I am NOT OP. Original post by u/lazybear90 in tifu
Hi all. This is my first time posting here, please let me know if I made any mistakes.
Trigger warnings: none I think
Mood spoiler: overwhelmingly wholesome
Original post: May 26, 2023
This happened in February of last year, but my friends have been telling me I need to post this story online … so here goes nothing:
My wife and I (both 31 years old, at the time) moved into a new three-unit apartment building in San Francisco. One of our neighbors is a 70-something year old retired veteran, we’ll call him Joe. For context, Joe is a white American guy and he’s also a devout Hindu priest. One day I run into Joe in my hallway, and he tells me about this charity he manages for a community in Bangladesh. I wanted to support my neighbor and the charity, so I ask Joe to send me the GoFundMe link.
The next day at work, I go on the GoFundMe page and donate $150. Or so I thought. Moments later, I get a text on my phone warning me of an unusually large transaction on my credit card. I’m confused and swipe to open the text message. It says I have made a payment of $15,041 to GoFundMe. Immediately I’m sweating. How could I have donated FIFTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS? I spend the next 10-15 minutes retracing my steps, and finally I realize my credit card starts with the numbers 4 and 1. It seems I had accidentally started typing my credit card information while my cursor was still in the donation box, and just like that 150 became 15041. Yikes.
I call GoFundMe’s support line in a panic, and when I finally connect with a human I explain what happened. “No need to worry”, he tells me, they will initiate a refund of the transaction which should process in 3-7 business days. That’s a huge relief. But then I ask the agent if the charity will be able to see the donation on the GoFundMe page until it is refunded. “What do you mean?” the agent asks me. “What do YOU mean what do I mean?” was my response. “Will they be able to see the $15,041 donation?!” Unfortunately, yes, the agent tells me. They will be able to see it until the refund process is complete. I tell him that’s a big problem, as the entire GoFundMe had hardly raised that much at that point. Surely they will notice their fundraiser doubling overnight?
My plan was to knock on Joe’s door the following morning to give him the full story, so that he could pass it along to his contacts in Bangladesh. But when I woke up the next morning, I looked at my phone and saw I had 40+ notifications on Facebook. Someone had sent me a friend request, had liked many of my old posts, and had sent me many messages. Immediately I was concerned when I saw that the individual messaging me had a Hindu name, but I never could have imagined what I saw when I opened his first message…
The man had sent me a video of himself from Bangladesh, surrounded by dozens of impoverished and hungry people holding bags of food, thanking me BY NAME (Michael) for my generous donation. A big round of applause for Michael. At this point, I’ve leapt out of my bed and I’m pacing. Part of me wants to scream, part of me wants to crack up laughing. I start swiping through the man’s messages, and it is picture after picture after picture of poor Bangladeshis thanking me for my kind donation. Literally hundreds of photos of frail, elderly, disabled, and malnourished individuals holding signs with my name. Thank you, Michael. Thank you, Michael. I've uploaded a portion of the video, and a few photos, for you guys to see here: https://imgur.com/gallery/tROXniV
Editor's note: Photo descriptions
1: a screenshot of the GoFundMe page with Michael's $15,041 donation made and highligted.
2: a video of people holding food bags, and a man in the middle saying thank you to Michael.
3: two men with their food bags, with a sign that says "Thank you dear Michael for your kind help".
4: eight people with their food bags and a sign that says "Thanks dear Michael for your kind".
5: a lot of people gatherered, holding their hands in the air with their food bags at their feet.
6 through 11 contain different people with their food bags and one of the previous signs.
12: several people gathered for a selfie taken by the man from the video who thanks Michael.
13: same picture as 5.
14 and 15: more people with their food bags and the same signs.
Needless to say, I couldn’t live with myself just donating $150 after seeing how the community responded to the $15,041. I decided the least I could do was to add a zero, and so I donated $1,500 once the original donation was refunded. The charity’s host was incredibly gracious and understanding, and he explained to me that $1,500 goes very far in Bangladesh for urgent food relief. Here is the charity’s new GoFundMe link if you want to check it out: https://www.gofundme.com/f/urgent-food-relief-assistance-in-bangladesh
Ultimately I think the whole experience was a win-win. I helped a great cause, and I got a funny story out of it.
TL;DR: Some impoverished folks in Bangladesh thought I had sent them $15,041 but it was an accident and I had to request a refund for most of it.
EDIT: Many are asking why there is no $1,500 donation listed in the fund’s donation history. I donated to an old campaign link for the same charity. It is readily findable online, if you feel compelled to search for it.
Update post: June 2nd, 2023 (one week later)
PHOTO Updates: https://imgur.com/a/8Rv1LoZ (I assume the first of many photos to come in the following months)
Editor's note: Photo descriptions
1: Several Bangladeshi children holding plates waiting to get food, some are holding signs that say "Thanks Reddit". Caption: Thank you Reddit! These are just the first few photos I've received from the team leader, I'm sure there's so much more to come.
2: Similar to 1.
3: Similar, but with a sign that says "All this thanks to Reddit".
4: Similar to 3.
5: Women holding a sing that says "All this thanks to Reddit" with bags filled with fruit at their feet.
6: Same as 2.
7: A screenshot of the GoFundMe showing the number of donations prior to the Reddit post (26). Caption: Donations prior to my Reddit post ($12,500 or so, at that time)
8: A screenshot of the GoFundMe after the post. $63,301 were raised by 2.1K donations!
Caption: Donations as of this posting.
9: It's a conversation between Michael and the Team Leader (TL for short) in Bangladesh (named Shohag Chandra Das). The conversation is as follows:
Michael: I posted the story of my accidental donation on Reddit, when I donated 15,041 when I meant to donate $150.
TL: If I would know by your kindness what is the full form of Reddit.
Michael: People thought it was so funny and it went viral. Reddit is a community social media website. The story got 30,000 views, and the GoFundMe link was shared with everyone.
TL: Yes we 17 team members of Bangladesh realief Are now can hope to see a new future streagth We were hoping our program will be closed due to fund lacking
Caption: Messages from the local team leader in Bangladesh.
10th photo to 13th photo: More screenshots. I'll transcribe them here:
TL: Four emojis with a sad face and a tear. I have no words to praise you that what results your little gesture has brought for millions of needy boldest people in Bangladesh. AND DEAR SIR MILLIONS OF THANKS FOR YOUR KIND EFFORTS BY SHARING THiS FOOD DISTRIBUTION POST IN rebbit.com ,,its a strenghts for thousands of needy people and hungry children even we are seeking permanent sponsor to bear the cost of 20 accurate orphanage children for their rejoining into the school because they have lost their father now they are unable to manage the cost of educationg fooding ect ,,but no one was agreeing for this educational projects. Rebbit.com
TL: millions of thanks for your kindness dear sir i saw you have done it Michael sends a link to Reddit.com.
TL: Then this results has come. And million of thanks to you dear sir, to message me after looking this greatest news.
Then TL proceeds to send Michael lots of other photos of Bangladeshi people containing them eating, them holding their food bags and selfies.
TL: 17 total team members working in 4 districts under BR. But I have sent some pictures we are working in Bogura Office. But in 4 districts 17 young boys and girls doing part time jobs in our institute. Dear Sir. I am informing you because our institute getting a strong shape world wide.
14: A screenshot of the original GoFundMe page showing the $1,500 donation Michael ended up doing. With this text "My original $1,500 in donations on the old campaign page, since a lot of people were looking for this".
