The Prom Flop

I read something today about sunsets and remembered a story from High School.  I don’t have many stories from High School that involve non-church friends because, unlike the normal teenage girl, I was in school to get good grades to go to college.  So with nose in book I was rather oblivious to most of the normal High School things.

In an attempt to “normalize” me a good friend decided my senior year she was going to get me to Prom. Up to this point I had only gone to 1 dance my entire 4 years and I only went because my BFF really wanted to go and needed a date. 

I hated it.

So Prom was out of the question.  But to appease my dear friend I agreed as we sat in our AP Micro Econ Class (one of my favorite classes) that the next guy to walk in the door would be my potential date.  The rule was if he said no then I wouldn’t have to go.  Lucky for me over half our class (I’m guessing) were already taken either by a girlfriend or an early arranged date.  So the chances of a “yes” were slim.

In walked Carlos.  One of the few single gents and one of the kindest guys ever.  Also somebody I had spoken maybe 3 sentences to our entire 4 year fellow student relationship.  So conversations began and the question about Prom happened.  And suddenly I found myself going to Prom. WHAT?!

In the weeks leading up to this terrifying event I got to spend a lot of time with Carols and his crew of boys.  Man I did love those boys.  I remember playing Counter Strike for the first time with the name “Hooker” so whenever I got killed (which happened a lot) “Hooker was killed” flashed across the screen.  Good times.  Carlos and I would spend hours talking and realizing we had a lot more in common then we (or maybe just I) thought.  They were good times indeed.

Then the day came.  The boys picked us girls up in a rented car of some sort.  Big enough to fit several couples.  We had dinner, took pictures (good thing we did…), and then headed to the dance at some place with some theme I could care less about. 

The prom itself was fine.  I totally would have been fine not going, but the best part was still to come.

I turned 18 just days before Prom which meant I had no “curfew” which meant all I had to do was tell my parents when I’d be home and I could stay out.

So we drove to the beach to watch the sunrise.  The whole group of us in that rented vehicle.

That vehicle full of 8 (I think 8) mostly honor/AP kids sat and waited for the sun to rise.

As the sky brightened we noticed an abundance of light and a lack of sun.  Then somebody finally realized... the surn rises in the EAST!

Yes friends, we were sitting on the WEST coast watching the WEST shoreline waiting for a sunrise. 

Obviously we missed it.