I hated school dances. As a matter of fact, just about every one that I had ever been to was pretty much horrific. As of my senior year, I had been to three school dances (not including my ex girlfriend Katie Coleman’s Prom at a different school). While I had fun at Katie’s Prom my Junior year, my own Prom that year was beyond terrible. I already went over all of that in a previous post, so there is no need to get back into that again. However, I will share with you my experiences at the two Middle School Socials I attended at Sycamore Lane Middle School.
My Fifth Grade year, I attended our Spring Middle School Social. I did not want to attend, seeing how I really didn’t feel like I fit in with a lot of my classmates. However, my parents were adamant about getting me out of my bedroom, away from my Hitachi 8100 boom box radio, and out the door to try to make new friends at school.
I didn’t have many friends my Fifth grade year (I met my best friend David ‘Tater Turner – A Great American, the following year). So I was stuck in the cafeteria listening to bad 80’s music in a darkened corner by myself, watching mostly older popular kids dance.
To my surprise, one of the Eighth Grade kids came over to me. He was a much bigger kid, whom I didn’t know whatsoever.
“Hey little man” he said (I hate it when people call me that). “You see that blond girl over there?” he asked, pointing to a really pretty older girl. “She has been checking you out all night… you should go ask her to dance”.
“Nah Man” I said, trying to sound somewhat cool. “I don’t think so.” I was really hoping he would go away. I noticed all of his friends looking at me as well. He wasn’t just going to go away.
“What? Why not?” he asked, mocking me.
“I just don’t feel like dancing.”
“Whatever man, I just know if I had a girl like that checking me out, I would do something about it,” he said, trying to convince me.
When I finally realized he wasn’t just going to go away, I gave in.
“Alright, I’ll go ask her,” I told him.
“Hi, would you like to dance?” I felt the eyes of the older kids burning in the back of my head as I avoided looking into hers. Her response was predictable, and yet even colder than I expected.
“Are you even old enough to be here?” She asked laughing with her girlfriends.
I turned around and saw the guy who approached me and his friends laughing as well. I walked away with my head down.
I called my parents to pick me up. When my Dad asked me how it went, I lied and told him it went great. I didn’t want to disappoint my folks and have them find out how unpopular I felt in school. Middle School was Hell for me.
My Seventh Grade social wasn’t so bad at first, as I mingled with a few friends that night (I tried to talk Tater into going, but he wasn’t hearing it). Every thing was going great until I went to sit down, and somebody (intentionally or unintentionally, I’m not sure) pulled the chair out from under me. I crashed my bony twelve year old butt to the ground, and was instantly humiliated. I hit the floor so hard, that it hurt to sit for the next couple of days, but I never let on. My pride hurt way more than my backside.
Obviously after those two experiences, and with the debacle that was my Jr. Prom, I had nowhere to go but up. Plans for my Senior Prom were going pretty well. There was one problem however, I wasn’t really feeling any connection with Jessica (My date for the evening). I always thought Prom was supposed to be a romantic night between two love struck teenagers, and I wasn’t feeling that way at all about Jess.
We had hung out a few times since I had spontaneously asked her to Prom, but there wasn’t any chemistry between us. I was really nervous about addressing the issue, and wondered if I should at all. I could have wound up without a date for the Prom, and it was less than two weeks away. Still, I didn’t want to lead her on, as that would not have been fair to her.
So over dinner one evening, the topic came up. Without going into to much detail, she basically told me she felt the same way. We both enjoyed hanging out with each other, but there was nothing romantic going on. It was a moment of relief when we both agreed to go as friends to the dance. With the pressure off for any romantic entanglements, I felt free to really enjoy and to anticipate the Prom, and not be nervous about anything. All of the anxiousness that I felt the previous year with Katie wasn’t an issue, as I didn’t feel the need to make it a ‘Perfect Night’. I was just going to a dance with a cool girl, and it couldn’t have been any sweeter.
I had told Jessica how miserable I was at the prom the previous year, and how all of my plans got blown at the last minute. We agreed to take a simple approach for our date. I picked Jess up a few hours before the dance and took her to my house for a dinner. My Dad had grilled out some expensive steaks on the grill, along with some baked potatoes and salad as side items. My Mother had decorated the dining room perfectly with candles and a beautiful white linen table cloth. They both left us alone to enjoy a nice dinner together. I couldn’t have been any nicer.
Not long after dinner, my best friend David ‘Tater’ Turner- A Great American came over. Tater was one of the 40% of students that decided to go to prom without a date.
“Too much work,” he told me later.
Jessica was gracious enough to let him hang with us for the evening (not that there was much choice in the matter). I had known her for about a month, David “Tater” Turner – A Great American had been my friend since sixth grade.
