Teacup, teacup, sitting on the wall
Doesn’t see the hand
Falls to the floor
Little teacup doesn’t stand a chance
“T-cup!”
I stopped staring at myself in the mirror, eyes moving away from the gorgeous dress I had bought last weekend. Dad knocked on my door again, his voice lined with impatience.
“Tiff, your boyfriend is here,” he said through the door.
“I’m coming!”
I turned back to the mirror, heart starting to race. The gown almost reached the floor, and my shiny white heels stuck out at the bottom. When I twirled, I felt like a princess. I grabbed my clutch purse from my bed and held it under an arm.
He would like it, wouldn’t he?
He had to. Everything was perfect. I wore a blue dress, his favorite color, no floral patterns on the dress because he hated that kind of thing, and I had kept the makeup to a minimum because he said I looked beautiful without it.
I stepped outside and nearly ran into my father. “Is the limo here?” I asked him.
“The guy just called me. He should be here in a few minutes. Come on, you wanted some pictures, didn’t you?”
Dad followed me down the stairs. My handsome William stood next to my mom, this happy grin on his face.
“Hey,” I said, taking his arm. “Sorry about the wait. Just wanted to look perfect.”
“You always look perfect,” he told me.
I smiled.
“Ooh! I got you a boutonniere,” I said, dragging him to the kitchen and telling my parents to wait a few minutes.
“Oh shoot,” Will said. “The corsage…”
I swallowed my disappointment. “That’s okay. The boutonniere came with a corsage, so we can just use that one.”
I pulled the set out of the fridge, and we struggled a little bit putting the flower pieces on each other.
“You really thought this whole thing through, huh,” Will said when I patted his now-embellished pocket.
“I want this to be an experience we won’t forget.”
We walked back out to my parents.
Mom and Dad spent a few minutes telling us how to pose as they took a couple hundred photos. My little sister Cherry wanted to be a part of some of the photos when she realized what was going on.
I picked her up with a smile, struggling a little bit because she had gotten so big.
Will kept looking towards the door between photos. “Should we be going?”
“Yeah, of course, as soon as our ride’s here.”
“You know I said I’d be happy to drive.”
I shrugged. “I thought it’d be more romantic to have a chauffeur. You’ll enjoy it, I promise.”
Will gave me a toothless smile.
“Don’t worry,” I told him.
He said nothing.
When my parents were done taking photos, Will and I went outside, where a small limo sat waiting for us. “What’d I say?” I said, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards it. “He’ll take us to dinner, and then to prom, and then he’ll drop us both back here.”
“Where’s dinner?” he asked.
I rolled my eyes. “You’ll see.”
“You always have everything planned, don’t you?” Will asked as we got into the car.
I felt like we’d had this conversation before, so I didn’t answer.
“Tiffany, don’t you think this is a bit much?”
Our driver started driving when we were both seated. I frowned. “I don’t think it’s too much. I mean, every high schooler wants the perfect prom. So it will be.”
Will didn’t say anything. I sat back and took his hand in mine, feeling like I had done something wrong. I shook my head inwardly. It would be a night to remember.
“Am I not good enough for you or something?”
“Huh?”
“Tiff, you need to just let things happen sometimes.”
“What’s wrong with planning stuff?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. But come on, does every date and hangout have to be so detailed? I bet you already know which song we’re going to slow dance to tonight, and which ones we’re going to hang back from. I bet--”
“That’s not what I do,” I said. “You’ve known me a long time. I don’t do that all the time.”
Will shifted so that he could look me in the eyes. “You know, that’s what I used to tell myself. I thought maybe I was imagining it. But you’ve never been one to let things just… take their course. You know?”
I tried to process that. If this had been a problem for so long, I couldn’t understand why Will hadn’t brought it up earlier. I wondered why he chose now to do it, why he had to steal the cheer from my night.
“Do you remember our first date?” Will asked.
I started to smile a little bit. I’d told him to dress casual, that we were going somewhere where his clothes could get dirty. And even though we barely knew each other then, he still went along with it. “Yeah, I remember,” I said.
“You took us fishing.”
“And you caught a fish.”
“I don’t like fishing,” he said.
“Me neither. But I thought if we did something we both didn’t like, it’d still be fun because we were together.”
Will sighed. He didn’t smile with fondness, didn’t take my hand like he usually did when things didn’t feel right.
“I don’t think we’re working,” he said, almost too soft for me to hear.
“Um…” I frowned. “Well, we’re both in school, and we come from well-off families, so yeah, we don’t have to work--”
“That’s not what I meant.”
I tried my best to take a deep breath, to drive the tears away. But in an instant, my eyes were watering. I knew what he meant. Of course I knew what he meant.
“I don’t think you’ve given me a chance,” I said softly.
