bow tie.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“They were not going to run out of bow ties.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“You don’t know that.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

That was how Noah officially asked me to prom.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

On prom night, I was upstairs fighting with an earring when the doorbell rang.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

My aunt called up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Chrissy! He’s here!”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Tell him two minutes!”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“Chrissy! He’s here!”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

From just beyond the front door, Noah’s voice filtered in.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“She said that 15 minutes ago!”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Traitor.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I finished the earring and checked myself in the mirror.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Pretty dress.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Hair curled.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Makeup that had taken my aunt almost an hour.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I was nervous.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Not about Noah.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

About everything else.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

I was nervous.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Prom had always seemed like one of those things that happened to older people.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Then suddenly I was the older person.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I grabbed my purse.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Before I reached the stairs, I heard Mom open the front door.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Then silence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Not normal silence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The kind that makes you stop moving.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Prom had always seemed like one of those things that happened to older people.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I stepped closer to the landing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Noah stood in the entryway.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Navy suit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

White shirt.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

That ridiculous bow tie perfectly straight.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

In one hand, he held a small corsage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

He was smiling.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Mom wasn’t.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

She was staring at him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Mrs. Jane?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Mom blinked. “Oh. Noah. Hi.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

In one hand, he held a small corsage.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“You okay?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Yes.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

But she wasn’t.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I knew my mother.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Something had changed the second she saw him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Her eyes dropped to the corsage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Then to his bow tie.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Then back to his face.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

For one strange second, she looked like she’d seen a ghost.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Something had changed the second she saw him.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Chrissy is almost ready,” she said quickly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“I am ready.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Mom turned and saw me on the stairs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Her face changed again.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Come upstairs with me.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“What?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Just for a minute.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Mom, Noah’s waiting.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“I know.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Noah lifted the corsage. “I have this.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“I can see that,” I said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“It’s rosemary.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“Come upstairs with me.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I paused halfway down.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Rosemary?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“The florist said it means remembering.” He looked extremely pleased with himself. “And I remember promises.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

My heart sank.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Mom made a small sound behind me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

When I turned, her eyes were wet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Mom?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

“Upstairs, Chrissy.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

This time she didn’t ask.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“And I remember promises.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The second we entered my bedroom, she shut the door.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Then locked it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Okay, you’re scaring me, Mom.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

She faced me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“You can go with Noah tonight, but only on one condition.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Anger hit me before fear did.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“If this is about Noah having Down syndrome, I swear to God…”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

“Okay, you’re scaring me, Mom.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“No.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Because I’m 18, Mom.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“I know.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“He’s my best friend.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“I know that too.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Then what’s the problem?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Mom pressed her lips together.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

For several seconds, she couldn’t speak.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Finally, she sat on my bed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Do you remember the year your father left?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The question caught me off guard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

“He’s my best friend.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“What does Dad have to do with prom?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Nothing.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Then why are we talking about him?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Because there’s something that happened that year.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I folded my arms.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“What?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Mom looked toward the floor.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“You were 12.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“I know.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“You stopped eating lunch.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

My arms slowly dropped.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

“How do you know that?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“Because there’s something that happened that year.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Noah told me.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I stared at her.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“What?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Her eyes lifted to mine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“He found me one afternoon.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Where?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“In the school parking lot.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Something in her expression made the room feel suddenly smaller.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“He caught me crying in the car,” Mom admitted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

I sat beside her.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Mom…”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“He found me one afternoon.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“I thought nobody saw me.” She rubbed her palms together. “But Noah did.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Downstairs, faintly, I heard Noah laugh at something my aunt said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Mom heard it too.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Her face crumpled for half a second before she controlled it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“What did he say to you?” I urged.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“I thought nobody saw me.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

She looked at me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“He asked me if you were broken.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

My breath caught. “Why?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Because you weren’t eating, sweetie. You weren’t laughing. He said you sat by yourself sometimes.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I looked toward the door.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I’d forgotten most of those lunches.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Apparently Noah hadn’t.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“What did you tell him?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“He asked me if you were broken.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“I told him you weren’t broken.” Mom swallowed. “Then he said something I’ve remembered for six years.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

