My Prom Story

I was talking to my nephew and his friend on Saturday and he mentioned in passing that they were going to attend a few after-prom parties that evening.

I was like, “You are not going to your prom?”

He was like, “No, I’m not feeling it.”

To which I immediately responded: “No one feels the prom; you go so you can have a story to share with folks when you are older.

So in the spirit of nostalgia, I would like to share my prom experience.

I was not looking forward to the prom. I did not have a girlfriend in high school, so there was extra pressure in finding a date. Now don’t get me wrong; I knew lots of girls and I was cute in a nerdy sort of way, and I was part of the most popular clicks, but I was popular for being funny, not for being dreamy…lol.

My backup plan was to ask my good friend, Yoshawner, but she was asked by the hunky football player, Andre, which left me out in the cold. Panic set in. It seemed the only person not spoken for was Pandra, the girl with Coke bottle glasses who sat in the back of the bus and laughed and talked to herself. Asking Pandra would be social suicide.

I decided to think out of the box. I was inspired that weekend during my shift at McDonald’s. There was a real pretty girl; we will call her Michelle. Michelle was a junior at another school, and although I knew she thought I was nice, I also knew that she did not think of me as a prom date. I saw Michelle go to the walk-in freezer at work, so I seized the opportunity.

I had practiced how I would ask Michelle, but I got nervous and just blurted out, “Will you go to the prom with me?” to her backside as she was reaching to get a box of fries. Michelle slowly turned around, and I could tell she was looking for an excuse, so I sweetened the deal: “I know you don’t like me like that, but it would just be like friends, and I will work your shift for a weekend.” Yes I had whored myself for a prom date.

Prom night I picked up Michelle, and she looked beautiful. I think her parents were more enamored with me than she was that evening, I being a senior and already accepted to college and everything.

We got to the prom, which was held at a downtown hotel, and all my friends were in attendance. I must say we turned some heads because no one at school had ever seen me with a girl (for reasons we now understand…lol) much less one so pretty.

My friends were determined to get all into our business and to make sure Michelle was not a cousin. I sat there sweating, hoping Michelle would not buckle under the scrutiny and share the ugly truth that this date was predicated on me working her weekend shift of choice. Much to my surprise, Michelle actually played me up to my friends, telling them I was funny and crazy and that all the girls at work thought I was cute.

I was getting some major cool points.

The rest of the evening we danced, laughed and had a really good time. When we left there was a freakish summer storm, so I asked if Michelle would like to come by my house until it settled down. It was late and we arrived and sat in our living room. I will not divulge the more intimate details, but suffice it to say, I had my very first kiss and was instantly smitten.

I dropped Michelle off later at her house and she kissed me on my cheek again on her porch. I told her how much I appreciated her coming to my prom and that I would work any shift she wanted. She gave me one last gift and smiled and said that she enjoyed herself and to forget about working her shift, and thus a prom story was born.