Prom

Since I don't really have anything new to talk about, and I would not want to bore the Internet with ramblings on how I feel miserable... I decided to go back and talk about something that people here in the U.S. make a huge deal about. Prom.

Okay, well first thing is first. It is not anywhere close to what society has made it out to be. Yes it is a lot of fun, but it is not going to be the best night of your life. The one thing that is realistic about everything is the mad scramble to get a date. That is a pain in the butt. I wouldn't say it caused a lot of drama... but at least in my case, there was quite a bit of disappointment. No worries though, this story does have a happy ending.

A couple months before prom, like mid-February, was when everything started. It sort of happened one say, we were all sitting in class when some kid came on over the announcements and asked a girl if she would want to go to prom with him. (apparently my school has a secret challenge claiming that if you are the first person to ask someone over the announcements then you can get a free ticket.) Everyone was a little confused since it was so early and we had just had winter formal like the weekend prior, but even though no one knew it the mad rush had begun.
It was like I just blinked and the whole mood around me had changed. Suddenly every single girl was talking about dress shopping and what boys they wanted to go with. I stood out on the sidelines, it wasn't that I didn't want to participate in this epitome of all "girl talks" but it was the fact that i knew deep down that no matter how hard I would try... no one would want to go with me, the 6 foot tall girl who towered over almost everyone else. So to save myself from some bitter disappointment I had decided that I would simply not go. Amanda had already changed her mind from deciding not to go, to being super enthusiastic about it. I had felt as if our sentiments about the issue had completely flip-flopped. It wasn't long until her persistence had convinced me to go again, but I only had one condition: that she had to go dress shopping with me.  I had no idea how hard that task was going to be...
We decided that we were going shopping over spring break. We got to the mall ( a place I normally hate as I absolutely DETEST shopping) and we went straight to Macy's as we knew they had a good selection. I had fun.. in the beginning, but as the day went on and we went from store to store trying dress after dress, I had come to the realization that even dresses knew that I was too tall for prom. Even the longest ones we could find would fall at an inch above my ankle at its longest. We tried fro 2 days straight... and could come up with nothing. I was miserable and fed up with the experience. So I pushed it out of my mind for a while... and focused on my other problem; my serious lack of a date.
I was hoping for one of 2 people to ask me, they were both people I was crushing on at the time ( one of them I really didn't know but I thought he was really attractive, and then the other ... well... hes the guy I mentioned in the last post). But, as time went on I found that neither of those options was going to be a reality. Boy #1 wasn't even going to be around that weekend, but Boy #2 ... he ended up asking this other girl, and I felt as if someone had punched a hole through my stomach when I found out. I had talked to him about it later on in a class we had together, when another kid in our group brought it up, and it was that conversation that made me realize that maybe he liked me too.
So... as far as I was concerned I was out of luck, and was kicking myself that I had ever gotten my hopes up in the first place. Then Amanda, I swear this girl is a saint, gave me my solution. She told me to take her little brother, Ryan, who is another good friend of mine. And before I could even think about if I really wanted to do that or not, she had decided for me and promptly told both of her parents. So the three of them were constantly asking me if I had asked him yet and at that point, even if I didn't want to go with him I really didn't have a choice. I still was pathetic about it though, and even though we were super close and everything I couldn't even ask him without Amanda standing there prompting me. I swear she will never let me live it down.
I had now solved one of my problems, and with only a week and a half until April 28th I still had yet to find a dress. My mom took me to a bridal shop after school one day to see if I could finally find something. The ladies in there were so cute, they wanted me to try on everything just so I could model it for them, because apparently I had the body they had been looking for for a long time. I was on a limited schedule though, so I had to get serious and find something. Most of the things they put me in made me feel super uncomfortable, I felt like more of my skin was showing then the fabric that was supposedly covering me. I mean, I'm not conservative by any terms, but I certainly wasn't going to be raunchy. And then, I saw it. The red Bridesmaids dress. It was gorgeous. I tried it on and even though it was like 4 sizes too big i knew that that was my dress. And the best part was, it was actually long enough!!! The ladies altered it for me and I picked it up just a few days before the dance.

So I know I said before that it wont be the best night of your life, but I had so much fun it was probably pretty close to it. It was one of the few times in my life where I truly felt pretty, and I had so much fun dancing and screaming out the songs on the dance floor that I never wanted the night to end. Though I think the most entertaining part of the night was the dress watching, some of those girls looked so tacky I had to laugh. I mean one girl showed up wearing a cutout dress... with a cheetah print bra underneath. I mean really?!?
So yeah, that is my prom story. I know it isn't exactly the most exciting thing ever, but I figured there are so many stereotypical stories out there that I should contribute my more normal everyday girl story, and not the hyped up pretty girl ones.  And to go with it, here are a couple of my favorite pictures from that night.

From left to right: Cassidy, Amanda, me, Ryan