At 6, I Promised My Best Friend with Down Syndrome We’d Go to Prom Together – 12 Years Later, Mom Said I Could Go with Him Only on One Condition

I thought prom night would be perfect.
Instead, my mother locked my bedroom door.
Downstairs, my best friend waited in a navy suit, holding a corsage that meant “remembering.” Upstairs, my mom’s hands shook as she said there was one truth I had to hear before I left with him. A secret about Noah. A secret about her.