30 People Share The Worst Things That Happened During Their High School Reunion So We Can All Cringe Together

If you've never considered going to your reunion, then this article probably will keep you from wanting to go.

Daphnie

• Published in Interesting
• April 26, 2022

High school reunions aren't talked about nearly as much as the movies and television shows made it seem like it was going to be. The movies and television show definitely made it seem like we'd all go back to our high school gym and see that Becky from French has 6 kids and Phillip turned out to be mayor, but that's not exactly the case.

Actually, social media is probably more to blame now because we can stalk the people from our high school to see how they turned out and what they are doing now, so there's no need to wait 10 years for a reunion. With all of this said, that still doesn't stop people from going to their 10-year high school reunions and it turns out that sometimes crazy stuff happens there.

A real-life get-together with your old high school classmates can seem a little bit scary, but it turns out that sometimes interesting things happen there and we are here to share it all with you. A Reddit thread got a lot of responses when someone asked "What is the worst thing that happened at a high school reunion party that you attended?"

Let's dive into these crazy stories.

1. We're starting off with a bang.

"My 10-year reunion was hosted at a nice hotel banquet hall and had a decent turnout — more than 100 people. There was one guy I'd known all throughout high school who was also a well-known stoner.

I'll call him Chris. Chris walks into the banquet hall, stops in his tracks, turns around in a very slow circle, and surveys the entire room.

He then says, 'Whoa...' and looks visibly alarmed. Once his eyes settle on me, I say, 'Hey, Chris!

Long time no see, man!' He slides over to me and whispers in my ear, 'This is really weird...I'm pretty sure I know every single person in this room.' That's when I realize he's wearing the same clothes as the banquet hall workers.

OH MY GOD. CHRIS IS WORKING AS A SERVER AT HIS OWN HIGH SCHOOL REUNION, AND HE HAS NO CLUE WHAT IS HAPPENING. I walk him out to the front lobby and explain it's our 10-year high school reunion.

He is mortified and beyond embarrassed. He was never contacted and didn't even realize it had been 10 years since we graduated.

He just knew he was working another catering gig in a neverending series of catering gigs. I make him take me to his manager and explain what's happening.

I tell the manager there is NO WAY this guy is working his own high school reunion. Awesomely, the manager agrees.

We find a different suit jacket and tie for him, and I take Chris back to the party. He ended up having a good night."

2. Well that's one way to do it.

3. Well that's awkward.

"At my 10-year reunion, the organizers were giving 'awards' for the person who came the farthest to attend, the person with the most kids, etc. The award came up for who had the oldest kid, and people started shouting out their kids' ages.

When it quieted down, this shy girl near the front said in a normal voice, 'Eleven.' We all then realized why we'd stopped seeing Heather right before graduation."

4. This is when you know you have a common name.

"My sister, my-now husband, and I were all in the same graduating class. Plus, my husband's best friend, whose name is something like 'John Smith' — very common.

He was very popular in high school and a super-nice guy who stood out in a crowd. If you didn't know him, you certainly knew of him.

Anyway, the 20-year reunion rolled around, and only my sister went. She called right after and was very upset.

Apparently, there was a huge memorial wall for John Smith, who'd just died. None of us knew!

It was awful, but then my husband was like, 'Wait, we just saw him?' He called John up and was like, 'Hey, dude, are you dead?'

No. Not dead.

Surprised, but not dead. It turned out the other, less popular John Smith had died.

They made a lovely memorial for the wrong guy. We still run into people, to this day, who see him and are like, 'Hey...aren't you supposed to be dead?'"

5. Well that's a story.

6. This is just too freaky.

"We had a teacher in high school that told us "by the time you reach your 10-year reunion, at least one of your classmates will have died" during a discussion about mortality. Ten-year reunion arrives and nobody from our class has died.

Saturday night of the reunion we're partying and having a good old time. One of the organizers gets up to the microphone and is making some announcements, she gets a blank look on her face and drops to the floor.

