The beat is fast and feet are stomping. The hair is perfect and the suits are pressed. But half the student population is in utter confusion.

With every new school year, freshman and new students get lost in the chaos of official and unofficial rules of school dances. Homecoming is right around the corner and it feels like everything has to be perfect. Know the rules and dances will rule.

The first official rule is no grinding, but the first unofficial rule is that everyone does anyway.

The second official rule, the dances start at 9 and end at 11. But the second unofficial rule is that nobody actually shows up on time.

The third rule is that no girl actually wears her heels on the dance.

“You can’t dance in heels,” junior Madeline Trout said. “It’s so hard.”

Fourth, everybody has a boutonniere or corsage if they have a date.

Fifth, everybody goes in a group. If people don’t have a date they just go with a group of people who don’t have dates either. If you do have a date, then you go with other people who have dates.

Sixth, guys don’t dress up that much.

“Girls actually take a lot of time to get ready while the guys just take a shower,” junior Taylor Kroll said. “And then they put on a nice shirt.”

But junior Jake Nelson disagrees.

“Little do women know, but men actually try to dress up to impress them,” Nelson said.

Either way the rule still states that girls put much more work into their appearance than guys, especially when guys aren’t the ones having their hair and makeup done six hours before the dance starts.

Rule seven: nobody wears a long dress to Homecoming, unless you are a candidate for Homecoming Queen.

Rule eight: everybody goes to the Homecoming game Friday night before the dance on Saturday.

Rule nine: Guys usually pick up the girls for the dance if they are going as dates.

Rule 10: everyone goes out to eat before the dance.

“It’s standard to go out to eat with your date before the dance,” junior Brianna Pfannenstiel said  “It’s just a duh thing.”

So weather your going with a group of friends, your boyfriend, or just a guy friend, follow the unofficial and official rules and everything will go smooth. But don’t forget to have fun because that is by far the most important rule at the dance.