CHICAGO — Olivia Clafford was in for a surprise coming out of eighth period April 17.
The Lane Tech High School senior thought she and her friend Kylie Carlson were leaving school to run errands.
When Kylie suggested they take a detour into the school's memorial garden, a surprise was waiting: a barbershop quartet to sing Olivia an invitation to prom on behalf of Mark Capapas.
Mark, Olivia's boyfriend, is also a senior at Lane Tech. He had hinted earlier in the day that he hadn't made any plans to ask Olivia to prom.
"I think he chose the barbershop quartet because it was super unique, and neither of us had ever seen that done in a 'promposal' before," Olivia said. "Music is also a big thing for both of us, so that definitely tied into it."
The barbershop quartet substituted Olivia's name into their version of the Gene Pitney song "Hello Mary Lou." The end of the video shows Olivia accepting Mark's proposal.
Olivia said promposals, where students stage elaborate events to ask someone to prom, are common at Lane Tech and typically involve lots of friends.
Mark works at the Runner's Edge in Andersonville and met a member of the Chicago Retro Quartet through the store's fun runs.
Olivia and Mark celebrated their one-year anniversary April 13. The couple plans to rent a party bus with a group of friends and take pictures downtown for their prom June 3.
