One afternoon, after two older boys had upset her, Lily
sat beneath the playground slide wiping tears from her cheeks.
Noah crouched beside her.
“Don’t listen to them,” he said. “They’re
boring.”
Lily sniffed.
“They said nobody will ask me to a dance.”
Noah looked genuinely offended.
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m asking you.”
She blinked.
“What?”
“When we get to high school, I’ll take you to the biggest dance they have.”
“The prom?”
“Sure. The prom.”
Lily’s entire face changed.
“You promise?”
Noah held out his little finger.
“Promise.”
She wrapped hers around it.
Then she turned toward me triumphantly.
“You heard him, Hannah.”
I laughed.
“I heard him.”
None of us understood how much that small promise would matter.