Caption: Some people were looking in the donation history on the campaign's new link to verify I actually made the $1,500 donation I claimed to have made in my story. The $1,500 donation (pictured) was made via the OLD campaign link
Last week, I posted one of my life's most embarrassing stories on TIFU, about the typo that caused me to donate $15,041 to a Bangladesh charity instead of the $150 donation I intended. At the time of my Reddit post, the charity’s latest campaign had approximately $12,500 from 26 total donations. My neighbor, the organizer of the charity, had told me the charity was running on fumes and looking to cancel some of its programs.
Of course I had hoped some Redditors might read my story and decide to help the charity, but I NEVER could have expected the overwhelming reaction nor the incredible generosity of the Reddit community. “Watch this post blow up, and a shit ton of Redditors donate” was one of the first comments the post received on Reddit. And that is exactly what happened. Over Memorial Day Weekend, the charity raised over $55,000 from over 2,100 new donations.
On Saturday, I had to explain Reddit to my 77-year-old neighbor and to the charity’s team leader in Bangladesh (he called it Rebbit, as you can see in my pics). They were absolutely blown away by the reaction – truly they view it as a miracle. I received the following message from my neighbor: “Without a doubt, this is the biggest wave of support to arrive since we started! Doors that were closed can now be opened. Plans that were parked can now be put in motion. There is much we can now accomplish. All due to your idea to post (in a funny way) on what happened a while ago. Abundant resources require an equal level of responsibility. No less. I am committed to see that these funds are applied carefully and continue to make a difference to those who need it most.”
Sometimes things just seem to work out for a reason. One Reddit donor commented, “Michael may have screwed up his donation, but hopefully his TIFU on Reddit has fixed that somewhat.” Thanks to Reddit, the Bangladesh community will receive roughly 4x the amount of the original donation I had refunded.
TL;DR: My embarrassing story of an accidental $15,041 donation (and refund of $13,541) goes viral on Reddit, Redditors raise over $55,000 for needy in Bangladesh!
EDIT: Holy cow someone just donated $5,000! Thank you, Anonymous!! Hopefully you didn’t mean to donate $500… it could happen to anyone. Charity link in comments and original post, if anyone else is interested!
​
Editor's note: If this gets posted I will be really happy that my first BORU post was this level of wholesome.
Reminder - I am not the original poster.

(If this post is still up, I'm still looking!)
Hey there. I really want to develop a female led/slight gentle femdom relationship with a special guy.
When a lot of men see the term "female led relationship," they think, "Oh, the woman will make all the decisions with no input on what I think/want."
Are there dynamics like that? I'm sure there is. Personally, I'm not looking to be "the boss" or "above" you in any way. I want us to be equal... but have you give up control to me in a few other ways. :)
What do I mean? Keep reading on!
● ABOUT ME ●
You can call me Dreamer for now. (I'll tell you my real name once we get to know each other) Please do NOT call me Miss, Master, Dominatrix or Ma'am.
I'm 25 years old and an INFJ-T. I live in Nashville, Tennessee, USA (AKA Music City) and I'm on Central Standard Time. I'm a Black woman and I stand 5 feet, 7 inches tall. My eyes are brown and I wear glasses. I don't have any tattoos or piercings at the moment.
One thing I want to mention is that I'm plus size, AKA a bigger girl. I'm undergoing a vertical sleeve gastrectomy in two months to lose the excess weight I have in a sustainable and permanent way. I'm ready to regain my body and be healthy and confident again. I'd love to have you by my side throughout my journey!
As far as personality goes, I'd describe myself as empathetic and sweet. I like to help others as much as I can. In person, I tend to be rather shy at first. People tend to mistake that for weakness or gullibility. I'm anything but; my strength lies in introspection and quiet observation. I notice every nuance of a person's actions, words, body language, vibe... my intuition hasn't steered me wrong yet!
● INTERESTS ●
I won't go into detail on every single interest that I have but I'll talk about my biggest ones that you'll likely hear me mention the most.
✨️Writing✨️
I've been writing since I was six years old, but I started taking it seriously around 13 years old. All in all, it's been 19 years. As of right now, I primarily write Fanfiction but in the past, I've written short stories, poetry and I even tried to learn how to write screenplays at one point.
I wrote my first full-length book in 2018/2019. I started the sequel in early 2020, but I'm still working on it. I lost a LOT of inspiration during the pandemic but I'm finally writing for it again.
If you also enjoy writing, I'd love to "talk shop" with you and maybe we can exchange some of our past works.
✨️Music✨️
Music has gotten me through a lot over the years. Yeah, yeah, I know everyone says that. But it truly has. It's shaped my life and introduced me to a lot of things and people that I probably never would've done or met otherwise.
There's no point in saying I like xyz genre because I've listened to pretty much everything. The only ones I truly hate are country and gangster rap. If you want specifics, though... I've been a HUGE twenty one pilots fan for 9 years. (I have more merch, stickers and other random shit than I care to admit to lmao) I also love other artists like Amber Run, Purity Ring, Phantogram, Daughter, Lorde, OneRepublic... plus tons more.
I've always had this dumb idea of a guy and I confessing to each other through playlists with songs that make us think fondly about each other...
God, I'm single.
✨️Photography✨️
I've been into photography for 10 years and I've had my DSLR for eight years. (It's definitely the camera version of 'Ol Reliable) I enjoy nature and portrait photography. I'd love to show you some of my work and get your thoughts on it.
✨️TV/Movies✨️
TV genres I like: Animation (like Spongebob), comedy, drama, documentaries (disaster and crime ones are my favorites), true crime (like Forensic Files), old sitcoms (like Sanford and Son) and cooking and baking competitions/reality TV (like Kitchen Nightmares US and UK, Hell's Kitchen, Master Chef, The Great British Baking Show, etc)
Movie genres I like: Animation, drama, comedy, action, psychological thrillers and science fiction. I thoroughly loved The Greatest Showman so one could say I like musicals but it's the only one I've seen so not sure if that really counts. Comic book movies are pretty alright too, but I really haven't seen anything past the first Avengers movie lmaooooo.
I say this as unpretentiously as possible, but I haven't seen most popular TV shows or movies that your average person likes. I think the last "popular" thing I watched was that Jeffrey Dahmer series on Netflix. (mainly out of morbid curiosity because everyone was freaking out about it... and because I think Evan Peters is a cutie) I only saw a few episodes and then forgot to watch the rest of it, but it wasn't as horrific as everyone was saying. Maybe I've watched too much Forensic Files and I'm desensitized lmao.
✨️Video and computer games✨️
Video game genres I like: Adventure, action-adventure, RPGs & JRPGs, Strategy... basically anything that is relatively fun and not horror related.
Some of my all-time favorites: Kingdom Hearts II, Ratchet and Clank, Journey, Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy X.
As far as computer games, the only thing I play on a regular basis is The Sims 2 and The Sims 4. As a kid, I loved simulator and time-management games; some old favorites are the RCT series, Simcity: Rush Hour, the first four Diner Dash games, the Delicious series and Burger Shop 2 (which I still have on my computer actually lmao)
✨️Other random interests✨️
Art, traveling, people watching, researching random topics on Wikipedia and watching YouTube, especially channels with old shows and movies.
☆ CAREER ☆
My last position was working nights at a psychiatric hospital. I'm looking for something new at the moment.