Brain aneurysm, she was dead before she hit the floor."

7. I would've been happy to not be invited.

8. Some people just never change.

9. This is terrible.

10. Guys will be guys.

"At my 20-year reunion, two guys got arrested for fist fighting on the sidewalk outside the bar. Why were they fighting?

One of the guys slept with the other guy's girlfriend in high school and drunkenly brought up the 20-year-old fling. Neither of them married or even dated her after high school, but 20 years later, those idiots got charged over her."

11. Talk about confused.

"Not really BAD, but a girl who didn't show had her picture on the "in memoriam" table with a candle lit. She didn't really keep up with anybody and everyone couldn't believe she was dead but no one knew what had happened.

That's because she was, in fact, not dead and showed up about half way through, much to the surprise of everyone else. It was like seeing an actual ghost.

While she wasn't real happy about it initially, it all ended as a funny story.

Then she actually died a year later. Our 20th is next year and she'll be on that table again, but won't be showing up."

12. This is very sad.

13. He definiely won't be invited to the next one.

"Small college reunion with my core group of friends from university. This was about 5 years after graduation.

We all partied pretty hard in school, but mellowed out in our late twenties. Decided to all meet up for dinner at a local bar/restaurant.

Think Applebees, but nicer. One guy showed up already wasted, with a duffle bag full of multiple packets of weed and the bottle he started on before meeting us.

He decided we were boring, finished his bottle in the restroom, and refused to come out. He ended up passing out there.

Bartender kicked him out. He came alone in an uber, and we had no idea where he lived.

None of us wanted to take him to our places (he was angry, puking and belligerent), so we dropped him off at his last known address. His parents' house.

Both of them answered the door, and we handed him over. It was past midnight and incredibly awkward.

He's not invited to the next reunion."

14. This is such a wholesome moment.

15. Family drama at the reunion.

"One of my friends got someone pregnant back in the day, and she kept the kid. They've both been great about it — he helps financially, but that was the extent of his contribution.

She married soon out of high school and met a great guy who has been the de facto dad. Either way, the reunion was held during the day, and they let you bring your kids.

Well, someone let slip that my friend is that kid's 'real' dad, and the kid heard it. It was a f**king s**t show.

Everyone was trying to figure out who said that, how someone could spill that secret, etc. In the end, my friend pretended he was shocked and laughed it off as a joke.

Honestly, in front of the kid, it was probably a good move."

16. This is definitely a crazy reunion story.

"The High School I went to had a really big gang problem. A great many people didn't attend due to being in prison.

Some of those who were in gangs in high school had worked their way through the ranks... One in particular was pretty high up, he decided to show up.

It was generally peaceful, until somebody decided to stick him with a knife. Then all hell broke loose.

The dude that got shanked was a colossal ass to me through all of high school, and now he's bleeding profusely from multiple stab wounds. Being an off duty medic, I did what I do, half expecting him to bleed out on the gym floor.

He didn't remember me, there wasn't that movie moment between us. I doubt he even recognized me, I just kept plugging holes and thinking I shouldn't have worn my nice shoes.

Cops and EMS arrived, few people got arrested, he survived, I ended up tossing my favorite dress shoes and a really nice pair of pants because they were too bloodsoaked to rescue."

17. This would be awkward for the wife for sure.

18. This ruins it for me honestly.

"I got invited to my 5yr a few years back. I went to a pretty hick school and my graduating class was like 90 people.

I didn’t attend because I hated almost everyone I went to school with but I kept getting added to the group chat every time I’d leave it, eventually blocked them all. Apparently that whole reunion was a s**t show, I foundout from a friend who did decide to go last minute.

They had a big ass bonfire out in the middle of nowhere and the “cool” kids from high school decided to smoke everyone out while showing off their big ass diesel trucks. From what Ive was told was that most everyone got incredibly f**ked up and a bunch of them decided to start shooting guns intoxicated.