“No. I don’t think you’ve given me a chance. I think you think you’re better than me, and all of this,” he gestured at everything, me, the dress, the shoes, the limo, “is just to rub it in my face.”
“You’re taking this the wrong way.”
Will shook his head. He seemed so angry. I felt like I should’ve seen it coming, but everything had always seemed okay to me. He’d had fun on that fishing trip, and he’d had fun on every other date I had planned.
“I want to make you happy,” I said, sounding desperate even to myself.
“No, you want to make you happy.”
It hurt when he said that. I felt like hurting him back. I tried so hard to make him happy; he did nothing!
“Stop crying,” he said, his tone taking on more tenderness than before.
Which just made me cry even more.
“Hey, can you take us back?” Will said to the driver. “Back to her house.”
I had messed up. My heart was racing again but for completely different reasons. Mom and Dad would ask me what happened. They would hate Will but they would feel sorry for me.
“You can’t do this right now,” I said. “We got the tickets, our friends are expecting us, my parents took pictures!”
“You gotta stop thinking like that, Tiff.”
“Like what?”
“Like everyone’s expecting something of you! You’re not that special! Nobody cares if everything goes well all the time or that everything’s perfect. Sometimes, people just want to live their lives without feeling like something has to happen a certain way.”
I kept silent the rest of the ride. I thought, if I talked back, I would start shouting, and if I started shouting, I wouldn’t stop. And if I didn’t stop… I didn’t know what would happen, but I would probably say things I couldn’t take back.
When we got back to my house, Will got out of the limo, gave me one last look, walked over to his car and drove off. Not a single word.
I felt cheated, cheated of an experience I had looked forward to for a really long time.
My parents were in their bedroom when I entered the house, but Cherry was sitting in the living room coloring in a book. She looked up when she saw me. “That was fast!” she said.
She must’ve seen the tears that had been running down my cheeks. My eyes were red, my throat felt clogged. I felt like a princess without a prince. I felt incomplete, broken, like someone had chipped off a part of me.
I sniffed, sitting down on the sofa. Cherry came over and joined me, looking at me. Could she see I was broken?
Teacup, teacup, sitting on the wall
Doesn’t see the hand
Falls to the floor
Little teacup doesn’t stand a chance
No more perfection
No more romance
Cherry stroked my dress with a small smile and looked up at my face.
“You’re so beautiful,” she said.
Doesn’t see the hand
Falls to the floor
Little teacup doesn’t stand a chance
“T-cup!”
I stopped staring at myself in the mirror, eyes moving away from the gorgeous dress I had bought last weekend. Dad knocked on my door again, his voice lined with impatience.
“Tiff, your boyfriend is here,” he said through the door.
“I’m coming!”
I turned back to the mirror, heart starting to race. The gown almost reached the floor, and my shiny white heels stuck out at the bottom. When I twirled, I felt like a princess. I grabbed my clutch purse from my bed and held it under an arm.
He would like it, wouldn’t he?
He had to. Everything was perfect. I wore a blue dress, his favorite color, no floral patterns on the dress because he hated that kind of thing, and I had kept the makeup to a minimum because he said I looked beautiful without it.
I stepped outside and nearly ran into my father. “Is the limo here?” I asked him.
“The guy just called me. He should be here in a few minutes. Come on, you wanted some pictures, didn’t you?”
Dad followed me down the stairs. My handsome William stood next to my mom, this happy grin on his face.
“Hey,” I said, taking his arm. “Sorry about the wait. Just wanted to look perfect.”
“You always look perfect,” he told me.
I smiled.
“Ooh! I got you a boutonniere,” I said, dragging him to the kitchen and telling my parents to wait a few minutes.
“Oh shoot,” Will said. “The corsage…”
I swallowed my disappointment. “That’s okay. The boutonniere came with a corsage, so we can just use that one.”
I pulled the set out of the fridge, and we struggled a little bit putting the flower pieces on each other.
“You really thought this whole thing through, huh,” Will said when I patted his now-embellished pocket.
“I want this to be an experience we won’t forget.”
We walked back out to my parents.
Mom and Dad spent a few minutes telling us how to pose as they took a couple hundred photos. My little sister Cherry wanted to be a part of some of the photos when she realized what was going on.
I picked her up with a smile, struggling a little bit because she had gotten so big.
Will kept looking towards the door between photos. “Should we be going?”
“Yeah, of course, as soon as our ride’s here.”
“You know I said I’d be happy to drive.”
I shrugged. “I thought it’d be more romantic to have a chauffeur. You’ll enjoy it, I promise.”
Will gave me a toothless smile.
“Don’t worry,” I told him.
He said nothing.