☆ SCHOOLING ☆
I'm officially a college student at 25. Yay! Feel free to ask me more about it, I'd love to talk.
☆ ET CETERA ☆
I really love dogs and cats. I have three cats and they're little demons but I love them to death. I also love small animals like ferrets, bunnies and snakes!
My main love languages are words of affirmation, quality time and gift giving/receiving. To be honest, though, there's elements of each language that I enjoy or relate to in one way or another.
I don't smoke and I drink every so often. Otherwise, I'm vaccinated and DDF.
● ABOUT YOU ●
I'm looking for a guy between the ages of 23-33 years old. I might be willing to talk to someone within two years in either direction (so 21 min and 35 max) if you meet all my other preferences/wants. If you're younger than 21 or older than 35, though, please don't contact me.
Please be single and emotionally available. I won't interact with anyone already in a relationship or married (even if you're separated or in a "dead bedroom," you're STILL married) and I'm especially not interested in poly/ENM. I'm 100% monogamous.
Hair is super important to me! I prefer medium length to long hair, something I can stroke and play with a lot lmao.
I have a REALLY big soft spot for blue and/or doe eyes, but don't let that deter you. If you have kind eyes, I'll fall in love with them, no matter their color!
I tend to like softer facial features and even softer personalities. Are you super masculine in public but a total softie in private? Lovely! Are you less masculine but a little more feminine? Great! Are you androgynous or otherwise fall somewhere in between? I can dig it!
Key traits that I like in a guy include, but are not limited to: Being sweet, gentle, empathetic, considerate, an active listener, exceptional at communication and willing to go the extra mile for those that you love, be it family, friends, your partner, etc.
With that being said, it's important that you have time for me. I'm not expecting us to talk 24/7 but if you're always too busy to talk to me, this won't work. At some point, I'd like for us to also talk on the phone as our schedules permit, of course.
As I mentioned in the beginning of this post, please be from the USA/North America and willing to meet and get to know each other in person ASAP.
● WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR ●
It's important to me that you're an active listener; what I mean is that you'll make an effort to listen to what I have to say and respond to it accordingly. If I tell you my thoughts on a matter or ask you a question or give you a compliment etc etc, please respond to it. It makes me feel so sad and small if I feel like my thoughts or opinions are not important/relevant.
I can tell pretty quickly if someone is genuinely interested in me or not. Like I said before, I notice everything lol.
I mentioned earlier how one of my love languages is words of affirmation. One of the ways I enjoy that is through compliments. I'm not looking for you to worship the ground I walk on, but being told "You look beautiful" or "When you do xyz, that makes me really happy" makes me feel SO seen and appreciated.
It's incredibly frustrating to send a picture of myself and get a lukewarm response in return. :(
Affection is also super important to me. Holding hands, hugging, kissing, cuddling, touching... all the cute couple shit. I want you to touch me, not in a pervy way, but in an affectionate way. I want to stroke your hair while I hold you close... little things like that make me incredibly happy.
Keep in mind, everything I want from you, I'll give to you in return. I'll always listen and acknowledge you, give you compliments, shower you in affection, plus whatever else makes you feel wanted and appreciated as a person and in a relationship.
● OUR DYNAMIC ●
I always want you to have a choice and be able to voice your opinion. I will never degrade or boss you around in general, but especially when it comes to your personal choices. I'm a switch that used to be a predominant sub and believe me, I've had doms tell me before, "I make the decision on what you wear, what to eat, who you hang out with, etc etc... because I'm your dom and what I say goes."
Some people may like that. More power to them. But I'm not like that. I want you to feel free to express yourself. If you want my opinion, I'll give it to you, of course. But my job is to build you up and support your decisions, no matter how small!
Again, I'm not looking for you to kiss my ass. I'd love for you to take the lead on most decisions (with my input, of course). But I want you to also have a "service" attitude; whether that's helping out with household chores or surprising me with a massage after work or giving me flowers "just because" or helping me paint my toenails lol... just to name some examples. The sky's the limit.
That extends to "the bedroom" as well. I want my pleasure to be just as important to you as yours is to me.
In short? I just want to feel doted on and taken care of. I want to be the most important person in your life and you be the most important person in my life. I want to make you feel special and praise you and tell you how much you mean to me. And I want the same in return. 💓
● "KINKS" ●
This is inevitably gonna come up at some point. I'll say when it comes to my "kinks" (if you want to call them that) I like:
Teasing, edging, telling you when you can cum and begging me for it (I believe it's called orgasm control/denial), moaning, praise, blindfolds, eye contact, body worshiping (you and me), breast worship, oral, fingering and using toys on you.
Been a little curious about pegging someone one day. We'd have to build up to it, of course, because I don't want to hurt you. If you're not into that, though, don't worry! It's definitely not a requirement.
Things I do NOT like (or hard limits) are:
Humiliation, degradation, anything that causes you or me physical, emotional and mental harm, blood, pee, scat, vomit, diapers, CNC, ageplay, raceplay, hitting, slapping, choking or anything else illegal, unethical or otherwise unloving.
● IN CONCLUSION... ●
If you read all of this, good job! Here's a cookie, hope you like chocolate chip. 🍪
Seriously, though, I can't name every little thing I want. Despite the length of this post, I'm not trying to play Build-A-Boy. I realize you have your own caveats and that's totally fine. Let's get to know each other and see what happens. All I ask for, again, is that you want a serious, longterm relationship and not view me as just some sort of "kink dispenser."
Chats or DMs are fine. When you send me a message, please include the following...
• Name or alias • Location • Age • Height, body type, hair cololength, eye color • Your interests/hobbies • Whether you're a sub or a switch • What you're looking for out of a relationship and something (or things) you really enjoyed about my post • A clear, SFW picture of yourself • Your current favorite song (so I know you actually read through all of this) • Whatever else you want to add to catch my attention. The more you can match my "detailed energy," the better.
I won't reply to those who ignore my preferences or the message requirements above. If you send me nudes/dick pics/sexting or FWB requests/rude messages, you will be blocked and reported.
Thank you so much for reading this, and I hope you have a good night!

• Dreamer

(P.S. I don't use Snap, Kik, Telegram, WhatsApp and whatever else. I use Discord and I only give my cell number out to people that I'm comfy with.)

