Under the Stars

11: Senior Prom

Once again, we were at Rocky's house. My dad and Jacob's mom waited with Rocky's parents as the two of us girls got ourselves put together. My dad was glad that Rocky got me to agree to go to prom. He was hoping that I wouldn't let whatever happened with Stevien make me miss out on fun activities of my senior year. As he said, "You only have one senior year.... unless you fail it the first time around." He always laughed when he said that.

Rocky's dress was black on the top that transitioned into emerald green. It had a single shoulder strap on the left side and was covered in sequenced stripes from shoulder to floor. It had a slit on the left leg that went halfway up her thigh with a slight gathering at her left waist. She looked stunning. Her hair was pulled back in a low messy bun with loose wisps of hair framing her face. Her makeup was simple, though her smokey green eyeshadow made her beautiful eyes pop even more than normal.

My dress was also an ombre color, though in reverse of Rocky's dress. Where her dress went from black at the top to full emerald green at the bottom, mine started emerald at the top and ended up black at the bottom. It had a sweetheart neckline with straps going up and over my shoulders giving it an almost crisscrossed look. The floor-length dress was full at the bottom but fitted on top. The back came together in the middle of my back with multiple hook-and-eye clasps. Between where the straps met in the back and the satin emerald sashing around my waist, there was a gap that almost formed a diamond shape. The material was simply stunning. Aside from the satin sashing around my waist, the dress sparkled like the stars in the sky. I think that is why I was so drawn to the dress. I felt like I was amongst the stars while I was wearing it. The best part about my dress was that it had pockets, deep pockets. Rocky finished my look with the same smokey eye shadowing that she had, giving my gray eyes a bit of green color. My hair was simply pulled back into a long, curled ponytail. Rocky had taken strands and wrapped them around the ponytail giving the effect of only my hair holding itself up. She finished the look as she took wisps of hair out to frame my face.

As we were nearly done, we heard the doorbell ring, signaling Jacob's arrival. He brought his mom's SUV so that we would all have "plenty of room for the big dresses," as he put it. Rocky and I put our shoes on and walked down the stairs. Rocky's slit made it easy for her to navigate the steps, but my full-skirted dress made my navigation a little trickier. I took my time and once I reached the landing, I looked for my father. He was once again in tears at seeing me all dressed up. I rarely dressed up, but I liked to think that I cleaned up nicely.

"Oh, Lottie. You look exquisite in that dress." My dad said. I once again pulled out a tissue from my pocket for him, getting a feeling of déjà vu. I had forgotten that this is where Stevien picked me up last year for prom. The thought of that made my heart begin to race. I knew I couldn't have a panic attack, so I looked at my dad.

"Five."

"Oh!" Dad said. "Do you have a cola that Lottie could drink?" He asked Rocky's dad.

"Yeah, sure. I will go get it." He replied.

"Lottie, deep breaths in and out," Dad said taking me outside onto the front porch for fresh air.

After I finished my deep breaths, I leaned onto dad's shoulder and just cried.

"Oh, no sweetheart. Please don't cry. I know that you have had a rough year, but I promise, you will get through it. This is supposed to be a fun night with friends. Please, don't cry. I want you to enjoy this time in your life. It is a great time but challenging. I know that you will get through it. You are going to do great things with your life, Lottie. But I will tell you what. If you feel like leaving before Rocky and Jacob are ready, call me and I will come right away. How does that sound?" He softly asked.