Hazel stood beneath the glowing prom lights with one hand covering her mouth.
In the other, she held a small silver key.
It was old, lightly scratched, and attached to a thin blue ribbon.
For several seconds, she simply stared at it.
Then she lifted her eyes toward Eli.
“Where did you get this?”
Her voice was barely more than a whisper.
Eli lowered the microphone and walked toward her.
“Your brother gave it to me.”
Hazel’s knees seemed to weaken.
I instinctively moved forward, but Eli reached her first and gently steadied her by the arm.
“Mason gave that to you?” she asked.
Eli nodded.
“One week before the accident.”
Hazel’s face collapsed.
Nobody inside the gym moved.
Even the music had stopped.
Hundreds of students stood beneath the hanging lights, watching them in complete silence.
Eli reached into the inside pocket of his suit and removed a folded sheet of paper.
“He made me promise I wouldn’t give this to you until prom night.”
Hazel stared at him.
“But Mason died almost a year ago.”
“I know.”
Eli’s voice broke.
“He was supposed to bring you here himself.”
Hazel began crying before Eli even unfolded the letter.
I covered my mouth as I watched him open it.
I recognized Mason’s handwriting immediately.
It was untidy and slanted, with letters leaning into one another whenever he wrote too quickly.
Eli handed the letter to Hazel.
Her hands trembled so badly that she could not keep the page steady.
“Can you read it for me?” she asked.
Eli looked into her eyes, silently asking permission.
Hazel nodded.
So he began.
“Dear Hazelnut,
“If Eli is giving you this letter, it means I somehow convinced him to stop being terrified of speaking in front of people.”
A few students laughed softly through their tears.
Hazel made a sound that was part sob and part laughter.
Eli continued.
“I know you think prom is ridiculous.
“I know you will probably complain about the music, the decorations, and all the people pretending they do not care who is watching them dance.
“But I also know that somewhere inside, you secretly want to go.
“You deserve one evening when you do not hide.
“You deserve to wear something beautiful, even though I already know you will argue that beautiful things were not made for you.
“You are wrong.
“Beautiful things were made for people exactly like you.”
Hazel lowered her head.
Her tears fell onto the ivory fabric of her dress.
Eli paused and swallowed before reading the next part.
“The key opens a wooden box hidden beneath the loose floorboard in my closet.
“Yes, the same floorboard Mom believes I never discovered.
“There is something inside that I have been saving for you.
“Do not become too excited. I am still cheap.”
The students laughed again.
But I felt my heart splitting open.
After Mason died, I had cleaned his bedroom slowly.
Painfully.
I packed away his jackets, books, and old football trophies—the ones he always pretended did not matter to him.
I had never noticed a loose floorboard.
Eli continued reading.
“I planned to give you the box before prom, but I know you too well.
“If I handed it to you early, you would invent an excuse not to attend.
“So Eli has instructions.
“He must make sure you arrive.
“He must remind you that you are not too loud, too nervous, too awkward, too much, or somehow not enough.
“You are my little sister.
“That means you are stronger than you believe, even during the moments when you do not feel strong at all.
“And if I cannot take you to prom myself, I trust Eli to do it.
“He already looks at you as though you are the only person in every room.
“Try not to tease him too badly.
“Love,
“Mason.”
By the time Eli reached the final line, nearly everyone in the gym was crying.
Hazel remained completely still.
Then she looked at him.
“You knew about this?”
“Not all of it,” Eli answered quickly. “Mason gave me the key and the letter. He told me where the box was hidden, but he made me promise not to open it.”
Hazel looked down at her dress.
“And this?”
Eli glanced at the oversized roses sewn across the skirt.
“The dress was my idea.”
Hazel gently touched one of the ivory flowers.
“You made it?”
“My grandmother helped me understand the patterns,” he admitted. “But I did most of the sewing.”
Hazel looked at his hands.
For the first time, I noticed several small bandages wrapped around three of his fingers.
Hazel noticed them too.
“You injured yourself.”
Eli shrugged.
“A few times.”
“You missed exams.”
“My teachers are allowing me to complete them later.”
“You stayed awake night after night.”
He smiled nervously.
“I wanted everything to be right.”
Hazel’s eyes filled once more.
“Why?”
Eli looked around the silent gym.
Then he focused entirely on her.
“Because those people in the dress shops were wrong.”
His voice became stronger.
“They behaved as though a dress had the right to decide whether you were worthy of wearing it.”
He shook his head.
“The dress was supposed to fit you.”
“You were never supposed to change yourself to fit the dress.”
