Honey white

May 11, 2005 7:57 PM

Anybody have a good prom story? Not limited to asking out dates.
posted by greasy_skillet to Society & Culture (28 answers total)

I was a total geek at my high school and people frequently beat me up for being ugly. I met a guy on a chat board that needed a date for his prom, so I dressed up in a fancy dress and went with him. Every boy, including the one I went with who turned out to be funny and cute, paid attention to me and he told me how proud he was to have me as a date. It was a strange revelation that I wasn't ugly -- I just had a geeky reputation getting in the way of my hot potential. And doing someone else a favor turned into a really awesome experience.

I got broken up with a week before my junior prom, after I bought tickets. I took a friend that was a girl instead. It was a huge scandal and they put rules against same sex couples the year after because of it. She and I took our pictures together and flirted with everyone's dates.

My friend Jen, my "date", made her hair so big that she couldn't fit in my car without sitting on the floor.

posted by Gucky at 8:23 PM on May 11, 2005

One month before my Junior prom, my boyfriend and I broke up. I had this friend that I'd kept in touch with from a camp where we'd both been Junior Counselors, and he called me up randomly to see what was up (April-May being close to camp time), and I mentioned the prom thing and how I was now just going with my friends. Totally out of the blue he told me to give him a week, and when he called back a week later he had a flight from Mobile, Alabama to Atlanta, Georgia, and this kid came up here to take me to my prom. It was probably one of the nicest things anyone's ever done for me, particularly since being 17 and without a date to the prom is pretty crap.
posted by Medieval Maven at 8:25 PM on May 11, 2005

When I was a sophomore, I asked a junior girl out to the prom and even paid for the tickets. I wimped out with a couple weeks to go and ended up not going to the prom at all. I married the girl 8 years later.
posted by zsazsa at 8:33 PM on May 11, 2005

A friend of mine vomited 'shine* on her principle at her middle school prom.

* Ooooh! White lightnin'!
posted by stet at 8:45 PM on May 11, 2005

I've forgotten a lot of the details of my proms, but not this one-

20+ years ago I was asked by a boy at church to attend his Senior prom (not my highschool). I didn't know him well, but figured it couldn't hurt to go. We double dated with another couple. The two boys shared the pre-prom restaurant dinner (which was sweet because they just didn't have enough money). Not 5 minutes after we arrived at the dance the girl in the other couple received an emergency call - her sister had a minor injury and was at the hospital & the parents couldn't be reached. So off we went to stay with the sister until the parents arrived. We went back to the dance, again for maybe just 5 minutes, when there was a prank bomb threat called in. We all had to evacuate and stand around outside. We were let back in long enough for one dance song.

On the way back to my home (I lived a bit out in the country), after dropping the other couple off, we ran out of gas. We had to walk a mile or so (in heels!) to a gas station & buy a can & some gas. Walked back to the car -only to discover my date didn't have the key to the gas cap.

Something like 2 or 3 in the morning we called his father to come bring us the key.

If he reads this- I still had a good time & it's a great memory.
posted by LadyBonita at 8:54 PM on May 11, 2005

I went to my school's prom back in the late 70's, it was awesome. The unexpected highlight was when Tommy & Carrie were selected Prom King & Queen. Well, with Tommy it wasn't so much of a surprise, he was a varsity athlete, and really good looking. Carrie White, on the other hand... well, she was just creepy. Creepy Carrie, we used to call her. Man, she was a freak; skinny, straw hair, always kept to herself. I think her mom was a bible beater or some other kinda fundamentalist kook. Anyways, where the story gets crazy is what happened during the award ceremony. So, Tommy's up on stage, smiling, waving to the crowd when all of a sudden, out of nowhere a bucket of blood from up in the rafters tips over and covers him & Carrie. Most of it got on Carrie, which was gross, but oddly kinda funny. Then, to top it off, the bucket falls from the rafters and bounces off of Tommy's head with a cartoonish "boink!" sound. Well, we all laughed our heads off. Suddenly, things got a little out of control. Someone started a fire, the doors were locked, I don't really remember it all that clearly, but I do remember thinking, this has GOT to be the craziest sequence of events. Anyways, I got out through a window, but most of the others weren't that lucky. Eventually, I heard that Carrie made it out as well, but then she must have left town after that, cause none of us ever saw her again. I wonder what that crazy chick is up to these days?
posted by jonson at 9:29 PM on May 11, 2005

I think she's living in New York now, and having lots of sex in the city.
posted by taz at 11:17 PM on May 11, 2005

I didn't have a date to my senior prom, making me the only one out of all my friends. I asked almost all of my single guy friends, but none of them want to go. Being an overly sensitive 18 year old girl, this absolutely crushed me.

