< by Brennan >

I had a pretty standard prom: dinner with friends at a swank restaurant (The Trellis in Williamsburg, VA), fancy car (the silver Honda Accord coupe), and some cute hand-holding in said car later in the night, although my date had to go home early because she was taking a test the next morning (maybe the SATs?)

Like I said, pretty standard. When I think of prom, my mind goes to the night after prom, which I recall so fondly because my friends and I — fresh off finishing high school — got to play in a way we hadn’t in a long time.

There were poker tables; we played an absurd amount of Texas Hold ‘Em in high school. Usually for about $5 cash, maybe $10, but we played like we were on the cusp of a World Series of Poker Bracelet. A Gladiator-style dueling ring, basketball, movies, sketch artists (mine looked like Elvis with a dumber face and tsunami sized afro), and magicians who seemed like normal guys but then pulled doves out.

It was like we had been transported to a place where we could travel through each layer of our friendship together. The times playing basketball, soccer. Endless hours of video games. Sleepovers at each other’s houses. Staying up all night playing Halo until the parents, up for the next morning, put a stop to it.

I’m not very good with lotto, raffles, etc. But on this night, I won a fridge. A fridge that I took to college. But this night was unique, I think, because it marked the end of an era — and it was totally, utterly awesome. I look back on my prom and am transported right back to that moment of victory, and how I was suddenly so hungry.