Prom From Hell (pSteve Part 2)
"p" is for prom...
In keeping with the theme of me revisiting my past, for reasons lost to the sands of time I contacted Steve toward the end of my senior year in High School. 2 years had gone by since we'd seen each other and most of the bitterness had left his voice. We caught up about our lives, he was dating a freshman and I was seeing my friend's older brother. He invited me down to see the latest show at the school so my friend Dave and I trooped out to see it. As Dave said to my mother, "He sooo still likes her." I thought that was just silly. About a week later Steve called to say he and his girlfriend broke up, would I consider going to the prom with him? I reminded him it would only be as friends and said yes after checking with the parents. My mother's reaction? "Your old enough to make your own mistakes and deal with them." Sweet, eh? So I borrowed a dress from a friend, a big blue thing with a hoop skirt...
So dressed in this poofy thing I waited for Steve and his friend Charlie to arrive and whisk me off to scenic Upper Darby. After stopping at Steve's house so he could get ready (I sat with his mother and aunt who were not inclined to speak anything but Greek around me...real comfortable) we headed to Charlie's to meet the limo. Steve presented me with a dozen pink roses...and I started to get the feeling he had romantic expectations. This was not good.
Let me introduce the other players in this comedic drama:
Charlie who's date was Julie. Julie was a freshmen and they were going as friends though Charlie wanted it to be more.
Jason and his girlfriend Chris. Again, she was younger and she didn't even want to be there, something she made abundantly clear every chance she got. This had fun written all over it.
So the limo took us to a very nice restaurant on Penn's Landing in the city. The women folk were confused, because there was a dinner at the dance so we felt weird about ordering, especially since none of us was carrying a lot of cash. So that went over like a led balloon. Off to the Benjamin Franklin House for the main event.
We walked in, got our favors, had pictures taken and danced one dance before sitting down to dinner. There were cute little white washed tables with matching wooden folding chairs, trust me this detail will be important later. So once again I maneuver the dress into a sitting position and we all begin chatting and eating our soup. That is when Steve took my hand and the decent into hell began.
I pulled away and asked him not to, he asked why and I reminded him I was seeing someone. This had slipped his mind and he began to sulk. After listening to him angrily slurp soup for 5 minutes I just looked at him and apologized. He then barked, oh good you're sorry you ruined my prom! I didn't take that one well and stood up abruptly. Funny thing about a hoop skirt, if you don't take your time getting up from a light chair the hoops will launch it across a dance floor. So with that little bit of excitement I marched myself into the ladies room where I stayed until Julie joined me.
It seems Charlie found her dancing with another guy and made quite a scene. Soon Chris was also holed up in the bathroom with us because she had had a fight with Jason about her attitude. After a while I decided to brave it and leave the safety of the potty.
And Steve was there to greet me. I spent the rest of the evening in the elevator cove trying to get him to stop crying. I was doing pretty good until I called him by the wrong name...doh! Cue tears. Finally the rest of our party gave up on the evening and we went outside to wait for the limo. I ended up talking to Jason because no one else was speaking to each other. About the time we started thinking the limo would never show it rolled around the corner. I was going home!
As we rode in silence (if you ignored Steve's tortured sighs) the limo driver told me I was out of his area so I'd have to get a ride home from one of the guys. Not getting home! But Charlie volunteered to take me. Yeah! Going home!
A few more miles passed and Charlie broke the silence/moaning to say he was too tired and Steve would have to take me. Steve who looked like he was about to commit suicide. He'd wrap us around a tree and I'd never get home. I think we all looked at the sighing mass and then back at Charlie who graciously changed his mind. Going home!
We dropped the girls off and the boys headed for Charlie's house. They bee-lined for his bedroom, right past his dad who asked how the evening went. No one said a word, then from the kitchen I hear Steve's agonized voice declare "Dreams were shattered, hopes were lost!" I smiled nervously at Charlie's dad and said I didn't think it turned out how folks had planned.
Changed out of their tuxes and me still in the dress, we piled into Charlie's car: me riding shot gun, Steve directly behind me and Jason next to him. Steve pretty much breathed down my neck for half the ride until Jason grabbed him by the collar and told him to knock it off. We were about 2 miles from my house when the tire blew...would I ever get home?
Slightly whiplashed and looking like Scarlette O'Hara, I stood in the middle of the road while the tire was fixed. A nice man stopped to offer help but was waved off. I could see my friend Joe's house from where I stood and I was pretty sure that his mom would take me in even though it was 2 AM. I had officially given up on seeing my parents before dawn.
But eventually the tire was fixed and soon I was standing on my porch with Steve. His birthday had been the week before and I had a present for him. I grabbed it off the hall table and handed it to him. He looked at me with those sad eyes and said the entire evening wouldn't be wasted if he could just have a kiss...and I shut the door on him. I just couldn't take that bullet again. From the darkness of the kitchen I heard a cackle that let me know Mom had waited up and heard everything.
We didn't talk after the prom, but he had given me an epic poem he wrote before everything fell apart. I didn't get around to reading it until college. It was very good, and I decided he should know that. I called and spoke to a very bitter little man and that should have been the end of it...and it was for 15 years...
