Prompt 136-Embarrassing

Write about one of your most embarrassing moments.

Message sent.

Riley stared in horror at her phone as she immediately realized her error.

-It should be illegal for someone to be that hot. Every one of his aces went straight to my heart. And those thighs? THICC

Sent not to her best friend, Colleen, but to her crush and tennis teammate, Collin. She immediately took a screenshot of her heinous mistake and forwarded it to the proper phone number.

-COL HELP I’M SCREAMING

For weeks she had been carefully working her way up to discovering if he was single and if she might possibly be his type. Weeks of witty banter and study questions after practice to establish a rapport. All of that subtle sleuthing thrown out the window because she had been careless.

Maybe she could play it off. She hadn’t actually used his name, right? She could have been talking about anybody. Her phone buzzed and she threw it across the room, her blood pulsing in her ears. Then it buzzed again.

It took her a solid five seconds to realize the text tone was the customized jingle she had set for Colleen, the “Call Me, Beep Me” tone from Kim Possible. She scrambled over to it and opened it to see what sage advice Colleen had for her.

-HAHAHA
-Girl you gotta throw out the whole phone, leave town, get a new identity

Riley grumbled and threw herself back on her bed. She should have expected that. 4 quick beeps. She looked to see what else Colleen had to say.

-Maybe he won’t realize you were talking about him?

-Gawd I hope not.

Then again, their school’s team was small. She didn’t really talk to anyone else on the team. Riley groaned and looked back at her conversation with Collin. He hadn’t read it yet. She wished he would so she could end her suffering.

-What did he say?

-Nothing yet. Hasn’t seen it.

-omgggg

-TELL ME ABOUT IT
-I want to die

She checked her clock. It was after 11. Maybe he’d gone to bed already. She should have been going to sleep too, but her heart was still racing. Colleen was still texting her, talking her down. It would be ok. He wouldn’t think anything of it. He wouldn’t know. Chemistry was not going to be the most awkward first period ever.

-Alright, you’re right. Can’t do anything about it now anyway. Maybe it’ll all blow over in the morning

-That’s my girl. Get some sleep. We’ll work out a battle plan first thing.

-Thanks 🙂

-Night ho 😉

-Niiight

Riley plugged her phone into its charger and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face. She turned off the light and crawled into bed. The notification indicator was flashing on her phone. Did Colleen send something after she had gone to the bathroom?

She shielded her eyes from the glow as she unlocked it to see what the text was. It took all her restraint not to throw it again. Collin hadn’t gone to bed after all. Her heart was racing full throttle again.

-Love is nothing in tennis, but we do have chemistry. 😉

Oh no. She was definitely going to need a battle plan to deal with this.

Notes: I regret nothing. Tennis puns 4 lyfe.

Yeah not gonna lie, this prompt suuuper stressed me out. Embarrassing moments are the most uncomfortable things ever and when you’re the shy kid in the corner with her nose always in a book or notebook it’s a million times worse. I couldn’t actually bring myself to write about myself for this one, but I did spend a not inconsiderable amount of time coming up with ideas, each one tied to a mortifying memory that sent me spiraling down memory lane. This seemed a safe bet/easy write.

If you still want to read about something embarrassing I did, I can direct you to the time I awkwardly gaped at Tom Cruise on a mountain and told him I didn’t want his quarter. Ugh. My brain is going to have a heyday with this prompt when I’m trying to go to sleep later. “Remember that time in high school when you-” SHUT UP.

One thing this got me thinking about was how I don’t think I’ve ever embarrassed my characters. Torture? Sure. Wound mortally? All the time. Self-inflicted mortification? Not so much. If nothing else, it’s something to consider when exploring my characters in the future. What embarrassing things lie hiding in their pasts? Do you write embarrassing situations for your characters? Do you draw from personal experience or do you have a list handy? I should make a list. Lists are good.

Ok that’s enough rambling for one night. And the week is half over. Praise the sun. On the plus side, I’m finally busy at work. On the other hand, I’m exhausted. Still getting these prompts out though. And I can be proud of that. Have a great night! Twofer tomorrow? Possibly. See you then!