When my parents were done taking photos, Will and I went outside, where a small limo sat waiting for us. “What’d I say?” I said, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards it. “He’ll take us to dinner, and then to prom, and then he’ll drop us both back here.”
“Where’s dinner?” he asked.
I rolled my eyes. “You’ll see.”
“You always have everything planned, don’t you?” Will asked as we got into the car.
I felt like we’d had this conversation before, so I didn’t answer.
“Tiffany, don’t you think this is a bit much?”
Our driver started driving when we were both seated. I frowned. “I don’t think it’s too much. I mean, every high schooler wants the perfect prom. So it will be.”
Will didn’t say anything. I sat back and took his hand in mine, feeling like I had done something wrong. I shook my head inwardly. It would be a night to remember.
“Am I not good enough for you or something?”
“Huh?”
“Tiff, you need to just let things happen sometimes.”
“What’s wrong with planning stuff?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. But come on, does every date and hangout have to be so detailed? I bet you already know which song we’re going to slow dance to tonight, and which ones we’re going to hang back from. I bet--”
“That’s not what I do,” I said. “You’ve known me a long time. I don’t do that all the time.”
Will shifted so that he could look me in the eyes. “You know, that’s what I used to tell myself. I thought maybe I was imagining it. But you’ve never been one to let things just… take their course. You know?”
I tried to process that. If this had been a problem for so long, I couldn’t understand why Will hadn’t brought it up earlier. I wondered why he chose now to do it, why he had to steal the cheer from my night.
“Do you remember our first date?” Will asked.
I started to smile a little bit. I’d told him to dress casual, that we were going somewhere where his clothes could get dirty. And even though we barely knew each other then, he still went along with it. “Yeah, I remember,” I said.
“You took us fishing.”
“And you caught a fish.”
“I don’t like fishing,” he said.
“Me neither. But I thought if we did something we both didn’t like, it’d still be fun because we were together.”
Will sighed. He didn’t smile with fondness, didn’t take my hand like he usually did when things didn’t feel right.
“I don’t think we’re working,” he said, almost too soft for me to hear.
“Um…” I frowned. “Well, we’re both in school, and we come from well-off families, so yeah, we don’t have to work--”
“That’s not what I meant.”
I tried my best to take a deep breath, to drive the tears away. But in an instant, my eyes were watering. I knew what he meant. Of course I knew what he meant.
“I don’t think you’ve given me a chance,” I said softly.
“No. I don’t think you’ve given me a chance. I think you think you’re better than me, and all of this,” he gestured at everything, me, the dress, the shoes, the limo, “is just to rub it in my face.”
“You’re taking this the wrong way.”
Will shook his head. He seemed so angry. I felt like I should’ve seen it coming, but everything had always seemed okay to me. He’d had fun on that fishing trip, and he’d had fun on every other date I had planned.
“I want to make you happy,” I said, sounding desperate even to myself.
“No, you want to make you happy.”
It hurt when he said that. I felt like hurting him back. I tried so hard to make him happy; he did nothing!
“Stop crying,” he said, his tone taking on more tenderness than before.
Which just made me cry even more.
“Hey, can you take us back?” Will said to the driver. “Back to her house.”
I had messed up. My heart was racing again but for completely different reasons. Mom and Dad would ask me what happened. They would hate Will but they would feel sorry for me.
“You can’t do this right now,” I said. “We got the tickets, our friends are expecting us, my parents took pictures!”
“You gotta stop thinking like that, Tiff.”
“Like what?”
“Like everyone’s expecting something of you! You’re not that special! Nobody cares if everything goes well all the time or that everything’s perfect. Sometimes, people just want to live their lives without feeling like something has to happen a certain way.”
I kept silent the rest of the ride. I thought, if I talked back, I would start shouting, and if I started shouting, I wouldn’t stop. And if I didn’t stop… I didn’t know what would happen, but I would probably say things I couldn’t take back.
When we got back to my house, Will got out of the limo, gave me one last look, walked over to his car and drove off. Not a single word.
I felt cheated, cheated of an experience I had looked forward to for a really long time.
My parents were in their bedroom when I entered the house, but Cherry was sitting in the living room coloring in a book. She looked up when she saw me. “That was fast!” she said.
She must’ve seen the tears that had been running down my cheeks. My eyes were red, my throat felt clogged. I felt like a princess without a prince. I felt incomplete, broken, like someone had chipped off a part of me.
I sniffed, sitting down on the sofa. Cherry came over and joined me, looking at me. Could she see I was broken?
Teacup, teacup, sitting on the wall
Doesn’t see the hand
Falls to the floor
Little teacup doesn’t stand a chance
No more perfection
No more romance
Cherry stroked my dress with a small smile and looked up at my face.
“You’re so beautiful,” she said.