Richard seemingly gave up on getting a date for the prom after he was rejected by three girls that he hoped would go with him. A few days later, he stopped showing up for school even though the big dance was approaching quickly. They wondered if he would even bother to come to prom at all. And why would he? His bullies would probably show up to remind him of his rejections again.

But when Richard did walk into prom everyone saw who he brought with him and they couldn’t believe their eyes…

They Hadn’t Seen Him in Weeks

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Richard’s classmates wondered if they were ever going to see him again. He hadn’t shown up to school for two weeks and no one had even heard from him. The wondered if the embarrassment from being rejected by three girls was too much for him to bear. But they were wrong about that.

A Limo Pulled Up

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Richard was one of the very last people to show up on the night of the prom. And he dared to show up in style by taking a shiny black stretch limousine that attracted everyone’s attention. But what his classmates couldn’t stop staring at was the person he got out of the car with… 

His Date

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Richard walked down the sidewalk into the prom confidently, with his arm around his date and a smile on his face. All of the people who had bullied him and all of the girls who rejected him earlier watched as he entered the school in awe…

Who did Richard end up taking to the prom and why did it cause such a big reaction?

Looking For a Date To Prom

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The big dance was only two weeks away. Every student at the school was hoping to find their ideal date to ask to the prom. They all knew that going alone to the dance would be embarrassing and could even result in bullying from their peers. Sadly, Richard was already used to this behavior from his classmates, but that didn’t stop him from asking someone to the dance.

New At School

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Richard was new to this school, he had moved to this new town in the middle of his sophomore school year when his parents moved to town. He was a shy boy so it was hard for him to meet new kids and hang out with them. So he ended up being relentlessly picked on by his classmates.

He Didn’t Fit In

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The thing that caused this problem was that all the friend groups had already been established by this point. So it was a lot more difficult for him to fit in with any of them. In this way he ended up being an easy target for his school bullies. It was a tough year for him because he used to be well-loved by his old classmates.

He Was Used to It

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This situation continued for all these years, until the current day with the prom night on the horizon. Richard took a big risk, even though he didn’t have many friends, he still wanted to ask some girls for the prom. But he couldn’t have expected what would happen when he tried to ask someone to the dance.

He Asked Three Girls to the Dance

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Of course Richard had not one just girl in his mind to ask for the prom, but 3 different girls. He was planning to ask them one by one because he wanted to have a backup if the first one was going to reject him. Deep inside he hoped that he would end up having a date to accompany him to the prom.

They Were Kind to Him

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These three girls were some of the few people in this school who were usually nice to him. But those girls weren’t nice to him because they wanted to date him. They felt sorry for him and they wanted to make him feel better. So things didn't turn out as planned for Richard. 

He Asked Milly First

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So, Richard decided to start with the first girl on his list, her name was Milly. Milly was a very kind and cute girl, she was actually flattered when Richard asked her to the prom because she did not have a date yet. But she could not say yes because she was afraid of her reputation in the school.

A Popular Girl

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Even if she wanted to give a chance to this poor boy, she didn't. Milly was one of the most popular girls in her school, so she didn't want to risk his reputation for Richard. So, she denied his proposal for the prom, but she wasn't so nice to him. She tried to make him feel bad for asking her.

She Rejected Him

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Mindy ended up not only rejecting Richard but making a scene in front of their classmates. She started yelling at him about how he dared to ask her for the prom. Everybody who was watching this scene was laughed and pointed at Richard. He felt really bad about this but he didn't give up.

He Was Disappointed

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While Richard was extremely disappointed with her behavior, he left the conversation. On the other hand, Mindy was almost being applauded by her friends who were watching the scene. She felt horrible about her bad manners but she believed that she had made the right decision. But she would come to regret it.

Unlucky

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Richard didn't give up and he asked the other two girls to be his date on the prom night, but he didn’t have much luck with them either. The rejections were a lot nicer this time, but they hurt him as much as the first one. He felt that nobody liked him and that everybody was going to laugh at him if he was going to prom all alone.

