Auto-Prom (Machine)

Thunder cracked as Noah dashed into the salon, his clothes and brown hair dripping from the rainfall he had gotten himself caught in. The storm had sprung up out of nowhere, completely catching him off guard and unprepared. Hugging himself for warmth, he stepped up to one of the large kiosks that stood ready to be used on the far end of the salon. The touchscreen extended from around the center of his chest to just over his head, flashing advertisements for sales and pictures of happy customers.

Noah took a quick glance around the room and saw several people from his class, all clearly there for the same reason: Prom. The room was packed with girls and guys waiting their turn to be let into a "Designer Chamber" or whatever they were called. Noah didn't know nor care, and to be honest, he didn't want to be there in the first place. The idea of a shop being completely automated left him uncomfortable and filled with a great deal of doubt. He said as much to his buddy Jacob when he presented the idea to Noah at lunch hours earlier...

“What if something went wrong? There wouldn't be any employees to intervene,” Noah said between a bite of his sandwich.

Jacob, who hadn't touched his own lunch, was giving Noah his full attention, "These things have been running smoothly since they came out."

Noah paused just before he could take another bite, “That doesn't answer my question.”

“It's totally safe, dude, and well worth it. I've done it plenty with no problem.”

“I don't trust it, too much room for something to go wrong. Anyway, it doesn't even matter. I'm just going to stay home tonight.”

“You got to go, you've been looking forward to going for so long.”

Noah put his sandwich down in frustration, “No, I didn't want to go to the prom, I wanted to go to the prom with Sarah. She decided that she no longer wanted the same thing.”

“I'm sorry she...you know,” Jacob adjusted his glasses out of nervous habit more than due to physical discomfort. “You shouldn't have to stay home while she gets to go with 'what's his face'.”

“Tony.”

“Not important.”

Noah sighed before picking up his lunch again, “I'd just embarrass myself going alone.”

"That's why I brought up that auto salon place. If you book an appointment, you can sign up for their mystery date program that they are doing for the prom. You know, for people without dates. I signed up for myself already. If there is a girl available, I'll get notified and can go pick her up tonight."

"So it's not even guaranteed? You are just waiting around in the off chance? Isn't that a little..." Noah didn't want to say 'sad' but he also kind of did.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I was going to go either way now I also have the chance to take someone that doesn't want to go alone.” They sat there in silence for a few moments before an idea struck Jacob, “Besides, what would Sarah think seeing that you got a date with so little notice. I bet she would be pretty annoyed to be so easily replaced.”

That idea did appeal to Noah. If he did end up getting matched up with someone maybe she would get jealous and reconsider breaking up with him, “I'll think about it.”

For the rest of the day, he considered Jacob's suggestion, bouncing it back and forth in his head. Even as he stood in front of the kiosk, dripping wet from the rain, he thought about just backing out. He took a deep breath as he finally committed to taking the plunge, reached out his hand, and pressed his finger to the screen as another clap of thunder sounded outside.

Noah navigated the touchscreen, creating a profile so he could register to the salon's system. Once he put in the required personal information and he signed, he explored the options available to him. He was surprised to see how many services they were advertising for what he assumed was just a hair salon: new clothes, spa treatments, massages, tanning, and that was just the first few pages. It took a little sorting but he eventually found what he was looking for and rented out one chamber for a simple hair cut. His hair was long and curly, which made keeping it neat a bit of a struggle so he didn't mind the idea of it getting some attention. As he had hoped, a notification popped up and asked if he wanted to be enrolled into their mystery date program which he quickly agreed to. With everything handled, he placed his order before sitting down in an empty chair.

A large monitor hanging in the corner of the shop displayed names and Noah noticed his own at the very bottom of the list along with a chamber number. He kept his eye on his name as it slowly got closer to the top as other customers got up and headed into the back rooms once their turns came up. Noah found his nervousness growing the closer it got to be his turn and if he hadn't already paid, he might have chickened out. He couldn't understand how the other people waiting alongside him could be as comfortable as they appeared to be to submit themselves to the whims of a machine. Deciding that there was no use in dwelling, he detracted himself with his phone as he waited until it was time.