BY SARAH AVERY,  Bloomingdale High
 

Ahh, time for prom. Girls are in their serious dress-shopping groove; guys are busy beating Black Ops. Memories of past prom tragedies, such as the traffic-sign neon-green tux your guy thought was cool, or the garlic breath prison your girl locked you in every time she leaned close to whisper, have blessedly faded.   •   Some preparations are even more important, such as who are you going with? Will it be a serious oh-my-gosh-we’re-in-love kind of decision? Or, a yeah-I-guess-I’ll-go afterthought? For those of you who haven’t yet chosen a date for the big dance, here are some date options to weigh wisely before you find yourself loitering by the (nonspiked) punch bowl.
 

THE SERIOUS RELATIONSHIP DATE

For you lovebirds out there, this is a no-brainer. You always take your significant other to an event like this unless, of course, you are distance dating someone from Borneo.

Positives: Due to your Facebook-official status, you have an automatic prom date.

Negatives: Don’t even think about dancing with anyone else. Or else.
 

THE ‘LET’S GET CLOSER’ DATE

So, you’ve finally summoned up all your manhood to pass the note to the cute girl in the back of your math class that you’ve been eyeing since second quarter. She sends it back with a heart-decorated “yes.”
 

Positives: Here’s your chance to dazzle and impress her with your wit and charm!

Negatives: Since you two don’t know each other well enough yet, your convos are filled with awkward silences. If all else fails, you can always reel her back in with the winner, “If you were a burger, you’d be a McGorgeous.”
 

THE ‘UHH . . . SURE?’ DATE

A random guy friend who always waves at you in the hallway nearly blindsides you by tagging your car, asking you to prom. You give a hesitant nod to his overeager gesture.

Positives: He bought you a corsage. Five points for pretty things.

Negatives: Turns out that homeboy took your acceptance as agreement to be his future girlfriend and, he’s on such a roll, eventually his bride. He wants you to meet Mom later.
 

THE ULTIMATE BIFFLE DATE

You guys are like peas and “care-uhts.” Basically inseparable (BFF, remember?), you two might as well be married and have a catchy name combination like Brangelina. Since you can find the fun in everything else together, why not go to prom as a unit?
 

Positives: You two are together all the time anyway, so there’ll be none of that date anxiety.

Negatives: Not many, besides the fact that you’ll probably end up having dangerous amounts of fun. And if you don’t, at least the DJ played good music. Word.