Do You Need A Date To Prom?

I feel like there's this distance between me and the rest of my grad class. It's like they all know exactly how all this graduation and prom stuff works but I have no clue. I get the basic details but stuff like dates and the bus to prom were things I thought no one bothered with. Turns out 90% of the grad class takes a bus from our photo-taking location to our prom location, I think I'm the only one who didn't know that. Also when it comes to dates, turns out it's not just like any other dance.

Apparently, a prom date is actually a thing people have. I thought all the hype around dates was like a teen movie thing, not a real life thing. I mean I haven't seen any promposals but I've heard of lots of people with dates. My question is whether or not I should feel bad about not having a date. I never planned on having a date, being single I wouldn't want to just go with some random guy just so I have a date but I also feel kinda ashamed of not having a date. I know it doesn't matter and my original plan was to hang out with friends and that's what's going to happen but I can't help but worry this dance will be just like the last one I went to. During the last dance, I brought my best friend with me and my other friends left us alone and pretty much ignored me the whole night or at least that's how it felt. This time my best friend won't be there since she goes to a different school but I still worry that I will feel out of place or ignored with my friends. That's kinda why having a date would be nice so that I would have someone there who would pay attention to me and not leave me alone. From my experience bringing a date to a dance is pretty boring but I have a feeling having a date to prom is a lot more exciting.

The bottom line is I don't have a date to prom. Do I need a date to prom? No. Do I want a date to prom? Sort of. However, I will say if you are in the same situation as me, try not to worry because worrying isn't really solving anything. I'm sure everything will be okay and it'll be lots of fun hanging out with friends. My prom is less than a week away so you can imagine how I feel.