“Moms, I’ll just die if I don't have a date for the prom,” Helen Johnson whined as she plopped into a kitchen chair.  “All of my friends have dates, and I can’t get anyone to give me the time of day.”

“Now, now, Helen, it can’t be that bad,” her mother Beatrice responded as she patted Helen on the shoulder.  “I’m sure not everyone has a date, you must be over-exaggerating.”

Helen stomped her foot on the linoleum floor.  “I’m not, Moms!” She sighed.  “I’m going to be stuck with one of those farmer boys, or, even worse, going by myself.”  She slumped down into her chair.

“What about that nice boy from your art class, Nick, Dick?”

Helen shriveled up her nose and violently shook her head, her long blonde hair flying around.  “You mean Rick Roberts?  Yuck, he’s not my type - he’s a nerd!  I wouldn’t be caught dead with him!”

“So, it sounds like you’re going to be dead either way.  Have you written your will yet?”

“That was so funny I forgot to laugh, Moms,” Helen groaned. 

“Okay, let me ask another question.  Who do you WANT to be your date for the prom?”

Helen thought about it for a few minutes.  “You mean, besides Rock Hudson or Tab Hunter?” 

“Now it’s my turn to forget to laugh, Helen.” 

“I have about as much luck getting them to ask me as I do Donnie asking me.”

“Why?”

“He would never ask me.  He has girls flocking all around him.  Course, I guess that happens when you’re the richest boy in Sleepyside.  He’d never give me the time of day.”

“Don’t be so discouraged, dear.  Before you know it, you’ll have the right date, I have no doubt.”

“Do you know something I don’t, and, if so, why don’t you tell me instead of torturing me?”

“I don’t have any secrets, I’m just a normal mother concerned about her daughter.  Remember, Alicia didn't go to her prom and look how she turned out.”

“Not helping, Moms.  Alicia’s still single and living in Philadelphia taking care of Uncle.” 

“And she’s quite happy with her decision, Helen. She wants to be a nurse and knows that helping him will help her, too.  I have a suggestion to help you feel better. I’ll give you your allowance early, why don’t you go to Crimper’s and buy some more art supplies?”

Helen jumped up and gave her mother a bear hug.  “Oh, Moms, you’re the best!  I just used my last canvas and paintbrush.”  Helen grabbed the car keys and shouted, “I’ll be back before dinner,” then headed out the front door.

She parked the car and entered the revolving front door of Crimper’s Department Store and immediately headed towards the stationery department.  She rifled through canvases until she found the one she wanted, took it out of the display, then returned the rest to the cabinet.  She looked down at her watch and saw she still had some spare time before dinner.  “I know I’m not going to the prom, but, just for grins, I’ll take a spin through the dresses; at least I can dream about wearing one.”  Helen moseyed over to the teen section and wandered through the racks, sometimes taking a dress off the rack and shuffling over to the full length mirror to take a look.  She took a peek and saw herself holding up an aqua blue dress, the skirt landing just above her knees.  The tag attached read “aqua blue romantic scoop of two tone rayon chiffon, dramatic overskirt swirls, cape sleeves, satin waist band”.  “I have no idea what any of that means, but I like this dress.  Guess it wouldn’t hurt for me to try it on.”  She went to the dressing room and quickly changed into the dress.  After one look in the mirror, she knew the dress was meant for her.  She scampered out to the full length mirror so she could get the full effect of it.  “I love it!”  Then, her ecstasy over the dress plummeted when she realized she wasn’t going to be attending the prom, which meant she would have no reason to wear the dress.

“Andy, I’m telling you, I’m not going the prom to be your third wheel.  I’ve got finals coming up.”  Helen turned around and saw one of the “farm boys” from her class, Andy Belden.  She’d recognize his blond buzz cut anywhere.  They had American Government together and he was known as the cut up of the class.  If anyone could make learning about bills becoming law fun, it was Andy.  He was talking to a tall, raven haired, slender boy who looked familiar, but she couldn’t quite place him. 

“Pete, come on, it’ll be fun, live a little,” Andy joshed as he playfully shoved the other boy.  “Harry didn’t go to his and, Lord knows, you don’t want to be like him!”  Andy suddenly noticed Helen.  “Hey, Helen, looking good there, who’s your prom date?”

She blushed a bright shade of pink.  “Well, uh, I'm not, uh, well…” Why have I suddenly lost the ability to speak?” she wondered, almost out loud.  “I hadn’t thought about going.”  Helen lifted up her head and suddenly really noticed the boy Andy was teasing.  He was about 6 feet tall, had raven hair parted to the side, and the beginning stages of a mustache.  His most striking features were his deep brown eyes. She felt like she could see straight into his soul. 

Andy nudged him.  “I’m such a dope.  Helen, this is my older brother Peter.  Pete, this is Helen Johnson, she’s in my Government class.”

Peter Belden stuck out his right hand and Helen shyly offered hers.  “It’s nice to meet you.  I think I had a couple of classes with you last year.  I’m taking mainly business classes this year.”

Helen smiled.  “I remember you now.  We were in Algebra class together a couple of years ago.  Not one of my favorite classes so I try to forget it as much as possible.” They all chuckled in response. 

“Helen, would you help me keep my brother from nagging me by, but would you help me by going to the prom with me so he’ll shut up?  We can go with Andy and his date, whoever it is this week.”

She couldn’t say yes fast enough.  She didn’t know if he felt it, but she knew she felt a shock go through her as they shook hands.  She could get lost staring into those brown pools of eyes, but she kept her composure. “I’d like that.  Let me go get my purse and I’ll write down my address and phone number.”  She wasted no time getting back to the dressing room, quickly changed back into her white blouse and blue jeans, rummaged through her purse until she found a pen and scrap of paper.  She hastily scribbled her address and phone number and brought it back out to Peter.  “Here you are, Peter.  And, thanks for asking me.”

“Thanks, I’ll give you a call later in the week with the details.”  He put the paper in his pocket.  “I’ll be sure to hide it from Andy so he doesn't call you before I do.”  Peter flashed a toothfull smile towards Helen.

“OK, I’ll talk to you then, Peter.”  She couldn’t seem to stop saying his name.  She glanced down at her watch and exclaimed, “Geesh, I’m going to be late for dinner.  I’ve gotta run.  I’ll talk to you later.”  She scampered off, almost forgetting to pay for the dress.  She got to the car, threw the dress in the back seat and tore out of the parking lot.  “Hoppy, I knew you’d bring me good luck,” she said as she waved at the rusted weather vane.  She parked the car, frantically ran into the house and proclaimed, “Moms, I just met the most wonderful boy in the world!”

Author Notes

I’d like to thank the lovely and talented Dianafan for the quick editing!  This is a little snippet that will eventually go into the saga still being written, “The Boys of Summer.”  It takes place after a call Dan makes to Mrs. B and she is reminiscing about being 17. 

Footnote:  The description of the dress came from a website that I now can’t find.  I googled “prom dresses in the 1960’s, the picture and description pulled up, and it looked like something Helen/Trixie would wear.  So, credit to Google for finding it for me because, without it, Helen would’ve tried on “a blue dress.”