wow prom. been three years, and i learned so much and remember so little. my high school has a big tradition of large groups renting beach houses about 70 miles from where we live down on the Texas coast all in a row, then spending the weekend down there after the dance. Was in a 'dry' house where 6 out of the 50 in my group stayed sober and babysitted drunks (myself included).
I'll tell my "aaaaawwwww, how cute" story about prom and leave it at that. I'd been thinking of prom way in advance, despite being a guy. I'd had everything planned on how I was going to ask the girl I planned on asking--as soon as I could figure out which one to ask. There were three different options, and they all dried up really fast (two had boyfriends and one had her date by the time I thought to ask). So there I was, slightly crestfallen, 6 weeks till prom, and a perfect plan to execute with no target.
Wander into my English class one morning, and the girl in front of me said, "Hey, you know Michelle?" I said, "Yeah, she sits two seats in front of me. She's in a couple of my classes." And the girl in front of me says "She was wondering if you had a date." Then it hits me right between the eyes--I'm not that popular of a guy, tend to float amongst 3-4 groups of friends, and she happens to be the co-captain of the varsity cheerleaders. On top of that, she's 5'11" and I'm 6'3" meaning I won't get scoliosis on prom night trying to dance with my date. So then my mind went into overdrive as class started. We happened to be in the second day of presentations reciting soliloquies from Hamlet, so I know I won't get a good chance to talk to her. Right as class starts, I revise all previous plans, grab a sharpie and say "Fuck it, go with it..." as I raise my hand and ask to go to the bathroom.
Well, the way our classroom was situated, we were on an interior hallway, and there were 12"-wide windows running along the side of the doorframe where only a small portion (roughly 25%) of the class could see outside into the hall, and even then, not very much of it. Michelle and I happened to sit in the row that lined up directly with them. As I got to the bathroom, I pulled off my top shirt, and meticulously (though somewhat hurriedly) wrote "Michelle, will you go to prom with me?" on my T-shirt. Then I threw my T-shirt back on, and grabbed my button-down as I brazenly walked back towards class. Right in the middle of a presentation, head in the clouds and knees shaking, I brazenly step in front of the window--and she's not looking. Everybody else who can see the window starts looking at me, and they all cover their mouths with silent "Ohhhhhhs!" Finally, the girl who told me Michelle wanted to go to prom with me gets Michelle's attention, and she looks up. Her smile was huge, but I don't think I've ever made anyone blush as hard as she did that day.
Not the only story from my senior prom, but by far the best
Still have the shirt, and on it's back I wrote "She said YES!! 3-8-2001" on it. That shirt is one piece of clothing that stays with me wherever I happen to be living--college or my dad's house. I don't wear it in public, but it's a great story piece.