Class President senior Bianca Hewitt will be unable to attend the Senior Prom on Saturday, May 16, due to a bad ankle sprain which she sustained while eagerly attempting to learn the identity of the person inviting her to prom.
“This is an absolute [freaking] disaster,” Bianca said. “Prom was going to be the most important event of my life, and not only that, but I already spent $80 on my ticket, $120 on my shoes and $587 on my dress!”
Bianca sprained her ankle when she fell 30 feet out of a pine tree that she had been trying to climb in the dark around 10 p.m. on Thursday, April 30.
“There was a red balloon tied at the top of the tree,” Bianca said. “I know it wasn’t safe to climb up there in heels and without a flashlight, but I was desperate and bleeding and I just had to know whose name was in that godforsaken balloon.”
The balloon in the tree was the last in a long, elaborate series of obstacles arranged by senior Jason McCoy, whose intention was to ask Bianca to prom.
“Early that morning I had Bianca’s sister attach a note to her toothbrush that said ‘Prom? Check your car,’” Jason said. “On her windshield I had written ‘Look in your trunk,’ and then in her trunk there was a CD that said ‘Play me,’ and that was just the beginning!”
When Bianca played Jason’s CD, the song was “Clothesline Saga” by Bob Dylan. She checked her family’s backyard clothesline and found an unfamiliar white t-shirt with a tag that read “Wash me.” A load of laundry later, the shirt showed purple lettering that spelled out a street address in Redwood City.
“My car still had permanent paint all over the windshield, so I had to ride my bike to Redwood City,” Bianca said. “It took me two hours to find the house, and when I rang the doorbell this old Puerto Rican lady handed me a huge cake that said ‘Eat me.’”
Bianca ate approximately three pounds of chocolate cake before nearly choking on a small heart-shaped locket that was baked inside. A photograph inside showed a familiar pine tree on Edith Avenue in Los Altos.
“I had terrible stomach pains and it was already 8:30 at night, but I knew I was almost there,” Bianca said. “So, I hopped back on my bike.”
Bianca was treated for sprains at El Camino Hospital, and doctors told her to stay off her feet for three weeks. Upon hearing she had not reached the balloon containing his note, Jason called Bianca at the hospital to deliver his message.
“It was cute, but he has sort of big ears,” Bianca said. “I said no.”