Samantha Was Next

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Samantha was the second option for Richard, she was a popular girl with many friends. She kindly told him that she had found already a date to the prom. But Richard already knew that this was not the truth and it was just an excuse for not going with him. He couldn't say anything more, just to accept the rejection.

Amber Was Honest

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Amber was the last girl he invited to the prom. She was the only one who had the guts to tell him straight up that she did think he was a nice guy but that she just did not want to be seen with him. At least Richard could appreciate the honesty of this girl and he felt more relieved.

He Felt Alone

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Richard ended up going home early that day. He felt defeated after the three rejections, but now it was too late to find a date for the big night. Even if this day was one of the worst days of his life, it gave the other kids at school a chance to talk about him asking the girls out.

Everybody Knew

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By this point, the rumor mill of the school had already gone into overdrive and nearly everybody in his class knew about what happened. Suddenly, everybody was watching him and pointing at him every time that he walked around the halls. He felt that he really didn’t know how to handle a situation like this.

Sticking Up For Him

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Some people actually stuck up for Richard saying how brave it was to actually ask girls out seeing how likely rejection and bullying were as a result. For a few hours, Richard felt good and proud of himself. He also started to talk to some kids between classes, but most of his bullies saw it differently.

They Bullied Him

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Most of the bullies that had been targeting Richard for years now felt like this was a perfect chance to bother him even more as Richard clearly still had some confidence left in him. Richard didn't expect what was going to happen in the next few days. He was carefree and happy because he had started to make some new friends.

They Wanted to Ruin His Life

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The day after that, the bullies had already come up with a lot of plans to make Richards's life hell. They had so many ideas of humiliating him in front of the entire school. Richard had no idea about any of this stuff. Eventually, they would not be able to put these plans into action.

He Didn’t Show Up

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The day that they planned to do all these pranks on him, to their surprise, Richard did not show up to class. Which was strange as he almost never missed a day. Teachers also had no idea why the boy was absent. Those three girls who rejected him the other day had started to feel bad for their actions.

No Answer

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The next days, they called his house multiple times and even sent him texts, but they got no response. All of them started to feel guilty for their behavior toward this poor boy and they were worried about what was happening to him. They didn't know what to do to talk to him, they didn't know where he lived or his parents' names.

Everyone Forgot About What Happened

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The days were passing by quickly and Richard did not show up for the next 2 weeks. But the kids at the school had started to forget him, nobody talked about him anymore. The prom night was two days from now and Richard was planning something that the kids of this school would never forget.

Locating Richard

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But not everyone forgot about Richard. The ones that stood up for him in the first place did not forget him. They were worried about Richard and thought about the things that they could do to find him.

They Looked Online

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As they knew Richard was also into technology, they first looked on different kinds of online forums, because maybe he was active over there. Shirley, who was the one that initiated the search at first, found something on one of the sites…

A Similar Tale

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She read about a guy that was rejected for his prom and he was heartbroken by it, because he knew that the whole school would hear about this situation, which is why he felt so embarrassed. This seemed like Richard, as this case was exactly the same…

Responding Anonymously

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Shirley replied to the message with an alias, trying to find out if this actually was Richard. The person replied really quickly to all of Shirley's messages, so Shirley kept talking…

Talking For Days

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Days passed by where they actually talked more than Shirley herself expected. She even started to enjoy it. But she found it difficult that she had to lie to this person knowing that it may have been Richard.

She Was Interested

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But Shirley liked the conversations so much that she did not want to stop them. She wasn’t even interested in whether it was Richard anymore, she just hoped that she could meet this person one day as it seemed like he was everything she was looking for.

She Asked Him Out

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After a lot of hesitation, she asked him to meet her on short notice. But after that question, he suddenly didn’t respond as soon as she wanted. So Shirley had to wait for a few hours before she got his answer.

