Rescuing Prom

By-Kaitlyn Berta 

The time has come, it’s the week of prom! Everybody is planning their rides, buying their outfits, and getting their dates. Monarch Academy is fuming with excitement and impatience. I was walking the halls when I saw Elise’s high blonde ponytail swishing side to side flying towards me, “Hey, Cleo! Do you want to go shopping with me tonight for our dresses?” I was definitely not going to say no, “Yes, of course! Does 6 o'clock work?” Elise smiles huge, “Yep, that’s perfect, I’ll pick you up then. Got to get to class, bye!” School was out and nobody was in a rush to leave since they were all talking about what fun this weekend was going to be, except for me because I needed to get home to clean the chandeliers; all 6 of them. I ran through the arched gate then across the garden and finally through the doors, I was home.  Oh no it’s already 4, “Tling, tling”, “Shh, squeak”, Finished! I ran, got some new clothes on, grabbed my credit card, and slid down the rail of the stairs. “Beep, beep”, Elise was there, ready to go! When we arrived at the mall, there were what seemed like thousands of girls running around to find their perfect dress. Elise and I zoomed through the crowds and got to our favorite store, The Queens Seamstress. Immediately, I locked eyes with the dress that was beyond my dreams. A pastel pink matte dress with lace layer detailing and small shiny gems following the bottom of the dress’s seams. “ Wow, Cleo! You look so beautiful in that dress! It compliments your shiny black hair and icy blue eyes, magically. Not to mention, it matches your natural blush, perfectly.” I smiled blissfully and gazed at my reflection again. 

The next morning I’m exhausted and late to school. When I walked into first-period economics, I could feel the energy in the room. Everybody was in shock and devastated, especially Jessica, she was crying uncontrollably which caused her thick layer of mascara to run down her cheeks… she looked pretty scary. “What’s going on?” I asked fearfully. Asher answered me, “They just announced prom is canceled due to the gym floor cracking after the earthquake last night and there isn’t enough time or money to plan it somewhere else.” I was now feeling the pain everyone else was, “Prom? Canceled? What earthquake last night? And what are we all going to do, I mean, I already bought my dress that was over $200 and ordered a limo. Mr. Katz, is the school seriously not going to do anything about this?” He looked at me disappointed, “Unfortunately, there’s nothing the school can do. I’m so sorry everybody. Trust me, if I could save prom I would.” Then it hit me. Save prom? Could I save prom? I mean, I literally have a ballroom in my house. I kept thinking. No. I couldn’t. What if people trash the house, or what if I can’t pull it off and it’s lame. But what if it isn’t lame and it’s the best night of our lives! Ok, that’s it, I’m going to talk to mom about it when I get home. It felt like the seconds were dragging before the bell rang. “BEEP.” I zoomed out of Monarch High with purpose and chauffeured home. “Mom, mom, are you home?” Eagerly I speed-walked around the halls. I found her with her headphones in, dancing while organizing the library books. “Mom!” she jumped back, “Oh gosh. Cleo, u scared me!”, she laughed, “What’s going on?” “Prom was canceled.” Her jaw dropped like she was in a horror movie. “However, I was thinking about saving it. Hear me out, our house has more than enough room for all the seniors, and we have the funds to make this happen. I don’t want our last year of school to go down in flames. What do you think?” my mom didn’t take a single breath before answering me, “Ah, my gorgeous, genius, kind, loving, daughter, of course, we can save prom!” She was so proud and excited, “Agh, thank you so much mom, you're the best!”, I gave her a big warm hug, “Tomorrow, first thing in the morning, I’ll get the idea approved by Principal Jaz and then have the school announce it.” she nodded, “Okay, what exactly should I start planning?” I thought for a second, “Food, number one priority. Then decor, maybe I can borrow the school's decor that was going to be used for this year. Oh, and please get a DJ.” My mom gave me a ‘sir, yes sir’ move and left on a mission to her office. 

“Waa, Waa, Waa, Waa” my alarm throwing a fit. “Ugh, I’m up.” As I was getting ready for school, I made sure to wear something close to business attire since I was going to make a proposal this morning. Finally, I was at school, 30 minutes before it started so I could have plenty of time to talk to Principal Jaz. I walked with confidence to her door and knocked professionally. “Goodmorning, Principal Jaz. May I have a word with you?” she seemed surprised to see me, “Sure Cleo, come on in.” For some reason, I noticed it smelt like dryer sheets then I sat down on the square black chair on the other side of her desk. It was pretty intimidating. “Principal Jaz, you may be wondering why I’m here early this morning to speak to you. The reason being is I have a proposal for you. Yesterday, I and all the seniors got devastating news about the gym floor and how prom is canceled but through our tears, I had a life-saving idea. Instead of the school canceling prom, we can throw it back on and have this memorable night at my house which, not to worry, is definitely big enough. Oh, and I already got permission from my mother.” She stared at me for a solid minute and said, “Cleo, I want nothing more than to let you throw prom at your house, but I just don’t know if it would be appropriate to permit a student to have it off school grounds. I will have to talk to the school board about this but until tomorrow, I can’t give you a definite answer.” Oh no, “Tomorrow? But prom is in two days. That will give me one day to get it ready.” she sighed, “I’m sorry Cleo, I’ll let you know first thing tomorrow.” All through the rest of the day I was promoting the idea to my closest friends and even the teachers. When I got home, I immediately took a nap. My mom woke me up to breakfast for dinner. “Hey, honey, did you get a good nap?” I nodded my head. “Guess what, Principal Jaz didn’t give me a yes or no to have prom here.” My mom tucked in her lips and frowned, “I have bad news too. All the DJs are booked for this weekend. But on the bright side, your dad’s flying in tomorrow morning!” I felt my eyes widen, “Really! Maybe he will bring us some good luck! I can’t wait to see him!” My mom shook her head happily with a mouth full of pancakes. 

