One New Jersey teen is headed to his senior prom Friday night with a little bit of notoriety thanks to a failed promposal that his friends are calling the "ultimate high school prank."
Friends tell NBC 4 New York they tricked Park Ridge High School student Patrick Smith into asking fellow student Jen Malespina to prom in front of 2,000 others at a track meet in Hasbrouk Heights in April. The friends said they knew Malespina would turn him down -- she already had a date -- but they didn't think video of the joke would go viral online.
"At first it was like, 'Oh my God, I hate you,'" Smith said. "And then it turned into, 'Wow this is getting viral, may as well make the most of it.'"
Footage of the proposal, where Smith asks Malespina to go to prom in the middle of the field with a microphone, was originally posted in April, but has gained attention from national media outlets this week, just days before the school's prom.
The video has been viewed thousands of times, and was reported to be a hoax earlier in the week, but Smith's friends say that the 18-year-old wasn't in on the gag.
"We knew he could handle it, he embarrasses himself all the time," Smith's friend, Chris Murphy, said.
Smith said he was very embarrassed when Malespina told him "I already have a date" -- a line that was met with cackles and jeers from the track meet attendees -- but has been taking the gag in stride. He said he was able to get another date to the prom, and he's even changed his Twitter bio to reference the failed promposal, he said.
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"Do your research, do your homework, don't trust your friends," Smith said.
