Lucas has spent his whole life keeping his head down and his heart guarded, especially when it comes to his grandmother's job at his high school. But on prom night, a single choice forces him to decide what really matters... and who truly deserves to be seen.
I moved in with Grandma Doris when I was three days old. My mother, Lina, had died just after giving birth to me ... I've never known her, but Gran told me that she'd held me once.
"She did, Lucas," Gran would say.
"Your mama held you for three minutes before her blood pressure dropped. Those three minutes will hold you for a lifetime, sweetheart."
As for my father? Well, he never showed up. Not once, not even for a single birthday.
I moved in with Grandma Doris when I was three days old.
Grandma Doris was 52 when she took me in. Since then, she worked nights as a janitor at the high school and made the fluffiest pancakes every Saturday morning. She read secondhand books in an armchair with the stuffing poking out of the seams, doing all the voices, and made the world feel big and possible.
She never once acted like I was a burden.
Not when I had nightmares and woke her up screaming.
She never once acted like I was a burden.
Not when I cut my own hair with her pair of sewing scissors, making my ears look so much bigger. And definitely not when I outgrew my shoes faster than her paycheck could keep up.
To me, she wasn't just a grandmother. She was a one-woman village.
I think that's why I never told her about the things people said at school, especially after they found out that my grandmother was the school janitor.
She was a one-woman village.
"Careful, Lucas smells like bleach," the boys would say, wrinkling their noses.
I didn't tell Gran about the way they called me "Mop Boy" when they thought I couldn't hear.
And the way I found milk or orange juice spilled at my locker with a note taped to it:
"Hope you got your bucket, Mop Boy."
If Gran knew about it, she didn't say anything to me. And I tried my hardest to keep her away from the nonsense.
"Hope you got your bucket, Mop Boy."
The thought of her feeling ashamed of her job? That was the one thing I couldn't bear.
So, I smiled. I acted like it didn't matter. I came home and did the dishes while she took off her boots, the ones with the cracked soles and my initials carved into the rubber.
"You're a good boy, Lucas," she said. "You take good care of me."
"Because you taught me that this is the only way to be, Gran," I replied.
The thought of her feeling ashamed of her job?
We ate together in our small kitchen, and I made her laugh on purpose. That was my safe place.
But I'd be lying if I said that the words didn't get to me. Or that I wasn't counting down the days until graduation so that I could have a fresh start.
The only thing that made school feel bearable was Sasha.
But I'd be lying if I said that the words didn't get to me.
She was smart and confident, and funny in this dry, sideways kind of way. People thought she was just pretty — and she was, in that way where it didn't look like she tried — but they didn't know she spent weekends helping her mom around the house and balancing tip money in a yellow notepad.
Her mother was a nurse who worked double shifts and didn't always eat. They had one unreliable car, which made them use the bus more often than not.
"She says cafeteria muffins are better than hospital vending machines," Sasha had said, laughing without quite smiling.
"Which should tell you something about the vending machines."
Her mother was a nurse who worked double shifts and didn't always eat.
I think that's why Sasha and I clicked. We knew what it felt like to live around the edges of other people's privilege.
She met Grandma Doris once, when we were waiting in line at the cafeteria.
"That's your gran?" she asked, pointing to Gran, holding a large tray of mini milk cartons, her mop resting against the wall behind her.
We knew what it felt like to live around
the edges of other people's privilege.
"Yeah, that's her," I nodded. "I'll introduce you when we get closer to her now."
"She looks like the kind of person who gives second helpings even when you're full," Sasha said, smiling.
"Oh, she's worse," I said. "She'll bake you a pie for no reason."
"I love her already," Sasha grinned.
"Yeah, that's her," I nodded.
Prom came up quicker than expected. People buzzed about limos, spray tans, and overpriced corsages. I avoided the topic whenever possible.
Sasha and I had been hanging out more by then. Everyone assumed that we were going together, and I think she did, too — until one day after class when she caught up to me outside.
"So, Luc," she said, swinging her purple backpack onto one shoulder. "Who are you bringing to prom?"
I avoided the topic whenever possible.
I hesitated, biting my lip.
"I've got someone in mind," I said simply.
"Someone I know?" she asked, her eyebrows lifted.
"Yeah, I guess so," I said carefully. "She's important to me, Sasha."
"Someone I know?" she asked, her eyebrows lifted.
I knew how... cagey I was being. I knew that in some way, I'd just hurt one of the people I'd cared about the most. But like I'd told Sasha, this was important to me.
"Right. Well... good for you," Sasha said. Her mouth pulled into something between a smile and a question.
And after that? Sasha didn't bring prom up again.
I knew how... cagey I was being.
The night of prom, Gran stood in her bathroom, holding up the floral dress she'd last worn to my cousin's wedding.
"I don't know, sweetheart," she murmured. "I'm not sure this even fits right anymore."
"You look beautiful, Gran," I said.
"I'll be standing on the side, right? I don't want to embarrass you. I can just stay home, Lucas," she said. "The school hired three cleaners for the night so that there'd be no trouble during prom. I can have my night off, right here, in front of the couch."
"I don't want to embarrass you.
I can just stay home, Lucas,"
"Gran, you're not going to embarrass me. I promise. Other than graduation, this is the last school event of my life. I want you to be there!"
Gran looked at me through the mirror. I knew she was hesitant about coming to prom. But this was... I needed her there.
I helped her with her earrings — little silver leaves she'd worn for every special occasion since I was seven — and smoothed the collar of her cardigan.
I needed her there.
She looked nervous, like a guest at a party she hadn't fully been invited to.
"Breathe, Gran," I said as she straightened my tie. "This is going to be great."
The gym was transformed. White string lights hung in loops across the ceiling. There were silly paper awards and a makeshift photo booth with props.
