As we walked across the parking lot towards the beauty salon that Ashley had set me up with an appointment, I said to the tough looking girl next to me, “You go to a beauty salon, Ash?”

She stopped walking and gave me an annoyed look. “No. I stick my head in a pencil sharpener. Of course I go to beauty salons.” She gave the back of my head a playful whack. “Goof ball.”

As Ash pulled the door open she said, “Don’t worry. Your hair is in good hands with Denise.”

Upon entering, an attractive woman somewhere in her early thirties approached and said, “Ashley! Right on time!” She gave Ashley a quick, non-affectionate hug. She pointed at me and said, “Is this the one we’re working on today?”

“Yes ma’am” said Ashley. “She’s going to that big blow-out downtown tonight. So she needs your special magic on her hair and make-up.”

Denise ran her fingers up through my hair and frowned. “You have really good hair, thick with natural highlights. But good lord, girl! When was the last time you were in a salon?”

I shrugged and said, “Um…never?”

Denise frowned again and shook her head. “Good thing you didn’t wait any longer. Otherwise we might have had to shave your head. As it is, we’ll still have to cut it…”

“No!” I said as I pulled the strands of hair from her hand and held it defensively. “I love my hair long!”

Ashley poked my shoulder and said, “She doesn’t mean to cut it off, Alex! Just to even it up and to get rid of the split ends!”

Smiling, Denise said, “Come on…Alex is it? Come on Alex. Let’s shampoo first.”

Ashley jabbed my shoulder and said, “They use real shampoo here, Alex. Not dishwashing liquid.”

“Hey!” I said, trying to jab her back, but she was too quick.

Denise led me to the back room where there were five or six seats lined up in front of sinks. Two other women were having their hair washed. Denise motioned for me to sit in one of the chairs.

Ashley said, “What do you think, Denise? Can you save this hair? She has to be the most gorgeous girl at this shin-dig. Are you up to the challenge?”

Denise spread her arms out and said, “Hey, I did you hair, didn’t I?” She pulled up my hair and continued, “I think we’ll pull her hair up loosely with a high ponytail and some curls here in front of her ears and with bangs coming down over one eye, I’ll think she’ll look real cute.”

I was covered with a plastic sheet and I laid my head way back as Denise pulled my hair into the sink. As she started washing, Denise said to Ashley, “I have an invitation to the Cannon Ball if you want to go. I’m sure Alphonse over there wouldn’t mind being your beard.” One of the guys washing one of the other women’s hair looked up at the mention of his name.

I couldn’t see Ashley as she said, “Thanks, but no. I don’t even have one of those prom dresses and if I did, I think it might clash with my tattoos.

“Keep your hands off your hair!” scolded Ashley after we got back into her car. “And don’t touch your face. You’re absolutely gorgeous and you want to at least arrive at the Ball that way.”

“I’m sorry, but it just feels weird.” I said, trying to see myself on the mirror clipped to the car’s visor. “And I’ve never had this much make-up on before.”

As Ashley moved her car into the flow of traffic, she said, “Well, you’ll get used to it quickly. I know girly-girls like you just love getting dressed up.”

There was an audible gasp as I opened the dormitory door to meet Brad. He was looking me up and down and said, “Holy shit! I..uh…I mean, wow Alex. You are beautiful!”

“Thank you, Brad,” I cooed. “You look very handsome yourself!” And he did too. He looked real sharp in his tux. I felt really weird standing there in my blue satin gown, the slip, bra, panties, heels, long satin gloves, dangly earrings and my evening look make-up. I felt that every eye on the planet was glued to me and I just wanted to run and hide.

Brad just stood there staring at me with a goofy expression on his face for several moments before he finally cleared his throat and started acting like he knew what he was doing. Blushing slightly he brought up a box he’d been hiding behind his back. He opens it and says, “This is for you.” He pulls out a gorgeous wrist corsage that matches my dress perfectly. With an embarrassed grin and blushing some more, Brad slips the corsage on my wrist.

