Anneliese Sinclair prepared for bed, walking in loose-fitting flannel pajamas over to her side of the master bed, while James, her steadfast husband of twenty-one years, brushed his teeth. Graduation at Ferndale’s East Lenape High School was less than three months away, while Senior Prom loomed large. Their daughter Ella had a flurry of social activities squished into the final year of high school, Anneliese thought wearily.
“What do you think about this boy Derek?” Anneliese asked. She got into bed, adjusting the down comforter up to her chest, and sat propped against the upholstered headboard. Her graying hair frizzed around her angular face but was mostly captured in a low band.
James, tall and slim, in pajama pants and white T-shirt, said with a mouthful of bubbles, “He’s definitely interested in her from what she described.”
“Yeah?”
“The prom-posal was adorable! Well-planned, it was sweet.”
“The what?”
James leaned over to grin at her from the bathroom door. “It’s what the kids are calling it, a big to-do when someone asks someone to the Prom.” After another gargle, he said, “Sounds like there were hints that they were interested in each other. He sent her a huge chocolate chip cookie with a pink frosting message asking her to go.”
“Oh.” Anneliese was glad James couldn’t see her face from where he was standing at the sink. “She didn’t tell me.”
James toweled off his face and walked into their room, turning off the bathroom lights. “She said yes right away. I think she went straight over to Laila and Brittany’s place to share the news, and the cookie.” He climbed into bed and turned off the lamp.
She didn’t ask any more questions that night but soon came to understand that Ella’s acceptance had significance beyond Prom. She and Derek were apparently officially ‘together.’
A couple of days later, Ella bounded down the stairs and into the kitchen before the start of her school day, clad in jeans and a faded T-shirt, and placed her phone face down on the table. Her long caramel-colored hair was in a loose braid, flyaways framing her face. “Hey Dad, Mom.”
“Good morning honey. Ready for school?” James said.
‘Mmm-hmm. Meeting with the Graduation Program planning committee during the first period.” Ella grabbed the milk from the fridge and a bowl and box of cereal from the cabinet in an efficient two-handed swoop and sat next to her father at the kitchen table. She munched at a fast clip.
Anneliese stood at the counter with her coffee cup and gazed at her eighteen-year-old daughter, now an attractive young woman. Ella was radiant in her youth and confidence. She had expressive light-brown eyes with a hint of green, subtle freckles, full lips, and all agreed, barely resembled her mother. Her heart-shaped visage distinguished a joviality and sweetness that went beyond appearance.
“Dad, we need to get the sponsors locked down. Is your company gonna do it?”
