When Hermiston student Stefano Peiris posted his senior pictures on Twitter, he never expected to become an Internet celebrity.

Of course, they weren’t the typical senior portraits. Peiris invited the photographer to shoot the stills at his parents’ 7-Eleven franchise — in the parking lot, behind the counter, at the Slurpee machine.

The content went viral, and Peiris said he was shocked. Within a few days of his Oct. 11 tweet, “So I took my senior pictures at 7-Eleven,” his Twitter followers jumped from about 200 to more than 900. More than 27,000 people have retweeted the post, and more than 46,000 clicked “favorite” as of Tuesday evening.

Although he didn’t expect it to reach so many people, Peiris admitted he was after a laugh.

“I’ve actually been thinking about this for a few years for how to make my senior pictures funny,” he said. “I try to be funny as much as I can because I like to make people laugh. I actually won an award for best comedian from my high school last year.”

He pitched the idea to his photographer, Tammy James, owner of 60 Minute Photo in Hermiston, while they were out taking some other shots at Cold Springs Reservoir. She was on board, and the rest quickly became online history.

James said they started outside with the shot of Peiris sitting on the car. Click. They went inside the store, and she followed him around using natural lighting for the photos. As he was ringing up a customer’s items, James suggested using the infrared scanner in one of the shots. Click. Peiris wanted one by the Slurpee machine. Click.

James said she didn’t think the pictures were that out of the ordinary, considering his family owns the store and he spends so much time there. Her son later told her the photos were “blowing up on Twitter,” so she became one of Peiris’ many followers on the social network.

“I have definitely done some unique pictures, but these ones just went crazy, just went everywhere,” she said. “It is really fun to see what it’s done with Stefano, and I think he’s kind of loving the fame of it all. It’s just been fun to watch and see what his mom has to say.”

His mother, Anoma, said her friends were telling her about the online popularity of the photos, but she had never used Twitter.

“I quickly asked my son to get me a Twitter account,” she said. “I think it’s funny how people go crazy on something like this. It is fun for a little town.”

His father, Michael, said everyone was surprised at the reaction generated by the photos. Many other students have stopped by the store talking about them, he said.

“We never expected that,” he said. “I don’t think anybody expected it to go that big. All the kids know about it. They’re all talking about how famous he is.”

Peiris suggested that because he was now famous he should have no curfew and a new car — as he was sitting on his brother’s car in the parking lot photo. His mother quickly replied, “You’re not that famous.”

Peiris said he plans to enjoy his fame while it lasts.

“It’s nice walking around school and having everyone call my name,” he said. “Some people actually took pictures with me. It’s a good feeling actually. I think it’s at its peak of Twitter fame right now, but who knows really?”

For anyone else planning their senior pictures, Peiris said the key is to not take them too seriously.

“When you look back at it, you can either pose on a tree with your arms crossed like everybody else, or you can be different,” he said. “It’s always better to be different.”

To celebrate Halloween, not Stefano Peiris’ Internet photo fame, The Hermiston 7-Eleven, along with locations in Pasco and Kennewick, will be offering free 22-ounce Slurpees for children from 3-8 p.m. Oct. 31.

To see Stefano Peiris’ original Twitter posts and some of the reaction online to his photos, check out the following link: http://bit.ly/1RGsfNQ