Your school is the first doomsday school in the nation and your curriculum is built on the belief that the world is going to be destroyed within four months’ time, so you being president of the prom committee puts a lot of pressure on you since this will be the last prom ever.
“All in favor of ‘Time Of My Life’,” you say, asking for a show of hands. You’re trying to settle on a prom theme and theme song, and it’s been tough to get a quorum.
Only about six hands are raised.
“Okay, far from a majority,” you say. “All in favor of ‘We Are Young.’ Show of hands.”
Hardly anyone raises their hand.
The doors to the study quarters open and a girl with a guitar stands in the entrance. It’s Betty. The new girl. You saw her in the office on her first day last week and you’ve been wondering if she might end up in one of your classes. She’s walking down the aisle now in between the rows of chairs, and you can’t take your eyes off of her.
“I have a song,” she says.
You look out to the rest of the committee members. They shrug.
“Be my guest,” you say.
She pulls a chair from one of the rows and sits down with the guitar on her knee. She strums something slow and sleepy, but her voice is wide awake.
We won’t be growing old
No time to waste on that
Got only a few minutes to spare
So don’t say anything that ain’t worth saying
Don’t do anything that ain’t worth doing
Don’t kiss anyone ain’t worth kissing
And everyone here’s worth a kiss
.
So let’s show them all
We used to be the future
But there’s no future
There’s no future anymore
.
So let’s show them all
What we could have been
Show every single one of them
What we would have been
.
[She screams this line]
What we should have been
.
[quiet again]
We won’t be growing old
But we will grow as old as old can be
Let’s grow old together
Let’s grow old and die together
Let’s grow old and die.
.
No one’s sure she stopped playing for a few seconds. The room’s still. It’s pin-drop silent. Then the applause starts rolling through the rows. The new girl smiles and you’re in love in an instant. After a quick, unanimous vote, ‘Let’s Grow Old And Die’ is officially chosen as the theme for the very last prom in the world.
Happy The Last Prom Day!