After crying over it for two days, I gave up and went to prom with a friend of mine and her date. I ended up having a ton of fun -- and i end got to dance a few times.

And my prom picture? Me and six of my very sweet guy friends. I'm pretty sure I have the best prom photo ever.

My junior year, I went with a gay friend of mine. It was fun, but a little awkward.
posted by Amanda B at 11:44 PM on May 11, 2005

This is a great prom story.
posted by grouse at 11:50 PM on May 11, 2005

I didn't go our senior dance, and I guess I must have wondered if I had missed out on something, because fast forward a few years, I got some friends together and we organised a splendid masquerade ball. It was a great success and everyone wanted to know when we would be doing another. Fast forward a few more years, and in addition to more balls, I've taken up dancing fairly seriously, and am starting to dabble in the competitive dance scene. Fast forward again, and I've been to a multitude of dances far more glamorous than anything at highschool, danced in front of large audiences, danced with the most gorgeous people on the planet, etc, etc, and feel no loss at the senior dance, so I think I'm probably done over-compensating now :-)

(I don't know if missing the senior dance really had anything to do with it, but it makes for a better story :-)
I suspect I've always been kind of interested in dance without really consciously realising it for most of my life)
posted by -harlequin- at 1:35 AM on May 12, 2005

i took my prom date to Arby's because Olive Garden was full.

I bow my head in shame.

She was a college sophomore though. Which was sweet.
posted by trinarian at 2:05 AM on May 12, 2005

There were major thunderstorms in the area (even rumors of a tornado) the night of my senior prom. The power went out about 30 minutes into it, so there was no air conditioning. They used a generator for the music.

It was teh sux0r.
posted by schustafa at 5:55 AM on May 12, 2005

i took my prom date to Arby's because Olive Garden was full.

We were in Denny's after Rocky Horror one night, all dressed up in trashy lingerie, tap shoes, top hats, etc. (I was Columbia) and a group of kids came in dressed for prom. I sarcastically said, "Oh my god. Aren't they embarassed to be dressed like that here?" My not so bright friend, not getting I was kidding, said, "Totally. If I was dressed up, he better take me somewhere really nice. You know, like Olive Garden."

"Somewhere nice like Olive Garden" has become the catch phrase among my friends as the missing-the-point think-you're-classy-but-your-not.

You know she's telling the "And he took me to *Arby's* story somewhere right now.
posted by Gucky at 6:21 AM on May 12, 2005

I took a year off from college and had a volunteer job at a local rescue squad. One of the other volunteers was in her senior year and asked me to her prom, so I went. I hated my own prom, but had a total blast at this one. I danced with a bunch of people and was asked to dance for the still-inevitable "Stairway to Heaven" by a girl who was hearing impaired at a point when I knew some sign language and fingerspelling and we had a great little conversation between dancing while her "date" stalked angrily at the side--she didn't care - she didn't like him very much.

Oh, and I wore Chuck taylors that matched the cummerbund and tie just because.
posted by plinth at 6:21 AM on May 12, 2005

When I was a sophomore, I was asked to the prom. My date, a junior, doubled with his brother, a senior. They selected a pretty high-end restaurant where we were treated to a wonderful meal. Unfortunately, the mood lighting was so dim as to make reading the menu impossible. The one candle at the table just wasn't enough. So, I scooted a bit closer. Next thing I knew, my overly long, arty menu was in flames. We extinguished just before the waiter returned. I was mortified.
posted by onhazier at 6:26 AM on May 12, 2005

I don't know if you'd really consider this a "good" story....

As a sophomore, I was asked to prom by a friend who was a junior. At almost the exact same time, a senior asked me out, and we started dating. I assumed the junior had asked me to prom on an "as friends" kind of thing, so I didn't think it was that big a deal. Turns out, oblivious as I usually am, I was wrong. (I didn't find that out until AFTER the prom, though.) She was totally into me, and was humiliated that I was making out with someone else in the halls the weeks before the prom.

