Chapter Twenty-Two - The Bum Bum Bum That Saved the Night

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

The Bum Bum Bum That Saved the Night

“YOU DON’T NEED perfect. You need presence.”

Let’s talk about school dances.
Homecoming. Prom. Winter Formal. The whole sparkly lineup.

They are ridiculous, overhyped, sometimes awkward, and they’re also kind of magical.

They’re the events you grow up hearing about.
In movies. In stories. In older siblings’ stories.
They’re supposed to be everything.

And then you get there…
And they’re not everything.
But they’re something.

I was lucky. I had good experiences.
My first Homecoming, I went with a very nice girl from another school. We went to Golden Corral beforehand (classy, I know), got some solid pictures, and laughed a lot.
My first Prom? Killer night. Great date. Good people.
One time, I even got to go with a hot blonde girl.
I was a little fat kid, you know I was thrilled.

But here’s the thing:
The fun doesn’t come from the dance floor.
It comes from the build-up.
It comes from the rituals.

Getting the flowers.
Matching your tie to the dress.
Picking up your suit with your dad.
Arguing over color palettes with your aunt.
Going over to someone’s house for photos.
Taking fifty pictures in the same pose and hoping one looks natural.

Those are the good parts.

Because let’s be real, dances aren’t about dancing anymore.
They’re about Instagram.
Everyone’s so obsessed with curating the perfect picture, they forget to live in the actual moment.

But here’s the truth:
No one looks at the pictures.
No one cares who had the “best” post.
Everyone scrolls right past them because everyone is posting.

So stop chasing the camera.
Go to the dance.

Because the magic isn’t in how it looks, it’s in how it feels.

It’s in walking into a room where everyone’s there to have a good time.
Where no one’s perfect. Where some kids are awkward. Where the DJ misses more than he hits.
But eventually, it happens:

Sweet Caroline.

At my school, it played at every dance.
And when it hit the “BUM BUM BUM,” everyone, everyone, screamed it with their whole soul.

It didn’t matter how weird the night had been.
Didn’t matter if your feet hurt.
Didn’t matter if you didn’t slow dance with the person you wanted to.
At that moment, we were all in it together.

That’s the secret.
That’s the heartbeat.
That’s the night you remember.

School dances aren’t about perfect pictures or dream dates.
They’re about showing up.
Letting go.
Moving your body.
Singing too loud.
Wearing shoes that hurt.
Saying yes to something.

It doesn’t have to look like the movies.
It just has to feel like something real.