Wes shrugs and says he doesn’t care. “You know, before we started dating, I had decided that I wasn’t going to ask you to prom.”

“Well, that’s… upsetting.”

“Not because I didn’t want to go with you, but because I was pretty sure you’d say you couldn’t desert Parisa, and I wasn’t sure I could handle the rejection. But if I did have the guts to do it, I was going to sing it in a song.” Wes grins, then pulls out his guitar.

“Oh my God…”

He starts to play, and I instantly recognize the opening chords from “Umbrella” by Rihanna. I clasp my hand over my mouth as he starts to sing.

You have my heart, and even though we’re coasts apart,

We’re still in quarantine, that’s where our love did start.

Baby, when we’re on FaceTime…

I feel so alive.

I know this distance is so unfair,

But we ain’t got germs to spare, because…

When there’s a vaccine, we’ll be together.

This pandemic won’t last forever.

Soon we’ll all be on the mend.

Wear a mask and stick it out till the end.

Now that cases are spiking more than ever,

Know that we’ll still have each other.

Will you go to prom with me, Gabriela?

Say you’ll go to prom with me, Gabriela-ela-ela, eh eh…

Wes trails off, then gives me his signature boyish grin. “That’s as far as I got.”

It’s hard to respond when I can’t stop laughing. Everyone should get to have a Wes during a pandemic.

“I don’t even know what to say. I loved it and I love you.”

“I love you, too,” he says.

“I know this isn’t the prom we wanted or a prom at all, but it’s perfect for right now.”

We stay up for another hour, and Wes catches me up on life in New York. He still appreciates the change of scenery but not the humidity. Most of all, he likes having more space than he did back home. His grandparents have a house upstate with a yard that spans an acre and a wraparound porch with a swing by the front door.

“It’s like one of those porches you sit on to drink lemonade on hot days. It’s so different here than California.”

“Do you know how long you’ll stay?”

Wes shakes his head, but promises that once there’s a vaccine, he’ll be back home in “San Ho,” as we so affectionately call it.

“As soon as I’m back, I’m going to take you out on a proper date.”

For some reason, when he says it, I’m overwhelmed with the fear that it will never happen. I start to perspire, but my body and bones feel cold.

“You okay?” Wes asks.