Any girl would be delighted to be crowned prom queen, but for one Muslim teen, the honour was particularly meaningful.
Zarifeh Shalabi, who wears a hijab, also lives close to the site of December's deadly shootings in San Bernardino, Calif.
At the time, the FBI said the incident was being investigated as an "act of terrorism."
The 17-year-old Fontana high school senior told The New York Times she and her family were on edge after the tragedy, worried someone would try to hurt them.
But her peers gave her a big thumbs-up recently when she was nominated to Summit High School's prom court — and later when she was announced queen.
She told the Times her win “proved that not all Muslims are something to worry about."
Her friends led her successful campaign, wearing headscarves and touting the slogan, "Don't be a baddie. Vote for the hijabi," according to CBS Los Angeles.
Rosamaria Lopez told ABC 7 the friends wanted to send a message that they don't discriminate against anyone, including Muslims.
But Shalabi said it took some hard work to convince her mom to let her attend the dance after she was nominated.
“It was so exciting because she is so covered up and she doesn’t show what every girl at prom shows, and she still won."
"Me and my friends are all going single, we're just going as a group of girls, like a group date together and eventually she said 'yes,'" she told ABC 7.
"It was my first dance, my first party."
And the night of April 9, she won, resplendent in her traditional dress and beaded hijab.
“When they announced my name, I was just in total shock," she told CBS, saying she thought the five other nominees were more popular.
Her friends were thrilled too.
“It was so exciting because she is so covered up and she doesn’t show what every girl at prom shows, and she still won," Savanna Smith told the Times.
"It was like she can still go out there and represent a fine, elegant woman.”
You can see more on the story in the video above.
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