Beauty pageant winner takes bullied teen to high school dance after he's the victim of cruel prank
A bullied high school student who was duped into thinking he had scored a homecoming date with a cheerleader had the last laugh, after he received an invitation to go to the dance from a beauty pageant winner.
Michael Conrad, a junior at Taylorsville High School, in Taylorsville, Utah, who has ADHD and autism, was the target of a cruel prank by classmates who allegedly egged his house. Among the broken egg shells left behind was a lipstick-covered note that read: “I’m sorry for the mess. But how about I make it up to you by taking you to homecoming?”
Michael’s mother, Jennifer Conrad, told local Salt Lake City, Utah, station KSTU that the note was signed by a friend, whom he knows quite well. So after working up enough courage, Michael approached the girl to give her his answer.
“She said, ‘Michael, I already have a date, I’m so sorry, I had nothing to do with that.’ She felt bad,” Conrad told the station.
Miss Greater Salt Lake, Dexonna Talbot, said she immediately broke down in tears upon hearing of the hurtful stunt, and jumped at the opportunity to help the bullied teenager. She reached out to Conrad to see if she could ask Michael to the dance.
“Just thinking about the fact that someone would go out of their way to make someone else feel bad is so heartbreaking to me,” Talbot told KSTU.
So she sprung into action and showed up at Michael’s high school to ask him to homecoming in person. Video footage of the event shows Talbot bringing Michael’s history class to a halt, as she asks the elated teenager to the dance in front of his peers. She handed over a large hand-made poster and a bucket of his favorite candy.
A post shared by Dex (@dexonna) on Sep 23, 2018 at 10:58am PDT
“I really wanted to make sure it was at the school, so that way those people who have been bullying could see something positive was coming from this and that they weren’t winning,” she said.
Kicking things off with a limousine, the pair hit the arcade for some games, followed by dinner, before heading off to the highly anticipated dance.
Talbot shared a series of moving photos of the pair, saying she had had the time of her life. According to local station KSL, she’ll compete for the Miss Utah title next year. In the meantime, she is attending the University of Utah, studying ballet and special education.
Conrad told KSTU that Talbot was her “angel.”
“This wasn’t a publicity stunt of any kind for her. She’s just got a tender heart. And she has really made my son’s year. So, thank you!”
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