Riley and Patrick walked onto the dance floor. Riley had been looking forward to this for a long time. Somehow it seemed underwhelming.
She expected the whole student body to be attending. But there were only about a hundred guests.
The ballroom was well-decorated. But the decorations looked completely phony.
There was music. But none of it was special or unique to Riley. It all sounded like music she had heard before on the radio or on her iPod. Worse, none of it sounded romantic.
There were refreshments. But the punch tasted just like any other punch. So did the marshmallows. There was a chocolate fountain, but Riley skipped that, not wanting to stain her dress.
After dancing for about an hour, Riley and Patrick went to sit down. Patrick left to use the restroom. Riley hoped he would get back in time to see who would be crowned king and queen.
She thought he would be gone three minutes. Tops.
The three minutes turned into four.
Four minutes turned into five.
"What's taking him so long?" Anger shouted.
"Maybe he's leaving us and is too polite to say so," Sadness suggested.
Five minutes turned into six.
Six minutes turned into seven.
Seven minutes turned into eight.
Eight minutes turned into nine.
Nine minutes turned into ten.
Ten minutes turned into eleven.
Eleven minutes passed, and Patrick returned.
They saw the coronation of the king and queen. "This could be the first high school prom with two queens," Patrick remarked.
Riley smiled politely, but insincerely.
They continued dancing, and then it was time to leave.
But instead of the limo, Patrick took Riley home in a completely different vehicle.
An open-air, horse-drawn carriage.
Now this was fun for Riley. A lot more fun than the prom itself. Even though the horse-drawn carriage still had to obey traffic laws, Riley felt like she was in a parade. She smiled and waved to everyone, as if that were really the case.
And it was in the carriage that Patrick gave Riley her first kiss. On the lips.
"Wahooooooooo!" Joy cheered. Not only was Joy cheering, she was growing bigger as well, towering over the other four emotions, who rushed to get out of Joy's way.
Riley did not want this carriage ride to end. But it did. And she had to step out and return home.
"How was the prom?" her mother asked.
"The prom was okay," Riley answered, " but the dinner was good, the carriage ride was grrreat, and Patrick, who gave me my first kiss, is AMAZING!"
Riley was so happy she had a very hard time falling asleep, and did not wake up until noon the next morning.
She got her first kiss, and she learned that unexpected happiness trumps expected happiness.
The End. I eagerly await your reviews.