Freaks

Senior Prom

The night of her senior prom, Hattie had mixed feelings. On one hand, she was feeling more optimistic than she had felt before. She'd found a nice, but

plain dress that she was excited to wear. A short-sleeved, pine green dress, with a long skirt and a nice sash. She'd never given the idea of prom dresses much thought. It wasn't something she very much looked forward to, but she found the dress at the mall and decided to use the opportunity to buy herself a new dress. On the other hand, she had no date, she had no friends, and everyone at school still hated her. She was still a freak and only had her mother to console her. At least her relationship with her mother had been salvaged and the events with Clarisa were so embarrassing, she couldn't dare to bother Hattie. Clarisa was still loved by everyone at school, the queen of

the school, but Hattie was her kryptonite. Hattie wasn't sure how this prom would go down, if it would be an embarrassing string of events, or if she would enjoy herself.
"Hattie", her mother said, entering the room, "You look beautiful. You're going to have so much fun"
"Hopefully", Hattie sighed with a faint smile.
"You will", Courtney said with reassurance in her voice, "Can you just make an effort to have a little bit of fun? You don't need to win prom queen or have the best night of your life. Just make sure you don't spend your last High

School dance sulking in the corner of the gym"
Hattie nodded, not knowing if she would have the courage to do that. She didn't have a date, and the car was at the dealer so she had to walk to her senior prom. The school was close enough, but it was still embarrassing to walk to your senior prom, and people laughed at her the entire time they were leaving their rented limos and entering the school, even though they lived like two blocks away. Hattie entered the gym with nervousness. Though she acknowledged that she looked very pretty, she knew no one else would think that.

"Look at Hattie, what an ugly dress", they'd yell.
She hated it, but she loved watching Clarisa, unable to speak. The good thing about this was that soon, it would all be over, she would soon stop going to school. She'd be able to leave home, go to Ringling in Florida. She could leave all these people behind. She stood near the punch bowl the entire time, watching all the people dancing. Few girls came without dates and the ones who did were being asked to dance. Hattie knew no one would ask her to dance. No one would even approach her. She drowned her loneliness in spiked punch and hoped that no one would laugh at her. She was so

sure she would be having a better time with Aubrey. She hadn't had communication with them since they left, and she was missing them so much. Maybe they would make this party more endurable.
"Man, this is the worst place to be a loner", a soft, sarcastic voice chuckled.
"Yeah", Hattie quickly said, being startled by this random girl with short hair and a white short dress.
"I'm Jane", she said, extending her hand out to the shy Hattie. "Uh, hi. I'm Hattie", Hattie stuttered, "I haven't seen you around that much, uh, erm- well. Are you new?"

"I'm an exchange student", Jane explained.
"Oh", Hattie exclaimed, "Where from?"
"The exotic land of Kansas", Jane said, grinning.
"So, are people nice in Kansas?", Hattie said, trying to form a normal conversation.
"Oh yeah", Jane said, sarcastically, "They remind me of here"
"Oh, sorry. I'm not that popular", Hattie sighed.
"It's ok, I've never been that girl, but I don't want to. I mean, who does?", she explained.

Jane seemed very nice and forward with her introductions. She caught Hattie off guard, but she seemed to be very nice.
"Not me", Hattie said with newfound confidence, "It's hard, the prom"
"Yeah my dates out back", Jane said.
"Lucky", Hattie groaned.
"I'm kidding", Jane laughed, "No one asked me out. I'm glad though, these people are not my people. I'm moving to Florida when I leave. I'm doing pre-med in Sarasota"
"No kidding, me too", Hattie exclaimed with happiness, "I mean,

not the pre-med part. I'm going to Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota"
"So you're an artist", Jane said, nodding her head in approval, "That's good. Without artists, we wouldn't have Wonder Woman comics, though that's probably just my nerdy interests"
"I love comic books", Hattie laughed.
"You're cool Hattie", Jane said, "So, proposition. We are probably going to see each other a lot in Sarasota, and we hate the prom. Everyone is drunk and dancing. There's not much we can do here"
"Correct", Hattie agreed.

"Well, what do you say we ditch this thing and go to this great comic book store I love", Jane explained.
"That sounds like an excellent idea," Hattie said.
"We can take my truck, it's parked outside, let's go", Jane called, running to the exit.
Hattie took one last look at the dance floor and followed Jane. That was the start of a long and happy friendship. Hattie walked into the prom, expecting to have a bad night, and left with a friend. Jane became friends with Hattie and Courtney. They had a lot in common and never stopped having fun. They went to Sarasota

together and studied alongside each other. For the longest time, they were roommates in Florida and continued that way when they moved together to Chicago to pursue their dreams. Hattie never forgot Aubrey, Mona, Bonnie, Wanda, or Mrs. Field, she always thought about them. She thought about High School a lot. She was relieved to say that now that she was an adult she realized that she didn't give a crap about the people who messed with her in High School because she was happy and she was okay. High School is unbearable and the days may seem bleak, but the best part about it is learning that everything is temporary and for now, so make the best of life. She finally understood that she didn't

have to be loved by everyone. She didn't have to change herself to be accepted. She just needed to be herself and present herself to the world that way. Then, the people who liked her would step forward and the people who didn't could leave.