When I invited my mom to my senior prom to make up for the one she missed raising me alone, I thought it would be a simple act of love. But when my stepsister publicly humiliated her in front of everyone, I realized the night was about to become unforgettable for reasons nobody saw coming.

I’m 18, and what went down last May still plays in my head like a movie I can’t stop rewatching. You know those moments that shift everything? When you finally get what it really means to protect the people who protected you first?

My mom, Emma, became a parent at 17. She gave up her entire adolescence for me, including the prom she’d dreamed about since middle school. Mom gave up her dream so I could exist. I figured the least I could do was give her one back.

Mom gave up her dream so I could exist.

I figured the least I could do was give her one back.

Mom found out she was pregnant during her junior year. The guy who got her pregnant? He vanished the second she told him. No goodbye. No child support. No curiosity about whether I’d inherit his eyes or his laugh.