Erica's Special Night (Prom Changed Her Life)

After the Prom

ERICA'S SPECIAL NIGHT

by Sabryna Brooklynne

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Erica sat atop the wooden picnic table, next to the large stone barbeque pit on the lower portion of the two level brick and pine patio/deck behind her home.

She stared off into the clear, full-moonlit night sky, as she often did, contemplating life.The clean, fresh scent of an early summer rain shower, somewhere off in the distance filled the air.

It seemed so ironic that the clarity of the night was in such stark contrast to what she felt inside. She sat their and wished that life did not make her feel so shameful, alienated, and afraid.

Erica could see that the lights in the family room were still on as she sat in the dark, just outside of the beam of light filtering through the closed vertical blinds of the sliding-glass patio door. Erica knew that her parents were still waiting up for her.

She glanced back over at Rachel's house, her neighbor and long time friend, her best friend and pretty much her only. There were no lights on at her house.

Gathering her courage, Erica inhaled deeply to calm her nerves and while doing so, told herself that this was it, the time had come. With one final, deep, chest-heaving breath, she exhaled, stood up on the attached bench seat and lowered herself off the table.

Her heels made a light click as they contacted the brick surface of the patio. She stood there for a moment looking down at her beautiful, flowing, soft pink gown, glowing in the moonlight. Bending over, she paused to admire how cute her french-tipped toenails looked peeking out of the beautiful, two inch, open-toed strappy heels she had borrowed from Rachel.

Erica was so proud of how pretty she looked tonight and for a moment reflected on all of the fun she'd had at the prom. Nervously taking a couple of steps towards the back door, she glanced back at Rachel's house hoping for a last second reprieve, but the Governor was not calling.

Erica's head was held low, her stride slow and uneven in the heels and her heart pounding. She dreaded what was about to happen once she stepped inside. Yet, no matter how hard she knew it was going to be, it was something that had to be done. She had to face her parents. She had been planning this moment for months and even though she never imagined she would actually be this nervous, she still wasn't about to back out now.

Pausing with her hand on the doorknob she once again looked back at Rachel's house, now regretting not having accepted Rachel's offer to go in with her. Rachel's support and acceptance are what made the evening possible. Now she was alone, wanting to avoid the confrontation, fearful of the outcome.

Erica again took a deep breath, cleared her mind, and told herself everything was going to be okay.

Turning the doorknob, she stepped into the kitchen, quietly closing the door behind her. She knew that in mere moments her parents were going to be possibly upset with her, probably want to disown her, lock her away so that no one would have to know what an embarrassing disgrace to the family, she was.

Standing in the kitchen, shaking like a leaf, she thought about her parents sitting in the next room, waiting for her to return from the prom.

She quickly adjusted her hair bow, straightened her dress one final time, reached around and adjusted her bra, and then glanced down at her perfectly manicured fingernails, smiling at the sight of the cute little cubic zirconia ring residing so daintily on her right ring finger. She knew she was stalling more than anything and that it couldn't last much longer. Another deep breath to calm her nerves and as she exhaled she heard the sound of the television go away, muted.

"How was the prom, dear?" her mother called to her.

"The prom was great," she answered, her voice breaking.

The prom, had not been "everything" she had hoped, but in ways, more than she could have imagined, and she did not have any regrets, until now. Now she was having second thought's about what she was about to tell them.

"Come on in here and tell us all about it," her mother said.

Well, she knew this was it. The moment had arrived and she was about to have their undivided attention, for there was no way they would be able to look at the brand-new 100" curved screen, 3D quantium crystal smart television hanging on the wall, once she stepped into the room.

As she made a step forward she nervously called out, "Mom, Dad I've got something I need to tell you."

Any parent could hear the reluctance in the statement; they heard it many times over the years. "Mom, - I spilled my milk," "Mom, Dad - I broke the lamp," "Dad - I--um, I wrecked the car." Could any words prepare them for what was behind the statement this time?

Tip-toeing so that her heels wouldn't click on the hardwood floor as she walked, Erica slowly crept down the hall towards the family room. She paused for a moment before continuing through the doorway next to the television, and into the light.

With a slight gasp, her mom's jaw dropped, speechless and breathless. This got her dad's attention and he looked up from the email he was checking on his smartphone. Seeing what he saw caused his eyes to enlarge and his face to turn red with a very perplexed, yet inquisitive look upon it.

Both her parents just sat there for a moment, staring at her, speechless. They acted initially shocked and confused but not terribly horrified like Erica had, just a few moment's ago, imagined they would. Slowly they examined her from head to toe, as she stood before them, trembling, in silence.

Erica was wearing a tea length pink taffeta prom gown with thin, clear spaghetti straps. The bodice hugged her tightly giving her the shape of a young woman several years older than her own age of sixteen. She had on two inch high, open-toed, strappy, sparkling pink heels that color-matched her gown and showed off her pretty french-tipped toenails. She was wearing a mother of pearl necklace with faux-diamond clip-on earrings that projected brilliant flashes of reflected light and a pink ice tennis bracelet.

A touch of blush made her cheeks a soft pink, to match the pale pink lipstick that highlighted her full lips. Her light pink, almost white, French tipped acrylics on her fingers, made them look oh so dainty and cute. She also carried a small pink and white sequined purse, tucked under her left arm. She wore extentions of hair much longer than her own, extentions of long brunette locks of ringlet curls that fell to the middle of her back, just below her shoulder blades; her skin, covered in a spray-on tan, glowing beautifully.

As she stood there shaking, pulse racing, heart pounding; waiting for her parents to say something, anything; tears started to swell in Erica's eyes. Based on their current reactions, and given the circumstances, she knew her parents had to be extremely disappointed.

"I-I-I can explain."

"Where are the clothes you left here wearing?!?" Her dad asked in a tone that conveyed confusion but not anger.

"At Rachel's house," Erica replied meekly, staring down at the floor, unable to look him in the eye.

She had never intended to hurt her parents, wishing that they would never have to know, but it was the high school prom, and she had decided long ago that she was not going to miss it, for she did not want to go through the rest of her life with that regret.

Her parents had always told her that she had to make every moment count, because" once that moment's gone you can never go back". They had told her many times; in an effort to keep her grades up, "an earned 'C' is a recorded 'C', you can't go back and change it." She understood what they were saying; you've only got one life; live in a way you will never have to look back with regret wishing you had done things differently.

"And you spent the entire night dressed like that?"

Still staring at the floor, Erica's lower lip quivered, "Y-yes, yes sir."