Saturday, March 17, 2007

Fishes and Wishes a.k.a. Heather's Prom

One of the downsides of moving this last year is all my photo albums are away in a cold, dark, and probably lonely box.


There are no pictures of me in my prom dress to post. But I can set the scene for you...

The dress I wore was a short, black, gathered, strapless peplum dress. At the top, I clipped a vintage rhinestone brooch to help keep it from falling as I was then a size two and had very little up top. (Good tip for making cleavage, BTW.)

Over the dress, I had a cropped faux fur jacket with mutton leg sleeves (vintage 30’s purchased at a cool store near the U of Washington).

I can’t remember the shoes, but they were probably black, and I pulled my hair back into a pony tail with a gold clip. Slightly fluffed 80’s bangs completed the look.

My date, Michael, was my best boy-friend and went to a private school. We went to each other’s proms. He wore a cool black tux with a white tie, very old school. We looked awesome together. My dad took a picture of us near the front door, but as I said, it’s been filed away in the dark boxes.

So my prom, lazily themed “The Time of My Life” was at the Seattle Aquarium. It sounded like a cool venue, and it was, but the prom committee totally crapped out on the refreshments – I think there was tang and oreos. (Note to future prom planners, don’t let a Running Back be in charge of that kind of thing!)

I remember sitting on a bench under the giant fish dome, where you could see bottle-nosed sharks and other creatures swim by overhead, and thinking about how cool it would have been to be with someone I loved and who loved me.

Michael was great. He was good-looking and a fabulous friend, but I never had the prom-romance you read about in books. In fact, until that moment under the fish dome I hadn't even wanted that kind of thing before. It's funny what a little watery lighting and sharks will do to a girl.



Anyway, maybe as a result of my epiphany under the fish dome, school dances figure prominently in my young adult novels.

I have this fantasy about what those events should be like – and they’re a bit like John Hughes’ movies like Pretty in Pink. Although in my fantasy, Andi ends up with Ducky, not Blaine. :)


Anyway, congrats to Tina on her wonderful release! I’m so proud of you!!!!

Hugs,

Heather

Heather Davis is the author of
Never Cry Werewolf
Coming in 2008 from HarperCollins





5 comments:

stephhale said...

Man, what a visual, I would love to see that picture! I SO love PIP,although I think it's given all girls unrealistic expectations of the prom! :)
xo,
Steph
www.stephaniehale.com

TJ Brown said...

I try my best not to think about my senior prom.

In fact, most of my friends have horror stories about their prom. Sounds like yours was a dream:)
Teri

TinaFerraro said...

Heather, I loved this story, and it was oh-so-enhanced by the setting of the Seattle Aquarium!

And thanks once again for your support about my book!

Marley Gibson said...

I totally agree with you about the ending of Pretty in Pink. Did you know that was the original ending? Didn't test well.

Dona Sarkar-Mishra said...

Am I the only person woh hasnt seen PRETTY IN PINK? (Ducking for cover...)