Katie was lost in thought when the loudspeaker suddenly sounded in the classroom. Everyone could tell that the voice didn’t belong to the principal.
They were intrigued when it spoke through the loudspeaker and said, “Let’s make this Friday morning announcement a little more interesting….” The students looked around them in confusion. That’s when Katie heard her name being called, and she couldn’t help but feel startled.
Katie Kelzenberg was a student from Minnesota and a senior at Stillwater Area High School. She was trying to hide her disappointment. She had asked a boy to prom and been rejected.
She started to think she should avoid going to prom at all costs. She felt like she had lost all hope, but that was before she had another thought.
Prom was coming up soon, and all her classmates already had dates. Realizing this, she decided to do something that took courage and that only a few would be prepared to do. It was a risky move.
If she didn’t succeed, it could taint her reputation and what everyone thought of her. But Katie decided that she had nothing to lose.
Katie’s classmates knew that something, in particular, caught her interest. While other girls her age hung posters of Justin Bieber up in their lockers, Katie would repeatedly watch Skyscraper, the action movie.
When Halloween rolled around, her classmates would dress up as popular characters, and she would spend as much time as possible to create a perfect replica of her favorite male star’s iconic 1980s look. Katie adored Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Katie thought that if she couldn’t attend prom with someone from her school, why not ask the person she wanted to go with most? But she had no idea how to go about it.
There was no doubt that she had to make a bold move, but she was just one of his millions of fans. He was famous, so how could she catch his attention?
Katie’s idea was to upload a video online. She created a large poster before putting on her blue jeans, a black sweater, a crescent-shaped bag, and a silver chain. She began recording after kneeling.
She shared the video, but all she could do afterward was wait. Had she done a good enough job? Would Dwayne Johnson see it?
Katie was amazed when she saw that her video was shared on Twitter more than 3,000 times. It was rapidly accumulating views. One comment on the video read, “Good for you for taking your shot!
Someone will be honored to take you. Hope you have a great time!” Many who saw the video eagerly waited to see if Dwayne Johnson would respond to Katie’s bold prom invitation. However, not many had much hope.
Time passed, and she still didn’t get a response from the famous actor. But despite this, Katie was glad she had risked asking him to prom.
She had taken a brave step to ask such a well-known celebrity, and she thought it was worth a try. The week had been long, and Katie had been so focused on classes that she didn’t expect what happened on Friday.
Katie tried her best to stay focused in her statistics class. Her mind was filled with numbers and charts, but it wasn’t easy to reign her thoughts in once they started to wander. She wondered if the famous actor had seen her video and what he thought of it if he had seen it.
She reasoned with herself that he had a busy schedule, probably filming his upcoming film – Jungle Cruise. But her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the school’s intercom system. That’s when she heard a voice she recognized.
“Let’s begin this Friday morning’s announcement with something exciting and fun,” the voice said confidently over the school intercom. “Good morning to all the students here at Stillwater Area High.” Katie recognized that voice almost instantly. It was a voice she knew very well.
Despite this, she found it difficult to believe what she was hearing. Her jaw dropped in shock, and her eyes widened. Was this real?
“This is, as you might have guessed by now, Dwayne Johnson,” the voice continued. Katie’s friend looked over at her and said: “No!” Katie held her hands over her mouth as she continued to listen, hardly believing it.
But what did Katie say in her video that had warranted an appearance from The Rock himself? And was he accepting her promposal?
Katie’s world seemed to stand still. She sat motionless with her hands over her mouth as her ultimate idol addressed her directly.
He thanked her for her invite but declined politely as he would be in Hawaii on the night of the prom, shooting his new movie. But he had arranged another surprise for her.
“However, Katie… because we are now best friends, and I have so much love for you,” he spoke. The Rock continued, “… as a very special gift, I have rented out a theatre tomorrow… And I’m showing you a screening of my new movie, Rampage.
I rented out 232 seats!” He even added that the popcorn and drinks were on him.
“I just can’t, like, really believe that it’s happening,” Katie said in an interview. “Because not in my wildest dreams could I imagine this happening,” Katie said in an interview.
“But here I am.” And when it was finally time for her big prom night, Katie decided she didn’t need to go with a boy after all.
Katie attended prom with her close girlfriends by her side and had an amazing night. She was still floating from Dwayne Johnson’s special words and nothing could dampen her spirits.
She posed for photos on the big night with a life-sized cardboard cutout of her idol and had the time of her life. So, just what had she said to him in her video that he’d found so charming?
“You may be wondering: “why go to prom with her?” Katie says in her promposal. “Well, let me tell you why. I am the biggest Dwayne Johnson fan.