soooo. . . .i'm a junior in highschool and in french class i met this senior this year who is just so crazy and unique and i've never met anyone quite like him, the freshmen and sophomore in my class literally have an inside joke about the senior lets call him ray because of how 'weird in a good way' he is. he's the heart of our class and is just such a positive vibe. I didn't realize I liked him until the start of second semester which began in February when I started feeling a little jealous over the stupidest shit. such as when my friend maria (who i became friends with through that class)
NOTE: so basically this is kind of a rant but during this time of the year like in february my teacher had put us in a seating arrangement in the top left corner of the class there was 4 desks and ray was in the top left desk, right next to him was his freshmen buddy, i was behind in the bottom right and then beside me to my right was maria. I LOVED this seating arrangement because every class ray would turn around and I would look at him and we would just talk and stuff. nothing special, mostly us trying to solve the globe and do the work and laugh about how stupid the stuff the freshmen said sounded. but basically after a while maria moved over to the (another unnecessary note: there is like 10 people in this class so we all kinda talked with each other and it just felt like a comfy class, it really was one of favorite classes as all we would do was play games like booklet and win candy or watch french films, or talk about art) ----
ok but basically after a while maria moved to the seat to my left which had been empty and was behind ray. Maria and I are chill. and she's the sweetest girl ever. I really adore her and I'm so glad I became friends with her. but i realized that i was becoming jealous of her for literally no reason because now ray was turning around and whenever we were writing she now had his attention. and let me make this clear in by no means is ray one of those super cool popular hot as fuck boys who gets all the girls. so i wasn't worried that she was going to develop a crush on HIM out of all guys i just i don't even know honestly. This is becoming more of like a rant. I honestly should be studying for my chem exam tomorrow , which I haven't studied for but I can't stop thinking about ray. just it was then that i really came to terms that i actually liked him? I guess my type really is dorky. but hey at least he's attractive. but after a while my teacher gave us new assigned seats because maria, ray and i were being too loud and distracting. which honestly i'm not even ashamed of. but whenever i think back to then----AHHH i just overthink how when we would do these listening things he would play write on marias paper and then maria would do so on mine and stuff. but the fact he started on hers..... I know i;m overthinking so shut up. anyone can argue it was because her desk was directly behind his. whatever.
ok so also my teacher has this thing where she'll ask for people's birthdays and put a little cake on the calendar. I remember that she asked at the end of class at the beginning of February, so no one was really listening but I was. and Ray was sitting at this other seat in this one class because this sophomore, let's call him Chad, took his seat.
NOTE: for some reason Chad and the freshmen who sat next to Ray are obsessed with Ray (the ones with the inside joke thing) and always try to be like him. they like idealize him----
so yeah he said his b-day was on FEB 14!! and omg remember that day so well. BTW 1st period i have chem and he has his science class as well so sometimes when i would be walking to class i would see him and i would especially see him when walking to my study hall afterwards (at my school you have study after your science class) because we were going to the same direction towards the cafeteria. and we would just look at eachother. he would walk out of class and tilt his head back. Now I don't know if guys do this as a reflex or whatever but my last crush still does this like crazy when I'm in the hall --- like he'll turn his whole neck around to the point where we're making eye contact. on feb 14 i was already ahead and then . . . I heard his voice, so for some reason I began to only walk faster. I will never understand why I do this. In class we were so friendly and quite competitive with each other. but in the hall it's like we barely know each other. we'll walk directly past each other without a word. me and maria aren't like that. Sometimes I wonder if he and Maria are like that. Do they greet each other? She's a lot more outgoing and friendly than I am. she for sure has a lot more warmth to her. I literally give off a look that seems as though I'm going to kill you. like even my friends make fun of me for having a fucking death stare i hate it so much. i look fucking depressed as hell. but ya on his b-day he was right there and i was walking away but then i couldn't avoid him with a whole bunch of the seniors yelling "RAY!!" "RAYYY!!" "OMGGG RAY!!!" "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!" ----like c'mon seriously.
there's been sometimes when we've kinda been forced to say hi to one another though. The first time which really made me so happy at the time was probably back in February or March and it was in the cafeteria. We both share the second lunch wave on some days. I purposely got up to get a napkin because I spotted him doing something near the lunch line. and from where my table is there is this random wall in the middle of nowhere so when i was getting up i was still looking back at my friends and talking and boom he was right there at the turn of the wall, and i literally had food in my mouth with my hand covering it. and we were covering each other's ways so he was like "hey ____" and i was so still that i just did an overexcited fake open eyed smile and kept walking. but the only part that kept me thinking was how he'd used my nickname. Now my name isn't that long, it's like 9 letters. and it does have a shortened version, which people just start using all of a sudden, like i seriously never even notice when they start using it, it just happens. but when he called me that it was just different. LOL Another time was when I stayed after school for the prom committee, I think. oh gosh i think i'm really about to expose myself right here but. . . i hope he never finds this or i'll murder myself. . . but. . basically in february its when our schools prom committee meetings really began to meet every week so I went to the cafeteria before it began (because it began like 20 min right after dismissal) and there he was, i couldn't believe my eyes. he was outside the cafeteria on his phone just standing there. The next week I went again and the same thing AGAIN. THE NEXT WEEK AGAIN. I would just walk into the cafe and he would look at me, and I'd try my best to avoid him---but we wouldn't say a word. after a while probably like in the beginning of April or end of march maybe i can't quite remember i started staying after school on random days, or making up excuses to stay after school (now i know i'm a junior, but i still can't drive, and take the bus, so i would tell my mom to pick me up) i'd stay after school and go to the caf. and i wasn't lonely since my friend was there for the school plays rehearsal so she'd go with me to the cafeteria and there he would be at the bench sitting there. And i do this thing also that when i'm around someone i like i just become more extroverted so they can notice me. (it's giving me a pick me). So yea. I remember this one time I was roaming the halls after school but by myself and I ran into him and one of his friends and he said "hey ____." WITH MY NICKNAME AGAIN AHHH.
After that for prom committees he wouldn't just stand there he would go to the hallway right next to the cafe and talk to the guys getting ready to go into the fitness center or the gym. and then he'd find some friend to latch onto. I literally began to notice his patterns and even learned the time he would get picked up . which is kinda creepy i know. but i would literally tell my friends to go through that hallway to make it to the room we needed to be in and again we knew we were around each other since me and my friends were literally yelling, but we wouldn't say anything to one another. There was this one moment in May I think where I stayed after school and sat at the bench he usually stays at and he was walking around with some friend and then he walked directly by him and said "hey _____'' but with my full name. and then they disappeared into the other gym and then a few minutes later i heard noises beside me (there is a wall so i couldn't really see who it was) but i kind of peaked and i saw his shoes and then literally he got up and walked towards the exit and got in his car. he was literally not even 10 feet away from me.
I don't know, I just feel like we act so cold with one another in the hallways but then completely switch up in French class. He's one of the first people I've really ever just been my true comfortable self with at just meeting them. I usually take a while to get comfortable around new people, so it surprised me when I was so myself around him in that class. there's only been two times when we've walked with each other in the hall---once it was when we were walking to study and he was ahead with this junior kid, and i was trying to hide myself, but then literally one of my senior friends popped out of nowhere and was like "OH HEY ____!!" with his loud ass voice (this senior is also buddies with Ray, so he obviously heard and noticed when I greeted back) after that he did the head tilt thing I noted above. and he kept looking back like he needed another glimpse to make sure it was me, and then he stopped and turned to look at me and continued walking and was like "Hey ____" WITH MY NICKNAME <333(this was when he still used my nickname----also i don't think he ever used my nickname in class, or not that i can recall). all this was happening in one hallway as he was conversing with that junior. Then he literally separated from that junior as I greeted him and waited for me to catch up. I feel like I'm over romanticizing everything but whatever. We walked and I teased him about being absent the previous day in French class. Also, just to note this kid is a little too grounded and can't tell when I'm being sarcastic, like literally half the times we argue in French class because he didn't understand my sarcastic remark. so when we were walking i said something along the lines like "oh wow you weren't there i can't imagine you had more important things to do then french class" and this kid goes "well i had a college visit that WAS important" like ok jeez. and then we just talk about the annoying ass sophomore from our class and then he walks into the senior room next to the cafeteria. but like we were still talking as he was leaving.
