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.

Behind me—

Mom made a tiny sound.

When I looked at her, her eyes were wet.

“Mom?”

“Upstairs.”

This time—

she wasn’t asking.

SHE LOCKED THE BEDROOM DOOR

“Okay.”

I stared at her.

“You’re officially frightening me.”

Mom faced me.

“You can go with Ethan tonight.”

I folded my arms.

“If this is about him having Down syndrome—”

“No.”

“Because I’m eighteen.”

“I know.”

“He’s my best friend.”

“I know that too.”

“Then what exactly is happening?”

Mom sat.

“Do you remember when your father left?”

That was not the question I expected.

“What does Dad have to do with Ethan?”

“Nothing directly.”