Magic in Costa Rica

Belle of the Ball

"Just one more!" Mrs. K said from behind her camera as she adjusted the lens.

"Mom, come on, we're going to be late!" Ethan groaned. Mrs. K rolled her eyes.

"Fine, get in the van, then," she put her camera back into its case, defeated. We were all at Ethan's house, taking pictures before prom. I had gotten ready earlier that day with Carla; I had done her makeup, and she had done my hair. I was a bit stressed, and overwhelmed by the amount of people who were currently huddled in the front yard with their cameras pointed at Carla, Ethan, Mark, Alan, Chris, and I. There was Mr. and Mrs. Hayes (or Karen, as she insisted I call her) Mrs. and Mr. K, Mark's parents, Mr. Stewart, Laurie, and my dad, who walked over to me just before I got into the van that Mrs. K generously volunteered to chauffer us in.

"Have fun tonight, Alma," he smiled. "You look beautiful."

"I think you mean she looks bee-autiful!" Chris popped out from behind me, still continuing with the bee puns, which had grown old by then. My dad gave me a somewhat confused look and I punched Chris in the stomach, a bit harder than I intended. "Ouch!" he slumped over before sliding into the van. I shook my head.

"Thanks, Dad," I grinned. "I'll see you later," I said before taking my seat next to Chris.

I looked around the inside of the van, so happy to be with all of my friends for that night. Everybody else was happy too, and on top of that, everyone looked amazing. Mark and Alan wore matching navy blue suits with red ties and white corsages. Ethan wore a brown suit with a light pink pocket square that matched Carla's dress. Chris had rented a classic, black tux, and he looked pretty good with his yellow corsage, and not, as he predicted, like a bumblebee. Carla and I had matching hairstyles: a long braid wound around a bun at the top of our heads, with a few curls around our ears hanging loose. I had on the pearl earrings she had given me years ago and I wore every time I wanted to look nice. I did look nice, and so did everybody else in the van as we made our way to prom.

When we arrived at the hotel, we parked and Mrs. K walked in with us (because of course she had agreed to chaperone) but she left us alone once we got inside. We found a table and sat and chatted for a while before we got our food. We talked about finals and plans for the summer, but mostly we just talked like friends did, about hardly anything at all. It was wonderful. After we finally got our food, we scarfed it down like wolves and got up to dance as fast as we could. At first, the DJ played mostly pop songs that I didn't really care for, but danced along to anyway. About an hour in, however, he started taking requests, and a line formed at the booth. I was one of the first to get in line, and after a few minutes, my request, "Come On Eileen," by Dexy's Midnight Runners came blaring through the speakers.

"Yes! Come on, let's dance!" I shouted above the music, grabbing Carla by the arm and pulling her onto the dance floor just as the chorus started:

"Come on Eileen,

Oh I swear (what he means)

At this moment,

You mean everything!"

We danced like lunatics, laughing the entire time, and by the time the song ended, we were both panting from exhaustion. I went back to our table to get a drink of water, but before I could sit down, I felt someone tap on my shoulder. I turned around just as Ben E. King's "Stand By Me," started playing.