12 Experiences Only Book-Lovers Had In High School

There comes a time in every book-lover's life when she has to attend the most illustrious of institutions: high school.

Personally, my expectations for high school were culled from my collection of Archie comics, so I expected to spend four years riding around in a jalopy, drinking milkshakes at a diner with all my BFFs, and attending about a hundred dances (seriously, there was a dance like every other week in Archie). Also, I would be wearing Cher Horowitz's wardrobe from Clueless. But to my chagrin, high school was nothing like Archie. It was nothing like the dozens of books I had read set in high school. Instead, I spent most of my time in class (this is never mentioned in books?), and no one had a jalopy. Naturally, to alleviate the disappointment, I had to spend even more time reading.

Of course, whether your choice reading material was anything from Archie to War and Peace, if you’re a book-lover, you probably had a very specific high school experience. No, I’m not talking about what club you joined or what clique you were in or what sport you played. I’m talking about those little moments in high school that all book-lovers have experienced. Maybe someday there will be a comic about that...

You Looked Forward To Summer Reading

While your friends grumbled about the 400-page plus book you were assigned to read over the summer, you were secretly excited. Sometimes, you'd go above and beyond — you'd read the sequel! The other books written by that author! An entire series inspired by the classic! Even if you wouldn't normally choose to read the assigned book, you saw it as an opportunity to expand your literary horizons, and couldn't wait to crack it open and start reading.

You Were Best Friends With Your English Teacher

When the other students just didn't understand you (yay teen angst), you turned to the other person who obviously shared your love of books: your English teacher. He or she had an awesome classroom filled with Shakespeare posters and battered copies of The Catcher in the Rye, and you wanted to be just like him/her one day.

Your Locker Was Full Of Books... Just Not Textbooks

You'd check out a million books at the library — no, not for an assignment. For pleasure reading. But then your locker would be so stuffed full of all the books, that you didn't have any more room for your AP Economics textbooks. Oh, well. Your demand for Econ wasn't that high anyway.

If You Were In The Middle Of A Great Book, You Tried To Sneak-Read At Lunch

Whenever you had a free period, you spent it reading. And sometimes, when you were reading a really, REALLY great book, you couldn't help bringing it into the cafeteria and trying to sneak-read it. Sure, it was supposed to be a time to "socialize," and your friends would yell at you if you tried to read instead of talking to them, but you SERIOUSLY NEEDED TO KNOW WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN IN THE END.

Forget Staying Up To Do Homework, You Stayed Up All Night Reading

Trying not to wake your family, you would leave your light on until dawn, reading page-turner after page-turner. The only problem is, high school starts SUPER early in the morning, and come six or seven a.m., you would be completely exhausted. But everyone else was also sporting rings under their eyes from staying up late doing homework, so you weren't completely alone.

You Wondered Why There Weren't More Brooding Guys Falling In Love With You

In every high school book that you read EVER, there was always a brooding guy who would fall in love with the quiet, reading-obsessed girl. Where were all those guys in high school? Did they all live in one particular town or something? Because if so, it sure wasn't your town.

You Aced All Literature Questions On Standardized Testing

Any time there was a literature question on a standardized test, you wanted to fist-pump the air, because you totally had that. All your book knowledge came in handy on grammar and vocabulary sections, too, since you'd been reading long enough to know even the most obscure words.

It Physically Pained You When Other Students Said They "Hated Reading"

You wanted to make them a list of all the books that would change their mind. All they knew were the assigned books from class, but you knew there was an entire world of literature out there just waiting to be discovered. They only needed to get out there and find it.

People Sometimes Stereotyped You

Because you read so much, people often made assumptions about your personality and tried to put you in a box. For example, maybe you weren't actually shy, and people just thought that because you spent more time reading someone else's words than speaking your own. But that didn't mean you had nothing to say.

You Knew Lots Of Random Facts, Just From Spending So Much Time Reading

What's a phaeton and ponies? Ah, a horse-drawn carriage. Thank you, Jane Austen.

Your References Were Often Lost

Sometimes, you'd make the most perfect literary joke EVER in class. And no. One. Got. It. Sighing, you'd write it down in a notebook and try to remember to tweet it or write it in your autobiography one day, so people could actually appreciate it.

You Always Expected Something Magical To Happen During Your Time In School

In books set in high school, magical things would often happen. You were always expecting to have a whirlwind romance, or gain super powers, or discover an entirely different world by crawling through your locker. Sadly, most days were a lot more mundane than that in reality. But then again, you could always escape into a book, and things were magical once more.

Images: Giphy (12), Summit Entertainment (1)