Chapter Twenty: The Big Dance

My parents rented a limo for the five of us to sport around in for the evening. We ordered our driver to Tulsa where we dined at the Warren Duck Club – a very elegant steak house made perfect for such an event as this. My two girl friends and I kept excusing ourselves to the restroom to check ourselves out and make sure every hair was still in place and make up applied as needed. We were so vain.

Darin looked amazingly handsome in his tuxedo, and the nose cast just set it off. He was pretty quiet toward the beginning of the evening, but once we got going, he was himself again. My dress was awesome. It was a chic, floor length gold gown with sparkly sequins all over. I shined brighter than a disco ball. My hair was gathered in curls and pinned up with a few ringlets hanging down. I caught Darin stealing glances my way all night, but we both played coy – after all, we were “just friends”.

When we rolled into the school, there was a sea of people. In small towns, on Prom night, the whole community gathers in the school parking lot as if we are all red carpet celebrities. They snap more pictures than the paparazzi and spend the rest of their evenings discussing dresses, hair dos and who-was-with-who. It seemed so normal at the time, but looking back on it, I can’t help but laugh. The five of us made our rounds and then headed in.

There were lights flashing, music blaring and absurd dancing ensuing. It was a sight to behold. We stood in line to get our pictures taken and spent the rest of the evening laughing at everyone else. And, of course, mingling with our classmates. But mostly laughing. Prom is pretty ridiculous, but you have to go. High School isn’t High School without it.

We had a “sentimental” moment where someone decided the entire Senior class should hold hands in a big circle and sway together as they played an emotional song about moving on. I rolled my eyes at Darin and he grabbed my hand. We swayed and sang and laughed out of the corner of our eyes to each other. Once the song was over, I noticed my left hand was suddenly free and my right hand still had something attached to it. Darin’s hand. He held on and smiled at me. My heart started to flutter and just as the sparks were starting to fly, a good guy friend jumped in and asked if he could have this dance.

After a few hours, we all decided it was time to ditch the scene and head to my place for our after-party. There were several other after-parties going on as well, but those were the ones that were in fields. With alcohol. And sex. And other things that we wanted no part in. So, we had our own after party where we ate absurd amounts of food, played games and watched movies. We invited some other friends and had a great time together. Darin ended up staying the latest, and we watched countless episodes of Friends and rehashed the evening. 

It’s funny; I don’t even remember his nose cast that night. For all I cared, he could have had 3 noses and I wouldn’t have minded. I was falling hard.