People laughed. I wanted to disappear.
Then Ms. Carter, one of the teachers, came over and asked to look at my dress. After studying the stitching, her eyes filled with tears.
“Emma,” she whispered, “your mother wore this to her senior prom.”
My whole body went still.
Alexis hadn’t bought me an ugly dress.
She had taken my mother’s old prom dress from the attic and tried to use it to humiliate me.
I walked straight to her in front of the parent chaperones.
“Where’s the money my dad gave you for my dress?”
Her smile faded.
“This dress belonged to my mother,” I said. “You lied to Dad and let everyone laugh at me.”
The parents around her went silent. Then Dad appeared and finally heard the truth.
Alexis begged me to take the dress off.
I looked down at the fabric my mother had once worn and shook my head.
“No. You thought this would embarrass me. But this is the most meaningful dress I’ve ever worn.”
That night, I stood under the prom lights wearing my mother’s dress, and for the first time in years, I felt like she was with me again.
