While looking at the calendar, I realized that 7 years and 2 days ago was my senior year prom. My first and last prom ever. Since this month is the prom season, I want to look back and share what went down on my prom night.
Unlike other, if not most, Catholic schools, our proms are only held every other year. And within the school vicinity. Cool, huh? Still, lucky for our batch, it fell on our senior year. Given that we were graduating students, prom became one of the anticipated events in our last year of high school. After the hype of Christmas party, all junior and senior girls were preoccupied with browsing magazines and the internet for the perfect prom dress over the Christmas break. Come January, upon resume of classes, girls have stacked more magazines in their school bags to browse through over recess or lunch break. Having gazillion of prom dress inspirations, I opted to design my own dress.
It was not something over the top or too fancy. However, girls were required to follow the color code of dress: blue for seniors and pink for juniors. I chose a shade of turquoise since I have a feeling that most of my batchmates would choose either light blue, baby blue or dark blue, royal blue. I was known for my neon orange things so I wanted a touch of me in my dress hence, I chose orange as my accent on the back of my dress. I was in doubt of the combination but seeing this Adidas backpack pacified me. I wanted a simple-but-with-a-bang kind of dress. Yes, you guessed it right, the bang was on the back of my dress. Movable was also one of the things I considered, too. It should be worn easily, no fuss, easy to walk and dance with.
(OMG, look at me 7 years agoooo! Eiw? Hahahahaha!)
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| Yes, dark ages pa ang balat ko! Hahaha! Nagpa-make up ako niyan sa salon, di lang halata kasi ang pangit. Hahaha! And my hair!!! OMG!!! |
(I had the chance to wear my prom gown on a school activity back in junior year in college.)
I had no prom date. I didn’t have that corsage, that car outside the house and some boy waiting for me in the living room. If that wasn’t unfortunate enough, my friend whom I had a “verbal agreement” with to be my prom date during junior year forgot that we were supposed to be “prom dates!” But then again, all of my friends went stag and had a group date. :) Looking back, I’m glad we went stag! It wasn’t awkward at all to go crazy and dance all night because there wasn’t another person whom you really want to impress or leave a good impression beside you. :)
But of course, just like any exciting event, something bad has to happen prior or on the day of the event.
(insert background music. Hahaha!)
Four days before my prom, I was heartbroken. That time, it really was for real. I was officially but subtlety dumped. There were no confrontations, no arguments, no harsh words, no goodbyes, not even a single word, which made it more painful for me. The last time we had a very brief conversation was a week before prom, 3 days before Valentine’s. He had that time to speak up and he should but he didn’t. It was the turning point and I knew it really was the end. So yeah, I really did cry my heart out on Valentine’s Day. One. Of. The. Worst. Days. Ever.
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| Note: I only made this for this entry and not out of bitterness 7 years ago. The original photo does not look like this. And yes, I still kept this one. |
On the day of the prom, I was excited that I actually forgot him. I was preoccupied by my glammed-up self and batchmates. We danced all night. We goofed around in gowns and tux. If I remember correctly, I was one of the few to come up first to the dance floor. My friends and I were joking around so we "pole-danced" on a post of light that was placed in the center of the dance floor. Until one bulb exploded and almost hit my dress. Hahahaha! I was having such a blast so far until he was announced as Prom King. Hooooolllllly moooooolllllly! I couldn’t stand seeing him so I stood and went to the bathroom until the King and Queen dance is over. I went back to the dancefloor with all my friends trying to comfort me. I didn’t want to cry but eventually I broke down. My guy friends danced with me alternately until my tears stop falling (Even THE former flame attempted to ask me for a dance but he saw my crying so he just backed off. We actually started talking to each other after prom. And no, we did not get back together. Hahaha!). In fact, Vinci was my first dance! We actually had a deal that whoever would our first dance be, should give him/her a peck. Ha, by the time we danced, he thought my bestfriend had already danced with me and that would make him boy number 2. But no! Hahahaha!
All in all, it was still a good night. :) Despite the shitty part, looking fabulous in a glamorous night with friends is still the memory that had stuck more with me over the years. Proms aren't really that much big of a deal. Looking back, we all wondered what was so special in our prom in the first place that we had to go all that fuss and hassle of finding the right dress/tuxedo/suit, right make-up, shoes and hair, appropriate partner and all the little nitty gritty things? Probably since we don’t dress-up in that way everyday, it really was something exciting and new for a regular teenage high school student. It was fun to experience. It was fun to goof around and get-jiggy-with-it in your dress and suit. It was fun to see your friends have a 360-degree transition for that night. It was fun to remember that your eyebrows were inspected on the next school day because you weren't allowed to have those eyebrows groomed (I know, lame Catholic school rule, right? Emphasis on the term groom though, not "thinned." Hahaha! Yung mga nagpaka-Mona Lisa diyan, raise your hands up!) in the first place. It was fun to recall when teachers lurked behind your back and checked the distance of you and your partner once a love song is played. It was fun to make memories with your friends. It was fun to look back and see your photos and how you looked like that night.
Proms are once in a lifetime experience. You got to admit, high school's kind of incomplete without it. So reader, if you bailed on your own prom for a pathetic reason, poor you. If you haven't experienced it yet, just have the best out of it because it’ll never happen again. You are not and will never be that young and silly again. :) And may I ask who insinuated or associated proms with romance? For an unknown reason, it just happened to fall on February. Get a date or go stag, no one gives a damn. It's also not even the perfect time to give one's virginity away, duh! (Don't be stupid.) Just. Party. ALL. NIGHT. LONG! :)