On top of all that, the night of the prom I got violently ill right after dinner, vomiting all over the street in front of Phillip's in the Harborplace of Baltimore, spent much of the prom in the bathroom puking my guts out. The time I wasn't in the bathroom I wasn't that fun either, because I developed a tear in one of my contacts, and I had stabbing pain in my eye, with tears streaming down my face most of the night. (I couldn't take them out, because I didn't have my glasses, and I'm blind without them). After the prom, I pretty much passed out. Not a fun night.

Needless to say, my junior and senior years I went to a concert the night of prom.
posted by emptybowl at 7:06 AM on May 12, 2005

I missed my senior prom 'cause I was locked up....
posted by dersins at 7:07 AM on May 12, 2005

Gucky, that reminds me of a fairly similar, also prom-related story. I used to park at the same location at my local mall--the entrance by JC Penny--or else I'd forget where I'd parked, which I still find embarrassing. Anyhoo, one day, circa 1985, just before prom season, as I was walking through Penny's and the prom dress section, I heard a mom say, with a serious southern twang, "Whooey! You'd look just like Vanna White in that!" That has since been my equivalent of the "somewhere nice like Olive Garden."
posted by kimota at 7:13 AM on May 12, 2005

I wasn't popular in high-school, I had a few friends, but that's about it. I wasn't going to go, but at the last minute decided to, I didn't even ask a girl, due to the late hour and me being an unpopular coward. A friend managed to borrow his uncle's fancy sports car, and 4 of us went stag in that. I sat around the whole night not really talking to anyone or having fun, then afterwars we went to a hotel where some people had rooms. We hung around there for a while, then left so the cool kids could get their post-prom sex on. I went home to my parents basement and the next day I returned my rented clothes.

Ah... sorry, on preview, you said "good" stories.
posted by Capn at 8:13 AM on May 12, 2005

I missed my senior prom 'cause I was locked up....

Now that sounds like a good story!
posted by Doohickie at 8:42 AM on May 12, 2005

I avoided prom, which was very easy. I was one of those "too cool for school" kids who wanted nothing to do with proms or sporting events or the like...
posted by raster at 8:51 AM on May 12, 2005

[derail]
Some years ago, there was a poll for most romantic restaurant in Waco, TX. Olive Garden won.
[/derail]
posted by adamrice at 9:52 AM on May 12, 2005

Senior year my best friend and I ditched the prom after an hour, threw on different clothes, and went to a rave in Detroit. My hair was still up, I had great makeup, and I covered myself in silver glitter. We danced until six in the morning and wound up watching cartoons in an extended-stay hotel with a dozen exhausted party kids. It was completely fabulous, in a mid-nineties bad-girl kinda way. I'd do it again in a minute.
posted by hamster at 10:00 AM on May 12, 2005

I spent about $500 on a new suit and shoes and stuff, and asked this Betty Boob-looking girl (who I had been friends with for quite awhile*) to go. I was ecstatic when she accepted, as all those sex comedies I had seen assured me this was a sure fire way to lose my akward virginity.

I don't really remember the prom itself at all, but afterwards I drove her down to a hill overlooking the lake (heh). As I was approaching the 'spot', she said, "isn't this where people go to make out?" in such a way as to suggest this was not what we would be doing.

I turned the car around, and later - at her suggestion - let her get behind the wheel, whereupon she promptly ran over a fluffy white cat. I spent the rest of the night assuring her that it must have gotten away somehow because all we could find was some white fur.

* yes, in hindsight, this was not a good move.
posted by stinkycheese at 11:58 AM on May 12, 2005

*koff*chatfilter*koff*
posted by Specklet at 12:40 PM on May 12, 2005

Hey its fun to read stories like this. Even thhough*cough* i never went to one *cough*
posted by wheelieman at 9:38 PM on May 12, 2005

chatfilter it may be but I enjoy it.
posted by wheelieman at 9:41 PM on May 12, 2005

Our pre-prom dinner at the Olive Garden was so outstanding that we decided to skip prom altogether, eat until we were sick and then skip right to the sex.

Not really, but this thread should be tagged with "olive garden."
posted by palegirl at 10:46 PM on May 12, 2005