The other time we walked together was actually not that long ago. It was probably like the end of May the Monday before the 26th or around there or before that and he DRESSED UP for school. He looked so good. That morning when I was in chemistry we had a fire drill so everyone had to go outside and since he was also in the same hall as me we had to exit through the same door. I was kind of around him outside and when I got a glimpse of him, let me tell you how whipped I was for this man. He was wearing a collared shirt with some nice shorts and we could ignore his shoes. but omg he wasn't wearing a stupid cap, i literally don't even know why he wears those hats i love seeing his heart. omg this reminds me of in the winter when he would wear beanies OMG that was the hottest thing i'd ever seen. but back to the fire drill and that day. Later we were at study, and I was walking out of the cafeteria and so was he at the exact same moment, but I was ahead so I could pretend I hadn't seen him. but then there was the pledge. i only looked ahead and not back, but of course AGAIN HERE CAME THE SENIORS yelling "AYYYYY RAY IS THAT YOU" "RAY YOU SEXY MOTHERFUCKER'' which i completely agree with but know i had to acknowledge that he was there because i for sure was not going to make the same mistake i had made on his birthday of ignoring that he was literally right behind me. So I continued walking.
NOTE: whenever i have a crush on someone---now i haven't had crushes on many people in my short life. span of life but with my last crush i remember that if he was ahead of me i would walk faster to be ahead of him sort of like to get his attention and i would WALK FASST let me tell you like if i had somewhere TO BE!! ------
this is exactly what think in my respective perspective and opinion Ray was doing to me because the way he rushed and i noticed him beside me and he just kept walking faster. but we kept looking at eachother like we were waiting for someone to talk. He was already ahead of me but he kind of slowed down and I gave him THE AWKWARDEST SMILE OF MY LIFE like when you suck in both your lips, and he did the same thing. I just have no idea why we can't be ourselves when we're by ourselves. I'm pretty sure we greeted each other and then I was like "you look fancy today" and he was like "thank you" but not even looking at me so I couldn't even see his reaction because he is so much taller than I am.
before prom which was i think on may 26th i added him like on may 16th on snap because he was on my quick add. so i decided why not. I also wasn't really expecting him to add me back since Chad, the sophomore and also the freshmen in my class had complained about adding him on snap but also ray not accepting their request. Before that I had assumed he was simply inactive because he had once said in class that he didn't use social media. But then I'm pretty sure in May or literally that same week I added him. We had a substitute for French and the sub asked for Ray's last name and Maria gave it to him. I looked over and I could see a glimpse of his snapchat profile. i couldn't see if she had him added or whatever. but that sparked something in me. NOTE: After the teacher reassigned our seats Ray stayed in his same seat with the freshmen and with Chad behind him which bonded them a lot more and I and Maria were moved across the room and stayed together. So yeah we didn't talk as much during class either, but we did look at eachother alot and in class discussion like in guessing games and stuff like that it always felt like we were always trying to one up one another, or maybe it was just me idk. There were sometimes as well when I would speak and he would directly at me and also Maria and I would hysterically laugh all the time meanwhile everyone else in the class was just calm. so obviously he would look at us. nearing the end of april my teacher told us to move to these other desks which put me closer to him. Now I was able to actually look at him more and maybe talk to him which did happen but it wasn't the same because in class we weren't playing games as much as before but mostly just doing actual work and prepping for the exam.
So when I added him nothing really happened except that I snapped at him and he left me open. I didn't take it personally. The next week was prom week. at prom on the 26th of may when i saw him in that suit i wanted to talk to him so bad. but I didn't. he was with his friend and I was with mine. I couldn't keep my eyes off him for most of the night. What was interesting was that on the dance floor me and my friends were at this one corner and some junior and senior boys were dancing around there as well coincidentally. and Some of those seniors just happened to be friends with ray. So yeah we were really close to one another. We literally could have turned around and just started a conversation and started dancing. but no. because we are both awkward, stubborn. and also the fact that i assume he likes me is just messed up. after that weekend on tuesday it was senior skip day so he was absent for french class and i decided to snap him --- a pic of me with maria with the caption "whenever ur absent chad and the freshmen literally cannot stop talking about how much they love you" (like i said the idolize ray). later that day like at 9:00 pm he snapped me back, his first snap to me. I left him. the next day on wednesday when i got to french class chad was like "omg ray ur here we missed you so much" and looking directly at me ray was like "yeah i heard" and we were just making eye contact and smiling at one another while chad was going on about “who in the world in here is talking to ray.” Later that day I opened his snap and just left him open because it wasn’t like we had anything special. It's not like he snapped at me back the first time I snapped at him, and it's not like we are even friendly to each other outside of class. It was literally just a snap of his face with a dry ass caption “what?” (see i said he doesn't understand sarcasm) but literally the next day in the morning when i was in study and i’m pretty sure he was in lab he sent me a snap and i opened it and it was just a half face picture with his cap covering his face. I obviously snapped him back because that's what you do on the goddamn app, and he opened it in the evening to leave me open. Like what was even the point of snapping me? I've literally over-thought it so much to the point where I think he sent it to me by accident but he had to have sent it to me on purpose because he sent it during passing time between me going from science to study hall and he needed to have seen my name. Also i doubt im on his best friends list for me to just have been there on top unless he barely snaps anyone—WHICH i believed because his snap score barely changes like it’ll literally go up by 5 in 3 days. But recently it's been going up by lik 50-200 in a matter of 2 days LIKE WTF THIS IS NOT THE RAY I KNOW LOL. maybe it's because the seniors have already finished school and they have a lot more time on their hands but his snap score goes up every time of day like he only spends his time on snap??? In my French class we always look at the calendar and ever since the end of April Ray has been hyping up the last days of school and his graduation and his leaving. I’m very happy for him but I'm sad. I’m really going to miss him. I remember still in the beginning of May when we would see the calendar and his face would brighten up. Meanwhile I'd pretend like I was happy for school to be over. To be honest I'm not even sure about how I myself feel about being a senior next year. It's a lot becaus ei still don't know what my plans for after high school are and in my school it's expected you already know everything since it's kind of a competitive school. There's a lot of pressure put on everyone. But nearing the end of May like around prom week everytime the freshman and Chad would mention how he was about to graduate he wouldn’t show the same level of excitement anymore. This only became more evident on his last week of school which was last week before senior exams began on friday of last week on june 2nd. We shared our last french class with him and it was kind of sad to be honest. We played games for the whole class time. That class felt different. He was playful with me like we had been before. We won blookets and got these little toys and he began to throw them at me. It was fun but in a sad way. And at the end everyone was standing up with their bags. And you know how when you get up and begin to gravitate towards the door, or towards one of your friends, yeah he began gravitating towards me and maria, and meanwhile chad and the freshmen went on about how they miss him and how they’d wish him good luck in college. The whole reason I'm sad about this is because he isn’t just going to college but he’s going abroad which really pisses me off because I might actually never hear from him again (if he keeps snapping like I actually want). When it was that last day with him on june 1st he was kind of just wishing me and maria good luck with next year but i didn't say anything not even goodbye and i just feel so guilty. But why should it matter? That day and that moment he looked so sad, the awkward silences between his words as he spoke and looked at us