All Fired Up After Prom

We left off with the end of the Prom…

We Angles hugged each other and went our separate ways. No one wanted to go to the overlook since they were sure I would cry. Ronnie and I went to the overlook often when he was home. The rest of the Angels were dropped off at their homes via the limo. I drove Chris to Giggles’ house where we were going to change in to regular clothes for the drive to Ocean City.

Giggles rushed out to my car when I drove up. Change of plans, Giggles’ parents were home and awake. They did not know boys were coming with us to Ocean City. Giggles told her parents the same lie I told mine “It’s just going to be us Angels.” Even though there was a separate room for the boys our parents would not have allowed us to go. How would they have stopped us? They own the cars we drove and they paid for the car insurance. She waved towards her house and Dave ran from the shadows up to the rear passenger side door of my car. “Heather, take the guys to the McDonalds on 7th Street. They can change in the bathrooms there.” Chris was agitated to say the least. I calmed him down while Dave climbed in to the back seat. “Giggles! I need to change at my house and grab my bag for OC. In my rush to pick up Chris earlier I forgot it.” She said “Fine! Hurry up though. We need to get on the road. Meet me back here so you can drive home when we get back. We will take my car to pick up the guys at McDees.”

So, off I went to drop the guys off at McDees. I didn’t understand why they couldn’t change at Dave’s condo but who was I to say anything. After dropping off the boys I sped off to my house to change my clothes quicker than I had ever changed in my life! I felt a great need to get to the overlook. Just to be there for a few minutes, looking over the city lights as Ronnie and I had done so many times. Although he couldn’t be with me tonight I needed to feel close to him, be somewhere we would have gone after Prom. Surely it would only take a few extra minutes for this little detour across town.

When I reached my house I ran up the stairs and pulled off my dress before I even reached my bedroom door. I threw the dress on my bed, kicked my heels off in the direction of my closet and pulled on my jeans. While hopping around with one foot slipped into a white Keds sneaker I reached for a random shirt hung up in my closet and grabbed my packed bag. I hopped on the way down the stairs to the front door while trying to slide on the other sneaker. Just as I grabbed the knob of the front door my Mom appeared. “Did you have a nice time? Where are you going now?” “Mom! Oh, Giggles said I better not be late, we are leaving for O.C. to watch the sunrise remember?” I hugged and kissed her and ran out the door before she asked me anything else. As I ran to my car I shouted “Love You Mom! See you Sunday night!”

I threw my bag to the passenger side and sped off on to the highway. I reached the overlook in about 15 minutes. Surely I could get back down the mountain and back to Giggles house before she started to get concerned. Just as I was about to turn off the car I heard a familiar song on the radio, Angel by Madonna. It was then that I remembered something wonderful! Before Ronnie asked me to dance that first night, I was dancing to that song with my friends. Ronnie came up from behind me and whispered in my ear “I think you’re an Angel.” I quickly turned around to see who said this incredibly sweet thing to me and there he was, smiling at me and I knew he meant what he said. My hands went immediately to my cheeks in an attempt to cover the blushing that was overtaking them. I spun back around to face my dancing circle of friends. Then I realized I wasn’t dancing, I was only trying to catch my breath. My friends were each giving me a quizzical look. I shrugged my shoulders and tried to get back in the swing of the dancing. Flic was on my left and defensively asked “What on earth did that guy say to you?!” I waved her off since I couldn’t yet speak. Later at our table I told all of the Angels what he said. Giggles thought it was just a come on but much later realized that Ronnie meant everything he says.

That memory was the warm glow I needed after Prom. I wondered how long I had been sitting in the car thinking about Ronnie and decided I didn’t have time to look at the city lights. I had to get back down the mountain to Giggles house or the drive to O.C. could be a disaster. As I drove down the lone dark road I saw an unfamiliar light ahead. There was a car…ON FIRE! Completely consumed with flames! A fireman about 30 years old motioned for me to stop my car about 12 feet before I reached the burning car. Just as he reached my car window I heard a loud explosion! I covered my face with my hands and screamed!! He reached in, grabbed my wrist and said “Don’t be alarmed miss! That is just the tires blowing out from the heat. They always do that. Nothing we can do until the fire dies down. I asked what happened and he said “You kids and your Proms.” He shook his head and looked down “We are reporting this one as a domestic dispute. Better turn your car off and wait bit.” I didn’t recognize the car or anything but for some reason I started to cry. I asked him “Are the people ok?” He told me they were taken to the hospital but expect them to be out before the night was over. Then I snapped back to reality. What?! Wait a “bit”! He didn’t know Giggles. She will be furious if I don’t get off this mountain like NOW! I explained that I had to get “home” immediately. He saw the panic in my face so he gave me directions to get down the mountain…the back way. “Turn around, take this same road down until you see a church on your left. Turn right and you will be heading towards town.” That sounded simple enough. He forgot to mention that the paved road turns into what seems like a one lane gravel road about halfway down the mountain and I was a good 20 minutes away from the church.

Ok, so there was some drama when I reached Giggles’ house. I told her that my Mom stopped me at the front door and asked questions. This was not exactly a lie as it did happen, it just wasn’t the reason I was late. She was already upset that I was late. I didn’t want to hear how stupid she thought my idea of going to the overlook was. The guys were also upset about the long delay. They voiced their grievances while climbing into the back seat. Yes, this was going to be a “Memorable” trip to the beach! I had three people angry with me for this long road trip in the middle of the night.

Surprisingly, Dave was the first to say “That’s enough. She obviously feels bad about the whole thing. Nothing she could do about. We are on our way now so get over it already.” Chris didn’t say anything, he just slunk back in his seat, folded his arms and shook his head. Giggles on the other hand just couldn’t let it go. She harped on me for the next half hour. I kept my mouth shut thinking if I said anything it would just prolong her anger. Aside from that, it was really my fault and we could have been on our way sooner if I didn’t feel the need to go up to the overlook.

Chris decided there had to be something on the radio to listen to instead of Giggles’ ranting. When he asked her to turn on the radio she pointed to the sign taped over her car radio. “No, the radio doesn’t work! But I will sing to you if you want.” This tickled her! She even laughed for a few minutes! Then she uncovered the boom box in the center of the front seat. Giggles popped in a tape …The Go Gos! Ok, the guys were not thrilled with the selection but they were happy with the fact that Giggles stopped griping about the late start. Giggles and I sang along to the songs and even danced a little in our seats. I was relieved that the fight went out of her. It looked like we were going to have a great weekend after all.