It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon at the Monkees Pad. At first glance, anyone would have figured it to be an ordinary Saturday, which it was, for Mike and Micky. However, for our Peter and Davy, it was an extra special day. Both young men had dates, a double date, in fact. It was the first time that either of them had accompanied each other on such an event. Peter was glad, though, to have Davy along...just in case his nerves got the better of him or if he should happen to need some quick advice about girls.
Peter couldn't believe it. Two days ago he had been asked to escort his girlfriend to her Senior Prom, now the time had finally come. When he had met Julie, he expected nothing more than just a friendship from her. Apparently, she wanted more than that and Peter was more than willing to give it a shot. The thought of her made him happy, and the thought of trying to make her happy made him nervous. This was the most important night of her life. He wanted it to be special. Davy was to take Julie's best friend Cindi to the prom. Just because Cindi had Downs Syndrome, nobody else had asked her to the prom, which Davy thought was pretty crummy. Davy didn't want the poor girl to be left out of such an important milestone, so he asked if he might be her escort for the evening. Davy sighed, as Peter took control over the mirror. Sure, it was a bigger night for him, since he had a girlfriend to impress, but Davy wasn't about to go anywhere with a hair out of place.
"Hey, could you take two steps to the left please?" Davy asked Peter.
"Wait, I can't see to tie my tie," Peter said as his hands shook.
"You're not nervous are you?" Davy asked.
"Yeah, I've never been to a prom," Peter said.
"It'll be fine. Besides, you're going with your girlfriend," Davy reassured him.
"Yeah, you're right. Everything will be great," Peter said with a smile.
"Hey, you did remember to get Julie a corsage, right?" Davy asked Peter. Immediately, Peter got his infamous "uh-oh" look on his face.
"Oh Peter, don't tell me you forgot Julie's corsage," Davy said as he slapped his forehead.
"Ok, I won't, but I did," Peter said, almost in tears.
"Well, we still have some time. Why don't you run to the florist and get her one?" Davy suggested.
"Great idea, thanks," Peter said as he ran out the door and down the street. Davy sort of chuckled at his friend's absentmindedness. To be perfectly honest though, Davy was a little nervous himself. If he hadn't promised Cindi's sister, Stella, that he would take her, it might have been tempting to call the whole thing off. He had never met, let alone gone out with, someone that had Cindi's particular problem. Would he be able to talk to Cindi like he could with other girls? Would she understand? If she had never been on a date before, how would she know what to expect out of him? He wondered why he always let himself get into the messes he did. All this ran through Davy's mind as he finished combing his hair. He finally decided that he wasn't going to treat her any differently than anyone else. He figured it was the best way to keep her from feeling different and for him to ease the tension.
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Peter sang happily to himself as he walked down the street toward Julie's house. In his hands were a dozen red roses, which he purchased after he found out the florist was all out of corsages. He smiled as he thought of how much his life had changed in just a week's time. Wasn't it just last week when he had found Julie there on the beach? He knew from the beginning that there was something special about her. That smile of hers was like a magic spell, which had Peter totally locked into a trance. Peter was aware that his feelings for Julie were growing much more quickly than he had anticipated. He really wanted to take things slowly for Julie's sake, since she had never been in a boy/girl relationship. Besides, Peter knew more than likely their relationship would only be short termed. In this day and age, if you dated the same person longer than a week, you were considered "going steady". It seemed that everyone wanted to just "play the field" as it was called. The idea of free love and experimentation had sort of taken the place of true and honest love. Love, was that what Peter was feeling for Julie? He knew he would do anything for her, and his thoughts lately were constantly of her. Peter really had so many questions. He really wished he had taken the time to talk to Davy. All that would have to wait though, because before he knew it he was standing in front of Julie's front door. He took a deep breath, calmed himself, and knocked. He became more nervous, though, when Julie's dad answered the door instead of her.
"H-h-hi, I'm-I'm," Peter stammered.
"Hello, you must be Peter. Am I correct?" Mr. Morris asked.
"Yes," Peter said shyly.
"Come on in son," Mr. Morris said as he opened the door all the way.
Peter took a seat on the couch and looked around the room. The setup was exactly like the Monkee's Pad, just decorated differently.
"So Julie says you two met on the beach," Mr. Morris said, trying to start a conversation.
"Yes sir, we got to talking and became friends," Peter told him, cautiously leaving out the part where Julie had been crying.
"You know, my little girl has never taken company with a fella before. I hope you will take that into consideration when you are out with her this evening," Mr. Morris warned. Peter gulped hard. All he was hearing was, "You even so much as touch my baby you're a dead man."
"Yes sir," Peter said, "Julie is a nice young lady. That's why I like her so much. Um...I mean as friends, good friends, um she's nice, nice and polite, I'm nice and polite, very polite," Peter stammered, trying to dig himself out of a hole.
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Meanwhile, Davy had made his way to Stella's house to get Cindi. Mike had decided to let Davy use the Monkeemobile on the condition that only he drove it and not Peter. Peter's driving skills really weren't the best and sometimes he had trouble seeing at night. Peter was the type of person that would completely flip a car over, as opposed to hitting a possum that darted out in the middle of the road. Davy sang along with the radio to get his mind off of being nervous, but all too soon he came upon Stella's block. He cautiously parallel parked the Monkeemobile in front of Stella's house. After a sigh, he grabbed the corsage he had gotten for Cindi and made his way to the front door.
"Well, here goes nothing," he exclaimed to himself, as he reached for the door knocker.