Hunnybunny

When your adolescent love-life is "crushed into pebbles" because you "said that stupid thing."

I like to whip this story out whenever the conversation with my students turns to embarrassing moments. I find that my kids are more willing to share if I set the example, so I really milk this one for all it's worth. Here's how it goes:

I was about 12-13 when the Fun Park was built *students gasp.* I know, I know, that's how old I am. Believe it or not, it was once THE cool place to hang out. There was bowling, arcade games, a snack bar... but best (or worst) of all, there was the roller rink.

Now, one did not roller-skate on the roller rink. That was considered SUPER lame by this point. No, everyone roller-bladed under flashing lights to the vocal stylings of bands like Savage Garden.

If I'm really getting into the storytelling at this point, I'll play this song in the background to help set the mood.

The really, REALLY cool (awful) part about skating at the Fun Park was the skate-while-holding-hands-with-someone trend. I mean, you pretty much had to do it. So now we have the complication of trying to stay upright (already a challenge) while holding a boy's slippery, hot hand. And you had to make small-talk while you did it.

Well, as my journal entry above indicates, I had been dared to ask a cute older boy I knew to skate. I would get close and then chicken out, and then try to get up the courage, and then chicken out again. Finally, I ran out of time.

The entry:

...So when *Fred* and his friends left the rink for a while, someone out of his "clan" called something and Katie yelled, "Jessie was going to ask you to skate!" And stupid ol' me said, "I was going to ask you to skate, Hunnybunny!" (To be said sarcastically.) Wasn't that the absolute worst thing I could say?! My love-life (if I even have one) was crushed into pebbles when I said that stupid thing!

Hunnybunny. Why?? I still die a little inside when I think of it. Plus, this boy happened to be the older brother of one of my best friends, so I had to endure seeing him at least once a week for years after that. My students really delight in seeing me get embarrassed as I recall this story. One kid even called me Hunnybunny the rest of the year, so I had to explain the story again and again to anyone who happened to hear. It was a hit during faculty lunch, I tell ya.

Well, such is the love-life (??) of a middle-schooler. :)

Have any embarrassing crush stories to share? Post them in a comment below!

WBS- Jess