Most embarrassing memory
There was an incident that happened at high school that I must tell you about. It is the most embarrassing memory I have. It involves two separate events. The assembly at my year 12 graduation ceremony and the camp that year.
Camps at high school were a different world. They usually happened every odd-numbered school year at our high school. I don’t know what the reason behind that was exactly. We had a camp in my first year of high school which was one of my favourite memories of high school.
The year before us had ruined camps for so many of us, though. Our Year 9 and 11 camps were cancelled. Kids smoking, making out in the dark after curfew, stealing food from the canteen. The list goes on. Regardless, our year suffered. We didn’t have a chance for camp until we got to year 12.
After mid-year exams, we all packed into a bus feeling excited about the 4 days ahead. No one cared about the planned activities or the sports. Being in year 12 meant that it was uncool to want to do planned activities. It was weird if you felt excited about abseiling or canoeing or movie night. People were different. Most people were in relationships. For many, this was the first time they would be away from their parents but together.
A few weeks before the camp, the organisers asked all the kids to pick our rooms. There were 12 people in a room. I had been dreading this part from the time I had heard about that camp. I wasn’t one of the popular kids in high school. I wouldn’t be the first pick for anyone. To my surprise, Ruan, asked me at lunch one day at school if I wanted to bunk in his room. Ruan was this South African kid that I played rugby with during lunches. I couldn’t believe it. Everyone respected Ruan. He had it all. He was smart and got decent grades. The teachers liked him. He was good at sports. I was jealous of him, almost always, but I never let that out. At least not in front of him.
I said yes. A week later, there I was walking into the room, after Tim, one of the other kids that played rugby with us during lunches. He threw his bag across one of the beds and slouched on the bottom bed with his walkman in his ear. I looked around and picked a top bunk in a bed up the back.
Another surprise. Ruan walked over and placed his bag below me. I tried to act casual and continued the conversation we had been having on the bus over. It was unreal. I tried not to grin and keep my cool. Others poured into our room. I knew most of the kids. They either played rugby at lunch or hung around the oval.
There was Tommy. Seeing him made me feel a strange fear about the whole situation. I didn’t want to be in that room all of a sudden. Maybe, it was a false reading.
Soon the dread left. The next few days were great. All the days blurred into a blissful sunny summer day. One of the days, I spent the entire morning in the hall. Mr Dalley, the scripture teacher played the guitar and taught some of us to play an easy beat on the drums. It was a warm day.
The last night before we left was a final dinner in the camp hall. There was going to be a bonfire and a barbecue. Everyone seemed excited. After having spent the day playing football, we had a few hours to relax and get ready. It was another hot day. I was sweating bullets. We all had a shower and an hour or so to kill before dinner. Everyone in the room was hanging out. I thought that I would lie down for a bit before we got the call to go to the hall. I remember the next few minutes like it only happened yesterday.
I should have noticed at that moment that there was an excess of people in our room. In my blissful state, I hadn’t noticed anything.
I smiled at Ruan who was sitting on his bunk that was below mine. He hadn’t seen me come through the door but when he saw me, he stood up, startled and looked around.
I said, what’s up?
He nodded, said nothing looking down at his iPod and walked off.
It was weird but I ignored it. I placed my towel over the edge of the bed railing and climbed to my bed. I sat on the edge. I should have noticed then how quiet the room was.
I flopped on my pillow like I always did. Mum used to complain that I was going to break the bed one day. And that’s what I thought had happened. The pillow, the mattress and everything below me gave way. I had no idea what had happened. It was almost like I had lost consciousness for a little while. When I came into the room again, all I could hear was everyone hooting and hollering. I realised then that someone had taken the front base out of the bottom of my bed. My head hurt but not as much as my pride. I felt like breaking into tears and storming out. I realised then that Ruan and Tim were recording the whole thing on their phone. I stayed still and finally they came over to check on me. I smiled my best fake smile.
Fast forward 6 months, that recording was played as the piece de resistance of our year’s graduation video. All the while my parents and the entire year watched on and laughed once more.
Subscribe to my newsletter for long-form prose and poetry.