“What?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Her fingers closed around mine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

A tear slipped down her cheek.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“He said, ‘Good. Because I don’t know how to fix people. I only know how to stay.'”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I couldn’t speak.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“I don’t know how to fix people. I only know how to stay.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Mom squeezed my hands.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“For six years, Noah has kept a promise to me that you never knew existed.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

My heart began pounding.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“What promise?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Whatever came next was the truth she’d dragged me upstairs to hear.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

And suddenly, I wasn’t sure I was ready for it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Whatever came next was the truth she’d dragged me upstairs to hear.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Mom’s voice cracked.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“I asked Noah to promise he’d look after you.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I stared at her.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“You… what?”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“I was falling apart, Chrissy. Your father had left, you barely spoke to me, and Noah was the only person who seemed able to reach you.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I froze.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“I asked Noah to promise he’d look after you.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Mom wiped her cheek.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“He said, ‘Okay.’ Just like that.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Downstairs, Noah laughed again.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Mom looked toward the door.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“And then I did something I’m ashamed of.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“What?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“For six years, I worried you were sacrificing too much for him,” she admitted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I went still.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“I did something I’m ashamed of.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Every time you waited for Noah, defended him, changed plans because he wasn’t invited, I wondered whether you felt responsible for him.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

“Mom…”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“I kept measuring your friendship by what Noah might need from you.” Her mouth trembled. “I never bothered measuring it by what he gives.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Suddenly I saw six years differently.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“I kept measuring your friendship by what Noah might need from you.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Ice cream after my driving test.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

That stupid dinosaur in his locker.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Lunches when I couldn’t talk.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

A porch when my heart was broken.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Noah hadn’t needed me to carry him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

We had simply kept showing up for each other.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

“So what’s your condition?” I whispered.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Noah hadn’t needed me to carry him.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Mom smiled through tears.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Don’t go tonight because six-year-old Chrissy promised him.” She squeezed my hand. “Promise me you’ll go because 18-year-old Christina chooses him.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I laughed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Mom, I wasn’t going because of the promise.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“I know that now.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“The promise is just why Noah bought a bow tie four months early,” I said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“Promise me you’ll go because 18-year-old Christina chooses him.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

That finally made her laugh.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

We went downstairs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Noah looked between us.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“You took a long time.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Mom walked directly toward him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Noah, may I have the first dance?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

His eyebrows shot up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Mrs. Jane, this is not prom.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I burst out laughing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Mom put music on anyway.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“Noah, may I have the first dance?”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

For 30 awkward seconds, Noah counted steps while Mom repeatedly stepped the wrong direction.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Finally he sighed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Mrs. Jane, Chrissy dances better.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“That’s why she’s your date.” Mom’s voice softened. “Thank you for staying.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Noah frowned as though she’d thanked him for breathing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“She stays too.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“Thank you for staying.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Mom closed her eyes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

That was the answer she’d needed for years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

At prom, when the first slow song began, Noah held out his hand.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Chrissy… You owe me.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Twelve years?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Yes.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

He stepped on my shoe within five seconds.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“You’re terrible at this.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Your dress is badly designed.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“Chrissy… You owe me.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

We laughed until people stared.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Nothing extraordinary happened.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Nobody applauded us.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

We were simply two 18-year-olds dancing badly together.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Afterward, Mom waited outside.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Noah carried my heels because my feet hurt.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I carried his jacket because he was feeling hot.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

At the car, he opened my door.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

We were simply two 18-year-olds dancing badly together.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I climbed inside, leaned across the seat, and opened his.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Mom watched us in the mirror.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

For years, she’d seen me beside Noah and thought one of us was\u00a0taking care of the other<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

She finally understood.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Nobody was rescuing anybody.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Nobody was fulfilling an obligation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Nobody was rescuing anybody.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

We were just two people who had figured something out at six that adults sometimes spend their whole lives learning.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

When somebody matters to you, you stay.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

And sometimes, if you’re lucky, they stay too.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I was six, I pinkie-promised my best friend that we’d go to prom together someday. Twelve years later, he arrived at my door holding my corsage. I was ready…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=39"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40,"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39\/revisions\/40"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=39"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=39"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=39"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}