*All Ages
A Magic Night in Sleepyside
by Steph
Trixie Belden, Diana Lynch and Honey Wheeler were all seniors at Sleepyside Junior-Senior High School and very excited about going to their senior prom to be held at the Sleepyside Country Club on a Friday night. Then there would be a carnival on Saturday and graduation on Sunday.
They were going with three of the other members of their club, the Bob-Whites. Trixie was going with Honey’s brother Jim Frayne; Di with Trixie’s brother Mart; and Honey with Trixie’s other brother Brian. All the boys were in college and out of school for the year and happy to escort the girls to the big night. The other member of the club, Dan Mangan was also going with a friend of theirs, Jenni Powers. Dan was also in college. All the boys were attending the same school, a university about an hour from Sleepyside where the girls all were planning to start in the fall.
Trixie and Jim were probably the closest of the couples although they had never really pursued any of their romantic feelings for each other yet. Jim had been waiting for Trixie to turn eighteen which he thought would be the right time for it. He was starting to think that the night of the prom might be perfect for discussing it but was worried she might not feel the same about him.
Brian and Honey had also flirted with each other for a long time, as had Mart and Di. Dan had asked Jenni to the prom. She had moved with her family nearby the rest of the Bob-White families and had become a member of the club.
On the afternoon of the prom Trixie was waiting for her friends to arrive and Mrs. Belden came in with her dress and said, "This is so perfect for you. I’m so glad we decided to splurge a little. You better be careful or else Jim might keel over when he sees you in this!"
Trixie said, "That’s kind of the effect I’m looking for. Now that I’m eighteen and out of high school maybe we can take this relationship or whatever we have going to the next level and start dating and being officially boyfriend and girlfriend. We’ve been unofficially together for so long!"
The girls all gathered at Crabapple Farm to get ready together. They were all excited and nervous as they helped each other with their hair and makeup and the dresses to make sure they were perfect. Mrs. Belden also was in and out of Trixie’s room helping out all of them and telling stories of her own prom, almost thirty years earlier, which was her and Mr. Belden’s first date.
While they were doing their makeup they talked about their relationships with the boys.
Honey said, "Sometimes I think Brian is about to kiss me or say he wants to go on a date or anything but he always stops himself. It gets so frustrating. But he looks at me with those beautiful brown eyes of his and I melt to pieces!"
Di said, "Same with Mart and me. He starts to act serious about us and then jokes around or goofs off a bit. Sometimes I wonder if he has any romantic interest in me at all and then he calls me or sends me a nice letter and then I’m more confused than ever."
Trixie said, "Jim is the same way. Maybe it’s the fact that we’ve all been friends for so long and it’s scaring them. To tell you the truth, the feelings I have for Jim are pretty scary to me too!"
Jenni said, "Dan is so intense but I know he likes me. I can’t wait to see what happens tonight!"
Finally all the girls were ready and called Mrs. Belden in for final inspection. She said they all looked beautiful and snapped some pictures and said she was glad that she had so much film for the evening and that Mr. Belden had the video camera they had bought originally to videotape Brian and Jim’s high school graduation three years earlier.
She had tears in her eyes as she took the pictures, one last one with all the girls, reflecting on how far they had come.
Trixie was wearing a floor length dress of soft blue silk with a slightly full skirt. It was strapless and had a matching white lace shawl. Honey was wearing her best color, yellow in the same style and Di, as always was in lavender and Jenni was in soft pink. The girls suddenly looked all grownup and Mrs. Belden had tears in her eyes as she hugged them all and said, "This is going to be a magical night for all of you. I can’t wait to hear all the details!"
Di and Honey both thought of Mrs. Belden as a second mother, especially Honey who saw so little of her own mother, and Mrs. Belden thought of them as two more daughters. Watching how happy her sons were with them also made her hope that maybe someday they would be her daughters-in-law. Jenni had also become close to them all since she arrived a year earlier.
Suddenly the doorbell rang meaning the boys were there and the night would begin!