The only other notable thing that happened was one of the “cool” guys who was f**king stupid in high school thought it’d be a great idea to toss a full propane container into the bonfire. As soon as my friend saw him tossing it in he immediately decided to leave.

I have no idea if anybody got hurt or not but I bet people did. 5 years is not enough time to change anybody and I will NEVER attend a class reunion. For everyone asking I live in the Pacific Northwest"

19. Confessions at a reunion are juicy.

"Someone confessed to me that I was his 'dream girl' at our reunion. Meanwhile, his date was his fiancé.

I barely knew him in high school. Unfortunately for his fiancé, she didn’t know anyone there, and he refused to leave with her.

He drunkenly told me, 'I’m not leaving with her; I'm leaving with you.' I told his fiancé to text me when their car was outside.

I then whispered, 'Let's go,' to him, walked him out, and put him in her car. I'll never forget the look on his face when he realized who was driving.

I said, 'Yeah, that's how tonight is going to end.' They still got married so..."

20. Justice was served.

"This guy who was so snooty back in high school had arrived late for the dinner portion of our reunion. All of the seats at his old friends' table were already taken, so he sullenly sat down with the likes of us.

I took pity on him because most people at the table ignored him and started asking him questions, like how he's fared since graduation. The DJ was blasting music, so everyone was yelling over the table to be heard.

I asked him what he was doing now, and he said that he worked at a law firm. I said, 'That's impressive.

Are you a lawyer or studying to be a lawyer?' He said that he was 'working on it,' so I asked what he did now at the firm.

I kid you not — it was a movie moment. The DJ cut the music so the MC could make an announcement just as this guy — who'd been getting frustrated with my questions — shouted back, 'I'm a mailroom clerk!'

Everyone stared. I hate to say this, but accidental justice was served. He was taken down a peg or two by his own hands."

21. Reunion secrets come to the surface.

"During our reunion, it came out — over alcohol — that a social group of 'cool people' had all been having orgies together during high school...except for one of them. He had always seemed like a core member of the group from the outside, but for some reason, he was never clued in to the fact that all of his friends were f**king each other en masse for basically as long as they've known each other.

There was some very eye-opening, loud screaming."

22. Magic trick gone wrong.

"A guy tried to impress everyone by showing us a magic trick (one where there’s a blade behind numerous cups) he proceeded to guess where the blade was not, rammed his hand down a cup and ended up stabbing himself. After he stabbed himself, he froze and fainted, causing more injury.

He’s fine now."

23. She shouldn't have even told him.

"Some girl confessed to cheating on her high school sweetheart, thinking enough time had passed that it wouldn’t bother him. She thought wrong.

This was our 10-year reunion, and the two of them hadn’t seen each other in years. As far as I know, they broke up shortly after high school ended.

After she broke the news — somewhat nonchalantly as well — the guy flipped out and slapped her, then started screaming at her. She ran away, at which point he broke down, said something about wasting his high school years, and left.

We still managed to have a good time even after all that though, which was nice."

24. Maybe this was for the best.

"My 10-year reunion killed itself before it happened. Turns out our class president — who is traditionally in charge of organizing — took a hard turn into a Footloose character after high school.

No alcohol was allowed, not even BYOB. A few classmates in a reasonably successful band offered to play for free, but she was adamant that there'd be no music or dancing.

Plus-ones were for spouses only. Two guys happily told her they'd bring their husbands, and she kicked them out from the Facebook page.

The food would be catered from a grocery store whose food is actually OK, but tickets were $60. It was ultimately canceled because, out of our class of 300, less than 10 people bought tickets.

The venue was the high school's soccer field. In Iowa.

In August. We were welcome to bring our own chairs.

A few people then offered to bring beanbags and bocce and similar games. She said no because it would make the reunion 'too much like tailgating.'

Instead, she suggested the entertainment be a guided tour of the school, which had undergone zero changes since we graduated."

25. Oh this is interesting.

26. Ohh, embarrassing.

"We'd been there less than an hour. Having a great time reconnecting.

