The Distance Between Us

Prom Night

The Prom was perfect. The theme was "Starlit Night", and it lived up to it's name. White-and-gold Christmas lights were strung up on the walls. Glowing star-shaped paper lanterns hung from the ceiling. The dance floor was as sleek and black as the night sky, with gold and silver glitter spread all around and sealed within. The backdrop for pictures was a starry night at a bridge, with golden script above saying "Senior Prom 2012". The balloons in the archway standing at the entrance to the ballroom were coated in gold, black and silver glitter, and a sparkling silver moon hung over the DJ's table.

She should have been feeling ecstatic coming into the ballroom venue, seeing all the gorgeous decorations, spotting so many familiar faces in the crowds. But Megan had been feeling miserable the whole night. She sat at her assigned table, fiddling with the magnetic clasp on her clutch, lost in her own thoughts.

"Babe?" She looked up at Xander. "Its your favorite song." He held out his hand. "Shall we?" Megan thought for a moment and shook her head. "No thanks, Xander. You go on without me." He shrugged, got up, kissed her on the forehead, and ran off to kill it on the dance floor, leaving Megan still sitting at their table.

"Megan!" She looked up to see Artemis coming over. She wore a sexy black little number with a halter neckline and a tight short pencil skirt, her blond hair out of its usual ponytail and styled to hang over her left shoulder. Wally was at her side, naturally, wearing a sleek tuxedo and black bow tie, his red hair slicked down.

Right behind them, Barbara wore a silver-gray cocktail dress with one shoulder strap and a flared-out short skirt, her hair pinned up into a bun with some curly loose stray, Dick in a matching gray suit with a blue tie. Raquel was wearing a totally fab mermaid dress in regency purple, with spaghetti straps and rhinestones, Kaldur wearing a gray suit and a matching purple tie.

"Look who we found!" Megan rose to her feet and opened her arms to hug each of them. The girls squealed in delight and exchanged compliments. "You look great!" "That dress is totally gorgeous!" "I love your hair!" Just then, the Cha-Cha slide came on over the speakers. "Oh, I love this song!" "Let's go!" Megan smiled. "You guys go on. I don't feel like dancing."

Artemis gave her an intrigued look as Wally grabbed her hand and tried to pull her away. "C'mon, babe!" She held his hand and pulled him back towards the table. "Just a minute." "What? C'mon! This is my jam!" Artemis ignored him, and they sat down along with Megan, who was staring at the table, leaning her head on one hand. "What's wrong, Megan?" She looked up at Artemis. "Hm?"

"What's wrong?", Artemis asked. "Something's bothering you, I can feel it. You didn't say a word in the limo, and you haven't danced to one song since we got here." Wally's interest was peaked. "Something eating you, Megs?" Megan looked at them before turning her head away. "It-Its a long story. I-I don't really wanna talk about it..." She stood up. "I gotta go fix my makeup. I'll be back in a minute." She hurried towards the ladies' washroom.

She entered through the swinging door and stood in front of the mirrored wall, taking in her perfect appearance for a moment before opening her purse. As she shifted through for her lipstick, she caught a glimpse of a slip of paper. It couldn't be her prom ticket, she'd given it away at the door to gain entrance. Besides, the paper slip was plain white, and the ticket had been silver with gold stars.

She reached inside and pulled out the paper to get a better look at it. Her heart slipped when she saw it was the concert ticket that Conner had given her. "How did this get in here?" She must've have shoved it in while she was rushing to get away from Conner. Her heartstrings plucked themselves at the memory. She held the ticket out in front of her, staring at it, and sighed.

"Penny for your thoughts?" She looked up to see Mrs. Hannon standing by the entrance. She had come to the Prom as a chaperone, and had come into the washrooms to fix her greenish-brown dress. Megan turned her head away and stuffed the ticket back into her purse. "Its nothing, I...I don't want to..." "Megan." She looked up as Mrs. Hannon stepped closer to her. "Its not healthy to hold in your emotions. If you talk to me, it might make you feel better."

Megan sighed, unable to contain her feelings any longer. "Okay...do you remember Conner Kent?" "That new senior boy? He seems nice. What about him?" "Well, we got into a fight last week, and we weren't talking to each other for a while, because he got these tickets to see our favorite band, and I told him I couldn't go because it was the same night as the prom, and he got mad, and I got mad, and then I said something I didn't mean, and he said we're not friends anymore, so at first I tried to call him to apologize, and he wasn't answering, but then I thought it wasn't my fault, it was his, so I stopped calling him, but then he started calling me, and I decided to ignore him—"

"Megan!", Mrs. Hannon interrupted. "Get to the point." Megan regained her posture. "So anyway, there I am, in my room, finishing up getting ready for the Prom, when all of the sudden, he throws a rock through my open window. I look out, and there he is, sitting in a tree, right outside my bedroom. And then the craziest thing happens." She looked Mrs. Hannon right in the eye. "He says that he loves me. He says he loves me and begs me not to go to Prom."

Mrs. Hannon raised her eyebrows. "And what did you do?" "Well, I told him I had to go.", Megan explained. "And when I did, he was still sitting in the tree. It sounds totally crazy, right? I mean, what kind of person does that sort of thing?" Mrs. Hannon shook her head and responded with a soft chuckle. "Nobody..." "Exactly!" "No, dear.", she said as she removed her chain glasses. "There's a difference between nobody—" She said it with sarcastic tone. "And nobody.", she said with the same soft chuckle. Megan looked at her blankly.

"Megan, this boy runs to your house, climbs a tree, and throws a rock at your bedroom window, just so he can say, 'I love you.' Do you know how many girls dream of meeting a guy like that and never find one? And one of them comes knocking on your door, and you just leave him there. If you ask me...you're the one who's crazy."

Mrs. Hannon placed a hand on her shoulder. "Megan, you are a good, bright, intelligent girl. I trust that you'll make the right choice. But listen to this one piece of advice I have for you—follow your heart, and wherever it leads, or you may live to regret the day." And with that, she adjusted her dress and left the washrooms.

Megan looked back at her reflection in the mirror, taking in what Mrs. Hannon had said. She opened her silver clutch and glanced at the concert ticket crammed inside. Just then, Wendy ran in, in her lipstick red prom dress, excited and out of breath. "Megan! Get to the stage quick! They're about to announce Prom King and Queen!"