Tonight the gymnasium looked different. No harsh lights, just the dim lighting that flooded in from the hallways. Boys and girls were dancing to music that was emanating from the speakers overhead. It was her first school dance.Feeling a bit awkward but optimistic. 7th grade was an entirely new experience compared to elementary school. Junior high, where bells rang and everyone changed classes. New faces. New challenges. Tonight was one of them. A shy girl who was known for her silliness in elementary school but now blossoming into a young woman.
Just one dance. That would make the night complete. As the evening progressed, she chatted with some girlfriends, and waited to be tapped. Then came the announcement. The last dance. Hey Jude. Slow. What were the chances? The song seemed to last forever, but the hope was diminishing by the second. Finally it was over. Maybe next time.
26 comments:
Didn't go to a single hs dance.
I didn't go to the Prom..and I still grew up to become a fine upstanding code pink member. ;p
oh that's too sad
Beautifully written, YnB.
As Nursemyra said - a sad tale, but one with a message.
'Maybe next time' - Says it all really.
Whatever disappointments/hurts life throws at us we have to bounce back believing that things can/WILL be different in the future !!!
Why thank you Duncan. Every time I hear that song, it makes me think of that night. Don't be sad though, Myra, I made up for it in later years. I love to dance, I just didn't get to do it through the grade school years. I didn't even go to a prom. College quickly turned things around, though! :-)
I was going to say something to cheer, but after "College quickly turned things around, though!" I feel it's needless. How about another tale telling us all about your first spring break in college?
:-)
Ivan
Hi Ivan! You know, I never went on one of those crazy college spring breaks...I just went home. All craziness was at school!
I remember my first dance-- 7th grade too- It was torture :-)
This was beautifully written.
xo
A captured moment that we can all identify with in some fashion, I'm sure. I hated the dances, was always afraid I'd never be picked and therefore revealed as the awkward one.. those years can be brutal!
but, we both survived!
i think when we grow up we still have those occasional times when we feel insecure; as though we are left standing with no partner to dance with...yet the music continues..and we keep tapping to the rythm of life. ...or some crap like that!
Can you pleae indilge an ignorant Anglo-Scot?
What age are kids in 7th grade?
I could look it up on the megainterwebgooglything, but it's easier and more interactive to get it straight from the horses mouth, as it were. Not that I'm saying you look like a horse, of course..... I'll stop now, I'm beginning to quote the opening song from Mr.Ed.
Let's see, I was always the youngest in my class, so I must have been 11 or 12 depending on which part of the year it was. Man, that was young!! I graduated high school when I was 17.
When I was growing up in New Zealand we didn't have school dances until we were 15 and there was only one a year. Did you have them more often than annually?
ynb,
i was 17 when i graduated, too. i was born in december, and in new yawk, if you were 5 by the end of the year, you could start kindergarten.
i never went to a school dance. i was a neurotic little hermit.
I went to one junior high dance and I was taller than every boy there. I didn't dance and I didn't go to another one until the prom!
Because I've always been so small, the guys seem to think it's really funny to pick me up and dance with me .... So I've never actually learned how to dance (except of course when I've had more than my fair share then I'm brave ... very brave)!
NM...I don't remember. I think this might have been the only one I went to. I don't remember going to any others.
Nons...I began in NJ where my birthday (12/31) was the cut-off date. Then I moved to other states where the cut-off was in September.
Claire...you had the opposite problem from me!
Julie...we all get a bit braver after a few!
Check it out
http://beartoons.com/2009/08/14/two-yorks-and-a-bean/
I missed the prom by trying to romance two girls at one time. It backfired on me and I was cast as a crusty casanova. I spent prom night watching reruns of Jeopardy so I'd feel smart. :)
I bet you learned a major lesson though! ;-)
You were actually waiting to get "tapped" in 7th grade? What the hell kind of school were you attending?
Okay, once again, I had to go to the urban dictionary to find out the current definition of "tapping". Shoulda figured.
7th grade was the most unspeakable torture i could imagine.
and so was my bob haircut.
dances all the time in our school. holiday, spring, homecoming, proms were once a year in jr and sr gradesLy
As many brits of my age, I attended a single sex senior school (11-18 years old) and did not 'discover' girls until medical school at university in 1973.
Are such schools a good idea? HELL NO!
DH...If it is any consolation...I didn't really "discover" guys until college either! :-)
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