The parking lot piles in with cars as students line up in the back of the school awaiting their red-carpet moment. Girls appear taller in their heels and their sparkling dresses shine every time light catches on them. Their dates stand close dressed in solid-colored suits with ties wrapped neatly around their necks.
Teachers and parents hold open the doors for all of the students walking in each one with a smile on their face. Students’ feet walk the red carpet centered on the concrete all the way up to a large wallpaper inside meant for pictures. Couples, friends and large groups pile in for a photo while the photographers point and shoot.
Further away from the entrance, the make-shift stage with dancing students on the floor next to it. Music blared from the speakers, and the DJ hyped the crowd with whooping and hollering. Everyone on the dance floor held a grin that stretched wide across their faces as they pumped their fists in the air and jumped to the beat. In the middle of the song though, two boys plunge on stage and dance. The cheers grew louder and their hands wave high in excitement for the performance the boys put on. After they jump-off, a trend started which had more students hopping up with the DJ to join them in dancing.
Those not included in the dancing lined the outskirts of the cafeteria, some waiting on the photobooth, others snacked on the provided candy and popcorn or some just mingle with their peers at the tables. Though it deemed difficult to hear others talking over the loud music, everyone whispered in each other’s ears and laughed at the jokes and comments made. Some students gave up on trying to talk and instead resorted to screaming out the songs playing.
Groups of friends piled up at the photobooth with large, colorful glasses and glitter top hats as decorations for their pictures. Laughing at how silly their pictures were, they scrambled to get to the next pose but missed their timing, and the four small pictures printed blurry, chaotic and memorable.
As the night carried on, girls got shorter and boys’ ties were no longer neatly knotted. Instead, heels were kicked to the sides and bags left unattended as everyone grabbed their partner and danced the last hour away. One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful” shuffled on and girls praised the DJ with loud screaming. The Wobble played next and had everyone moving with the music. Soon enough, the dance came to a close, and everyone with bruised feet and ruffled clothes walked back to the parking lot to sleep off the crazy that had been the Homecoming Dance.
