Senior prom was a big night for everyone. It was really the last time that the senior class would spend together. The senior class of 1976 would soon part ways and head off in different directions. Billy and his friends were going to have one final good time before that happened.
He pulled up in front of Claudia Thompson's house at 5:12 PM. He had managed to shake his nervousness to ask her out. She was the most beautiful girl in their class, and a lot of guys were envious of Billy but his good looks and popularity made it an easy choice. She had hoped that he would ask her, after all he was the star quarterback of the football team, captain of the basketball team, and he was the starting second baseman for the baseball team. He had looks and talent.
Billy got out of the car and straightened his bowtie- he felt like a penguin in the tuxedo. He adjusted his jacket and checked his hair one last time before he headed up to the front door. He rang the bell, and of course the father of his date met him at the door.
"Billy, come on in." Mr. Thompson said
"Thank you sir." Billy replies in an uncomfortable manner. It wasn't easy to talk to the father of his date. But it wasn't long until Mrs. Thompson entered followed by Claudia.
"Wow." His eyes lit up when he saw her in her beautiful green gown that flowed with every step she took. It was as if she were walking on a cloud. He shook as he attempted to pin on her corsage. He was nervous and that clearly showed.
"Good evening Billy." Claudia said
"You look beautiful Claudia." He acknowledges as he tried to compose himself
"Thank you." She replies
As they head for the door her parents take a quick snapshot of the young couple, and then wish them well. They get into the car and head off. They were nearly a showstopper when they arrived. The girls all wanted to be Claudia, she was beautiful and she had the man that they had all wanted to escort them into the prom. They danced the evening away when finally it was time to name the King and Queen.
"May I have your attention please?" Mr. Johannson the school principle asked, "We must crown the King and Queen of the night." The crowd drew silent. "Tonight I am proud to announce that Billy Walsh is the King of the hour." Everyone cheers as an oversized red crown is placed upon Billy's head. "And joining him on the throne…the Queen of the 1976 Jefferson High School prom is…" Mr. Johannson pauses, "Claudia Thompson." The girls scream as Billy reaches down and assists his queen to the stage. The tiara is placed upon her head. She smiled so beautifully and Billy was beaming as he led her back to the floor to dance. "More Than A Feeling" begins to play as the happy couple embraces. They are wrapped up in the evening and before long it is time for the last dance. "Love To Love You Baby" plays and as it wraps up Billy pauses, he really doesn't want the night to end.
"So do you want to do something after this?" He asks
"I would love to, I don't want this night to end." Claudia admits
"Me neither." Billy replies
They find out that some of their friends are going to Coney Island afterwards. But Claudia and Billy really wanted to be alone for a little while. They head off to Coney Island, but they are a little farther away from the commotion. They sit on the hood of Billy's car and listen to the surf for a little while. Billy has since loosened his tie and taken off his jacket. They take off their shoes and go for a walk along the surf. After a short time the return to the car.
"Billy." Claudia says quietly
"Yes Claudia?" He asks
"Do you love me?" She asks him
He's not sure how to answer this; she's the most beautiful girl he has ever met. And she was also his first love. "Yes." He replies
"Then why haven't you kissed me?" She asks
"I wasn't sure that you wanted me to." He answers honestly.
"I want you to." She says as she leans closer to him.
He leans in and begins to kiss her. It becomes more than just a kiss as he slowly unzips the back of her dress and caresses her shoulders. He soon is shirtless. They share a few moments of passion. It's a feeling that Billy has never felt before. It felt good to him. They finally head off to join their friends.
"Hey Billy what took you so long?" His good friend John calls to him
"Just wanted to spend some time alone." He replies
"Hey, why don't we go racing?" Another friend recommends
"I don't know." Billy hesitates
"You losing your edge?" John asks
"No." Billy replies
"Then are ya coming?" John asks
Billy looks at Claudia. She nods in agreement that they should go. "Yeah, I am still the racing champion." He brags
They head down the beach a little ways to a small stretch of road that is abandoned. They set up their start and finish lines and then prepare to start. John revs his engine and Billy soon follows suit. Another of their friends drops the flag and they are off in a drag race. A short way from the finish John loses control of his car and slams into Billy's. Soon Billy's car is set into a roll, John's car finds its rest against a concrete barrier. Billy's car comes to a rest on its roof. John rushes over to his buddy's car.
"Billy." He cries, "Billy, talk to me!"
Billy is motionless in the car. They attempt to get inside but the doors are jammed.
"Someone call for help!" John screams as a couple of the others take off to get help.
"Billy!" John still continues to call to his friend he starts to cry.
It seems like forever before the fire department shows up. John rushes over to meet them. "They're trapped and I can't get Billy to talk to me."
"We'll get them out." The Lieutenant says as he and his men make their way to the car. "Better get a couple ambulances here." The Lieutenant calmly says over the radio.
It doesn't take long before the paramedics arrive and Billy and Claudia are freed from the car.
"This one's pretty bad." One of the paramedics says as he checks over Claudia
"This one is too." Another paramedic says.
The pair is rushed off to the hospital. The emergency room is buzzing with activity. Billy slowly regains consciousness.
"Where am I?" Billy asks
"You're at the hospital." A nurse responds
"What happened?" he asks
"You were in an accident." The nurse replies
He tries to raise his hand to touch his head, but he can't. His head really hurts and so does his leg and arm.
"Claudia!" He suddenly remembers, "Where's Claudia?"
"I'm sorry son." The doctor says
"What do you mean?" He panics
"Claudia, the girl you were with. She didn't survive the crash. I'm sorry." The doctor replies
Billy starts to cry and then things went fuzzy and eventually black. He woke up a while later. He was in a different room. It wasn't as bright- he was thankful for that. He noticed that he had a mask on his face; it was delivering oxygen to him. He had an IV in his arm to give him fluids and medicine. His sister was sitting by his bed when he woke up, but he hadn't noticed her.
"Good morning." She said to him
"How long have you been sitting there?" Billy asked
"Since about 7 this morning when they called us and told us you'd been in an accident." She said
"Oh." Billy wasn't sure how to respond to that.
He knew that it was his stupidity that brought him to this visit in the first place. His sister Ashley had been with him through his mom's death and helped him to adjust to life with their Aunt. She went to a Community College to try to get a degree, but she worked ringing up groceries to help her aunt support Billy- she didn't feel that it was right to make her Aunt bear all of the expenses of raising them.
"How's Claudia?" He asks
"Billy, she died last night in the accident." Ashley didn't want to punish for being so stupid, he'd already done enough of that by ending up in the hospital.
Billy begins to cry. "It's my fault." He sobs, "It's all my fault."
Ashley moves over to the bed to embrace her crying brother. She had been used to doing that in the middle of the night when they were younger and Billy had a nightmare. They were close growing up because they had to be- that was what made them both so strong. But Billy felt that this was a punishment, he always lost the people that he was close to, and he was scared to death that he might lose his sister. As he grew older he would begin to understand that it was not his fault, but right now he couldn't help but think that it was.
"Shhhhhh." Ashley tries to sooth Billy, "It's not your fault."
"It is, if I hadn't decided to go racing none of this would have ever happened." Billy cries
"It was a mistake Billy, you couldn't have done anything about this." She works on calming her brother down.
Eventually it works and Billy is calmed down. It did no good to get upset about it anyway, it was the past. There wasn't much to do to fix it. After all time is the best band-aid. But they say that every experience we have makes us stronger if we learn to grow by our mistakes and triumphs. This was just one more experience to grow from and Billy knew that. He was smart enough to know that everything would eventually turn out right.