Stage Fright

Epilogue ~ Prom

Josh

This was going to be an amazing night. I swear to god Heather had planned absolutely everything, she said she wanted it to be perfect and special. I didn't mind, I didn't care what we did or how we did it, I just wanted to go with her.

We had a fantastic senior year, every single thing we did was so special. She brought me to Aspen one weekend so we could go skiing, summer was about to start and we'd began taking some hikes in the woods. On top of that were all of the great dates we'd been on, the parties, and even the small nights in bed.

Everything was absolutely perfect and tonight would be no exception. I was driving to her house now so we could take some pictures before the limo arrived. She refused to show me her dress, she said she wanted it to be a surprise, all I knew was that it was light blue, because that was the colour of tie that she picked out with me.

I was nervous, we'd been together seven months now and I still had the chills over big dates and events. I had our corsages and peonies to give her once I arrived. I knew my heart would stop when I saw her, it always did.

She'd been insanely over worked lately, she was preparing for her AP exams and she was one of the heads of the prom committee. She had put all sorts of effort into tonight and I was hoping she'd really be able to relax and enjoy it.

Afterwards there was a party at Taylor's, our plan was to go back to her house and change before driving over. But the thing I was really excited about was getting to dance with her and getting one last shot at those high school memories. 

I wasn't sure at the beginning if this would last at all, I thought we were too different and that we'd have all of these issues we couldn't get past. But I was proven incredibly wrong, we had an easy relationship and we loved each other completely. Now I couldn't picture my life without her, I couldn't imagine going back to where I was before her. She'd changed me for the better and with her nothing was impossible. She'd always ask me, 'why not?'. 

I felt my heart leap into my throat as I walked up to her front door. We had a limo with a few of her friends, then a dinner reservation and then we were headed to prom. As much as I know prom was supposed to be about friends, I just wanted her.

I knock at the door and see Eleanor standing on the other side. "Josh." She says kindly, letting me step inside. "Well you clean up nice." She insists. 

"Thank you." I tell her and she smiles.

"She's so excited." She assures me and I nod. "She's been talking about this all week."

"I'm glad, I'm excited too." I admit. "She never showed me her dress, she said she wanted to surprise me." 

"It's quite lovely, very flattering on her." She tells me. "Well I'll call up and see if she's ready." She says and walks to the other side of the foyer and pages the intercom.

"Hey Josh." I hear and turn to see her dad is coming in from the back of the house. "Nice suit." He says extending his hand and I gladly shake it. I liked Heather's dad, he was pretty alright and we got along all things considered. 

"Thanks." I say and he nods.

"I'm just here to see the two of you off, the photographers should be here soon-"

"Photographers?" I ask feeling confused. "When she said pictures I thought she meant like on an iPhone."

"Well, I'm sure you'll all take pictures with your friends. Heather's my only kid and I want her to really have this good night. She insisted on getting a couple professionally done." He says holding up his hands. "I know it's a little extreme but they'll be pretty good pictures." He insists and I laugh.