The Past Within - Mialotte - TNN

Prom Night

Based on a true story

In her next therapy session, Charlotte found herself talking about a memory she hadn't revisited in a while—her prom night. She sat back on the couch, her fingers lightly tapping her knee as she started to recall the details.

"I didn't have a date for prom," Charlotte began with a soft laugh. "But I didn't care. I wasn't one of those girls who dreamed about the perfect night with a date. I just wanted to have fun, you know?"

Her therapist, Dr. Peterson, nodded, encouraging her to continue.

"Lea, my best friend at the time, was supposed to go with this guy she'd been crushing on for months," Charlotte explained, smiling at the memory of her friend. "But at the last minute, he totally ditched her. I could tell she was crushed. I mean, she tried to hide it, but I knew. So... we decided to spend the night together, just the two of us."

Charlotte's smile grew a little wider as she remembered how they'd danced under the swirling lights. "We danced the entire night. I didn't even care that I was in this itchy, uncomfortable dress, or that my hair was a mess by the end of it. We were laughing, spinning around like we owned the place."

She paused, feeling a warm wave of nostalgia wash over her. "It was one of the best nights of my life. No dates, no pressure, just us being ourselves and having fun."

Dr. Peterson leaned forward slightly, a soft smile on her face. "It sounds like a really freeing experience for you. Do you think that night helped you realize something about what you truly wanted from relationships, or from life in general?"

Charlotte thought about that for a moment. "Maybe. I guess prom night made me realize that I didn't need someone else to have a good time. I didn't need a boy to feel validated or important. Lea and I had each other, and that was enough. We supported each other, and that felt... good. Safe."

Her thoughts drifted a little further back to how close she and Lea had been, and how their friendship was one of the few stable things in her life during high school. "Lea was always there for me, you know? She didn't care about all the drama I had going on at home or with my mom. We just... got each other."

Dr. Peterson nodded, absorbing Charlotte's words. "That sounds like a meaningful connection, a place of support and understanding for you during a difficult time."

"Yeah," Charlotte agreed quietly, her mind still lingering on the memory. "It was. That night, we didn't care about anything else. We were just two girls, dancing away the weight of the world for a few hours."

Charlotte's smile faded as she took a deep breath, her eyes lowering to her hands. The therapist noticed the shift in her energy and waited, allowing her the space to continue at her own pace.

"After the dance," Charlotte started again, her voice softer now, "we went to the beach. It was late, almost midnight. The whole place was deserted, just us and the sound of the waves. We lay there, looking up at the stars."

She paused, clearly recalling the moment in vivid detail. "I don't even know how it happened. One second, we were talking and laughing, and the next... we kissed."

Dr. Peterson stayed quiet, allowing Charlotte the time to process what she was sharing.

"It wasn't something we planned. It wasn't something we ever talked about, before or after. It just happened. And after that night, we pretended it didn't. We went back to being best friends as if nothing had changed."

The weight of the memory hung in the air between them.

"A few years later," Charlotte continued, her voice now tinged with sadness, "it happened again. On my 21st birthday. We were both drinking, and I don't know if that had anything to do with it, but... we kissed again."