Showing Up For Their Date

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Luckily, the answer was ‘yes!’ She was about to meet the guy that she’d talked to for weeks. And more importantly, maybe it was Richard, who still hadn’t been seen at school. On the day of the meeting, she was nervous…

She Arrived At the Park

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She waited at the park that they’d agreed to meet at. So many questions arose in her mind. Would it be Richard? If it is Richard, would he be mad that she hadn’t told him her real name? Maybe he didn’t want to see anyone from the school. 

He Was Late

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Shirley waited in the park for her mystery guy to arrive. They would meet each other at midday, but he was late. Shirley thought that this could happen to anyone, as he could be stuck in traffic or something. But that wasn’t the case.

He Didn’t Show

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Shirley waited and waited, but he simply did not show up. Shirley was really disappointed. She wanted to know who she was talking to, if it was Richard then maybe she could help him get back to school. After two hours of waiting, Shirley headed home disappointed, but then she got a text.

His Text Message

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He texted! But it wasn’t the message she was hoping for. “I know who you are, Shirley. Don’t look for me, I don’t want to come back to school. Richard.” Shirley was shocked by this message, and also worried. So she decided to look for help.

Another Plan

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She went to the police. Maybe they could locate where Richard was, as Shirley was worried that Richard would do something to himself. They immediately started their investigation.

Not Involved

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However, Shirley was not allowed to be involved in this investigation as it was classified. The police kept looking for Richard and looked for every trace of him, but Richard was a smart kid. It really seemed like he did not want to be found.

Weeks of Searching

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Luckily, he was still active on his social media pages, so they knew that he did not harm himself. After weeks of searching for him, the police simply gave up. They knew he wasn't in life-threatening danger and had to prioritize other cases.

A Change of Plans

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Shirley was disappointed by this decision, but she could understand the police. She was happy that Richard wasn’t in danger. But she still hoped that they may get some contact in the coming weeks or days. After a few days, she suddenly got a text.

His Message

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It was Richard! He apologized for their meet-up. But he also said something else that caught the attention of Shirley. But she couldn’t necessarily understand what he meant by it…

What Was Going On?

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He said that she would see him soon enough and that they would talk then. But what did he mean? Would he come to her house out of nowhere, without her knowing when? Or would he come to the prom, which was planned for the coming weekend?

Nerves

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The whole week Shirley was nervous. Would she meet him this weekend at the prom? But she also felt somewhat guilty, as she already had a date for the prom. She did not want to make him upset again…

Prom Night

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On the night of prom everyone partied and had smiles on their faces. Everyone seemingly forgot about Richard, except Shirley. She couldn’t think about anyone else. Then she saw someone coming in.

Disappointed Again

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She thought she saw Richard, but that wasn’t the case. It was someone who just looked like him. Shirley was disappointed. She really hoped to see Richard, but it didn’t look like it was going to happen because everyone else in class had already shown up.

The Last One to Show Up

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Then suddenly, in the middle of the night, there was one more car. A beautiful sports car pulled up. And it was Richard who stepped out of it. He wasn't alone, though. Shirley was shocked to see who he had brought.

He Brought His Grandma

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Richard decided to bring his grandmother to the dance! He hoped to show to his bullies that spreading love was a far more powerful message than promoting hate. Everyone was happy to see Richard’s plan in action and his grandma was treated with nothing but respect. Shirley was happy that Richard returned at last, and everyone had a wonderful evening. Even their conversation resulted in a fantastic outcome.

Talking About It 

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Richard and Shirley discussed the entire incident while at prom, with Richard apologizing for canceling. His excuses were accepted by Shirley. After dancing with his grandmother, Richard then asked Shirley to dance. Shirley was happy to, and lovely things resulted from it.

Their Relationship 

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After a few dates, they officially declared their relationship a few weeks later. They wished to spend as much time as they could together. They just cherished one another. In addition to being in love, Richard unexpectedly rose in the ranks of the popular boys at school as a result of his kind deeds. It ended up being a wonderful love story.

The events of this story are entirely fictional and are products of the author’s imagination. Images included are meant for illustration purposes only. Any resemblance to actual events, places or persons, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.