I set my coffee down, my heart already lifting. I was certain he was about to tell me he had gotten into one of his dream colleges.
I had no idea how wrong I was.
“Madison asked me to prom!” Nathan revealed.
I blinked at him. For one second, the name did not register.
Then it did.
“Wait, Madison? The Madison?”
I honestly thought he was joking.
But he was not.
“Yeah!” My son laughed, almost giddy. “She came up to me at my locker. In front of everyone!”
My hands started shaking, so I clasped them together before he could see.
“Honey, that’s… that’s wonderful!” I tried to make my voice match the joy on his face, but something inside me had already gone cold.
So here was the thing.
Madison was the girl whose name floated through every conversation at every parent gathering. She was the kind of girl whose photos other moms showed me on their phones.
Madison was the most beautiful and popular girl in Nathan’s school.
Girls like her did not suddenly notice boys like Nathan.
She had not really acted as if she knew my son existed for four years. Four years!
