I was in my High School English one day when my crush sat down next
to me. I was a band nerd but decided to try to talk to him anyway.
I started up a conversation and after a minute or so of talking to
him he said "Oh you have a eyelash" he reached up to pluck
it off of my cheek but when he did he got kind of weird and quiet
and said "oh never mind" it was months later that i realized
it was a stray facial hair that he was trying to get and not an eyelash.
—V.T.
In seventh grade, I was not a nerd, at least by adult standards. By
kid standards, however, I had a lot to learn. The junior high was
new and big and there were only a few kids I knew there. I read Dale
Carnegie's book, How to Win Friends, etc., thinking this book had
to be popular for a reason. For example, during the gym class roll
call, while we sat in neat rows of four, I cheefully pointed out to
the girl next to me that although my last name was Irish, I too, shared
her polish heritage. I also asked if she liked perogies and kielbasa,
trying to find something in common. She told me to fuck off. The next
day in the locker room, she demanded I help her take off her extremely
tight pants by pulling the bottoms over her big stinky feet. My best
friend stood by helplessly knowing I would be killed if I didn't comply.
I was nearly late for roll call every day because I had to help "Diana"
first. She also made fun of my flowered underwear, which I stopped
wearing. I got some new plain pairs even though my mother did not
want to spend money on underwear because of some bully. 20 years later,
I purchased my first flowery pair since the 7th grade.
Please....
anonymous .... "Diana" is still out there.
It
was the last day of school in sixth grade, and we had had an end-of-year
class party. Everyone was cleaning up the classroom afterwards, and
some of the other girls were goofing off at the same time, like collecting
the streamers and pieces of string and tying them around their heads.
Seeing this, I picked up a piece of string so I could play with it
later, and was about to put it in my pocket, when Sarah came up to
me. "
Give
me that string," she said. I said no.
"Give
me that string. You're just going to throw it away, anyway."
I said I wasn't going to throw it away.
"Liar.
Give me that string!" She grabbed the piece of string and tried
to take it from me. It was tug-o-war, and it hurt my hand. She was
stronger than me, and eventually, she took it from me and walked up.
I was angry and upset and I began to cry, even though I tried not
to. Another girl saw me and asked what was wrong, but I was too embarrassed
to tell her that I was crying over a piece of string.
—N.G.
When
I was in high school I was such an uber-geek that I was considered
untouchable by the girls in my class. By
the time I was in tenth grade however, I found myself going to other
schools for science bowls and mathletes and such quite a bit, and
I would get notes from the other geek girls there, who were interested
in me.
I
never responded to them, though.
—Brian
P.
My
story may be too lame to mention but….
I
was in the freshman in HS back in 85 and had picked up the all encompassing
diversion of having a PC when PC’s were apple 2’s and
Radio Shack TRS-80’s and people who used them starred in movies
like ‘revenge of the nerds’. Do pathetic geeks watch ‘revenge
of the nerds’ and feel a sense of belonging? I know I did.
One
day my algebra teacher announced to our class how there was some sort
of fund-raising raffle to benefit the HS basketball team. It was a
50-50 raffle with a cash prize for the lucky ticket holder.
Trying
to come across as some sort of Einstein and thinking that algebra
teachers had an intrinsic interest in computers, I mentioned to him,
in class, surrounded by my classmates, that if I won the 50/50 that
I would buy an ‘expansion interface’ for my TRS-80 at
home. My teacher looked at me like I was speaking in tongues and I
was dealt a bucketful of derision from my classmates including the
girl I had a crush on throughout HS. Until that moment I was able
to fly under the ‘geek’ radar with my classmates and generally
avoid derision targeted at my ‘geek’ weakness. I had ‘outed’
myself as another ‘Gilbert Lowell’.
—P.R.
One
night after an 8th grade dance, some friends and I walked to a grocery
store and bought a bag of mixed candies -- gummi bears, gumballs,
jelly beans, you name it. Being bored and stupid, we sat down on an
embankment outside the store to eat it, and soon got the idea that
it would be fun to throw the candy at cars passing by.
After
hitting one car's windshield with a Swedish Fish, the car came screeching
to a halt and the driver came running after us. We fled into the store
and tried to hide nonchalantly among the aisles.
But
the guy recognized our clothes and hauled us to the front of the store,
where he called the cops and told them we were throwing rocks at cars.
The cop came and yelled at us for being "juvenile delinquents,"
then sent us home, crying, to our parents.
—Laura M.
In
high school I always aspired to be one of the cool kids. It seemed
obvious that they would welcome me into their circle when they got
to know me. To me they were incredibly glamorous.
Every
morning when I got ready for school I would struggle with a cowlick
that was the only thing preventing me from entering their brotherhood.
I inevitably ended overpowering it with water to get it to lay down.
During
winter mornings my walk to school gave the water plenty of time to
freeze.
I
was a little puzzled but also happy to be invited to sit with the
cool people during homeroom, the first period of the day. The group
seemed to be always smiling at me.
Only
years later did a friend tell me that they let me sit with them so
they could watch the ice melt, the water run down my forehead, and
the hair stand back up.
—E.C.T.
I
grew up in the country in rural Wisconsin (Pepin - in the late 70's,
early 80's) and I was a strange kid that wasn't really aware of some
correct social behavior of normal kids—like behaving like a
"kid." I had very good manners, but I spent a lot of time
with my divorced, disabled father and I didn't know about the normal
kids lifestyle—like sports or movies or music. I went to a Twins
baseball game when I was 12 for a school event. A friend and myself
didn't fit on our grade's bus so were stuck on a bus with kids in
the grade ahead of us. We were both getting mildly picked on; like
told to stop looking at them and how badly we smelled—I was
a dirty kid. The bus ride was going to be a miserable two hours ride.
