Mr. O'Reilly, my sixth grade teacher, yelled at me.

It was humiliating.

He was teaching a lesson to the class, when this kid, Joey something-or-other, started saying things to try and get me to laugh.  I was an easy target, and Joey knew it. My back was to the teacher, so there was no way Mr. O'Reilly could've known if I was talking back or not.

"Megan, I don't want you being rude and interrupting my lesson!"

You can imagine my shock and embarrassment at being singled out in front of everyone. I was one of the best students in the class, and had never gotten in trouble for anything. Ever. (Yeah, I was a goody-goody.) 

I turned around and sheepishly said, "But Mr. O'Reilly, I wasn't talking..."

"What you did is not acceptable. I want you to report back here for recess."

(You must realize I'm paraphrasing here; this happened...well, a long time ago.)

I managed to hold my self together for the rest of class, and I'm pretty sure I didn't eat anything at lunch--I don't eat when I'm upset. I reported back to Mr. O'Reilly's classroom at the beginning of recess, as instructed, and experienced one of the most impressive moments of my life.

Mr. O'Reilly asked me to sit down at a desk, where he proceeded to take a seat across from me. 

"Megan, I spoke with a few of your classmates today after I had yelled at you, and I now realize that I was wrong."

WHAT?!?!?!

Adults, never mind teachers, don't apologize.

"I was told that you were not the one talking, and that it was Joey. So, I'm sorry for accusing you of talking when you weren't."

I sat there dumbfounded, but somehow found a way to say, "Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. I really wasn't the one talking..."

"I know, Megan. You can return to recess."

And so, when I was 11 years old, I learned three life-changing lessons in one afternoon that have stayed with me:

1. Never rush to judgement

2. Adults aren't always right.

3. Whenever you are wrong--apologize.

Forget your swollen black eyes

And sunken cheeks

Forget your lies 

and how they scarred me

Forget what you stole 

and each time you betrayed me

Forget the blood stained ceilings 

and your head down in front of me

Forget the years I spent 

trying to save and love thee

Remember the lesson 

and how you changed me.

I forgive your swollen black eyes 

but please remember to forget me.

Do you remember our first promise?

It's etched in my mind no matter how hard I try to forget.

I made a decision when you told me to remember what I want,

You helped me move on when you kept me from forgetting.

I remember loving your easy manners and your eyes, so full of emotion.

You needed to forget the love you left behind and you needed me.

I only wanted your happiness so we smiled and laughed while the world stood still and we all strove to remember our hearts desires.

Our first promise to each other, "I promise I will never forget you."

Remember 

All those days?

The laughs and smiles?

All those words I said?

All the poems I wrote?

All the times we spent

Holding one another?

Remember

Me?

The one you said you loved?

The one you promised?

All the things you said?

All those lies you told?

The hours you spent alone?

Please just forget me

And I'll try my best to forget 

Oh god, this was awkward. I knew that I knew their name, somewhere in the back of my mind. It had probably come up in previous conversation, but I never cared to focus on it. 

But now...ugh. The new guy chatting to us by the coffee machine, and my mind drew a complete blank. He wasn't that new anymore, either - it'd been around three months since he joined the firm, well past the time where I could ask without the situation being colossally uncomfortable. 

So I stood there with Meg while he chatted to us, hoping the name would come up. That happens sometimes, right? People use their own names in conversation. Maybe I could avoid the situation entirely. 

Stuck in my head, I completely missed the joke no-name-guy was telling us, until abrupt giggling halted my internal berating. I joined in the laughter as to not draw suspicion, without any real clue about what was so funny. 

"That's great," said Meg, slapping her knee. "Oh my god, don't tell me that really happened." 

"I swear by it," new guy said, as the two tried to regain composure. "I couldn't make this stuff up."

He poured himself some coffee, and the conversation turned to our weekend plans. His brother was playing at some bar with his band on Saturday, so he'd probably be dropping by to that. Meg had a date with another guy she met online. 

My plans pretty much consisted locking myself inside my apartment to binge watch Netflix with my cat, so I observed more than I contributed to the topic. As the two talked, my thoughts turned back to the unknown name. 

Maybe he was Zach. He kind of looked like one, with his greenish eyes and cool-guy demeanor. Maybe he was more of a Josh. Or Matt. 

Really, it shouldn't be this hard to ask. I could totally do this. Maybe I could ask to exchange numbers - that's always a sure way to get someone's name. You just give them your phone and let them type their info in. But then maybe he'd get the wrong impression, and think I was trying to hit on him. Not that I would be. But god, what if he turned me down? I didn't want to date him, but that would be a blow to my self esteem. What if he didn't?

Yeah, no. Asking for his phone number was out. 

Maybe I could ask Meg - after all, she seemed to know him pretty well. As much as I liked my desk neighbor though, she was lacked the ability to, as we say, keep her mouth shut about anything. She was notoriously a huge gossip, and would probably tell no-name guy I was too embarrassed to ask about his name which would only make things more awkward than if I just asked his name in the first place. 

I was just going to ask him. Rip the band-aid off. Sure, it'd be a little unpleasant, but at least I'd know his name. 

I turned back to the conversation, resolute in my quest to learn his name. 

"Anyways, we should probably get back to work," he said. Do it now, I thought. C'mon, just get it over with. Ask him. 

Before I could get the words out, he turned to me. 

"It was nice talking to you," he said smiling, "By the way, could you tell me your name again?" 

Wait. What?