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Carol figured she may as well give up on looking at prom dresses in Seventeen, since there was no way Doug was going to take her now. She’d been looking forward to senior prom all year, and even though she and Doug had been on again, off again since freshman year, rumors were always swirling about when they’d be back “on.” And naturally, Elizabeth had told her just last week that he was getting excited to ask her to the prom and she should be ready to accept, as long as she wanted to.
At the time, Carol was excited, as she couldn’t see herself going with anyone else. But then, during a stressful biology study session, she kissed her lab partner, Greg. She was surprised and confused by her feelings, as she hadn’t known him that long, although she did think he was cute and easy to talk to. After it happened, she’d immediately confessed to Doug, trying to do the mature thing. But he was hurt and ended up leaving her house once she’d told him, and she was now assuming they were “off.” Now who would she go to prom with?
“You know, we can always forget dates and just go in a group: you, me, and Anna.” Elizabeth suggested when she arrived at Carol’s locker. Elizabeth was an exchange student from London who didn’t understand what prom was all about when she arrived in the U.S., but once Carol and Anna took her to a couple of dress shops and explained how the boys rented or bought tuxes and gave them corsages, and the girls got their hair and nails done, she was intrigued. She was having a different challenge with her date, though, as Peter, Mark, and Robert all wanted to go with her, and she didn’t know who to choose.
“You would forget having a date?” Carol asked, scoffing. “I think every guy in this school is fighting over you right now.”
“True. While it does feel nice, I also wonder if some of them have eyes elsewhere and I’m just a backup. I think Robert would be happy to just have a date. Peter also seems to like Cleo, that girl on the basketball team, and she’s probably more his type. I’d rather go with Mark. He assured me he broke up with his old girlfriend when they were sophomores…what was her name again?”
“Jennifer. And yeah, the whole school was talking about it. It was pretty ugly.”
“Yeah, that’s it. Mark actually seems the most serious about going with me versus Peter or Robert who would be happy to go with other people. Plus, Carla keeps flirting with Peter trying to get him back even though she’s with Roger now. She seems to like causing drama.”
“Maybe Anna’s the only one among us who actually has a date and no drama.” Carol said with a sigh.
“Well, she’s getting close to John, but Max seems to want to get back with her. Don’t take this the wrong way, but she and Max seem like a less dramatic version of you and Doug. Always breaking up and then somehow getting back together, or talking about it anyway.” Elizabeth shrugged.
“Don’t worry about it,” she continued, putting an arm around Carol. “Maybe Doug will get over it. We’re teenagers; we’re impulsive sometimes. It’s not like he’s never done something stupid. I’ll catch up with you at lunch; I have to go turn this essay in or I’m going to lose 10 points off my grade.”
“Thanks, Elizabeth. I’ll see you later.”
Carol quickly put her books in her backpack, not wanting to be late for her next class (Spanish), and started heading down the hall. She tried to ignore the signs about prom tickets on sale, but as she walked down the steps, she saw Doug coming in her direction. That was one person she couldn’t ignore, much as she wanted to turn away from him.
“There you are,” he said. “I was hoping to find you.”
“Well, I’m late for class,” she snapped. “So you better catch up with me.”
He immediately started matching her walking pace. “Listen, I still like you…no, love you…a lot. I’m not happy you kissed Greg, but you always used to get on my case for even so much as looking at another woman while we were together…was it the second or third time? I don’t remember, and I don’t think it matters, does it?”
“No, it definitely does. If you want to be pissed at me for kissing Greg, then I get the right to be annoyed that you slept with Harper and Linda and whoever else there was that you didn’t tell me about.”
“OK, you win. But you know, after I got home from your house, feeling very angry, mind you…my parents were sympathetic to me and on my side…at first. However, they said a lot of high school relationships don’t last as long as you and I have, and that teenagers do dumb things. I still wish you had been more loyal and thought about my feelings, but it made sense. You thought Greg was cute and he was new and exciting, and he was spending a lot of time with you in the lab, so you were tempted. Just like I was with Harper, although for me, it was kind of the thrill of dating someone younger while I could still get away with it.”
“What is your point?”
“My point is, whenever I see you in the hall or in trig, I can’t keep my eyes off you. I wish we could get together and stay together at least for the rest of high school because who knows what will happen once we go to college. And I still want you to go to prom with me, if you’ll go, that is.”
Carol sighed and adjusted her backpack. “You’re really over me kissing Greg?”
“Well, sort of,” Doug replied. “But I wouldn’t want to go with any of the other girls I was fooling around with or shared an occasional slow dance with when we were in middle school. You’re the only girl in this school I’ve really liked and cared about. Come on. If the Valentine’s Day flowers and lollipops I sent you the last couple years aren’t proof of that, what is?”
“And the candy cane at Christmas.” she added.
“Exactly. See, I want this to work. You sent me a lollipop and a candy cane too, in case you forgot.”
She smiled. “Yeah, you’re right.
“So, tickets go on sale next week, I think.”
“It’s the only date on a calendar I’m thinking about right now.” He laughed. Doug had a reputation among his teachers as a slacker who was more worried about keeping up his looks and impressing girls than he was about his grades and turning in his homework.
“Naturally.” Carol said, rolling her eyes. “But hey…if you’re not angry anymore, then I really still want to go with you too. I want to keep looking at dresses anyway.”
“I’m sure you’ll look beautiful no matter what you pick. Just let me know what color so I can get my corsage to match.”
Carol breathed a sigh of relief as she approached her Spanish class. Now she and Elizabeth could really start planning all the fun and excitement of prom night once they met up at lunch.