The older kids offered us a 1/4 full 2 liter bottle of Mountain Dew
which I perceived as a peace offering and that maybe I was being accepted
as the smart, interesting, and funny kid that I thought I was. My
friend and myself guzzled the soda that was a gift from the older
kids, who appeared to hate us before, with a fervor to show our appreciation.
While I had the bottled tipped up to the bus' roof, we had passed
it back and forth a few times, my friend noticed the chunky, white
goobers floating in the yellow soda. Somehow I didn't throw up then,
but I gag everytime I think of this awful moment.
—Jim F.
I
was 9 years old and I went to the movie "Time Bandits" with
my little sister. When the lights came on at the end I saw one of
my friends down near the front row. I went to say hello and noticed
another one of my friends nearby. And then another...and another....and
another. It was a birthday party that I had not been invited to. My
friends were a bit uncomfortable having me there, but when my mother
came to pick me up she saw I was with my friends and told me to go
with them. I attached myself to the group, but since the movie was
the climax of the party I only got to ride in the car with everyone
while the birthday boy's mom dropped everyone off at their respective
houses. And because the birthday boy lived near my house, I was dropped
off last.
—Mark
S.
I've been wearing glasses since I was about 3 years old. Around the
time I reached high school, I became convinced that my unattractive
apperance was all because I wore glasses. (it was actually because
I was short and had bad skin). So one day at school, I decided to
spend the rest of the day without my glasses, only wearing when I'm
actually in class. I saw a good friend of mine in the hallway, so
I walked up to him, gave him a pat on the back, and asked him "What's
up? how do you think I look?" After about 5 minutes of silence
from my friend, I finally put my glasses back on and realised that
I had actually walked up to some other kid that I didn't know at all.
After the guy commented "That was gay", I quickly walked
away without saying a word. I still wear glasses today.
—H.J.C.
When
I was 13 or so my family moved to texas, where the other girls were
pretty rich and had fancy clothes. I didn't fit in, I was quite unsophisticated
and from Minnesota. Everyday the school counselor would call me out
of class to talk about my adjustment, and encourage me to make friends.
But, school counselors just don't understand that you can't make friends
across those kinds of class lines! She gave me 2 free ice cream passes
for the cafeteria and told me I HAD to give one pass away. This would
earn me a new friend. I used one pass for an ice cream cone and spent
all lunch hour trying to give away the other pass. No one would take
it and they just looked at me weird. I am sure it made me even geekier.
I later threw away the pass and told the counselor that I had given
it to someone. Ahhh, to be young again eh? hehe.
—Katie
M.
As
I was walking back home
from school (4th or 5th grade...don't recall), I noticed this guy
(probably a teenager...maybe 18) sitting on the steps in front of
his house talking on the phone. I thought, "Hmmm. He's kinda
cute. I wonder if he'll notice me." So as I passed his house
I started walking a little sexy and stared in his direction with what
I thought was a provocative look. He noticed me all right. He said,
"What the hell are you looking at?!" My throat tightened
and my heart was about to pound outta my chest. I stopped looking
at him and started walking a lot faster, and ever since then, I'd
make sure I didn't see him outside before I ran past his house.
—Amy
L.
In
junior high, my friends and I were being driven to the mall by one
of my friend's mother. I had a very prominent cold sore at the time
and one of my friends asked me if I knew that cold sores were a form
of herpes. Embarrassed already about the huge sore on my lip, I quickly
tried to make light of the situation by saying "Yeah, no more
blow jobs for me!" Everyone shot me a look and my friends' mothers
wouldn't let them hang out with me anymore after that.
—Donna
In
5th grade, I was looking at my shirt, and I realized I could sort
of see my heart beating. This made me real nervous, because I'd never
seen my chest move like that before. Of course, my nervous heart started
pounding even more. I panicked and raised my hand: "Mr. Watanabe,
can I please go to the nurse? I don't know why my heart's beating
like this!"
Mr.
Watanabe stared at me and said, "Maybe it's because you're alive."
I got a lot of shit for that one.
—Jeremy
On
the playground in 5th grade I was playing truth or dare with some
"friends" of mine 
on
top of the jungle gym. It came to be my turn and I picked dare. I
was known for being a goody-goody, so they dared me to swear. "Just
say "damn" or "shit", something easy", one
said. I tried to get out of it claiming religious objections, but
that made it worse. Getting frustrated, I climbed down and walked
away , but they all followed and more gathered to see what was going
on. By the time I reached the fence, the whole class was telling me
to swear. I even tried to kick one of the boys to make them move back.
Eventually one of the lunch ladies broke up the mob and they gave
up. But today, I've relaxed and I'm a regular fucking little potty
mouth. Long sad story.
—Nicolette
In
9th Grade, I was the "new kid" at my school. Because no
one knew me from the past, I was a novelty, even to the "cool"
kids, and I tried to be in their group. One of the cute girls in my
English class even seemed to kinda like me, and we would flirt during
class.
About
two weeks into the school year, my the English teacher had us reading
"Romeo and Juliet" as a group. Not really a performance,
just sitting at our desks, but with each part read aloud by one of
the students. My teacher picked me to play Benvolio, a minor character
who appears at the beginning of the story.
Maybe
I had seen too many Shakespeare plays on TV, but for whatever reason,
as the reading began, I spoke my lines in an obnixious, overly-done
fake English accent. I wasn't trying to be funny--I just assumed everyone
would be reading their lines that way.
I
was mortified when the next kid read his lines in his everyday, normal
voice (as did everyone else).
After
that, the cool kids labeled me a dork, and the cute girl acted like
I didn't exist.
—Marc
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