Students who are bullied at school may believe that there's never going to be a happy ending, but here's a genuine moment of friendship and giving that doesn't come from a Hollywood script.
At Grand Prairie High School last week, students got together for their ceremony where the coveted title of homecoming queen would be announced.
In a rare display of selflessness, nominees Anahi Alvarez and Naomi Martinez were less concerned about winning the crown and more concerned about friend Lilly Skinner, who had been the victim of bullying leading up to the big day.
Lilly Skinner, described by Alvarez as, “an amazing girl,” and, "so sweet," according to NBC Dallas-Fort Worth, had been friends with the pair of nominees since seventh grade.
Unfortunately a group of unkind students decided to take advantage of her with a cruel prank and told her she had been nominated for the title of prom queen.
In a bid to undo the hurt caused by their fellow pupils, Alvarez and Martinez made a pact: whichever of them ultimately won, they would give the crown and title to the person they felt deserved it most, Lilly Skinner.
At the event taking photographs for the school paper, Skinner had no idea what was to come.
Then, when Alvarez was announced as homecoming queen, a second announcement was made calling Skinner up to receive the honour.
Grand Prairie High School Principal Lorimer Arendse, as well as thousands of people across the world since the story went viral, have been touched by this gesture of friendship. And while the world admires this act of kindness, Alvarez just saw it as the right thing to do.
Demonstrating moral fortitude that could teach most adults a thing or two, the seventeen-year-old set aside her own desires in favour of a righting the wrongs of other students, and honouring a friend who she felt was more deserving of the title. As she told NBC: "When they ask me, 'Were you homecoming queen?' I say, 'No, Lilly is homecoming queen.'"