While the girls had been getting ready at Crabapple Farm, over at Manor House the guys all had gathered together to adjust ties and cummerbunds and joke around together. They were nervous themselves, wanting to make the night great for the girls since it was their senior prom.
They all looked dashingly handsome in their tuxedos. They all also felt a little funny all dressed up like that but it was tradition.
Brian said, "It seems so different from our prom three years ago, Jim. For one, it was only us and Honey and Trixie and our relationships with them were totally different too. They were also younger and now they’re so beautiful. Sometimes when I see Honey, I feel like singing to her or something."
Jim said, "I feel the same way about Trixie. That night was so much different but so much has changed and much for the better I think."
Dan and Mart agreed that everything was going great and finally their rented limousine pulled up and they got in and headed over to Crabapple Farm.
Brian opened the door and the guys walked in, all nervously pulling at their bow ties and waiting for the girls to come down. Mr. Belden had his video camera out and ready.
Mrs. Belden came downstairs and said, "I just was with the girls upstairs and wait until you see them. We might want to clear out some fainting room here on the floor. I think they should come down one by one."
The others agreed and first Honey came floating down the stairs and Brian took a big gulp when he saw how beautiful she looked. When she reached the bottom he took her hand and kissed it and said, "You look beautiful tonight," and gave her the corsage of yellow roses he had brought her.
Then it was Di’s turn and when she came down, Mart, for the first time in his life, was speechless as he saw how beautiful she looked. She blushed at the intense look he gave her. When she reached the bottom all he could say was "Wow!" totally forgetting his vocabulary for one night as he gave her a nice corsage of gardenias.
Jenni was next and she bowled Dan over completely also as he took her hand and kissed it. Mr. Belden was busy with his video camera and Mrs. Belden was busy with her regular camera, promising pictures to all the parents involved, too. The Wheelers and Lynches were all out of town, expecting to be back on Sunday for the graduation.
Finally Jim asked, "By the way there’s one person missing. Has anyone seen my date?"
They all laughed and Trixie said, "Hold on, I’m on my way." She had suddenly been attacked by a swarm of butterflies in her stomach.
Trixie finally came down the stairs and Jim stood there at the bottom completely transfixed by how beautiful she looked. When she reached the bottom of the stairs and walked to his side, all he could manage was "Wow!"
Everyone laughed and finally he gave her the white and yellow wrist corsage he had bought her and Trixie said, "Thank you, it’s beautiful and goes perfectly with the dress."
Jim finally said, "Trixie, anything you put on tonight would look beautiful on you. You look incredible tonight."
Mrs. Belden had to stop snapping pictures for a second to wipe away a tear at seeing her tomboy all of the sudden all grown up.
Finally Brian said, "We better have some final pictures and go on to the country club before we miss anything! I know Mart will be mad if he misses the buffet!"
Everyone laughed as Mr. and Mrs. Belden had them pose for some more good shots ending with one big group photo and then wished them a good time and then they were off.
They rode to the country club joking around and laughing all the way. Finally they arrived and walked to the ballroom after the girls checked their shawls.
The prom committee had done a wonderful job decorating the ballroom with balloons, crepe paper and streamers to make it a magical night. The theme of the prom was "A Night of Promise".
They all got a table in the dining room and went to the buffet and ate for a bit. The food was delicious. They heard the beginning of the music from the ballroom and joked around with some of the others that were there. Trixie and Di thought it was a little weird seeing the kids they had known since kindergarten all dressed up.
Di said, "I realize that many of us have known each other since we all started kindergarten and a lot of these people we may never see again!"
Trixie said, "It does feel kind of weird, doesn’t it? Even though living out in the country I didn’t get to spend as much time with everyone, I will miss them all."
Brian said, "I felt the same way on my graduation weekend. I do see a lot of my classmates around town though on Christmas, spring and summer vacations. I guess Sleepyside never leaves you, you keep wanting to come back."
Jim said, "That’s one of the reasons I decided to build the school here when the time comes. This is such a wonderful town and even though I’ve only been here five years, it is home to me and I always want it to be that way."