it's like he was expecting for me or maria to be like we’ll miss you. Senior exams ended yesterday. And I'm pretty sure he wasn’t at school yesterday nor on Tuesday since seniors only had to come if they actually had to take an exam. Today the graduation rehearsals started so he was there. I convinced my friend to go with me to walk through the hall where all the seniors were lined up. We passed by saying hi to all our friends. It just made me sadder, because i don't want to say bye to all of my friends, i know i'll keep in contact with them but it hurts, seeing them all lined up like that also made me very proud of them though as well. As we got to the end of the hall through the corner of my eye I saw him and I continued walking laughing with my friend and I swear to god that he saw me because through the corner of my eye I could see this man staring at me. And then today literally when i was going to gym my class met up at the outside of the gym since it was being used for the rehearsal and my friend and i were on the balcony looking down, then my senior friend climbed up the bleachers to bring us cookies from their BBQ and then as me and my friend are leaving I see him right there—LIKE RIGHT THERE— he was right there in front of me as i spoke to my senior friend. I might be going to the senior graduation, I'm not sure but I really am not sure whether to tell him how I feel. I feel like it's way too late. Should I just do it? It's not like I’ll care in a couple of weeks right? But what if he felt the same way I’ll actually hate myself. But if he doesn't I don't care because I'll never see him again right? But what if at the graduation ceremony it's too hard to spot him amongst everyone?? I keep thinking back to this one moment from Monday this week where Ray was already not there anymore and Chad and the freshmen would not shut up about him. So the other freshmen were like “you guys are crazy, you literally idolize ray” and then i butted in laughing and saying “you guys are insane why do you guys love him so much” and then they wanted to say “BECAUSE IT'S RAY!” “IT'S LITERALLY RAY” “MY DUDE PLAYS ULTIMATE FRISBEE” “I LITERALLY LEARNED TO PLAY THAT FOR HIM!!” And then chad mumbled under his breath to the freshmen ``he was tryna rizz her up” —now like i always do i also over thought this and was like is talking about ME. he can't possibly talk about ME AND RAY NOOOOO. So I concluded that he saw something on his phone and yeah! This really just became a long rant and vent of my feelings towards this one dude that I met in highschool this year and who made me feel like myself but also not lol. I am so conflicted over these emotions because I will truly miss him and I'm not sure I'll get over him if i dont tell him. I just wish I'd done it earlier. I'm so confused. Please help. Also for like 3 months he had this inside joke where he would call me a freshman because he supposedly didn't know I was a junior—-(yeah right) I bet he was pretending or some shit because the amount of times we introduced ourselves in that class is astronomical. Also I think that some of the doubt has risen from the fact that he’s just so extroverted unlike me. I just can't understand how he’s like that, and he talks to literally anyone in the hall, boy or girl. So maybe I was just another person he happened to become acquainted with and misunderstood his friendliness for something else.

Looking to link with a girl who’s into femdom, pegging definitely on the table as well. Physically I’m over 6 feet, in great shape 190 pounds with an athletic build. Hmu if you’re down.

There’s a saying in my hometown: “Nobody leaves Copper Hill for good.”
For years, I’d mostly managed to defy it. In the decade that followed my graduation from Copper Hill High School, I hardly set foot in its vicinity.
Instead, I absorbed myself in my studies at an out-of-state university and, eventually, my career. I spent the little free time I had with my girlfriend, who I’d met as a sophomore in a chemistry lab, and her friends. When we eventually broke up, I lost not only her, but also what little social life I had.
It was in this state of loneliness that I found a letter from my old high school in the mail. This surprised me, as I hadn’t realized that anyone there even knew my current mailing address.
I opened the envelope to find an invitation inside. Its design was fancier than I’d expected, complete with gold-colored glitter, a royal blue background, and a finely-drawn silver border. It read, in cursive letters: Cheers for 10 Years! Zachary R. ___, Please Join Us for the CHHS Class of 2013 Official Reunion. It went on to list a start time and the school’s address.
On its back, it even contained a personalized handwritten note: I know you live far away, Zach, but it would mean so much to me if you can make the trip. Paul and I will be there, and Arthur may fly in as well. I’d love to catch up! Hope to see you soon – Vince K___, Co-Chair, CHHS Reunion Planning Committee.
Vince had been one of my best friends, once. You see, Copper Hill is one of those rare small towns where you can easily graduate from high school alongside the same friends you first made in kindergarten – in my case, my buddies Arthur, Paul, and Vince.
I’d spent most of my youth with them. The four of us were in the same scout troop, played on the same sports teams, and took mostly the same classes. On weekends – and on weeknights, when we felt like sneaking out without permission – we often stayed up late together playing video games and drinking whatever cheap beer we managed to keep hidden from our parents.
We’d meant so much to each other once. So why, since graduation, had I neglected them so badly? I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d talked to any of them.
Perhaps this reunion could serve as an opportunity for me to reignite friendships I’d let fade. At a minimum, I knew that spending time – even just one evening – with my old pals would do me a lot of good, especially considering how lonely I’d been lately. Accordingly, I resolved to attend.
~
By the time I reached Copper Hill, I was an hour behind schedule due to congestion caused by an accident. As I approached town, I observed amidst the fading evening light that it appeared even quieter and more deserted than I remembered. Bars that had reliably drawn decent crowds on a Friday night ranged from boarded-up to barely occupied. Meanwhile, the few other cars on the street drove lethargically at speeds far below the limit, and I spotted no pedestrians.
In my memory, the school was only a short distance from the courthouse, city hall, and post office that formed most of ‘downtown,’ but my GPS took me down a long, unfamiliar route bordered on both sides by tall cornfields. I was about to pull over and double-check the address I’d entered when, sure enough, my headlights illuminated a sign in the school’s distinct black and red colors that stated: CHHS: Home of the Patriots.
The brick building that loomed behind it was just as I remembered, from its tall, towering middle section to the two narrower wings that stretched out to the left and right. Through the rectangular windows that lined the main building, I made out indistinct, shadowy figures milling about inside.
A banner displaying Welcome – 10 Years – CHHS Reunion stretched over the stairs that led to the main entrance. Underneath it, a familiar figure scurried towards the main entrance. “Arthur,” I said to myself with a smile.
Seeing Arthur improved my mood. He was the only other member of our class to leave town after graduation, and I suspected that he might share somewhat of an outsider status with me.
It’ll be just like old times, I reassured myself as I approached the building. Strangely, though, it still didn’t feel that way.
For one, the air had a staleness to it that was difficult to describe. It felt artificial and thin such that, as I climbed the front steps, I found myself needing to breathe in more of it than usual to avoid getting winded.
Plus, the school’s location still seemed off somehow. It didn’t make any sense – it’s not like a building this large could have been relocated. But, amidst the eerily quiet surrounding countryside, everything felt more isolated and remote than I remembered it being.
I tried to stop worrying. After all, with any luck, I’d soon be laughing and reminiscing with old friends who’d be happy to see me.
Inside, balloon garlands, multicolored streamers, triangle flags, and small banners welcoming attendees decorated the main corridor. I observed tables stocked with snacks, pamphlets, and information about fundraisers.
The only noise came from the intercom, which planned an era-appropriate Calvin Harris song. Everything necessary for a reunion was there, with only one notable exception: the people.
As I approached an unmanned table marked “Check In,” I wondered where everybody had gone. Perhaps the event had moved to a different room? I was late, after all.
As I added my signature to a sign-in sheet, my eyes scanned the list of other attendees who were marked as having already arrived. I recognized many names on it.
Like Alice, who’d shared a stand with me in orchestra. Our conductor was a hard-ass, a real disciplinarian who snapped at us constantly, and Alice was one of the many students he’d driven to tears on a semi-regular basis.
