Every weekend in Houston there are countless quinceaneras -- a 15th birthday celebration.

They can be elaborate and cost thousands of dollars, but Houston-area girl couldn't afford to wait.

At one quinceanera, tradition ran high: plenty of pink and lots of fun.

But it what wasn't there is what made the party so different: no 15-year-old girl.

The guest of honor is only 12. Julia Wagner has cancer.

“You can't sit there and go, ‘Oh I have cancer; it's the end of the world,’” she said. “You have to go, ‘But I’m a normal kid.’”

The eighth-grader wanted a quinceanera, but osteosarcoma, a bone cancer, was moving in quick. It had claimed her right knee and part of her leg. Doctors weren’t sure how long she had to live.

“And no matter if you lose your battle or not you never technically lose it," Wagner said. "You fought it, and that’s what counts.”

The Make-A-Wish foundation made the quinceanera possible.

“Well I’m not 15; I’m going to be 13 on the fourth,” Wagner said. “It’s odd. I never thought that I would have it now, but then again you never think that you have cancer.”

The disease destroyed her right knee and part of her leg. A slight limp disappears in her celebration of life. 

Wagner is going through chemo and lost her hair. It's been tough, but at this party though nothing can bring her down.

“It’s very significant because nine months ago when we were told she had cancer," mother Cristina said. "We didn’t know where we would be today.”

Julia Wagner was 12 going on 15 at party that just couldn’t wait.