There were only a few weeks until my Senior Prom and I had no one to go with.
I had recently broken up with my long-term boyfriend and had no prospects for a date. I didn’t need a date, but all my friends had dates and I knew pictures would look awkward without one. I quickly searched my mind and my Snapchat friends for a potential guy.
The year before, I had gone with a guy from work. We had a good time at prom and he had even invited me to his. I decided to ask him to go with me again. The only problem was… I hadn’t spoken to him in a month. I had no idea how he would respond to me asking him to prom, but I decided to risk it anyways. I wasn’t expecting anything except for a friendly prom date even though we had gone on a few real dates the year before. We never actually dated but we had stayed friends for almost a year until we both got busy and fell out of touch.
When I asked him to prom, he said yes and was really nice about it! Suddenly, I was excited for prom again. I had a weight lifted off my shoulders. Planning for prom was fun again and I had a dress that I absolutely loved. The guy and I even started talking more and more. I was beginning to think maybe he would be more than just a prom date.
The day of prom, I got ready to go take pictures with my friends. My date showed up on time and was really nice at first. He helped me into his car and helped me walk in my 5 inch heels. Pictures went well and everything was great until we got to the dinner part of prom. I knew that my date might be uncomfortable at dinner because we were sitting mostly with my friends so I tried to keep talking to him and keep him feeling included. But dinner was still awkward, he spent most of it on his phone.
The dance part wasn’t much better. As soon as the music started, I couldn’t find my date anywhere. I wasn’t going to let him ruin my fun though, so I just pretended not to notice and I danced with my friends. I still had a really good time with my friends dancing to all of our favorite songs. Eventually I saw my date in the crowd of people. He was hanging out with a couple who had come to the dance together: a boy who he was friends with, and a girl from my class. I walked over and tried to talk to him but he ignored me. All I wanted to do was make him feel included, but I guess he was doing fine on his own.
After prom, I took my date to an after party. I made sure that he knew people at the party and even though he had been ignoring me all night, I still tried to make sure he was having a good time. He continued not speaking to me, except in one or two word answers. Eventually, I had had enough. I left where he had been sitting on the couch and had a good time with my friends instead. He left about an hour later and didn’t say goodbye.
I texted him a few days later to say “thank you,” but he never responded.
About a week after prom, my friend texted me that she saw my date on another girl’s instagram. It was the girl from my class that he danced with at prom. Apparently, they had exchanged information at prom and started dating a few days after my prom. No wonder he ignored me all night.
They are still dating and he still hasn’t spoken to me. I see him around campus sometimes but he always avoids eye contact with me. We used to be friends but now, I don’t even know him anymore.
I guess there really is no lesson to be learned here except that even though all that drama happened, I still had a good time at prom because I stuck with my real friends. I know now that sometimes, they are the only people you can really trust.