I’d had this petty fantasy of comforting her after class, and then mustering the courage to ask her out. But I never did it. It was Vince, actually, who’d ended up with her.
That had always annoyed me. I’d confided in Vince about how I felt about Alice and, soon after, the two of them were together. It felt as frustrating as it sounds. But, oh well, that’s what I get for hesitating for as long as I did.
Drifting down the hallway, my eyes caught the words “Reception” displayed over double-doors that led to the gymnasium. It made sense as the main location for the event – that’s where homecoming, prom, and plenty of major sports events were held, after all.
I could hear chatter, laughter, and the loud thump of dance music just beyond the gym doors. I approached it excitedly.
But, when I stepped inside, all the noise instantly cut out, leaving me in an eerie silence. Even more perplexingly, the room before me, like the entrance corridor, was entirely devoid of people.
A party had just been here, no doubt. I spotted a makeshift bar stocked with a standard assortment of liquor, tables holding half-finished drinks and refreshments, and an area cleared for a dance floor in the room’s center, but there were no people around. Had I missed everyone again? Where had they gone?
“Hello?” I called out, to no avail, as I drifted around the room in a state of bewilderment.
As I did so, I came across the entrance to the boy’s locker room. Just a whiff of the musty, sweaty smell emanating from it unlocked long-buried memories of the time I’d spent in there.
I remembered one occasion, in particular, where Paul had gotten pissed at me. Paul was usually a pretty low-key guy, but when he lost it, he went wild. On that particular occasion, he’d been angry with me, hadn’t he? But why?
I recalled his hot breath as he got in my face and screamed at me. When I gently nudged him away, he responded by slamming a locker door into my head.
My memories from that moment forward were hazy. There was a growing pool of blood, the pain of his fist against my cheek, and the cheering of the classmates who had encircled us. They were egging us on to continue the ‘fight,’ as if my beating could be called that.
I hadn’t thought about this event in years. How could I have forgotten something like that? My mind churned in confusion. Feeling dizzy, I took a seat on a bench that appeared to be part of a crude photobooth setup as my mind continued to replay this repressed memory.
As Paul had continued to pummel me, I’d spotted Vince among the gathered crowd. I’d begged for him to intervene. But neither he, nor our strangely absent instructor, had done anything to help me. It was only when Arthur got between us that Paul had reluctantly cooled off.
It had taken weeks for those bruises to heal. Had Paul ever been punished for it, or even apologized? Surely he must have. We’d remained friends, after all.
A strange pressure around my shoulder and a sudden bright light jolted me back to the present. The flash on the camera facing the bench I was sitting on had…gone off, somehow, even with nobody around to operate it. How was that possible? Maybe it was automated to go off every so often?
It didn’t make sense, just like so much else that was happening. Where was everybody, and whose voices had I been hearing? I’d seen people from the road, and I’d even watched Arthur come inside, but, as far as I could tell, the event was deserted.
I texted Arthur asking if he’d found anyone. For all I knew, he could have changed his number in the many years that had gone by since I’d last used it, but I figured it was worth a shot. To my relief, he responded right away.
Hey man, long time no see! Paul just called me. He says everyone’s up on the third floor, in Mr. Minelli’s old room. I’m on my way there now. Meet you there soon.
I couldn’t fathom why the entire event would relocate from the area clearly designated for it to the third floor. There wasn’t much up there, after all, aside from classrooms and a few administrative officers.
Nonetheless, I resolved to head up there. Arthur was there, after all, and hopefully the rest of my friends would be as well.
Navigating off my memory of the building’s layout, I hopped up a small set of steps that connected the gym to the second floor. From there, it would just be a short walk past a few classrooms before I’d arrive at the central staircase, which would take me to my destination.
I’d never seen the school quite this gloomy before. Each footstep echoed through the halls. The classrooms were weirdly empty, too, bereft of any decorations or other signs of use.
I recognized one as my calculus classroom. I remembered how, after class had ended one day, I’d come across a group of students congregating in the hallway.
Mary, Michelle, and Abby, like so many of my classmates, had grown up with me, and I’d always gotten along with them. But that day, they were harassing a shy girl – Morgan, I think. Calling her all sorts of names – ‘slut,’ ‘whore,’ ‘bitch’. She was trying to get away from them, but they wouldn’t let her leave. Their taunting of her became a regular thing, and it often left Morgan in tears.
What ever happened to Morgan? Like most of my friends, I’d known her since I was a little kid. She was quiet, but she was perfectly nice.
Then, one day, gossip about her started to spread. The type of nasty, embellished rumors that often make their way through high schools, full of sexist undertones and double standards. Her former friends shunned her, and she’d been subjected to taunting and ridicule as she walked to class and sat alone at lunch. And, one day, she was just…gone. I’d always assumed that her family had moved away, but was that true?
Growing up, Mary, Michelle, and Abby had always been sweet girls. I’d never seen them treat another person the way they’d treated Morgan. But Copper Hill High School had a way of bringing out the worst in people. There was just something about this building, this place, that ate away at their – at our – souls.
Had I bullied Morgan, too? Maybe not, but, once her mistreatment started, it’s not like I’d made an effort to be kind to her, or ever invited her to sit with me and my friends in the cafeteria. I could have done more.
I reached the central staircase. With each step that I took up towards the third floor, a feeling of dread ran through me. I’d seen something terrible happen up here, hadn’t I?
It was Paul and Vince. Arthur had done something to offend them. It could have been the rumors spreading about his reasons for never having a girlfriend, his diminutive size, or the way he’d reacted when Paul had beaten me half to death.
Whatever the reason, Paul and Vince – without my knowledge – had decided to subject Arthur to a cruel prank. After school one day, they’d lured Arthur up to the third floor, where they’d taken hold of him and tried to wedge him into his own locker.
Now, there’s a reason this sort of thing occurs primarily on 90s sitcoms: most people simply can’t fit inside of a locker. Arthur, as short and skinny as he was, turned out to be no exception, but this only made things worse for him.
As Arthur later related to me, Paul and Vince laughed rowdily as they slammed him repeatedly into the metal frame. By the time they finally relented, Arthur had bruises all over his body.
There were other horrible acts, too. Other victims, other beatings. It dawned on me that this place had been an absolute hellhole. It’s no wonder I – and Arthur, too – had gotten as far away from it as we could at the first opportunity.
The peculiar thing was that, in the years that had passed, I’d somehow forgotten all of this until just now. Instead, my recollections of high school were all happy, all positive. Had false memories of camaraderie and friendship drawn Arthur back as well?
Finally, I reached the third level. The overhead fluorescent light fixtures flickered sporadically, revealing, in brief spurts, dilapidated lockers, litter, and layers of dust and dirt that coated the floor.
I approached Mr. Minelli’s classroom. Through the shaded hallway window, I could discern the outlines of roughly a dozen figures inside. I heard a voice, too. It was muffled and indistinct, but I could tell that the speaker was giving some kind of speech. She stopped, and a loud round of applause followed.
I reached for the door handle, unsure of what to expect. Hopefully, it would just be the people I’d driven four hours to see. But, after the events thus far, I half-expected the room to be empty. If so, I was jumping ship and going home.
To my surprise, just before I made contact with it, the door slowly opened on its own. The brightly-lit room before me was filled not with people, at least in the general understanding of the word. Rather, the still, bony forms before me resembled the kind of props a biology teacher might use to teach human anatomy.
