I leaned against the wall and pressed the letters to my chest.
“She made us promise.”
My breath wouldn’t come right.
“This prom isn’t an early prom.”
“No, ma’am. It’s the only one.”
Daryl looked down at his shiny rented shoes.
“She didn’t want to risk missing it. She wanted to dance once. With her friends. And she wanted you to see her happy.”
A sound came out of me that I didn’t recognize. I couldn’t hold it back.
My voice tore down the corridor.
“How could Carol hide something like this from me?!”
A nurse near the desk looked up, then quickly looked away to give us privacy. Daryl didn’t flinch.
“No, ma’am. It’s the only one.”
One of the teenagers opened the door and peered out, but after Daryl gave them a nod, they quickly closed it.
My daughter’s friend just stood there with me while I shook.
“I’m her mother, Daryl. Her mother. I should’ve been the first person she told.”
