The Prom

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So, Jake went to the prom last night.

Yeah...Jake. My child who's still supposed to be about 6 years old.

He's prom age.

A buddy asked about his date and I honestly didn't know. I knew there was angst leading up to all of it and I heard a couple of names tossed about. Kathy is deeply involved, of course, but I figured it was best to stay clear.

Because I vividly remember my junior prom:

Here it is.

I'm not changing any names, so live with it. It's been 33 years!

I was a very skinny, very scared, very sarcastic kid with a whole bunch of close friends. The problem with the prom was we thought it to be a major, life-changing event and we just had to go with the girls that we "loved."

Quickly.

I was supposed to go with Kellie. My greatest friend in the world, (the back-stabbing bastard) Jeff was supposed to go with Carolyn. Al was supposed to go with Pam...and on and on and on.

There were a lot of 'supposed to's' in other words.

I was real scared about the lineup. I asked Kellie early on and she was making me wait. So, a sense of panic set in. There was some thought that one of the prettiest of all girls, Lisa, would go with me, but I didn't believe it. I considered her way the hell out of my league. I thought about asking Ruey, who was a tremendous friend to me, but there was so much competition there.

So I panicked.

I called my greatest friend, my bosom buddy, the guy who would beat up the school to defend my honor, and I whined like a little bitch (meaning it in the dog sense of the word).

"I know," he said. "I'm having trouble getting Carolyn to say 'yes' too."

So, I begged him to call Kellie and tell her to go with me.

My buddy (the rotten bastard) would do anything for me.

He called her.

(God, I can remember her phone number).

I tried calling him to see what was going on.

The line was busy.

(Yeah, a busy line. I had to wait...those were the days kids).

I tried Kellie's number...busy.

A full half hour later Jeffy called me back.

"What did she say?" I asked.

"Yeah. She's not going with you."

"Why not?"

"I'm taking her, as a friend. The hell with the high drama. Let's just all go as friends."

I laughed and told Jeff it sounded like a grand idea.

Then I hung up and wept like that little bitch that was referenced above.

But the pressure was on.

The very next day another (believe it or not) good-looking, fun, 'in-crowd' girl floated the idea that she'd go with me. I was thrilled to ask Kris.

But it was an absolute mess.

At the prom Jeff was looking at Carolyn and Dave. I was looking at Jeff and Kellie. Al was with Ruth, and we rode together.

The whole night was an absolute disaster at the outset.

A lot of hurt feelings.

Last night, Kathy asked me if I remembered the night of my junior prom.

My initial thought was:

"Yeah, me, Al and Jeff had a couple of beers. The girls were long gone early in the evening."

And that was exactly what happened.

Despite the fact that my rat bastard best friend took the girl of my 16 year old dreams away from me...

...it didn't matter one bit.

We still had fun and made a great memory.

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