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AahhhHHAAaah okay I have a good one. It was awful but let my shame be your entertainment. So let’s go back to the 90s, when sweet wide-eyed Emily started her junior year at her second high school in three years... https://twitter.com/saramegan/status/1359563918700650498
Its October I think and I’m still fairly new (we moved around a lot) and not yet jaded so, you know, I was making an effort. Nice to everybody, trying to just sort of fade into the background. Then along comes Homecoming.
Now, I didn’t know what Homecoming was bc my old school didn’t have it but I learned that at this school it was a BIG DEAL. There was the game, the dance, and also the Homecoming Court (like prom king and queen but more people I guess?) And the whole school voted on it.
So Student Council collects the ballots on Monday. Two girls/two guys from each class. Then on Friday they announce the winners over the PA during homeroom. So Friday rolls around and I’m not really paying attention but then I hear my name. Over the PA. I’m on Homecoming Court.
Now, I wasn’t popular. I wasn’t unpopular either, I was just kind of background noise and I was absolutely ok with that. But now I was on Homecoming Court. I had to be escorted out on the field during the Homecoming game and actually go to the Homecoming dance and like...wtf.
And let’s face it: in a school of 1500 students, there’s no reason I should’ve won. But stranger things have happened, right? Folks congratulated me in the hall & it was like a John Hughes movie for a sec. I was actually looking forward to next week.
Then next week arrives.
Then next week arrives.
Monday morning starts an PA announcement that the student counsel secretary (we’ll call him Bob) had been removed from Student council. No explanation, only that he was out. Now, the school year had barely started so everyone was like...wait what?
I guess the teachers thought they were being smart by withholding the info but this is high school so of course by 5th period the other student council members were talking and the truth was out: Bob had stuffed the Homecoming ballots. But not for everybody. Just for ME.
Yes I was the subject of ELECTION RIGGING. So when I said I shouldn’t have won? I in fact shouldn’t have won. And now the whole school knew. No more congratulations. No one was even making eye contact w me. So of course I did the only thing I could: faked sick so I could go home.
I came back later that week and went to talk to one of my teachers. I told him I knew what happened and I didn’t want to do the whole fraudulent thing on Friday and do you know what that MFer did? He gaslit me. Said he didn’t know what I was talking about. Fraud? What fraud.
What’s worse? He and every other teacher made sure I knew how important it was that I show up, that I go and do this “wonderful” thing and how much I would be letting everyone down if I didn’t. Because, after all, I was new and I just didn’t understand 𝓉𝓇𝒶𝒹𝒾𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃
So guess what? I DID. Friday comes around and little ole Emily gets dressed up and is paraded out on the field and then paraded around a dance, all in front of hundreds of students that are pissed bc THEY KNOW I AM NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THERE.
It was like Carrie except instead of pig’s blood it was just some really dirty looks and the cheerleaders laughing at me. So, like, SAME.
In true high school fashion, I tried to pretend it never happened. I never even addressed how the teachers absolutely pressured me to play along so they didn’t get caught in maintaining a really stupid lie. But guess who didn’t pretend? Every other student. All year.
ANYWAY high school sucks
