“WILL U GO 2 PROM W/ ME?” — the words are painted in bright colors on banners on the sides of one high school student’s car. Another student, over the loudspeaker at lunch, asks the same question. A third paints “PROM?”on the side of his girlfriend’s horse.

It's just a small sample of the creative ways area high schoolers are asking each other to prom this year the past week or two.

“It’s bold,” says Central High School senior Max Copeland. “I saw a car covered in ‘PROM?’ It’s kind of cool.”

For many, asking a date to prom has evolved into a public display of surprise affection and unique cuteness, an elaborate production of adorability all to ask — in one abbreviated form or another — the traditional question: “Will you go to prom with me?”

TC West senior Jess Meriwether says she was “so surprised” when her boyfriend Aaron Orban led her outside to her car to reveal that he had painted “WILL U GO 2” on banners along one side of the car and “PROM W/ ME?” on the other side.

“I feel like I had the typical girl reaction,” Meriwether says, “covering my mouth and saying something along the lines of ‘Oh my god, yes, of course!’”

Orban raised the bar even further with a bouquet of Jess’ favorite flowers and a huge bag of Hershey’s Kisses.

“For most boys, it’s the one day out of the year on which they have to act romantic,” says Meriwether. “I think for the girls it’s like a competition — like, ‘My boyfriend asked me in a bigger, better way than yours!’ — but for the boys that do it, I think it’s an honest reflection of their feelings for you.”

Elena Morcote, a Central senior, was “completely shocked” when her friend Christopher Chang surprised her during the Senate Prom Fashion Show, in which they both recently took part.

“[He] took the microphone and asked for me,” says Morcote. “He held up a sign that said, ‘Roses are red, Violets are blue, I already have the T_XEDO, I just need the U,’ and it was adorable.”

Her friends agree; a photo Morcote posted on Instagram of the surprise quickly garnered about 185 likes.

“As he read it off in front of half the school, I could not stop blushing,” she says. “He gave me the microphone and I said, ‘Yes! Of course.’ It made my day. Everyone should use their creative minds and put it into their ‘promposals.’”

“They’re really just trying to impress the person they asked,” says Morcote. “It makes that person feel good about themselves and makes both of them more excited for the dance.”

Friends of Joe Videki, a Central senior, helped him pull off a successful “promposal” by writing “PROM?” in window paint all over Joe’s girlfriend’s car.

“It was sweet,” Videki says. “She was like, ‘Oh my god! Yeah!’”

For Morcote, the memory of the experience is one-of-a-kind. “Being asked in front of a huge crowd to my senior prom is definitely something I will remember for the rest of my life.”

The St. Francis prom is Sat., May 3; Central's prom is Sat., May 17, and West will hold theirs on Sat., May 10.