dancing the night away....

I actually went to prom

     That's kind of important to know.  First off, I was socially backward.  I did not have a girl friend.  In fact, girls petrified me as dating material but not as friends.  Go figure.
     However, I did have a major case of acne.
     There was a girl I really liked.  I did not ask her.
     There was another girl I was friends with.  I did not ask her.
     There was another senior who I knew wanted to go to prom but did not have a date.  I asked her.
     I did not have a driver's license.  So, I looked for a double date....which became a triple date...which became a quadruple date.
     We rented a station wagon...a big old boat type vehicle that got 9 miles to the gallon but seated eight.
     When we pulled up to the dance and got out, it looked like a clown car unloading.
     Diane was about the same height I was.  But in high heals and a bee hive hairdo, she was at least a foot taller than me.
      I found out Diane did not like to dance.  Or talk.  Or be silly.  She did like having her picture taken and I think I still have the photos of the happy couple.
     At our high school it was almost tradition to go to prom, then go on a picnic the next day.
     We talked about it.  We talked about it.  We planned it.  We talked about it.
     At the end of prom, I really did not want to go on the picnic.  To be honest, Diane was a drag.
     So when we showed up at her house at 7 a.m. , or it could have been 6, I don't remember the exact details, to get an early start on our picnic, she was not awake.  I had to yell her name, toss stones at her window....everything except ring her door bell...to get her to get up.
     She was surprised to see the 7 of us on her lawn.
     Now that I think about it, it was probably a sign.  We went to a lake in Wisconsin, about two hours north of Chicago.  Might have been Powers Lake....maybe not.
     Being idiots, I think it took us longer to get there.
     Diane was not real talkative.  The guy driving was kind of a jerk.  I was in the back end of the station wagon and getting bored.
     The driver, let's call him Bob, smoked.  Camels.  Constantly.
     At one point, as we rolled into Wisconsin, he said in a manly way, "Anybody want a cigarette?"
     I said, "Yeah, I'll take one."
     Everyone looked at me.
    Bob said, "I didn't know you smoked," and he said it with a smirk.
    The Camel was passed to the back and I took it.
    "I don't,"  I said.  "Real men chew them."
     And I took a big bite of the cigarette.
    After I got back in the car that Bob had stopped so I could finish retching outside the vehicle, John commented that he had never seen that color green on a human before.
     Diane, not being impressed, decided I was such an idiot she need not talk to me the rest of the day.
     We got to the lake and everyone decided to take a nap.  Everyone except John and me.  We ended up walking around the lake and when we got back quite a while later, no one noticed we were gone.
     In addition to not talking to me, she also decided that she would be better served sleeping, sulking, and asking when we were leaving.
     Between the flowers, pictures, dinner dance package, share of the car rental and gas, money for picnic,.... it was probably the worst $60 I had ever spent.
     I still may have the pictures.  I bought them for her, but because of the swell time we had, I never gave them to her.
     I just hope this year's prom goers have a much better time....or at least a date that will dance, talk, and laugh with them.