The skeletons that stood silently throughout the room – that stood posed with drinks, that sat at desks, and that had assembled around a speaker - had to be props, right? Even though Mr. Minelli was a history teacher?
My mind searched desperately for some kind of explanation. This had to be an elaborate prank, right? Had Vince and Paul lured me, and maybe Arthur, too, out here just to freak us the fuck out? I wouldn’t put it past them – it’s precisely the kind of thing they’d do, even if the whole set-up, complete with an array of prop skeletons, was a bit extreme.
But, then, who was making all the noises I’d been hearing? Was that part of the prank, too?
Fuck it, I thought. If this was a big gag at my expense, then I’d just have to deal with the embarrassment later. I was getting out of there.
“Zach,” called a strained voice in the hallway.
“If this a joke, then it’s not-”
The voice interrupted me. “Zach, help me, please!” It was Arthur’s voice, and it was coming from the hallway nearby.
He sounded like he was in serious trouble, so I hurried after him. Eventually, I found myself in a corner of the hallway – one where, if I remembered correctly, he and I used to have lockers. But, once again, I found myself alone.
I yelled out his name several times: “Arthur! Arthur!” It was no use. I appeared to be at a dead end.
That’s when the locker next to me shook. I jumped back, surprised.
It was shut, but not locked. I gripped the handle and pulled it open.
Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw inside: it was Arthur’s torso. The rest of his body was gone, and something was dragging what was left of him further away, further back into a dark abyss where the wall should have been.
Blood gurgled out of his mouth as he gasped my name one last time. He reached out a red-stained hand. Hoping to somehow pull him out, I tried to take it, only for whatever unseen force had taken hold of him to pull him away, leaving behind a wide hole in the back of the locker. More blood gushed through it, leaking onto the hallway floor.
“So glad you could make it,” said a monotone voice behind me. I whirled around to see two fleshy arms emerge from another locker across from me. The skinless figure left wet, red stains on the white surface as she got to her feet and stepped towards me. “Don’t you recognize your old crush? Surely ten years haven’t been that rough on me.”
“A-alice?” I stuttered, stepping backwards.
Lockers all around me started opening, each accompanied by a new pair of bloody, seemingly boneless arms of figures that slowly crawled outwards.
My survival instincts kicked in. I sprinted away, my legs frantically carrying me towards the main staircase. All around me, figures emerged, reaching out to me as I passed by. Through an open door, I noticed that another classroom was filled with skeletons, just as Mr. Minelli’s had been.
When I reached the main staircase, it was guarded by a tall, fleshy figure. “Don’t you want to be with us?” it asked in a familiar, deep voice that I knew to be Paul’s. “We can be complete. A full class. All of us, together again. Like old times.”
He lurched for me. Just barely, I managed to dodge him, but I lost balance in the process. Before I knew it, I was tumbling down the stairs. Pain shot through me as I collided with step after step.
Finally, I landed on a level surface. Dizzily, I climbed to my feet and did my best to ignore the soreness that spread throughout my body.
A quick glance upwards confirmed that the bloody figures – the ones that somehow resembled my old classmates – were, indeed, heading towards me.
Meanwhile, the temperature inside was rising noticeably, and the walls around me were steadily changing in color from a dull gray to a deep red.
As I scrambled down the rest of the stairs and across the main corridor on the first floor, an intense tremor ran through the building, sending me sprawling to the ground. Despite a sharp pain that spread through my ankle, I hobbled as quickly as I could to the exit.
I didn’t look back as I made my way across the parking lot to my car. I started the ignition, backed out, and headed towards the long road I’d used to get there.
In my rearview mirror, I chanced a glance back at the school. It was shaking violently, like it was being struck by an earthquake.
My car lurched in different directions as the ground underneath me also started to rumble. In an effort to avoid my car being sent off the road and into the neighboring fields, I frantically steered it to the center, between the lanes heading into and out of town.
When I looked back again, the school was, somehow, even closer to me than it had been before. How was that possible? Was it following me?
I floored the accelerator. Row after row of cornfield flew by me as I drove at the fastest speed of my life.
~
I was on the edge of town, close to the nearest interstate ramp, when local police pulled me over.
As the officer approached me, I stared into the rear view mirror. At the first glimpse of whatever it was that had chased after me, I’d hit the road again, law enforcement be damned. In truth, I hadn’t seen my pursuer since I’d exited the cornfield a few minutes ago, but I hardly felt safe.
“Clocked you going nearly a hundred, son,” said the officer.
I stayed silent. My baffled self was unsure of how to best handle the situation.
The officer gave me a quizzical look as he examined my ID and registration. “You’re Don and Fran’s son, aren’t you? The one who left town?”
I nodded.
“Why’d you come back?”
“There was, uh, a ten-year reunion. For my graduating class.”
He shook his head. “I doubt that.” He looked down, then at my perplexed face. “Where, exactly, was this ‘reunion’?”
“At the school,” I said. I struggled to understand his reaction. What about my story didn’t make sense? And, regardless, was I about to be booked for driving fifty miles over the speed limit? Is that something they throw you in jail for?
“Wait here,” barked the officer. He went to his car where he proceeded to have a long conversation over his radio. After a few minutes, he returned to me. “Get out of here, son. Leave, and don’t come back. Don’t do something like this again. You hear me?”
“Yeah, yeah, that’s fine,” I said, astonished.
“Then scram,” he ordered.
I obliged and began the long journey home.
~
I had no idea what to make of what occurred. I can hardly find anything at all online about Copper Hill High, or any of my classmates who went there, and I’m not exactly eager to reach out to any of them.
I can’t make much sense of what happened, but I am sure of one thing: that I barely made it out of that situation, and that I shouldn’t press my luck much further.
My ankle needs some more time to heal. Once it does, I’m going to try joining a social club and making new friends. After what happened to me in Copper Hill, I decided that the past is not a place where I need to dwell any longer.
Two weeks have passed since the reunion. Today, an envelope with no return address arrived with my mail. It contained a single photograph on glossy paper with a short note written underneath.
The image featured me on the bench in the photo booth. Sitting to my side, with his arm over my shoulders, was Vince. He wore a blue collared shirt and looked…normal. No missing skin, no bloody imprints on the surface around him.
Paul crouched behind us, a dopey grin on his face. He, too, looked just as I’d imagined he would in his late twenties. To Paul’s right, Abby, Morgan, and Michelle posed together with their arms around each other.
It was…a perfectly ordinary image - the exact kind of photo you’d expect to be taken at an event like that.
The handwritten caption underneath read, “Although your visit was briefer than we preferred, we all had a splendid time catching up with you, Zach! Please feel free to come by anytime! Nobody truly leaves Copper Hill, after all. – Vince K___, Co-Chair, CHHS Reunion Planning Committee.
P.S., the note continued, We are delighted that Arthur has finally joined us. Maybe you will, too, at our 20th.
The writing up to this point was cursive font in traditional black ink. The last few words, however, were larger in size, messily scrawled, and colored a deep shade of red: See you then, buddy, if not sooner.
X

I want to be raped and humiliated no limits till I love it and beg for more. Kinks: Rape, forced orgasm, public humiliation, extreme penetration, painal, enf, age, race, blackmail,incest, monster, beast, alien, egg laying, forced breeding, body swap, mind control, etc. Limits: blood, feet, death, and bathroom stuff