When I was asked to do a “Can You…” story relating to prom, I gladly accepted. I had already been planning to ask someone and I was trying to think of a creative twist. I had a basic idea of sitting atop my friend’s legendary 1990 Previa on a clear night surrounded by candles and blasting music, but I was still struggling with how I would transport my date from her house to the parking lot where we would set everything up.

The solution? I would kidnap her.

Now before you start calling the cops and posting missing person signs around town, I didn’t really intend to kidnap her. Here is how it went down:

I had my friend Chris Chung ask her if she could hang out and she agreed. Chris then went to her house along with my brother (senior Kevin Rollinson) in his infamous yellow VW bus. Chris arrived at her house and gave her a letter from an anonymous sender saying that she would be briefly abducted in order to answer a question. She then hopped in the bus and was blindfolded. It did not help that my brothers car strongly resembles a creeper van and doesn’t have the smoothest drive to say the least.

But the plan went on. They arrived at the destination, Congress Springs, to find music playing, a disco ball spinning and me sitting on the Previa in a dress shirt and tie surrounded by tea candles. I must say it was awesome to see her face when the blindfold was removed to find the spectacle around her. I was extremely relieved that she looked more excited than terrified and that she answered yes without hesitation.

So do I recommend impersonating a felony in order to score a prom date? Whatever gets the job done. It did not help that after the plan was concocted she mentioned that she had a fear of being kidnapped, but afterward she told me it was pretty obvious what was going on and that she was too hyped up to be scared. It may not always be ideal to add fear to an otherwise cute scenario, but I captured a little bit of both and it made for a memorable occasion.

Can You ask someone to prom by kidnapping them?

To answer the question “Can you kidnap someone to ask them to Prom?”, you surely can but you should probably leave the ski mask at home (and make sure the girl likes you . . . a lot).