It started off as an off-handed joke by one of RJ Smith’s friends in the summer before their final year of high school in a small Ontario town.

“You should be prom king,” the pal told him nearly a year ago.

Smith laughed it off because he didn’t believe he could really be crowned king as a transgender student living in Innisfil, Ont., located on the western shore of Lake Simcoe.

“I knew that it would be cool, but it didn’t seem like a real possibility,” he told CTV News Channel on Friday.

The 18-year-old said many months passed before the topic came up again when his school, Nantyr Shores Secondary School, handed out the nomination forms for prom night.

That’s when the Grade 12 student said he decided on a whim to take his chances on winning the prom king title.

“I thought, ‘Why not?’” Smith recalled. “I might as well write down my own name and have my friends write my name down and see what could come of it.”

What came of it was that Smith nabbed the crown on May 13.

“That was absolutely crazy,” Smith said of his prom night. “Honestly, I wasn’t expecting it. I didn’t think that it was a real possibility for me even though my friends were all very confident in my ability.”

Smith said the reactions to his win have been mostly positive and that the few negative comments about it have been overwhelmed by supportive ones.

“I just didn’t imagine something like that happening,” he said.