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Once the date was decided, all the senior guys who worked at Food Giant asked for that night off. Joe was one of them and because so many workers were from the high school, the manager did his best to accommodate as many as possible and Joe was at the top of his list.
    Once Joe had the time off secured he was eager to tell Mary the good news. As it turned out, she came to the store that night to visit him. “Great news,” Joe said, grinning from ear to ear. “Larry gave me the night off for prom!”
    Mary’s reaction was not what he expected. She took his hand. “I can’t go with you. My parents would never allow it,” she said, looking down, not wanting to make eye contact.
    Joe was crushed. He had never anticipated this…and he should have. “I’ll talk to your dad. This is a once in a lifetime event and you shouldn’t miss it!”
    Mary was having trouble finding the right words to respond. “I’m not going to miss it Joe. I am going with Dave Ladue but it means nothing and is just for show. In my heart I will be with you.”
    Dave fucking Ladue! Joe could not believe his ears. This guy was king of the nerds and a total dick with a 4.0 grade point…just the kind of guy Mary’s dad would pick…safe and gender neutral. It never occurred to Joe to find another date like she had done. If he couldn’t go with Mary he didn’t want to go at all.
    “When did he ask you?” Joe responded.
    “He didn’t…I asked him.” Mary replied. Dave and everyone else assumed she was going with Joe and was delightfully shocked to get the invitation. He never asked her reason for choosing him and didn’t care.
    Was Joe the dumbest asshole in Lansdale? She had to have had this all planned out and never felt it necessary to tell the guy she professed to love? All Joe could do was pretend he understood and try and get past this in the weeks leading up to graduation. Something was changing in their relationship but he chose to ignore the signs and threw himself into his job and raising hell with Johnny and Larry.
    Toledo, Ohio was a mere 55 miles from Lansdale and allowed teens to purchase diluted “three-two” beer. When it became too risky to steal real beer and wine from the store, the three amigos (Larry, Johnny and Joe) would often take a road trip after work to stock up on the low buzz brew. On just such a night, they piled in to Larry’s baby blue Ford and headed south.
    They made it to Toledo in just under one hour and hit the beer store for two six packs and some smokes. Rather than hang in Toledo to enjoy their bounty, they decided to head back home and party all the way. AM radio was smothering the air waves with the first Beatles singles…She Loves You, I Want to Hold Your Hand, and some cuts from their new album, “Meet the Beatles.” Larry had not gotten the Beatles bug yet and when a Beach Boys hit came on he cranked up the volume and the gas pedal.
    It was almost 1 AM as the blue Ford streaked down the empty turnpike, crossing the border from Ohio into Michigan. The moon was full and the boys were howling “Help Me Rhonda” into the darkness when Larry lost control. They weren’t sure if there was ice or a wet spot on the road but the Ford flipped on its side and slid for almost ¼ mile before coming to a stop on the shoulder. Miraculously no one was injured beyond a few bruises and a bloody nose.
    To Joe, it all happened in slow motion and as he sat in the back seat, the radio played some all too familiar lyrics: “You ask how much I need you…” How fucking ironic, Joe thought. He’s sitting upside down and half drunk in the middle of nowhere listening to “The Twelfth of Never” while Mary is picking out a prom gown and getting her hair done. At that very moment he decided he would kick Dave Ladue’s ass.
    The boys were stone cold sober at that point and were able to push the car back on to its wheels before a trucker stopped to help. Larry was able to get the car started and they slowly