“Yeah!” came a voice from above me. I turned and looked up to see Ash giving Brad a thumbs up from our dorm window. Brad never called to ask what color I was wearing. I looked back and Ashley was gone. I was going to have to have a talk with her…

Now trying to act debonair, Brad said, “Shall we go?” I nodded and took his arm. We walked down the sidewalk towards the parking lot, the rustle of my satin dress almost making me puddle up in a pink pool of femininity.

Parked next to the curb was a gigantic black Lincoln Navigator, a SUV that will never see a dirt clod, much less a dirt road.

“What? No Hummer?” I said in jest to Brad.

“It’s in the shop,” Brad said seriously.

Standing next to the Navigator was a middle-aged couple. The woman, who I took to be Brad’s mother, was elegantly, but age-appropriately dressed. The very distinguished looking gentleman was Brad’s dad. The comparison between Brad’s dad and mine couldn’t be further apart if my dad had been from Mars.

Brad’s “call me Edith” mom held out her hand and gave me a very limp handshake. “Alexis! It’s so wonderful to finally meet you. You’re all he talks about!”

“Mom!”

“Well, it’s true,” continued Edith. “And you are simply stunning, my dear.”

“Thanks,” I said smiling. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Brad’s dad held out his hand and after he took mine, he lifted my gloved hand and kissed it. “You can call me Skip. Everyone else does. Except for Brad, of course. And I agree. You are very pretty. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“Thanks! I’m happy to finally meet the two of you,” I said, actually more intimidated meeting them than happy.

Skip said, “Well, let’s get going. We’re not getting any younger standing here.” We all climbed into the Navigator. The length and tightness of the skirt made climbing into the vehicle a little difficult. A few moments later, we were on our way to the Cannon Ball.

I couldn’t believe it. It was a like a fairy tale. We made our entrance to the ball by descending a large stair case after being announced. I was worried sick that I was going to trip on my dress and fly headlong down the stairs. I glanced around and saw all the other women in their gowns and they had made it ok, so I was determined I would too. I also started to grow self-conscious as just as Margie had predicted, almost every guy watched me walk down those stairs. Maybe they expected me to trip too?

After pausing a moment at the bottom of the stairs to get our bearings, Edith said, “You too go mingle and have some fun. Skip and I have some schmoozing to do.” And off they disappeared into the crowd.

“See?” said Brad. “I told you they’d love you.”

Unsure, I said, “I still think it’s a bit early to meet your parents.”

Smiling, Brad said, “Don’t worry about it.”

It was quite noisy with all the people there speaking at once. And there were hundreds of people there. I was very nervous and could feel beads of sweat slide down my inner thigh.

There were guys walking around with trays of glasses of sparkling water and Brad grabbed a couple of glasses as one of these waiters came walking past us. As Brad removed the glasses, the waiter’s face became visible.

“You?” said the waiter.

“Zach?” I nearly gasped.

Zach frowned and said, “I should have known you’d find some way to weasel your way into the biggest party of the year.”

“Hey, I was invited,” I retorted. “You’re working here?”

Brad said, “Alex, I think there’s some food over there.” He tugged on my arm.

Smirking, Zach said, “Now that’s a stupid question, isn’t it?” He glanced at Brad and said, “Well, I see you’re here with Captain Underpants. Must be nice to have a date. You know that Tamara broke up with me because of you?”

Before I could answer, someone dressed as a waiter, but carrying an air of authority stepped up besides Zach, folded his arms and said, “Isn’t there something you should be doing?”

Looking sheepish, Zach said, “Yes sir.” He then walked quickly away, carrying his tray.

Frowning, Brad said, “For two people who don’t like each other, you sure run into each other a lot”

Smiling sweetly, I asked, “Jealous?”

“Let’s go find that food,” he said, still frowning.

We wound our way through the crowd before we finally found ourselves at a very large table, loaded with every finger food you could imagine. I picked up a plate and began loading it with cheese, ham, crackers, turkey until I mentally slapped myself to make me stop acting so much like a boy. I looked over at Brad and saw him piling his plate with everything he could find.

