At 6, I Promised My Best Friend We’d Go to Prom Together — 12 Years Later, Mom Said I Could Go With Him Only on ONE Condition Ethan became my best friend in first grade after we discovered we both hated raisins and loved dinosaurs.

Silence followed.

Not ordinary silence.

The strange kind.

I stepped toward the landing.

Ethan stood in the entryway.

Navy suit.

White shirt.

Perfectly straight bow tie.

A small corsage in one hand.

He smiled.

Mom didn’t.

ELEANOR BENNETT LOOKED LIKE SHE HAD SEEN A GHOST

“Mrs. Bennett?”

Mom blinked.