Trixie said, "And Honey and I are going to have our agency here too since we’re close enough to New York. Di, with you and Dan probably being in New York with your careers you’ll both be close by also. Jenni, with your plans to be a nurse maybe you can work at Sleepyside Hospital."
Dan said, "Actually I’ve been talking to Molinson about working my way up to taking over for him in about six years as Chief of Police here when he retires. It looks like I’m going to be staying around here too as long as I can keep my grades up in college!"
Di said, "I plan on working summers at the art museum here and maybe someday I’ll get to work there permanently. It would be great if we all stayed here! We are so great as one big team and I hope that that goes on forever."
Everyone agreed with her and then it was time for the dancing.
The couples all headed out to the dance floor and had a few dances to themselves and then they started switching partners for a few dances so everyone got to dance with everyone else and had a wonderful time joking back and forth.
After awhile the couples went back to dancing together because they all wanted to spend time as couples since it was such a special and important night.
After a little while dancing, Jim said, "Trixie, it’s getting a little hot in here. Why don’t we go out together on the porch and talk. There’s a few things I want to say to you tonight that I don’t want to say in the middle of the dance floor."
Trixie nervously said, "Okay, lead the way."
They walked out on the porch and nervously sat together on the swing. Trixie nervously waited for Jim to speak and finally he said, "Trixie, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about us lately. I’ve had feelings for you for a long time but I’ve been waiting for the right time to express them. I honestly don’t know exactly how deep they are, but they are very deep and I would like to explore these feelings with you. I don’t know how you feel about me but I needed to get this off my chest."
Trixie said, "I would like that a lot and was kind of wondering when you would get up the nerve to ask me but I guess I’ve been chicken to say anything myself. The fact of the matter is I do like you a lot and want to explore these feelings we have for each other and see where they take us. Many times I think we are destined to be together."
Jim gently put his arms around her and leaned down and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back. They were interrupted after a few minutes by Mart and Di.
Trixie braced herself for some teasing but Mart said, "I’m glad to see you two lovebirds finally getting together. Jim. Just treat my sister like she is meant to be treated. I’m happy for both of you."
Trixie hugged him and then she and Jim returned to the dance floor and soon were out on the floor dancing, completely lost in each other.
Meanwhile, Mart and Di sat down together on that same swing and Mart said, "Di, I want you to know I think while you are the most beautiful woman in the world, you have never looked more beautiful tonight and I want to ask you if you’d be my girlfriend. I know that kind of sounds like a goofy way to say it but I am a little goofy and I can’t think of a better way."
Di smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "I’d like that a lot and was beginning to wonder when you’d ask me!" They kissed again, this time on the lips, and this time they were interrupted by Honey and Brian who were coming out to the porch with the same idea as Mart and Di and Trixie and Jim.
They all laughed and Mart said, "Well I guess this is fair since we interrupted Trixie and Jim a few moments ago out here!"
Brian said, "We just saw them dancing in the ballroom. I think World War III could start right now and they wouldn’t notice!"
Mart and Di headed back to the ballroom, sensing that naturally Brian and Honey wanted to be together and they floated off onto the dance floor, lost in a world of their own.
Honey walked to the edge of the porch and saw all the lights everywhere on the lawns and said, "This is so beautiful."
Brian said, "Yes it is," but wasn’t looking at the lawns as he walked over to her.
"I want to thank you," said Honey. "Tonight has been really fun and very special for me."
"Same here and I was hoping to make it right for you. Prom is an important day in everyone’s life."
"I would like you to be an important part of my entire life."
"I would really like that, too."
Brian bent down and kissed Honey and after a few moments they returned to the dance floor where they saw Trixie and Jim laughing together by the punch bowl and Mart and Di talking to some of the other members of the class. Dan and Jenni were dancing in the corner, lost totally in each other.
The rest of the prom was perfect for all of them as they danced the night away. It was a night of beginnings and who knew what would happen next?
The End