The 15 Year Prom Grudge

            It was 9:30 when I heard my mom’s footsteps coming down the stairs. I turned to her as her eyes began adjusting to the light. “Oh, you’re still down here,” She said while walking over to the bed and lying down next to me. “Yup,” I said, trying to shake off my grogginess just enough to comprehend what she was saying but not so much that I couldn’t get back to sleep soon after. “The Misar’s are having a BBQ around two this afternoon and Barbara has specially requested your attendance.”

            This was weird, but not unusual for Nanc. Sometimes she got these ideas into her head and would start to act serious and adopt a slightly formal speech pattern because of them. At 33 years old I could tell something was amiss and that I wanted nothing to do with it. “I have work.” I said, turning my head back into the pillow. She put her hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “But not until 6. You could stop be for a little…” Then after a brief pause she said, “Is it because Darren will be there?”

I wasn’t sure where that came from. Darren Misar and I had run in the same circle of friends for approximately half a year while we were seniors in high school.  We had met maybe twice since then and, from my perspective, had always been cordial to each other. We weren’t friends.  It would be the equivalent to running into someone from high school you hadn’t seen in a while on the street, catching up for a few minutes, and then moving on with your lives without really sparing them another thought.  “No. Why would I care about that?” I asked, confused.

“Well, you just never seem to want to go over to their house.” She said, and she was right. I never wanted to go over to their house, because I would be bored out of my mind with nothing to do but make small talk. A past time I have neither enjoyed nor perfected. Daren Misar wasn’t even a blip on my radar.

“Can’t you just tell them I have work earlier?” I asked into the pillow. “I’m really not up for socializing today.” I had been gone for the better part of the weekend and it was a legitimate excuse.

“I’ll tell them you have work at 2, but next time I really want you to make an effort to come,” she said, getting up from the bed.

“Okay,” I responded, knowing that was never going to happen.

“It’s almost 12,” she called from the steps, “You should probably get up soon.”

I rolled over and picked up my phone: 9:37. I rolled onto my back trying to understand what just happened but quickly came to the realization that I didn’t care, there was no explanation for it, and there was no way I could get back to sleep.

I went upstairs to make some coffee, and passed a wall length window on my way to the kitchen. My dad was sitting on the ground hammering a brick into an empty space in the patio about an inch away from it. I knew I startled him when he looked up at me, so I smiled and waved. He gave me a big goofy grin and waved back, then went back to arranging the bricks in the hole. I snapped a picture and sent it to my two sisters, one blood related and the other everything but. The photo said #dadAquarium. 

This initiated a chat back and forth for a bit that finally lead to this conversation:

Kate:               So I’m in the car with my parents coming back from a wedding in VA. Some interesting conversations are happening.

Me:                  I can only imagine.

Kate:               Apparently you mom thinks you still have a grudge against Darren Misar for not taking you to prom?!

Danielle:         What?

Me:                  Did I ask him to prom? This explains why she woke me up at 9:30 to tell me that Barbara really wanted me to go to their BBQ today and that it was almost noon and I should get up.

Me:                  Everything was a lie!

Kate:               a) Did this really happen?

                        b) When was the last time you thought about it?

Me:                  Exactly!!

Kate:               Yes, this is exactly why. Today’s BBQ.

Me:                  I politely declined. Plus I have work tonight.

Kate:               Apparently she already told Barbara you wouldn’t go for this reason.

Me:                  Uh oh, the work reason or her mentally fabricated one?

Kate:               The prom story.

                        I’m dying laughing right now!!!

Me:                  Haha!! Well, whatever.

Kate:               Why is she talking about prom, is there any back-story here?

Me:                  I don’t know!!!

Me:                  Darren and I ran in the same group for a few months, but I’m pretty sure he was dating my friend Jamie. Also I’m gay.

Kate:               Well obviously you wanted him!

Me:                  Clearly.

Kate:               Anyone can tell from that story.

Danielle:         OMG, what? Why would a person who doesn’t like men hold such a grudge?

Me:                  Ha! Why would anyone hold this grudge?

Kate:               It’s just something you never get over…

Me:                  I’m so writing a novel about my life. This will def be in it.

Danielle:         My fake boyfriend rejected me from the prom!

Me:                  Not even: The boy I secretly wanted to be my fake boyfriend rejected me from the prom!

Me:                  Also that’s the book’s title.

Kate:               I’d read it.

Danielle:         I guess it’s less painful then “My kids think your kids suck.”

Kate:               I want to read you book then read the rival interpretation by Nanc.

Me:                  Oh my god, yes!!

Danielle:         Hahaha, I think mom’s bored from being retired and since there’s no work drama she needs to create her own.

Kate:               Nailed it, D.

Me:                  Ha! Exactly.

The conversation ended and tried to think back 15 years to my senior prom. I went with Jason, and flamboyantly gay man (though less so at the time), who was probably as closeted as I was. Well at school anyway. I laughed to myself, because this situation was just ridiculous. My family may be crazy, but it certainly kept life interesting.