At Prom, Only One…

I expected to be despised, disregarded, and forgotten in a corner when I went to prom six months after a collision left me in a wheelchair.

Then someone came across the room, altered the entire evening, and gave me a memory that I carried with me for thirty years.

I never imagined seeing Marcus once more.

Everything changed when a drunk motorist ran a red light when I was seventeen. I went from fighting with my friends about curfew and trying on clothes to waking up in a hospital bed with physicians chatting around me as if I didn’t exist six months before prom.

I had three broken legs. I had injury to my spine. Rehab, prognosis, and maybe were among the terms used.

 

When prom finally arrived, I informed my mother that I would not be attending.

 

My life had been typical in the best sense of the word before to the collision. I was concerned about my grades. I was concerned about boys. I was concerned about prom photos.

I was concerned about being observed afterward.

When prom finally arrived, I informed my mother that I would not be attending.

 

With the dress bag in hand, she stood at my doorway and remarked, “You deserve one night.”I don’t deserve to be looked at.”Then return the stare.

 

She assisted me in putting on my clothing.I’m not able to dance.

She moved in closer. “You can still exist in a room.”

 

She knew exactly what I had been doing since the accident, so it hurt. disappearing yet remaining in existence in theory.

So I went.

She assisted me in putting on my clothing. helped me settle into my chair. helped me enter the gym, where I parked close to the wall and pretended to be okay for the first hour.

 

They then wandered back in the direction of the dance floor.

Waves of people arrived.”You look fantastic.”I’m very happy you came.”We ought to snap a photo.

 

They then wandered back in the direction of the dance floor. Going back to motion. Life has returned to normal.

 

Marcus then approached.

Sincerely, I felt he had to mean someone else, so I looked over my shoulder.

 

He came to a stop in front of me and grinned.Hello.

Sincerely, I felt he had to mean someone else, so I looked over my shoulder.

 

He saw and chuckled quietly. “No, definitely you.”That’s courageous,” I remarked.

 

He cocked his head. “You hiding over here?”

He then extended his hand.If everyone can see me, am I really hiding?

 

However, his expression just shifted. softer.”You make a valid point,” he remarked. Then he extended his hand. “Would you like to dance?”

 

I gazed at him. “Marcus, I can’t.”

He gave one nod.”All right,” he replied. “Then we’ll figure out what dancing looks like.”

Before I meant to, I laughed.

 

He wheeled me onto the dance floor before I could object.

I became stiff. “People are staring.”They had already begun to stare.That is not helpful.I find it helpful,” he remarked. “Makes me feel less rude.”

 

 

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