Everyone started laughing the moment Elliot and I walked into prom together.
“Oh my God,” a girl near the punch table burst out. “Did she seriously bring her little brother to prom?”
Several people laughed instantly.
Another boy called out even louder, eager for attention.
“Looks like one and a half people showed up tonight!”
More laughter followed, echoing across the gym.
The second it started, I knew this night was going to hurt. I just didn’t realize how unforgettable it would become.
I felt Elliot squeeze my hand briefly before relaxing again.
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“Don’t look at them,” he whispered softly.
But how could I not?
Girls covered their mouths while whispering and giggling. Guys nudged each other and stared openly. Some students even pulled out their phones.
And the worst part was…
This wasn’t new.
Two years earlier, Elliot had transferred to our school halfway through sophomore year. I still remembered the silence that fell across the classroom when he walked in beside the principal for the first time.
Elliot had achondroplasia — a form of dwarfism. People noticed his height before they noticed anything else about him. Before they saw his smile. His intelligence. His incredible sense of humor.
The teacher introduced him like any other student.
But by lunchtime, the jokes had already started.
“Do they charge half price for school pictures?”
“Can he even reach the top locker?”
“Did someone lose their kid?”
Most people laughed simply because everyone else did.
I didn’t.
Three days later, I sat beside him in chemistry because nobody else would.
At first, I think Elliot expected pity from me.
Instead, we spent an hour arguing about movies.
Somewhere between shared homework, late-night texts, and endless conversations, he became the person I wanted to talk to more than anyone else.
He listened whenever I panicked about exams.
He brought soup to my house when I got sick.
And whenever he laughed — really laughed — I couldn’t help laughing too.
Eventually, I fell in love with him.
When we started dating, though, the entire school seemed to think that made me a joke too.
“Why are you dating him?”
“You know you could get a normal boyfriend, right?”
“I guess she likes feeling tall.”
At first, those comments crushed me.
Later, I tried pretending they didn’t matter.
Elliot handled it better than I did. He’d spent years learning how to ignore cruel people.
Still, every now and then, when someone thought he couldn’t hear them, I’d notice a flicker in his expression.
A tiny crack.
Like he was exhausted from constantly proving he deserved basic respect.
That was why prom mattered so much to me.
I wanted him to have one perfect night.
Just one.
My mom spent weeks helping me pick out my dress. Elliot arrived at my house in a navy-blue suit with a tiny blue rose pinned to his jacket.
My dad shook his hand at the door and smiled warmly.
“You look sharp tonight, son.”
Elliot’s entire face lit up.
“Ready?” he asked nervously.
I had never seen him look more handsome.
“I’m ready.”