I love all of your movies. I even dressed up as you for Halloween.” “And I have the biggest Dwayne Johnson merch collection!” “So, Dwayne… will you rock it at prom with me?”
After Dwayne Johnson had successfully surprised Katie with the announcement over the school’s loudspeaker, he posted why he did it on Twitter. This sent fans into a frenzy.
He wrote: “I was so impressed by this young lady’s charm and confidence even to ask me (ladies always get shy in front of me) that I had to do something special.”
One commenter wrote: “This video made a grown man shed a tear. So awesome! The Rock is the coolest guy in Hollywood. So excited for Katie and her friends. Keep up the great work, Rock!” Another couldn’t believe that Dwayne Johnson took the time to respond to his biggest fan: “This is the cutest thing.
You go, Katie! And what’s even more inspiring is that someone as famous as @TheRock has responded! I love that he’s humble. Other celebs ignore their fans mostly.”
Katie had taken a chance, and it had paid off most spectacularly. The moment that her idol’s voice came over the loudspeaker was undoubtedly the finest moment of her high school career.
Soon, the media got wind of the amazing story. Katie had no idea that her 15 minutes of fame were just beginning!
Everywhere she goes, people recognize Katie as “The Rock girl.” Her best friend, Hannah Gilsdorf, says that strangers on the street approach her daily. “I didn’t think much of it like I’m just doing this thing,” Katie explained. “Everyone’s like, ‘Oh, she’s so brave,’ and I’m like, no.
I’m just doing something I wanted to do. I don’t feel like I’m doing anything outside my normal comfort zone.”
But Katie wasn’t the only prom enthusiast to take a leap of faith that fateful day. Someone else was seeking out her heart’s desire.
Across the state, a similar event took place, where an unsuspecting high schooler was about to get the surprise of her life. She didn’t know that her wish would come true.
Lisa had always dreamed of the perfect prom night. She’d started planning for hers in sophomore year, going as far as charting out the dress, makeup, and hairstyle she’d wear. Like many girls her age, she wanted the night to be memorable.
It would be a once-in-a-lifetime event, after all. She had no idea what fate had in store for her.
Everything was going great for Lisa when trouble struck. A senior at the time, she started complaining of stomach problems.
Her lower abdomen burned from the inside, with sharp pain striking her every passing hour. Lisa tried to ignore it at first, but it wasn’t long before she found herself in the emergency room with a doctor running tests on her.
Lisa’s mom sat beside her as the doctor presented his findings. “Kidney failure,” the doctor began.
“Your kidneys cannot filter waste products out of your blood.” Everything became blurry as the doctor continued talking, outlining the best way forward. Lisa thought that was the worst news she’d hear that day, but it would only worsen.
The hours that followed were quiet, with Lisa’s mom trying to speak to Lisa but getting no response. When her dad finally got to the hospital, he found Lisa dressed in a hospital gown, waiting in her room. The doctor informed him that Lisa needed a kidney transplant fast.
The doctor had put her name on the waiting list, and if everything went according to plan, she would be well again. But everything was about to fall apart.
Although Lisa should have been relieved, she was sad because prom was a few months away. She also knew how expensive a transplant would be and wasn’t sure if her parents could cover it. But as the days counted, she started thinking about how she could help her parents cover the amount.
Prom was the last of her problems now.
Lisa asked her mom to bring her phone on her next visit and started a Go-Fund-Me for herself. She told the world her story, hoping someone out there would lend her family her hand. It wasn’t long before everybody at school saw the page. They started campaigns for Lisa, knowing how much she’d wanted to go to prom.
They hoped that Lisa would have her surgery before prom night so she could attend. But that wouldn’t be the case.
Lisa’s Go-Fund-Me page gained traction online. She made a good amount of money that would help her parents with the transplant surgery whenever it came. Lisa had hoped the transplant wouldn’t coincide with prom, but her doctor informed her that it was optimal for everyone to have the procedure that same night.
Lisa was devastated.
She was sad that she’d miss the only night she’d looked forward to in all her high school career. But if it meant waking up with a working kidney and seeing her friends and family again, she was okay. She went into surgery the same night that her school held its prom.
It was a quiet rainy night, with the wind blowing gently outside her window. She had no clue what awaited her when she woke up.
Lisa spent hours in the operating room, waking up with a healthy kidney. She was more than thankful for seeing a new day. But as her mom and a nurse wheeled her to her room, she noticed something that wasn’t there before. On her bed was a beautiful gown, and outside her window in the hospital parking lot were all her schoolmates in their dresses and suits.
They cheered as she appeared. Lisa’s mom helped her into her dress and took her to the parking lot, where Lisa had the night of her life. In order to protect the privacy of those depicted, some names, locations, and identifying characteristics have been changed and are products of the author's imagination. Any resemblances to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.