Finding a place to sit with our cheese and meat cubes, I turned to Brad and said, “You uh…you never told me you were rich.”

Brad had a little trouble swallowing a piece of cheese before answering. “Rich? Don’t be silly. Granted we may be… “ Brad made quote mark gestures with his fingers as he said, “…comfortable. But rich? Nah. Dad has little business. He’s a machinist, actually and does a lot of fab work. Hey, it’s paying for college.”

Before I could comment, an elderly guy with a woman around the same age started to pass us, then stopped and then vigorously shook Brad’s hand. “Bradford! Good to see you!” Nodding towards me, he simply said, “Miss.” And then he walked away.

“Not rich? Wasn’t that the mayor?” I asked. “You’re on a first name basis with the mayor?”

Brad waved away my comment and said, “It’s no big deal. I used to caddy for him when I was in high school.”

“Well, it looks like my invitation just lost some value.”

I looked up to see Tamara clinging to a lanky guy with a bad acne problem. I waved and said, “Hey”

Without another word, she turned walked away.

“What was that about?” asked Brad.

“She found out what really happened on that island.” I said. “And she thinks I turned Zach gay. Hey, I never asked Zach for sex.”

Brad held up his hand and said, “I really don’t want to hear about your sexcapades with Zach.”

Brad set down his empty plate on a handy flat surface and said, “Would you like to dance?”

I smiled and said, “I’d love to!”

Brad led me to the crowded dance floor. Despite trying to sound excited about dancing, I was really sweating it. I’d never really danced at all, much less slow dancing with my boyfriend, wearing heels and a formal gown. Not to mention that I have to dance backwards. Ashley had given me a quick lesson on slow dancing so I’d at least have some idea what to do. From her expression, I think she enjoyed the lesson maybe a little too much.

“This is great, isn’t it?” asked Brad after we started dancing.

“Yes, it is.” I said smiling at Brad. I was doing better at dancing than I expected and I certainly enjoyed being held this close to Brad.

“And it’s good exposure. Most of the area’s who’s who is here.” Brad said. “And you’re popular. Everyone’s looking at you.”

“Does that bother you?” I asked.

Brad let out a short laugh and said, “Just the opposite. It means I’m with the right girl.”

Just then, Brad’s dad, or should I say Skip, walked up and asked, “May I cut in?”

“Sure, Dad”

Skip smiled and assumed Brad’s position, although he held his body away from mine. “Thanks, son.”

“So Alexis, or is it Alex?” asked Skip

“Everyone just calls me Alex.”

“So, Alex. What do you think of the party?” asked Skip.

“It’s good. I’ve never been to a formal party like this before.” I said honestly.

“Well, it’s a great way to meet influential people. It’s definitely helped my business over the years.” Skip said. “How are you and Brad getting along tonight?”

I gave him a puzzled expression at the question, and said, “Just fine. He’s been the perfect gentleman.”

“That’s good. I’d have to give him a talking to if he wasn’t.” Skip said. I could tell there was something he really wanted to ask me, but he was struggling with it. He said, “Edith thinks you two make a lovely couple and I tend to agree with her!”

“Thank you. That’s very nice of you.” I said.

“Brad really does talk about you constantly,” confessed Skip. “Maybe I shouldn’t say this, but I’ve never seen him carry on about any other girl he’s liked.”

The orchestra stopped playing and Skip said, “Thank you for the dance, Alex. Don’t tell Edith, but you dance better than her.” He gave me a wink as he turned to walk back to his wife. Brad started walking back up to me when his dad stopped him. I saw Skip look serious at Brad and even though the spoke in a low tone, I just barely made out “You need to tell her.”

Brad nodded sullenly at his father and whispered “Not yet.”

The orchestra started playing their next song as Brad came up to me, smiling broadly and said, “I want this dance all to myself.”

I laughed and put my arm around his shoulder and we began to dance. Rolling through my brain were their comments and I tried to figure out exactly what it meant.