CHAPTER 4 - A TOP HAT AND A SPARKLY DRESS

He picked me up that overcast morning in his grandfather's gold cadillac. I wore my favorite navy blue, long-sleeved shirt that gathered in the middle. As he opened my door and I took the front seat while John Harper was in the backseat. The seat belt had a soft cover that laid on my shoulder as we drove to pick up Shannon Arbon just down the road. Shannon and I had no idea what they boys had planned for the day date, so when we pulled into Blackfoot's airport, we were quite surprised! The other members of our group were already there and we joined them in the airport terminal. 

We all took turns flying over Blackfoot with our dates, looking for our homes, the schools, the river, and beautiful colors of our city. It was really exciting! I remember, on our second turn, the pilot shot the plane straight up in the air after take off and I squealed in the back seat! I started out being so nervous since I had never been on a plane... but it ended up being so much fun!

After the flight, the nerves came back and stayed for the rest of the afternoon. To this day I still don't know why. I don't know if it was because it was my first official date, because I wasn't sure how to act, or if it was because everyone on the date was a junior and I was the only sophomore. I wasn't sure what they knew about me and Thomas so I stayed quiet and shy for most of the afternoon. 

We ate lunch in the airplane hanger as a group. The boys had gathered random couches, a picnic blanket and prepared sandwiches for everyone. At one point I realized I had left my purse in the terminal and headed back to go and get it. Thomas joined me on the walk back and since we were alone, we held hands, more specifically his right hand (notice the cast above?)

After the airport activities, Thomas drove us back to our houses to get ready for the big dance. I curled my hair the best I knew how, painted my nails, slipped on my purple sparkly dress, and tied a matching ribbon in my hair. Before I knew it, he was knocking on my door once again. When I saw him, my heart fluttered with excitement. He was handsomely dressed in a white tux, complete with a top hat and cane. I felt so lucky to be his date and his girlfriend.

After our mothers had taken all the photos they were allowed, we drove to Idaho Falls and met the rest of our group at Johnny Carino's. I sat at the head of the tables and ordered manicotti. It was one of my favorite dishes my mom made and thought it would bring some comfort to my very nervous stomach. I soon found out that my mom's was still the best. I also realized that my dress was a good color since it didn't show the food that fell off my fork and onto my lap. I was relieved when it was time to get back in the car with just the four of us. On the way home I discovered the seat warmer buttons and sneakily changed Thomas' seat to "high". A few minutes later he started looking around to figure out to see what was going on. He looked at me and I guiltily started giggling. He ended up getting me back by turning my seat to "high" and it became a game for the rest of the drive.

We arrived at the dance and I was immediately impressed with the decorations. The gym had been transformed with the theme "A Night on the Nile". The walls were dressed in paper to look like stone with hieroglyphics, there were tall statues, the ceiling was covered in dark blue paper with lights twinkling through, and there was even a bridge over a pretend river where dates were taking pictures of each other. We danced a few and then got in line to get our pictures taken:

(The photographer had a heck of a time figuring out how to arrange us for the group shot...can you tell? Awkward...haha.) After that awesome experience, we joined the students in the gym to find out who had been voted  in as this year's royalty. Betcha can't guess who won Junior Prom king...(and yes, you should totally click on the pictures below to see that handsome smile in a bigger view).

After all of the pictures and hugs and congrats from students, parents, and faculty, I finally got my king back to dance with me. Dancing with him was the calmest I had been all day. I'm sure my clammy hands said otherwise, but I was at peace when it was just he and I.

On the way home we had some extra time so we drove through Wendy's drive-thru, got some fries and frosties. We pulled into Shannon's driveway first...and then it was off to my house. Thomas opened my car door and kindly walked me up to the front steps. I stood on the first one which brought us to about eye level. I remember saying thank you and he smiled to say "you're welcome"...

The story doesn't end there...

(The next day I wore my prom dress to church and proceeded to leave purple glitter everywhere I went. 

That afternoon my mom wanted to take pictures, and since I felt like a princess I obliged.) 

Even though the date had been pretty good, for a couple of weeks I had been feeling some uncertain emotions. I wasn't sure what it was, but the next few days proved to be more difficult than I expected. I thought about this wonderful boy I was seeing, but couldn't help but wonder who else was out there. I was barely sixteen, I hadn't been on any other dates, I didn't want to be seriously with one boy, I found that I kind of liked flirting, and knew that I wasn't being fair. I counseled with my mom and we decided that it was best that I let him go. I believed she used the "shirt"analogy where I can't just buy the first shirt I try on, I have to try on a lot to make sure that was the best one. :)

I'll admit, it was bad timing (especially since Morp was in two weeks) and not tactful...but we (yes, I'm dragging my mom into this one) didn't know any better. We bought a bag of cinnamon bears and added a tag that said something like:

"You are a 'bear'y special friend" with a note explaining how much I appreciated him but that I didn't want to be steady with anyone as I was barely sixteen...

>>To be continued...

PS I now know that no one breaks up with someone in a way that might initially make them think they were asking them out on a date...very rude...very rude indeed. (And very funny now-a-days... it's quite the joke between our two families as you can imagine: cinnamon bears = "are you breaking up with me?")

POLL:
__ Should I continue with the month-by-date posts and wait until this fall to continue our story...when we see each other for the first time during the new school year? (Remember we have a full school year, a summer, and then another half of a school year until he leaves on his mission...)
__ Should I jump forward in time and just continue to write our story one post at a time and not follow any date restrictions?

Let me know what you think in the comments below and we'll go from there!
Thanks for reading so far!