Pure Bliss

It didn't start with getting the dress, it didn't start with getting prepped that morning for it. It started with getting the ticket itself. I worked for the ticket all by myself. I chose to work the twelve hour games to get mine for free. This isn't about the games either though. It's all about the ball..

“Did you get your ball tickets yet..?”

That question was the main topic at our lunch table for the end of February since the ball was held in the early weeks of March. All of us girls were siked to be wearing pretty flowy dresses since many of us rarely wore anything like that. The boys on the other hand, they weren't too excited because they had to wear their uniform. It wasn't that they hated it, it was just the uniform had too many layers for almost 3 hours of dancing..

When the day of the ball finally came, all of us were completely excited. I woke up that Saturday earlier than normal because I still had some shopping for later that I didn't finish until now. Me and my mother took a quick trip to Wal-mart to pick up the items then we headed home after. Once we got back home, we only had a few hours to get ready and leave for the ball which was being held in the Anderson Civic Center this year as it always is since my sister was in ROTC back in 2014.

I go to the bathroom quickly to put on my dress and then get my hair done. I planned to curl my hair but the bad part is that my hair refuses to keep a curl of any kind even with a lot of hairspray. I exit the bathroom to get my makeup done by my mom and grandma. I went with just a bright blue smoky eye to match the color of my dress. When everything was finished my friend, Katie, showed up to take pictures at my house. She came dressed in a black dress similar to the same length of my own dress that I was currently sporting. We both walked over to a tree in my front yard getting ready for the pictures. We smile and laugh at each other until they finish.

I get a text from my friend, Abby, who I am supposed to be picking up so we can all go together. She tells me that we should leave soon to be early since Creamer and Livingston prefer us to be early to any event held, something I know because of the several Clemson games I attended this year to get the ticket itself.

We make it to Abby's house just to take more pictures and laugh all over again. It wasn't that we didn't like the pictures, we did, it was just the fact that we needed to drive forty-five minutes to get to our location and we just wanted to go already. I have been waiting for this day since my sister first told me about it when I was ten and I wasn't up for waiting any longer.

My mom finally decided to start driving us down there and all I could think about was what to come. We arrived there on time. Me, Abby, and Katie all checked in at the main booth to give them our tickets and get our meal tickets for later. We finally appear at the entrance smiling with pure bliss. I walk in finding my other friends, giving them hugs and talking to them before I head out to find a table with Katie. We didn't look with Abby because she was eating later with my aunt and uncle because she's dating my cousin.

The ceremony starts and everyone is told to stand until it ends. We all stand for about twenty to thirty minutes waiting for it to end so we can start eating. The seniors that attended were recognized as they would be at any of the awards days. I smile looking at all the seniors I met this year through this wonderful program. The ceremony finally ends so everyone is told they can do whatever they like to. I notice my one of my teachers, Creamer, take off his jacket remembering the rule I heard in class, No boy can take off his windbreaker until after Creamer does. I look around to see all the boys taking off their jackets.

I grab my guy friend, Skeeter, and we head to the line for food since there is a lot of people here so we want to eat now and dance later. We wait in line for ten minutes before reaching the start of the food line. The both of us get the food we want and go to our tables to eat. I start eating, waiting for my friends to get through the line. Soon they all make it to the table and we all have a huge group conversation. After we all finish eating, I notice people stepping out onto the dance floor. I smile begging for my friends to join me.

With a lot of convincing, I finally get all of them on the dancefloor. We all laughing and dancing however we wanted to while the songs that were playing in the background were setting the mood. After a few hours of happiness, we went to the picture booth to take some random pictures together. It was fun to all of us since we don't have any physically copies of pictures of us all together.

After the pictures, I finally checked my phone for the first time since we ate. I looked at the time to see it was eleven pm. Me and all my friends that I came here with were in shock. It was five pm when we arrived. I also noticed that I have had a text from my mother saying that she was outside waiting for us. I told all my friends goodbye and left with Abby & Katie out the main entrance. We found my mom’s car and left the ball happily.

At this time in my night, as I'm looking out the window remembering what has happened, I smile because this was the best night of my freshman year.