Here we go again, a new day, the day, where we get the final news. Me and mom already planned if it’s approved, I get to leave school early and we're going to start getting the party-ready. I’m at Principal Jaz’s door anxious to know the answer. This time I don’t knock so confidently. “Goodmorning Cleo, step in.” Principal Jaz says calmly. She’s wearing my least favorite color, orange, so I’m starting to get bad vibes. “Did you make your final decision?” she answers quickly, “Yes, ma’am. The board and I decided that..”, I could feel the sweat running down my neck and my left eye twitching. It felt like she was talking in slow motion, “..we will permit you to have prom at your house! And we’ll announce the news in the morning announcements.” It was like a hundred weighted blankets were lifted off my shoulders. “Ahhh! No way! Thank you so much Principal Jaz!” she smiled fulfillingly, “This would have never happened if it weren’t for your teachers standing up for the idea and your friends spreading the word to their parents.'' That was a shocking thing to hear, “Wow! Well, I’ll have to make sure to thank them! Um, I also had one more question, can I borrow the school's prom decor?”, she looked down and back up with a thinking face, “Yeah, that will have to be a no just because they were bought out of the school funds and if they get ruined, we’ll have to buy more.” I understood and figured it was going to be easy-peasy to find some decor. “No worries, thanks again, bye PJ, wait, I mean, Principal Jaz.” I paused and cleared my voice, she just laughed it off confused but, honestly, sometimes I like to call Principal Jaz, PJ, behind her back and it kind of slipped. Anyway, that’s beside the point. We’re gonna have prom!

I stayed until morning announcements. Everyone was freaking out when the news was released. Jessica, of course, broke out in tears and I felt so accomplished. Everybody was thanking me and I made sure to give some credit to my mom, friends, and teachers. I got a text that my mom was outside and so I said my goodbyes and ran out. “Mom! Can you believe this is actually happening?” She looked at me, talking excitedly, “Hey, eyes on the road!”, she controls herself, “You know, I never got to have a prom, so I’m so excited you're going to experience this once in a lifetime event! And I’ll even be there to witness and somewhat experience it too!” I never knew that. I smiled at her and held her hand. We arrived at Party City and guess what, all the prom decorations were sold out. But we didn’t give up hope, we checked, Walmart, Target, Hobby Lobby, Party City #2, and even Dollar Tree. Nothing. There are only 24 hours in a day and time is running out. “What now?” I asked mom, “I have no clue.” We went driving home. As we were passing this tiny building with no logo and a glass door, I noticed something glimmering. “Hey, mom. What was that tiny white building we just passed by?”, of course, mom answered with, “What tiny white building?” She turned around to pass by it again and ironically the doormat said “Looking for prom decor? Come inside!” We were dumbfounded and ran so fast into the store, it felt like we teleported. “Hello, how may I help you?” said an old man. “We’ll take all the prom decor you got.” answered my mom. “Fabulous, I was going to close the store officially tomorrow. Y’all came just in time.” Just like that, we were driving home with a party in the backseat. My mom couldn’t see anything through the back window because of all the balloons. At my feet were streamers, confetti, silver centerpieces, and bags and bags of decor layered across the floorboard. I saw my dad's car in the driveway, and I looked through the gate, there he was waiting for us on the bench in the garden. “Dad!” I ran to him with open arms. “Cleo! I missed you!” We chatted for a while and eventually I remembered, we still have no DJ. “What are we going to do about the DJ?” I could tell a light switched on in my dad's head, “A DJ? Oh, I know a guy who we could call? Let me just..” he spun around, “Hello there! I can be tomorrow's groovy DJ.” he smirked and raised one eyebrow. “That’s a great idea! I mean, we have no other option, thanks dad!” I said while he clearly looked thrilled, “Yes! I’m going to go do some research and I’ll get some hits together!”

It’s the next day. The ballroom is decorated, the food is ready, and the DJ is working on his moves. Prom starts at 7 pm and it’s 5 pm, so I start getting ready. My mom is helping me curl my hair and I’m picking out a perfume to wear, the night is already so exciting. After an hour and a half of work, I’m ready. I walked out my door and headed downstairs. “Wow, Cleo! You look stunning! You’re going to have a great night tonight.” I blushed, “Thanks, dad!” It’s 6:43 and I hear the knocking at the door. “Somebody is here! Let me greet them!” I open the two tall, heavy, and black, front doors, “Welcome Jessica! So glad you could make it to our senior prom!” She answered me excitedly, “Me too! Sorry, I’m early, I just couldn’t wait any longer! I’ve been ready since 3 o’clock.” Since 3 o’clock! “Oh no worries, come on in!” All of a sudden there was a huge wave of people coming in, the house was filling up, and my dad put the first jam on. The night we had all been waiting for had officially started. I noticed Elise whisper something into my dad’s ear then she starts walking up to the mic. “Hello, is this on? Oh, hi everybody, so glad you're all here! Before we have our first dance, I just want to give a huge thank you to Cleo and her parents for saving prom. Cleo without you we would have lost out on one of the most memorable nights of our lives. I think I speak on behalf of us all when I say, you truly are a hero!” Everybody clapped with agreement and joy, “With that said, let’s have a great night!” She walked down the stairs and I ran towards her. “Thank you, Elise, you're the bestest friend I could’ve ever asked for!” We shared tears and a long hug. The rest of the night is history. 

About the writer: Kaitlyn Berta is a student here at Orion High school. She is a very kind and charming person who also loves cats.