She was afraid that I would be judged.
She was afraid that the night wouldn’t go the way either of us expected.
But then she told me something else.
Something that completely changed the way I understood our childhood friendship.
He Had Remembered the Promise Too
While I had occasionally thought about our pinkie promise as a sweet childhood memory, he had never forgotten it.
He had been looking forward to that night for years.
He had chosen his clothes.
He had picked out the corsage.
And he had arrived at my door because, to him, a promise was a promise.
That realization hit me harder than I expected.
The night wasn’t really about a dance.
It was about keeping a promise to someone who had trusted me for most of his life.
My Mother Finally Understood
I looked at my mother and told her something she probably needed to hear.
I wasn’t going because I felt sorry for him.
I wasn’t going because someone had pressured me.
I was going because he was my friend.
And because we had made a promise when we were children.
My mother became quiet.
Then she admitted that she had been afraid that people would misunderstand our friendship.
