We recently asked members of the BuzzFeed Community to tell us about the most awkward thing that happened to them in high school. Here are some of the cringey stories they shared:
1. This person who accidentally flashed a classmate:
"I overslept one morning and went into a tailspin to get to school. I couldn't find any clean underwear and I hadn't had time to do laundry, so I made the brilliant decision to go commando. And since I was wearing pants, it would be fine. I ran to the bus stop to find one of the cool guys sitting there. I sat next to him and he looked uncomfortable. The bus arrived and as I was getting on, I realized the zipper on my too-big pants was down, and I had been flashing this poor dude the whole time."
2. This marching band student who fell flat:
"I was the drum major for my high school marching band. At the end of a particular song, the band members on the field would do a small dance move. At the following football game, I decided to join them for the dance, but I hadn't practiced this move on my conducting platform. Welp, I did the first move of the dance, but I stepped too far and fell from my conducting platform, which was about four feet off the ground."
3. This person who faked it to make it:
"When I was in high school, I received an award in front of the entire school. I'd been sitting on the floor, cross-legged, and hadn't realized that my leg had completely fallen asleep. When I stood up, I took one step then dropped like a sack of stones — in front of 1,000 high school kids. Everyone laughed at me so I panicked and pretended I had twisted my ankle pretty badly. I faked a limp for the rest of the day to sell the story."
4. This person who made a slippery mistake:
"In high school, I did stats for the wrestling team. On match days, we all had to dress up. One day, I wore a skirt and sweater with dress shoes, which I wasn't used to wearing on slippery school floors. I had to carry this big, bulky boxed kit of some sort, and as we were all walking down the hall heading to the meet — with the entirety of the wrestling team behind me — I slipped and fell face-first. The kit shot down the hallway floor, and my skirt flew up, exposing my underwear to every. Person. On. The. Team."
5. This person who learned a valuable lesson about treadmills:
"In P.E., I was coaching someone on a treadmill. I wasn't really paying attention and accidentally stepped on the treadmill, which was almost at the highest setting. I flew off very quickly and landed on the floor with a loud thud. The teacher didn't notice at first, but everyone was laughing. My knees were bleeding, and there were red marks all over my leg from where I fell. On that day, I learned to pay attention when I'm around treadmills."
6. This person who was just super eager to get to lunch:
"In high school, the lines would get pretty long for lunch and even though there were plenty of lines for food, being at the end of the line sucked because that cut off time from sitting and eating. So, I would basically power walk to lunch. This particular day, I came down the stairwell skipping steps, and must’ve been going too fast because I fell when I reached the bottom. Everyone saw me and laughed. Not even my friends helped me up."
7. This person who face-planted in front of their crush:
"After class, my friends, my crush, and I would walk outside to get to our next class. It had been raining for a week and there was this huge puddle we had to get around. I tried to jump it, face-planted into it, was drenched from head to toe, and had a panic attack in the bathroom shortly after. I skipped three classes while I waited for my friends to find me clean clothes. I still cringe just thinking about it. My crush thought it was fucking hilarious by the way."
8. This person who just experienced a series of unfortunate events:
"In the ninth grade, I passed out from dehydration, fell out of my desk, and hit my face on the desk next to mine. I dislocated my jaw and broke my nose pretty badly. I woke up and was wheelchaired to the elevator, where I passed out again and fell out of the wheelchair in the elevator. I had black eyes for DAYS. I still haven't lived it down."
9. This person who accidentally pantsed someone:
"I was rushing to class and fell down the stairs. In my panic, I grabbed the closest thing I could reach, which ended up being some guy’s pants. Not only did I fall down the stairs, but I also dragged some poor guy’s pants down with me."
10. This person who had a messy situation:
"In the ninth grade, I got my period for the first time during science class, where there were bright, white lab stools. I ended up bleeding through my jeans. I got up and thought I saw a guy check me out, so I smiled. But, I heard him say, 'Is that blood?!?!' Yup. On my jeans and the white stool."
11. This person who crashed and burned right in front of their crush:
"When I was a freshman, I walked into school and saw my crush with a group of popular guys. I had a very cute, early-00s outfit on that day — a short pleated skirt, a polo shirt, and platform flip flops. The flip flops were definitely a mistake because it was a rainy day, and as I tried to strut my stuff past them I slipped on the wet floor. My backpack flipped over my head, which caused my skirt to flip up and show the world my underwear. My crush and his friends all laughed. I was mortified."
—mjb7
12. This person who had a wardrobe malfunction:
"During my freshman year, I was sitting in the second row of the auditorium for an awards ceremony. It was all going well until we had to stand up to say the Pledge of Allegiance. When I sat back down, the zipper on my dress broke, so my dress was totally unzipped and my bra was sticking out. My sister was sitting next to me, but she refused to let me wear her sweater. There were teachers sitting in front of us so when I explained what happened, they made me go through the crowd of people to the back of the gym where my sister finally gave me her sweater. It was so awkward."
13. This person who just had horrible timing:
"I had a male teacher for my high school physics class. He had a habit of standing against a desk in the front row, which was crotch-level. One day, he was leaning against my desk when my pencil slipped out of my hand and went barreling towards the edge of the desk. I quickly go to catch it... just as the teacher slid in front of my desk. My knuckle grazed more than the desk. No eye contact was made, and we both pretended nothing happened."
14. This person who literally froze in panic:
"I was in my 11th year — 10th grade — and I was also head girl. One of my tasks was to lead our entire school assembly in a prayer — one that I, for the record, had been reciting since I was 11. There were 2,000 people at the assembly, so I got a little anxious. The time came for me to lead the prayer and the great hall was silent. I said the beginning: 'In the name of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit...' and then...nothing. I couldn’t for the life of me remember the prayer and everyone waited for me to say something. Eventually, my head of year said the beginning of it and I immediately took the lead and said the rest. But by the time she helped me, we had already been in uncomfortable silence for at least three minutes."
15. This person who hadn't planned on her tampon string stealing the spotlight:
"I was on the gymnastics team and had just finished my floor routine in a meet against our rival school. A girl on the other team, who was kind of a mean girl, came up to me when I was done and told me that my tampon string had been hanging out of the side of my leotard."
16. This person who wished they'd checked the mirror sooner:
"One day, I ate a chocolate chip bagel on the way to school. Throughout the day, I hung out with my friends before class, spoke to teachers in class, passed hundreds of people in the hallways, and ate lunch with a table full of friends. Finally, I went to the restroom and looked in the mirror...THERE WAS A GIANT CHOCOLATE CHIP STUCK TO MY CHEEK. Not a single person pointed it out. What did they think, I grew a giant, gnarly mole overnight?!?!"
17. And this person who got stuck in a hairy situation:
"One time, I got a very big award during an assembly of about 2,000 people. As I was shuffling out of the row I was sitting in, the button on my blouse got stuck in the hair of a girl sitting in front of me, and everyone saw."
