Life With Boys: Who Tessed?

The Life with Boys episode "Social Death with Boys" made me laugh, cry (kidding), and question why I didn't end up in an Ivy League pre-med program, sorry mom. Though I never suffered the trauma of farting on camera like Tess, it made me reminisce about an awkward time for everyone: senior year of high school.

I attended an all boys' private high school with a mandatory dress code: school sweater, dress pants, shirt and tie. Despite our already spiffy dress code, on Fridays I tried to dress extra nice, because on these days I'd walk across the street to the all girls' school with my friends to scout prom dates.

So a Friday in October rolled around and the school was holding a college fair for all the seniors. I'd recently bought my first pair of skinny slacks in an attempt to lure the girls in with that sorta clean cut yet edgy look. I wore these pants to the fair and I knew I looked good. I could feel other people's eyes on me -It was almost an omen of the events to come. I walked around the fair for a while, and then I saw it: the Harvard table and, more importantly, the gorgeous college rep. As the highly fashionable, overconfident high school senior that I was, I told myself that a college pamphlet wasn't all I'd be walking away with.

As I started talking to this girl I had this mini movie playing in my mind: I'd ask her to prom, she'd say yes... The reality: She reached for her business cards and knocked over a cup of free pens, so I bent over to pick them up. Despite the cool autumn breeze that day, the wind I was feeling on my legs was cooler than it had been all morning. I stood like that, bent over, for an entire minute just to make sure I wasn't imagining the RIP that I just heard. I tore my pants!

I never did apply for Harvard and the girl never did give me her business card. Good news though: I ended up going to prom with one of the girls from the school across the street! Even though she and I met months after the day of the ripping, my date's only request was that I not wear a skinny suit. It could have been worse, though, right? I could have pulled a Tess!

What's the closest you've ever come to "social death" at school? Leave a comment.

(Watch the full episode of "Social Death with Boys" if you need a little inspiration.)