Suddenly an old friend approached and said, "Is that your wife over there? She's pretty hammered" And as we watched, she tripped and fell face-first, full body crash onto a 12 top table where many of my old classmates were sitting.

The table broke, food and drinks flew everywhere, I walked over, scooped her up and half-carried/half-walked her out the door. She took xanax before going (unbeknownst to me) and was an alcoholic who started slamming drinks as soon as she got there. So... Good Times..."

27. Well that was a bust.

"The people who were supposed to plan our reunion dropped the ball, so this other dude stepped up. He was in grad school and working at a banquet hall, so his boss offered the space for free.

It was a really nice gesture, and he seemed really into it. He had been miserable in high school — grumpy, sullen, unpleasant, and mean.

He came out in college, so maybe the weight of keeping his sexuality secret was part of why he was unpleasant. Anyway, he created a Facebook event and asked people to Venmo him the $15–$20 cost of admission prior to attending.

I sent him a private message asking what that covered. Food?

Drinks? The space was free, after all.

He then posted publicly that if the cost was too steep, 'Message [him] to work out financial aid.' What?

I then publicly posted asking what the cost covered, and others began asking, too. He said it'd go toward a bartender and server dedicated to the event space, as well as food.

OK, fair. Folks, HE WAS THE SERVER.

I was working a s**t job and had no savings at the time, so I was neither interested in having my former classmates pity me nor gunning to shell out money to attend. Plus, my s**tty ex might be there, and that didn't feel worth it.

My friend showed up having not yet paid him, and he barred her entry. The people who had paid the admission cost showed up to an empty banquet hall, where he gave them a menu and told them to order their own food and drink from him. He then pocketed the admission ticket money as his fee.

After an hour, he brought out one grocery store sheet cake for 75 people to share. That was it."

28. Very weird.

29. Clearly he had something to prove.

"At my five-year reunion, one guy (who was always kind of a marginal figure in high school but a nice person) after some sort of discussion, got his paycheck out and started loudly saying, 'Now do you think I'm a loser?' and 'Don't believe how much I make?

Check this out!' Of course, that just made things worse, and everyone laughed at him.

I mean, he had his paycheck on him? I haven't seen him since."

30. Maybe reunions are a thing of the past.

"10 year reunion invite came up and I thought 'yeah looks like it could be fun'. I notice the venue is fancy restaurant.

Disappointed, expecting some sort of party. Room is very limited.. for a class of over 100 you would think they would have picked a venue with over 25 capacity.

I start reaching out to all the friends I've kept in touch with. Not one of them is even remotely interested in going. My old high school best friend suggests we catch up at his and drink, instead.

Havnt seen him in years so I bail on the reunion. Turns out almost no one went.

One of the girls that organised the thing was begging my mate to go, because she was so embarassed how little people had RSVPd. She ended up bailing, herself.

Turns out for the 10 people that actually went (half of which organised it), they had to be split up, since they booked a place that was not intended for large groups of people. Unironically, the same group that organised it took it upon themselves to organise our end of school formal (aussie for prom).

They decided for themselves that we didn't want to go with the original plan and completely replanned it without really consulting the general student body. So many people bailed on it that they had to start inviting ex students (dropped out, changed schools, expelled - takes some real s**t to get expelled from a Catholic school in Australia) just to meet the minimum capacity the venue required to move forward with the date.

Honestly, I know they meant wepl, but this group ruined the formal for a lot of people. I don't know why I expected anything good from their reunion.

Apparently the after party was wild, though. Someone almost got thrown off the boat (literally into the water at 2 in the morning), and a guy we know copped a dick in the eye."

These reunion stories make me want to rethink going to mine honestly. The amount of drama, no-shows, and just weirdness at these reunions is kind of crazy.

Imagining what my reunion looks like probably is along the lines of some of these just because it's been forever and I'm sure there is unresolved drama.

Daphnie