I must say, we all looked great. Jessica was stunning in a simple, yet elegant pink gown, Tater wore a black tux with a red bow tie and cummerbund, and I was happy that my tuxedo actually fit me this time (My tux the previous year incredibly uncomfortable). I wore a purple and paisley tie and vest with a black tuxedo. I was quite GQ for 1992. After posing for a several pictures taken by my father with his new 35 mil camera, we all hopped in my Dad’s Blazer (Tater didn’t want to ride in the backseat of my 86 Blue Mustang) and made our way to Scotland High School for the big night.
‘Midnight Masquerade’ was the theme that year, and our gym was decorated in silver in black. Party masks were all over the place and the music was loud and the atmosphere was festive. I had made up my mind to have fun that night.
“We only get one Senior Year” Megan Alba Biel told me, and I planned on making the most out of my senior prom.
Come to find out, Jessica was quite the dance partner that evening. It was a nice change of pace from last year, when all Katie wanted to do was sit a table and whine about the dinner we had eaten earlier. I didn’t dance at all at my Junior Prom.
The DJ played everything from C and C Music Factory, to Prince, to LL Cool J and Bobby Brown. With all of my inhibitions thrown out the window, I let loose and had more fun than I had ever had a school function before. I wasn’t trying to impress my date (we had established that we were just going as friends, so no pressure there) I didn’t care about how I looked to the popular kids. I just wanted to have fun, and that is exactly what I did. The atmosphere was so much fun that Tater even danced some. Little known fact – Most guys named Tater aren’t known for dancing in public. Jessica was a great date that fully enjoyed the evening with both me and Tater. She danced, laughed and sang along with us both.
I danced all night long. From the time we walked in the door until we left, I was on my feet on the dance floor. With every song that played, the more fun I had. I felt all of the weight from worrying about plans after graduation, worries about fitting in and my social status, worries about satisfying my parents, to simple mundane thoughts that clouded my mind on a daily basis just lift off of my shoulders.
That night, there were on worries. There were no moments of self-consciousness. It was just me, a girl, and the music. It was one of the most freeing experiences I remember ever feeling. It got to the point to where others around me noticed the fun that Jessica and I were having. They came to join in, and we all danced, talked and laughed together. I received many hugs and handshakes from a lot of my classmates through out the evening, many from folks who had barely even spoken to me in four years. I think they could tell that I was having a great time. I felt like we all were that night. Our time together was drawing to a close way too soon, and we were trying to soak every last bit of it up together.
While taking a break for a drink, I looked all around for Megan Alba Biel. I know I had come with a great girl as my date, but I couldn’t help but to wonder what MAB looked like that evening. I imagined her in a beautiful blue gown to accent her eyes. I am sure her blond hair was down, and looking perfect. I wanted to say hello to her, to tell her how much fun I was having, and in a perfect world, maybe even steal a dance from her. I spent much of the evening looking for her, but never saw her.
That was probably for the best though, as that would not have been fair to Jessica to ask another girl to dance. I realize that now as an adult sharing this with you, but to be honest the thought of fairness never crossed my mind that night. If I had seen Megan Alba Biel, I would have found a way to be on the dance floor with her. The way I was feeling that night, my confidence level was at an all time high. There was nothing that could have taken me down from that high. It was the best night of my entire High School career. It was a near perfect night, the only thing that could have made it perfect would have been having Megan be (even a small) part of it. I still don’t know what color prom dress she wore that night.
By the time Midnight rolled around, we were on our way home. I dropped Tater off at our house first to get his truck. As he was getting out of the Blazer, we all talked about how much fun we had. He gave Jess a hug and said goodbye. Jessica told me as we were driving away that Tater kept her laughing about all night. I told her that the night would not had been as much fun without him there. “Nobody can make me laugh like Tater” I said.
I put the car in reverse and drove toward Hwy 74 East, to Red Springs to take her home.
I walked her to her door, and thanked her. She had been the perfect date for a perfect evening. Under the porch light of her front door, I reached for her hand and pulled her to me to give her a kiss worthy of the evening that we had shared.
As I got in my Dad’s Blazer to drive away, I looked in my rear view mirror and thought-
“I wonder if Megan Alba Biel had a good time tonight?”
Like I said, Jessica was a great girl, but no chemistry. At that time, I only had eyes for one girl. It was just a shame those eyes didn’t get to see her that night.
The following Monday at school, I caught a little friendly grief from my classmates in Video Productions class about my dance moves. Apparently I wasn’t as bad a dancer as I had thought I was. As we prepared to tape the day’s ‘Scotland Today’, one of the announcements caught my attention.
“SIGN UP’S FOR SENIOR TALENT SHOW DUE BY NEXT FRIDAY”
Love Y’all
d
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