Prom

Daniel Guzmán gasps a little as his prom date walks down the stairs into the living room. "Ma, you look really nice," the 18-year-old Edison High School senior tells Wanda Alicea, a vision with magenta hair, a purple gown, and 4-inch turquoise Lady Gaga heels. Wanda, a 41-year-old mother of five and grandmother of two, blushes while trying not to fall. "Oh, Papi, I hope I don't kill myself in these shoes. " Death was not on Daniel's mind when he asked his mom to accompany him on arguably one of the most important nights in a teenager's life.

This year's biggest prom trend isn't the dress. It's the tress. Literally. Local hairstylists are predicting big hair - ? la the boobalicious and bodacious raven-haired "Snooki" from MTV's Jersey Shore - will be the hottest trend on teens on prom night. "Our prom girls are coming in and they want messy buns and tousled hair with bumps," said Tiffany Nurick, a stylist at Heaven and Earth in Lafayette Hill. "It's all about big, loose and not overly styled hair. And you aren't just seeing it in women, you are seeing it in men as well.

Ron Mulray describes his flower shop as "an everyday, bread-and-butter kind of place," and it's true. You don't see many like this anymore. At the moment, Mulray is gearing up for prom season, catering to a mostly traditional clientele. A few years back, there was a rash of goth girls, with dyed-black hair and chain-link tartiness, wanting their roses and carnations spray-painted black. Generally, though, requests for prom flowers at Mulray's Philadelphia Flower Co., a family business in the city's Parkwood section since 1987, have followed one trend to another with comfortable convention.

This is how you ask a girl to the prom, Fletcher Gelber recently told his public-speaking class at Strath Haven High School. First, he said, you need a girl to ask. "Lauren, will you please come up here?" Then, as former flame Lauren Pierangeli stood blushing in front of their classmates, Gelber explained Step 2: "Look her in the eyes and say something meaningful. " He turned to Pierangeli. "Lauren, we've been to eighth grade dance, Freshman Formal, the sock hop, and Junior Ball, and it would be my honor if we could go to Senior Prom together.

IN CHARLESTON, Miss., last century really was a long time ago. It was way back in 1997 that Morgan Freeman, who went to high school in Charleston, learned that his alma mater was still holding separate proms - one for black students, one for white. In 1997. Sounds like "Hairspray. " Inclusive (but radical) guy that he is, Freeman agreed to foot the bill for one prom that both groups could attend. The school took him up on his offer - 11 years later. "Prom Night in Mississippi," which premiered Saturday at the Sundance Film Festival, chronicles the growing pains Charleston went through last year as the community prepared for its first racially integrated senior prom.

UPPER Darby has suffered another black eye, this time at the prom of Upper Darby High School. I know that a rule is a rule. I also know what it is to be young, and the time that's necessary for a lady to get ready for any date, let alone her promenade. I also know that myriad factors, including finding the ballroom, could be responsible for a couple arriving after the stated time for a function. Given the expense involved in attending a prom, one cannot blame the student's parents from going to her defense.

Despite a miscommunication with the limo company that caused Kenneth Smith, 83, to arrive almost an hour late to Chester High School's prom, the senior citizen beat the high school seniors to the dance floor. "I didn't come this far to sit down," Smith said, before taking his 74-year-old date, Evelyn Nero, for a slow dance and a few twirls as jazz music played June 5 at the Springfield Country Club. The World War II veteran missed his chance to graduate from high school when the Army drafted him in 1943.

For at least one senior at Upper Darby High School, Friday's prom was a night to remember. Instead of dancing the night away, the 17-year-old girl, her date, her mother, and her mother's boyfriend all spent the evening in jail after getting into a fight with three police officers outside the prom. The girl, whose name was withheld because she is a juvenile, showed up at the prom with her date, Joshua Douglas, 24, of Philadelphia, after the two-hour window for students to arrive, said Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood.

For at least one senior at Upper Darby High School, Friday's prom was a night to remember. Instead of dancing the night away, the 17-year-old girl, her date, her mother, and her mother's boyfriend all spent the evening in jail after getting into a fight with three police officers outside the prom. The girl, whose name was withheld because she is a juvenile, showed up at the prom with her date, Joshua Douglas, 24, of Philadelphia, after the two-hour window for students to arrive, said Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood.

Going to the senior prom is nice, but getting the proper rest is better, according to Ryann Krais. Looking to post her best times, the Methacton High senior chose a good night's rest over Friday night's prom. Krais didn't nab the personal records she coveted in yesterday's PIAA District 1 track and field championships. But the all-American left Coatesville's stadium with no regrets. That's because she swept the district's Class AAA girls' 100- and 300-meter hurdle titles for the fourth consecutive season.