Peter anxiously waited for Julie to come downstairs. While Mr. Morris was being nice to him, he was terribly nervous being alone with him. After a few minutes of waiting, Mr. Morris summoned his daughter to come down to her date.
"Julie honey, Peter is here!" He called up the staircase.
"Alright daddy, just a minute," Peter heard her sweet voice call back. Literally five minutes later, Peter turned his head towards the staircase as he heard the bedroom door open. Julie stood at the top of the stairs in a lovely ankle length red dress with spaghetti straps. A lacy, cream colored shawl was draped across her shoulders and down over her arms. Her hair was twisted up in a French bun and there were tiny ringlet curls down by her neck and dangling a bit in front of her ears. Peter's mouth opened wide as he stared at the young woman, who slowly descended to the first floor.
"Peter, is something the matter?" Julie asked.
"You're beautiful," he stated simply. "You're more beautiful than I ever imagined."
"Thank you, you're very handsome yourself," Julie whispered nervously. Julie cared about Peter very much and was happy that he was her boyfriend, but there was something different about him tonight. It was something deep she couldn't see, but could feel. It wasn't a bad feeling; it just made her stomach flutter.
"I brought you these roses," Peter said as he offered them to Julie, "I was supposed to get a corsage, but I forgot. So when I went to the florist, they were all out, I'm sorry."
"That's all right," Julie said as she sniffed the flowers, "I love roses. Besides, I can cut one of the buds off and safety pin it to my dress. I'll have the most unique corsage at the prom."
"Ok, no one is leaving this house until I get a picture of you two," Mr. Morris said with Polaroid in hand. Julie and Peter went and stood by the door. They reached out to each other to hold hands.
"Ok, everybody say cheese," Mr. Morris said as he shot the picture.
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Davy knocked once, then twice on the Parkers' door, till he was greeted by Stella.
"Hello Davy, Cindi is almost ready. She is so excited. I just can't thank you enough," Stella said with a million dollar smile.
"Well, I can think of a few ways," Davy said with a wink. Their conversation was interrupted as Cindi made her way down the stairs. She wore a knee length, sky blue sun dress with a matching jacket. Her shoulder length blonde hair had been flipped up and the sides had been pulled back. She smiled at her date genuinely.
"Hey David, how's it going?" She spoke.
"It's going fine. You look very lovely," Davy complimented.
"Stella did my make up and hair," Cindi commented.
Davy, Cindi, and Stella were all sitting in the family room talking when Mr. and Mrs. Parker entered the room.
"David, this is my mom and dad," Cindi said with a smile. Davy became a little scared. Mr. Parker was a big, broad man and Mrs. Parker was very stern looking. He breathed a sigh of relief when he seen them both crack a smile.
"It's good to meet you boy," Mr. Parker said as he stuck a hand out, "Name is Paul,"
"David Jones, sir," Davy said accepting the handshake.
"This is my wife, Susan," Mr. Parker continued.
"How long have you known Cindi?" Mrs. Parker asked.
"Well, I really don't know her. This is a blind date, you see," Davy said.
"You mean you aren't even acquaintances?" Mr. Parker asked with a voice full of concern.
"Um...well," Davy stammered.
"He just taking me to Prom, we not getting married dad," Cindi whined and rolled her eyes.
"Davy's a fine person, mom and dad. You need not worry about Cindi," Stella jumped in.
"We gotta go. I wanna eat," Cindi told her parents.
"Yes, we had better be getting along. We've got another couple to pick up and dinner reservations to keep," Davy said politely, but directly. After a few pictures were taken and Cindi's mom had given her a list of "do's" and "don'ts", the two were on their way. After they had gone, Susan Parker turned to her eldest daughter to voice her concerns.
"Well young lady, I hope your little sister doesn't get hurt tonight. You know how vulnerable she can be," she stated.
"Davy wouldn't hurt her. He's a gentleman," Stella protested.
"On purpose, maybe not, but what if Cindi thinks he's interested in her?" Mrs. Parker asked.
"Momma, you don't give Cindi enough credit. She knows that Davy is just her escort this evening. There are lots of things out there Cindi will probably never experience, but this is one night she can always look back on and remember. Likely, she will never have a wedding, but every girl needs at least one night to feel like a princess. This is her night, be happy," Stella told her mother.
"I know you are right," Mrs. Parker said, "but if anything happens, Davy is never welcome around here again."