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

I stared at her.

“I know. That’s generally how dates work.”

“I’m serious.”

Her voice sounded strange.

“Okay…” I actually laughed. “Let me guess. Midnight?”

“No.”

“Eleven-thirty?”

“Christina.”

The fact that she used my full name wiped the smile off my face.

Mom’s hands were trembling.

“You have to hear something first.”

“About what, Mom?”

Her eyes flicked toward the closed bedroom door.

“About Noah.”

My heart pounded.

“What about him?”

“And about me.”

She sat on the edge of my bed.

Then she said something I never expected.

“I owe both of you the truth.”

***

Noah and I met because of raisins.

We were six.

Our first-grade teacher had given everyone those little red boxes during snack time.

I was quietly stuffing mine beneath a napkin when the boy beside me whispered, “That’s smart.”