An Unexpected Friendship

Prom. The night every high school kid dreamed about. It was definitely a night I dreamed about my whole life. But how did I end up at a prom, that wasn’t even mine, with a person I didn’t know, surrounded by people I also didn’t know? And I actually had a good time and enjoyed this person's company? I’ve always been a shy person. Meeting new people felt like more of a burden to me than a fun thing. I just hated doing it. This was my worst nightmare come true. So how did I end up in this situation? Let’s rewind a bit.

It’s May 9th, 2017. My mom was on Facebook. She’s a frequent user of those “buy and sell” pages on the site and would check them often. One night, she was on one of those pages and came across an ad from another local mother. The mother’s name was Hyacinth and she was asking for someone to come to her house and give her son a haircut because he was about to attend his senior prom. The post gained a lot of response and someone had commented on it asking if he had a date. Hyacinth said no and then, poof, the post was deleted. It breached the pages “terms & conditions”. Stupid. But my mom had seen this post before it was deleted, but she didn’t get Hyacinth’s name in time to look her up separately and private message her. So my mom took it into her own hands, she put up a post on the same page that read, “looking for the mom who wanted a haircut for her son, he was attending his high school prom! This is my beautiful, nutty daughter and her brother. She would be honored to attend prom with your son if he would like/doesn’t have a date yet! She graduated last year. Please PM me! We live in Smithtown”. Along with this post were multiple pictures of me to go along with it. By some miracle, another person had tagged Hyacinth and she saw my mom’s post and they got in contact. They talked for the rest of the day and night, planning on where we would all meet, where the prom is and just getting to know each other. It’s May 9th, 2017 and the prom is on May 11th. And I still have no idea this is happening.

I woke up the next day, went downstairs, made myself breakfast, hung out with my dog and my brother and went on my phone. I rarely checked Facebook, but for some reason, I chose to take a look this day. One of the first things I saw was the post from my mom about me on the buy and sell page. It was marked “FREE” and “SOLD”, this makes me laugh looking back at it now. But at the time, I was a puddle of different emotions. I go look for my mom and ask her what the post was about. She told me about Hyacinth’s post and about Hunter and that I would be going to prom with him. I was immediately hesitant for obvious reasons. She then dropped the bomb on me, Hunter is wheelchair bound and suffers from Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy. He had been out of school for the whole year, because he wasn’t strong enough to be in a wheelchair everyday, he was basically bedridden. But he wanted to go to his senior prom, enjoy it like every other kid. I was still extremely hesitant about this whole situation. Clouds circled my head for the rest of the day. I didn’t know this person existed that same morning and now I’m going to prom with him? I was mad at my mom, but I knew I couldn’t be because she was trying to do a nice thing, like she always does. I accepted my fate, and just simply agreed to go, to appease my mom because it wasn’t worth the fight. It’s May 10th, prom is tomorrow.

The next day, I get ready unwillingly. I was bitter, resentful and unenthusiastic about this whole thing. But still, I held my word. We arrive at the venue for the prom, Chateau Briand, I had never heard of this place before that day. We pull into the parking lot and see a woman helping her son get out of their minivan, it was Hyacinth and Hunter. My mom parks next to them and we get out as well, I put on a fake smile and introduce myself to both of them. Quickly, the fake smile turned into a real one. The moment I met Hunter, he was so welcoming, appreciative and selfless. His mom was the exact same way. We took some photos and then inevitably, photos were over and it was time for Hunter and I to go to prom. Our mom’s left and went to get dinner together and Hunter and I found our seats inside. It’s May 11th, 2017 at 6:00 PM, we’re at prom.

I was still nervous going into the actual prom, because I still didn’t know anyone else. But I was less nervous than before because I had gotten to know Hunter a little better and enjoyed his company. We spent most of the night at the table, because he couldn’t dance, which was fine with me because I’m not a big dancer either. And I’m glad that this was the case because we basically spent the whole night talking about our lives, our families and laughing over how the whole situation of us being there together was crazy. We truly never ran out of something to talk about. The guilt of being so bitter and resistful towards this whole night finally set in. I could not believe that my emotions almost got in the way of me meeting this incredible human. Knowing that I was going to be there made Hunter so happy and excited to go to prom and I was dreading it. How guilty I felt.

The night came and went and eventually, prom was over. Hyacinth and my mom were by the entrance waiting for us and asking how it was. Hunter smiled big and said it was a great night. We all talked for a bit longer, I wondered if I was ever going to see them again. Our mom’s spoke of all of us going to Hunter’s house sometime in the near future and getting together, because we all genuinely enjoyed each other's company so much. We were all excited to have these new people in our lives, my mom and Hyacinth had so much in common and were able to talk about so much, I think they needed each other. Hunter and I had a great connection, we were able to effortlessly talk about anything without feeling judged by the other, though I think it was impossible for anyone to feel judged by Hunter. We definitely needed each other. It’s May 11th, 2017, at 10:00 PM, and I just walked out of prom with a friendship that will last forever.