In keeping with the theme of me revisiting my past, for reasons lost to the sands of time I contacted Steve toward the end of my senior year in High School. 2 years had gone by since we'd seen each other and most of the bitterness had left his voice. We caught up about our lives, he was dating a freshman and I was seeing my friend's older brother. He invited me down to see the latest show at the school so my friend Dave and I trooped out to see it. As Dave said to my mother, "He sooo still likes her." I thought that was just silly. About a week later Steve called to say he and his girlfriend broke up, would I consider going to the prom with him? I reminded him it would only be as friends and said yes after checking with the parents. My mother's reaction? "Your old enough to make your own mistakes and deal with them." Sweet, eh? So I borrowed a dress from a friend, a big blue thing with a hoop skirt...
So dressed in this poofy thing I waited for Steve and his friend Charlie to arrive and whisk me off to scenic Upper Darby. After stopping at Steve's house so he could get ready (I sat with his mother and aunt who were not inclined to speak anything but Greek around me...real comfortable) we headed to Charlie's to meet the limo. Steve presented me with a dozen pink roses...and I started to get the feeling he had romantic expectations. This was not good.
Let me introduce the other players in this comedic drama:
Charlie who's date was Julie. Julie was a freshmen and they were going as friends though Charlie wanted it to be more.
Jason and his girlfriend Chris. Again, she was younger and she didn't even want to be there, something she made abundantly clear every chance she got. This had fun written all over it.
So the limo took us to a very nice restaurant on Penn's Landing in the city. The women folk were confused, because there was a dinner at the dance so we felt weird about ordering, especially since none of us was carrying a lot of cash. So that went over like a led balloon. Off to the Benjamin Franklin House for the main event.
We walked in, got our favors, had pictures taken and danced one dance before sitting down to dinner. There were cute little white washed tables with matching wooden folding chairs, trust me this detail will be important later. So once again I maneuver the dress into a sitting position and we all begin chatting and eating our soup. That is when Steve took my hand and the decent into hell began.
I pulled away and asked him not to, he asked why and I reminded him I was seeing someone. This had slipped his mind and he began to sulk. After listening to him angrily slurp soup for 5 minutes I just looked at him and apologized. He then barked, oh good you're sorry you ruined my prom! I didn't take that one well and stood up abruptly. Funny thing about a hoop skirt, if you don't take your time getting up from a light chair the hoops will launch it across a dance floor. So with that little bit of excitement I marched myself into the ladies room where I stayed until Julie joined me.
It seems Charlie found her dancing with another guy and made quite a scene. Soon Chris was also holed up in the bathroom with us because she had had a fight with Jason about her attitude. After a while I decided to brave it and leave the safety of the potty.
And Steve was there to greet me. I spent the rest of the evening in the elevator cove trying to get him to stop crying. I was doing pretty good until I called him by the wrong name...doh! Cue tears. Finally the rest of our party gave up on the evening and we went outside to wait for the limo. I ended up talking to Jason because no one else was speaking to each other. About the time we started thinking the limo would never show it rolled around the corner. I was going home!
As we rode in silence (if you ignored Steve's tortured sighs) the limo driver told me I was out of his area so I'd have to get a ride home from one of the guys. Not getting home! But Charlie volunteered to take me. Yeah! Going home!
A few more miles passed and Charlie broke the silence/moaning to say he was too tired and Steve would have to take me. Steve who looked like he was about to commit suicide. He'd wrap us around a tree and I'd never get home. I think we all looked at the sighing mass and then back at Charlie who graciously changed his mind. Going home!
We dropped the girls off and the boys headed for Charlie's house. They bee-lined for his bedroom, right past his dad who asked how the evening went. No one said a word, then from the kitchen I hear Steve's agonized voice declare "Dreams were shattered, hopes were lost!" I smiled nervously at Charlie's dad and said I didn't think it turned out how folks had planned.
Changed out of their tuxes and me still in the dress, we piled into Charlie's car: me riding shot gun, Steve directly behind me and Jason next to him. Steve pretty much breathed down my neck for half the ride until Jason grabbed him by the collar and told him to knock it off. We were about 2 miles from my house when the tire blew...would I ever get home?
Slightly whiplashed and looking like Scarlette O'Hara, I stood in the middle of the road while the tire was fixed. A nice man stopped to offer help but was waved off. I could see my friend Joe's house from where I stood and I was pretty sure that his mom would take me in even though it was 2 AM. I had officially given up on seeing my parents before dawn.
But eventually the tire was fixed and soon I was standing on my porch with Steve. His birthday had been the week before and I had a present for him. I grabbed it off the hall table and handed it to him. He looked at me with those sad eyes and said the entire evening wouldn't be wasted if he could just have a kiss...and I shut the door on him. I just couldn't take that bullet again. From the darkness of the kitchen I heard a cackle that let me know Mom had waited up and heard everything.
We didn't talk after the prom, but he had given me an epic poem he wrote before everything fell apart. I didn't get around to reading it until college. It was very good, and I decided he should know that. I called and spoke to a very bitter little man and that should have been the end of it...and it was for 15 years...
posted by Liz at 1:35 PM
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