The disco ball sends pieces of light all around you as the two of you make your way to the center of the dance floor. There's whispers at first, but she doesn't look around. She just looks at you. You dance all through her favorite song, and then Blanferny comes and steers you into a bigger circle of friends, and all of you dance together.

At the afterparty Morcus and Driffany disappear into the basement. You sit with Blanferny and some friends laughing but you keep listening for the faint sounds of their argument. Eventually Morcus comes upstairs and disappears with some bros. You go outside to where Driffany is, on the back deck, huddled up in a blanket, the iridescent ruffle of her skirt drifting down from the porch swing like a mermaid's tail.

"Can I sit with you?" you ask, and she nods.

The end of school happens so fast you never tell anyone you're dating, exactly. Not even your parents.

Since you got accepted in the same college, and requested to roo together, you're worried they will see it as the two of you moving in.

And it kind of is.

The first year of college you find out exactly what it means to be head over heels in love. Driffany is your whole world.

And then, second year...she's someone else's whole world. A senior girl, athlete. Gorgeous, popular, like Driffany is. They are so in love, so happy, so good for each other.

It absolutely crushes you.

But how do you make wine? You crush grapes. How do you make an omelet? You crush eggs.

How do you make an empathetic person? You crush their heart.

Maybe that's how it works.

It's not until the second year of your medical residency that you love someone as much as you loved Driffany.

But it happens, and its wonderful. It's different, in the best way. It's not just a crush. It's knowing all of her and her knowing all of you. It's real.

Whenever someone asks you about prom, you just describe that dance with Driffany.

That moment lasts long after the heartbreak has faded, one perfect memory seared forever by adrenaline and love chemicals into the deepest part of your brain, that keeps your heart forever young.

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