“A Prequel to the Farmer’s Almanac” – Chapter 3

Freshman Formal

After our AIM conversation I went out with Sunshine several more times. We had fun together but he wasn’t exactly “Mr. Traditional.” He told me several times that he had no interest in going to the Freshman Formal, but I didn’t think that meant I couldn’t go. So, when a friend asked me to go to the formal with him I said yes. I had no interest in my date what so ever, so it was no big deal to me. (I never dreamed that Blake might want to ask me.) One night, while talking to Sunshine he asked me to go to the formal. I explained the predicament and he didn’t take it that well. That is when I realized he had an anger problem, so to speak. I only went out with him a few more times…

So, formal night comes around and my girlfriends and I spend hours getting ready. Everyone helped each other with makeup and hair-dos. Getting ready for the formal probably was more fun than the actual formal. Formal Date comes and picks me up and we head to the Windsor Hotel where the formal was held. We sat at a table with Cheryl and her date (CBH boy), Ashley and her date, and I can’t remember whom else. Before dinner I wandered around talking to people and taking pictures with everyone. During my stroll I came across Blake and his date. We talked for a while and took a picture (see below). I didn’t really want to go back to my table, but I had left my date alone. Following dinner we sat around and listened to Stephen Speaks play his super popular music. It was obviously just TJ and his guitar, but I thought his name was Stephen, as did pretty much everyone else.

Formal ends and everyone heads back to their dorms to change clothes. Formal Date picks me back up, along with his friend from home who was staying in my room, and we headed out to lake Fort Phantom. We walk up to the bonfire, I find my friends and Formal Date disappears. I’m standing around, leaning on a truck listening to Ashley’s date play the guitar and up walks Blake, sans date. We stood there talking for a long time. I never noticed how late it was but after a while Formal Date walks up. He says (and I quote), “I’m going to go on back to campus, you can just ride home with Blake.” I turned and looked at Blake and he had the same shocked look on his face. I said, “No, that’s okay, I’m ready to go.”

I didn’t feel bad for Formal Date because he knew that I had no feelings for him, and I thought he felt the same way. I found out later that wasn’t necessarily the case. School ended and Blake and I talked over the summer. As he said earlier, that’s when things heated up.