In middle school.
I was in sixth grade.
One afternoon, I and my two nerdy friends were messing around during lunch. Nothing too bad.
At a point, a ball got involved (ugh). I fumbled the catch. The ball crashed into another kid's lunch tray and his food fell to the ground but not before covering their clothes. Let's call this Other Kid 'Ruddy.'
Obviously, I apologized to Ruddy.
And then I apologized again once I saw how pissed he was...
I tried explaining how my friends and I were just messing around. But Ruddy was just fuming.
He stormed off.
The next day, he comes up to me at the end of our recess break as everyone is heading back inside. He whispers in my ear, "I'm gonna get you back for that."
It was, I thought, pretty corny what he said, so I burst a giggle.
Ruddy was unamused.
I asked him what he meant.
Less like a psycho, he said, "Sorry. I'm going to get you back, is all."
I want to ask what that means but by then the teachers are shooing us along. Recess is ending, after all.
Fast forward a couple of days.
Recess is ending again. I really need to pee, so I ask a teacher if I can use the restroom 'real quick,' before class. They say yes, I rush off.
I enter the bathroom and go up to the urinal. Thusly, entered Ruddy.
Once I recognized it's him, I apologized once more for what happened. I did feel bad about his clothes getting messed up on my account.
Ruddy smiled and walked toward me. He said, "Payback: I'm going to give you a wedgie. Then, we're good."
I didn't believe what I heard: Ruddy, goofster and normal guy, Ruddy, who never before displayed any bullying characteristics, was going to give me a wedgie? That thing from TV and the movies?
I smiled and laughed friendly like at his joke.
But he wasn't joking.
Cliched as it sounds, it happened so fast.
Ruddy laid hands on me, gently turned me around, and then pulled one arm around to my back.
I wasn't fighting him or putting up any real resistance.
That was because Ruddy, as I said, had never before shown that kind of aggressive bullying response, before. Until now, he had always been a Chill Normal Guy. Bit of a beanpole, but normal.
I didn't expect him to be so strong, too. So, I didn't bother struggling. Yeah, probably should have. Oh well.
By now, I realize Ruddy isn't kidding. It's like that Middle School Horror moment as Awareness comes over me. Ruddy isn't kidding. He is actually going to give me a wedgie.
Shit.
So, yeah... he reached into my pants and tugged up my briefs.
He gives me a couple of weak tugs. It wasn't that bad.
Ruddy let my arm go so he could pull with both his hands. His third pull is hard and hurts!
Another (very quicks tugs) then he let's me down. "We're good," he told me as he turned to leave.
Right before he left the bathroom, Ruddy said, "lame tighty whities."
I felt humiliated.
And confused.
Outside the restroom, I heard the fading clatter of kids returning to class. Teachers were yelling for the restrooms to be emptied, so I had to scuttle.
I walked back to class frazzled, not even realizing part of my bunched up briefs were hanging out from my shorts. I went a surprising amount of the day before someone pointed it out and I corrected it (double uggh).
Awful day.
