I was fourteen the first time I was asked to prom. I was not a popular kid, and it wasn't my Cinderella story. His name was Chad Looney- perhaps one of the sweetest boys in the entire school. He and I had been friends for a long time. The other kids in school were not too keen on his glass eye and elder age (health complications had left him in high school even after others his age has graduated). He was picked on regularly and I was the girl who chose to sit by him in the lunch room. He made me laugh, smile, and we both stood up for eachother when other kids were not-so-nice. So when he got up the nerve to ask me to prom, I said 'yes'. I didn't have a dress, nor would my mother buy me one, so I cut up two old dresses and sewed them together. It didn't look as I wished it would, but it would do. He wore a suit, bought a corsage to match my mis-matched dress, and paid for the tickets. We ate, but didn't dance. The cool kids filled the floor and we both sat on the sidelines. We ended up leaving early, and it's one of my sincerest regrets. I wish I wouldn't have cared so much about the looks of the meangirls (and the way they whispered about my cut-up dress). And I wish I would have danced, not because I liked the music, but because it was one of the few times I would have been able to prove to Chad that even though the other kids may not have been always nice to him- he was worth the time of a girl he thought was pretty. And I didn't show him that. So if some girl out there is reading this, and it's close to her prom- dance with the nerdy boy. Not to get attention. Not to be nice. Not to show off your big heart. But to simply dance with a guy who deserves your time way more than any of the jocks ever will. Someday you'll wish you would have.
