Skip to content 
“Raisins.”
I laughed.
Then he held out his pinkie.
Suddenly, I remembered.
The snack boxes.
The dinosaurs.
The promise.
“Prom?” I asked.
“Prom.”
I hooked my pinkie around his.
Then he proudly announced that he had already bought his bow tie.
“When?”
“Months ago.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
“Important things need planning.”
I couldn’t argue with that.
The Night of the Big Surprise
On prom night, Noah arrived at our house wearing his navy suit.
His bow tie was perfectly straight.
He was holding a small corsage.
When he handed it to me, I noticed a sprig of rosemary tucked among the flowers.
“What is that for?”
“The florist said it represents remembering.”
He smiled.
“And I remember promises.”
Behind me, Mom became unusually quiet.
I turned around.
Her eyes looked watery.
“Mom?”
She quickly looked away.
Then she said, “Christina, come upstairs with me.”
“What? Why?”
“Please.”
I followed her upstairs.
We entered my bedroom.
Mom closed the door.
Then she locked it.
“You’re scaring me,” I said.
She sat on the edge of my bed.
“You can go with Noah. But before you do, I need to tell you something.”
“What?”
She took a deep breath.
“It’s about the year your father left.”
I frowned.
“What about it?”
“You were struggling more than I realized.”
I nodded slowly.
“I remember.”
Mom looked down.
“But there was someone else who noticed.”
I already knew the answer.
“Noah?”
She nodded.
The Conversation I Never Knew About
Mom told me that during those difficult months, Noah had noticed how quiet I had become.
One afternoon, he saw Mom sitting alone in her car outside school.
She had been having a difficult day.