YM Gender Bender: say anything!

one time, my crush and i both missed our bus and he offered to walk me home. it was like a dream come true. i swear my knees were shaking the whole time. now it had rained the previous night and it was the middle of january so it was pretty slippery. i guess wobbly knees and icy sidewalks are a bad combination. i fell on my butt right in front of his face. i was so embarassed! the worst thing was that he laughed right in front of my face and didn't even help me up! needless to say he quickly became my ex-crush.
- sore 11, minnesota
trauma factor **

i go to an enriched math class in a neighboring high school and was attending when i had my first period. the boy next to me thought i'd been shot and squealed. the girl behind him handed me a quarter. most of the other girls just giggled but i couldn't leave the class because it would've been messy. the teacher had to send someone for paper towels and the janitor. when my mom came early to pick me up she gave me "the talk" then and there in front of all my friends back at school. and it wasn't the birds and bees version.
white pants = bad idea 12, wisconsin
trauma factor ****

i don't know why i'm writing to you but i'm a boy.
XY 17, Washington
trauma factor *****

okay, i made all those up. but here's one that's disturbing. both in content and the fact that i dug it up.

While snowboarding last year, I spied my crush at the bottom of the hill. To impress him, I wanted to go down the 10-foot jump. I landed perfectly, but my baggy boarder's pants fell down and all you could see was my pink thong! The boy I liked saw, and said, "Hey this isn't a nudist hill!" From that day forth I still can't look him in the eye.

— Melissa, 13, Seattle, WA

how many 13 yr olds wear thongs to ski/board?