THE MAGIC OF PROM NIGHT

Jackson High School prom-goers flocked in front of Charles Hutchings' camera to record a traditional high school memory.

Students lined up for a conga dance through the crowd.

Jessie Keys usually prefers simple dresses. No sequins.

But this is prom. Her only senior prom.

That calls for corsages and boutonnieres, limousines and filet mignon.

And sequins.

Maybe even glass slippers.

"It's your time to be Cinderella," says Keys, a Cape Girardeau Central High School senior.

"I've been thinking about prom since the beginning of the year," she said. "It's your night. You get to dress up and do things that you don't normally get to do."

Some seniors will attend Central's prom Saturday night because everybody else does. Some want to see what it is like. Or see classmates dressed up. Or discover how many limits they can flout after the clock strikes 12 and post-prom plans begin.

Keys says she simply wants to "make this night a night to remember forever."

Wendy Unsbee, another Central senior, says since her sophomore year she has wondered whom she would go with. The anticipation may seem too much, but it's worth it.

"It's a pre-graduation celebration," Unsbee says. "It's not everyday that you get to see the people you grew up with dressed up in tuxes and fancy gowns.

"You want it to be perfect."

Based on interviews with students at Central and Jackson High School, it seems girls are more concerned than guys with perfection. Consider the process -- or almost lack thereof -- of choosing what to wear.

For Aron Meystedt, it was easy. "I went to The House of Brides, and I was there for less than 10 minutes," says the Central senior.

"All you do," he said, "is decide if you want tails on the back. No I don't. Do you want some collar with the notches cut out? No I don't. Do you want your vest to come up high? Medium is fine. What kind of shoes do you like? Black.

"That's about it."

Not for Keys.

"I tried on all together about 15 to 20 dresses," she says. "I was just not happy. I knew when I would find the right dress. The lady was like, `We just got this dress in yesterday.' So I looked at it and I was like, `Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! This is it!'"

At Jackson, whose prom was Saturday, juniors decorate and attend. At Central, only seniors and their dates are invited. Seniors decorate. At 6:30 a.m. Saturday, they will transform the A.C. Brase Arena Building.

"It's specifically designed for the seniors," says Central senior Chris Foeste. "I think that's what makes it the most special."

This year, like at Jackson and untold other high schools in this Leonardo DiCaprio-crazed land, the theme, "Make It Count," comes from the movie "Titanic." At dinner, Jack, played by DiCaprio, slips Rose (Kate Winslet) a note that says, "Make it count. Meet me at the clock," as he leaves the dining hall.

After many eat at Cape Girardeau's best restaurants, about 260 of Central's 300 seniors and their dates will arrive at the Arena Building around 8 Saturday night, said Pat Trickey, a guidance counselor at Central and prom organizer. "It's by far the best-attended school dance that we have," Trickey said.

Coronation will be at 9:30. At 12, when prom ends, they're on their own. Central doesn't sponsor after-prom activities.

Hotel rooms have been the rage for post-prom revelers in recent years. But the Central students interviewed last week said they hadn't heard of many people who will get rooms.

"We're just going to a friend's house," Keys said. "Supposedly the parents are not letting anybody leave. And everyone is going to stay the night there."

"There are going to be a lot of people that I've never hung out with," Meystedt said. "But I know we're all going to talk and have a good time. So it's kind of bringing us all together.

Meystedt said he hopes there are no Titanic-like tragedies.

"I just hope everybody is safe," he said. "We want the prom to be memorable for `Titanic' and stuff, and not for somebody doing something bad or something happening to somebody."