finally got the earring in and checked myself in the mirror.
Dress.
Hair curled.
Makeup my aunt had spent nearly an hour doing.
I felt nervous.
Not because of Noah.
Because prom had always seemed like something that happened to older people.
Then suddenly, I was one of the older people.
I grabbed my purse and headed toward the stairs.
That was when Mom opened the front door.
Then everything went strangely quiet.
I stepped closer to the landing.
Noah stood in the entryway.
Navy suit.
White shirt.
Perfectly straight bow tie.
In one hand, he held a small corsage.
He looked incredibly pleased with himself.
Mom didn’t.
She stared at him.
“Mrs. Jane?”
Mom blinked.
“Oh. Noah. Hi.”
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
She wasn’t.
I knew my mother.
Something changed the moment she saw him.
Her eyes dropped to the corsage.
Then the bow tie.
Then his face.
For a
