The Rules for Existing

Susan

I don't know how but Shamila, William and I have convinced one of our teachers to organize a prom. Yeah, right!

The first prom in a school in DLC, and perhaps one of the first in all of the country. The thing is, nobody in our country has ever celebrated the end of the school as if it was something important. Not even the last day of the last year of high school. It has always been just 'get your diploma and get out of here as fast as you can'. I've always figured a party would have been nice. Everybody likes a party. Even kids who look like they don't like having fun, they do.

As Connie says lately, 'one foot in front of the other'. Of course, they say it with a grudging smile and with more tears in their eyes than laughter. They're really bummed for the way their coming out turned out. Personally, I don't get how people could think they're overreacting and that things like this aren't important. Our mother, as supportive as she was, still doesn't understand them very well. And Connie would like people (especially people they're fond of) to look at them and really see them for what they are. As if they could peel off a mask that they've been wearing for far too long. Honestly, you don't have to understand. But when somebody shows you who they are, you must respect them.

I'm glad that since Connie is now dating Oskar, they have other things on their minds. For example, they have started planning last week what they're going to wear for the prom.

The teacher who let us organize the whole thing told us not to overdo it, so we couldn't choose a theme. If we could have, Shamila would have chosen comic books and asked everybody to go in cosplay (no, I'm not making it up), I would have chosen science fiction (I was looking forward to doing my hair like Barbarella), and William would have chosen the Renaissance. Once the teacher heard about our ideas, he told us to keep it as simple as possible.

The prom might have been one of the few things I didn't screw up in my life.

Okay, now I'm being dramatic. But you know what I mean — it's comforting to know sometimes things can turn out fine.

Connie looked dashing at the prom. They had their disheveled black hair all over their face, as always, but they were wearing a black and white suit and tie. They also added a hint of make up (blue eyeshadow like Frank n Furter) to look more androgynous. Even though their style is usually grunge or skater, they know how to spice things up. They even had glitter in their hair!

Oskar had a white shirt with black trousers, but he looked absolutely fantastic. I know Connie loves to say he looks like a young Obi Wan Kenobi, because of the color of his hair, but now that his hair is longer, he looks more like Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker.

"Hey, sis," Connie grinned at me as soon as they got to the party. I was already there, because I had spent all afternoon trying to decorate the room with Shamila and William. The result wasn't half bad — it was shabby but nice. It looked way too much like a dance club for my taste, but with glitter, gloomy atmospheres and lots of glimmering lights you can never go wrong.

"Nobody calls their own sister 'sis'," I rolled my eyes. I secretly knew Connie enjoyed referring to me as their sister — as if it gave them some sort of comfort, which I guess was true. And then, if they were so eager to declare to the whole room that we were related, it meant that they were proud of me. I've always found that sweet.

"Well, I do," Connie replied. "And now I'm sorry, but I owe Oskar a dance. It's been since I first laid my eyes on him that I'd been hoping to dance with him."

"That's... weird," Oskar couldn't help but say. He is less genuine than Connie in showing his feelings, but also less upfront and more modest. Which can't hurt. The only downside is that it always takes him a while to understand whether Connie is teasing him, even now that they're together.