24 Things From Middle School You Forgot About

To celebrate the release of the first-ever novel about early-2000s nostalgia, Middle School Confidential, we've compiled some items from the book into a list of forgotten aspects from that magical era sure to make you uncomfortably nostalgic.

1. Thinking you were totally scandalous for wearing these:

Just pray that your parents never found out what they were really for.

2. Desperately trying to copy every single aspect of these kids' lives:

"Ste-PHENNNNNNN"

3. Tormenting SmarterChild on AOL Instant Messenger whenever you got bored:

4. Dancing like this at school dances:

The girls in the back are obviously whispering about how trashy this girl is for letting this dude's hands travel so far down her sides.

5. When the coolest phones EVER looked like this:

You could email people AND instant message them, all in one inconveniently-large package.

6. Top 8 drama on MySpace:

If one of your BFFs moved you down without telling you, the gates of hell would open up.

7. This show:

Just make sure your mom didn't walk in while you were watching it.

8. Making AIM screen names like this:

9. And this:

10. And this:

11. These weird, cropped jacket/vest things:

Were they cropped jackets? Were they deformed vests? Who cares, because they were ugly either way.

12. And shirts that said things like this:

Seriously, what does this even mean?

13. Desperately signing off and on 8,000 times in a row to get our crushes to notice us:

It usually didn't work, but hey, it was thrilling nonetheless.

14. Being obsessed with this album:

Extra points if you perfected Ashlee's "I'm tormented and depressed because I'm a white girl from the suburbs" expression.

15. Thinking you were a RoCkEr ChiCk for wearing these:

Seriously, just looking at these things is uncomfortable.

16. Thinking you were scandalous for going into AOL chat rooms and messing with the old creepy dudes for cheap laughs:

17. Fighting with your friends on AIM:

18. Using these to write everything, even when it drove your teachers crazy:

Let's be real: we could't read the ink half the time, either. (But that didn't stop us from writing rambling, barely-readable notes to each other in class whenever we got bored!)

19. Using your gel pens to write notes like this:

If "No" was checked, your life was officially over forever.

20. Shamelessly lying about your life in your away messages:

21. When every boy had this amazingly awful hairstyle:

Directions: apply approximately two gallons of dollar-store gel onto hair; walk face-first into wall.

22. Thinking you were tOTaLLy hArDcOrE for posting lyrics like this:

23. Crying hysterically when this happened:

You'll always be in our hearts, Marissa.

24. And finally:

A moment of silence for the original Brangelina.