If there was one thing every high school has in common, it's gossip.
Be it about two students who were secretly dating, a teacher who was up to no good behind the scenes, or that the girls bathroom on the lower level was haunted, every high school had their share of outrageous rumors.
But, did any of the truly unbelievable rumors from your high school actually turn out to be true?
Redditor Sam_21000 was eager to know of any high school gossip previously assumed to be fiction but later proven to be fact, leading them to ask:
"What was 'the big rumor' in your high school, did turn out to be true?"
Poaching the best atheletes
"Athletics coordinator was fudging documents on kids’ addresses so they would be able to go to our school instead of others in the district."
"We won like five state championships that year."- SL1Fun
That's "Doctor" to you!
"'Dr' Palermo, the band teacher never received his doctorate in music like he claimed."
"It was weird, he use to force all his students to address him as 'Dr', but when he came back from his leave of absence we all called him by 'Mr' like nothing happened."- googlyevileye
An underground operation!
"When I was a freshman some seniors were counterfeiting money."
"This was around 2004-05."
"They made some pretty convincing bills and spent them around town (including the school cafeteria)."
"That year I learned that the secret service has a counterfeit investigations department."- DLun203
Not fit to be a teacher
"That one of the English teachers used to physically assault kids."
"No one believed it because he was elderly and very kind."
"One day he told our class that back in the 80s when he was teaching any time a kid got mouthy or started a fight in his classroom he would pick them up physically and throw them out of his class."
"He gave a kid a concussion once because he bounced his head off a locker."
"They sent him to anger management classes but he stayed teaching at the school until his retirement."- dopiesarmy
Horrible acts never to be erased
"Not nearly as exciting as some of the replies, but at my old high school I was always told that if you go to school after dark, in certain conditions you'd see a bunch of swastikas painted on the brick walls of the building."
"I thought it was fake bc 'if they're really painted on there why cant you see them at all times'.
"One night I stayed late for an art club meeting."
"We were studying photo exposure and playing with some light tubes to make cool pictures, so we were having the meeting outside in the dark."
"As we were messing around I approached the building from a certain angle and saw them."
"Idk if it was spray paint that got scrubbed off and left some kind of residue/chemical on the bricks, or if someone sprayed them with clear coat or something, but there were very obviously swastikas on the wall."- CliffLanterns
The line that should never be crossed.
"That the English teacher had been sleeping with students."
"I found out when I was a freshman in 2008."
"Fast forward 8 years later, the chemistry teacher got caught and decided to bring the English teacher down with him to get some heat off his back."
"A total of three teachers went to jail."- backyardkinny
21 Jump Street?
"That a new student was actually a police officer."
"He was and the idiots were busted for selling drugs."- LilMissStormCloud
A truly heartbreaking story
"There was an 18-year-old freshman who was pregnant, and there was a joke spread that this was her 4th kid."
"They said she was first pregnant at 12 years old and that was why she never finished 9th grade."
"I actually made friends with her because we both walked the mile in PE, and I felt bad that people were spreading this rumor and making fun of someone who obviously is trying to better themselves for their baby."
"Well, turns out, it was actually her 5th kid."
"She had one set of twins at the age of 13."
"Then at 14 she was trying to be a mother of 2 and finish 9th grade, but she got pregnant again and dropped out."
"I realize now that the entire situation was very concerning."
"I hope she got some guidance."- zapsquad
A hard lesson learned, which he can continue to teach
"That an english teacher was using heroin."
"It’s pretty sad actually."
"He was just a regular guy who destroyed his knee."
"So after surgery he got painkillers, got hooked on them, and then eventually started using heroin."
"Nobody really believed it until he abruptly went on leave."
"He was gone for most of the school year and when he eventually got sober and came back, he told his story to the students to try to show them how dangerous that stuff is, and confirmed everything to be true."- Mirraco323
Who did they think they would fool?
"On a ski trip, the PhysEd teacher allegedly porked the science teacher."
"Someone saw him go in to her room in the middle of the night."
"They denied it but years later they got married."- PlanetOfTheAprons
How did he get the job in the first place?
"Coming into high school as a freshman, one of the first tips given to me was 'if any of your classes are taught by Mr. J, request a transfer out of that class immediately'."
"Luckily, I never had him as a teacher but a few of my close friends did."
"During my first year I heard he was a creep, touching girls in ways that made them uncomfortable, making weird comments, etc."
"I remember one day walking past his class with my friend, who had him as a teacher, and he yelled out to her 'why were you gone yesterday?', to which she replied 'it was my birthday, I’m 15 now!'"
"He winked at her and said 'so close to being 18!'"
"My friend and I turned the corner away from his classroom and stared at each other in disbelief."
"One day close to spring break we heard a rumor that his classroom had been mic’d up, and police were investigating him."
"I guess they found something, because Mr. J never returned after spring break."- fvcksoff
Rebellious at a depressingly young age
"Not in high school but in middle."
"There was a sixth grader on my friends bus who was vaping while on the bus."
"The faculty didn’t know who it was, so they called all kids on bus 2, the bus the kid was on, down to the office to question them like it was some police interview."
"Eventually, some kid tattled and the kids bag was searched, they ended up finding 7 vapes and a couple pocket knifes."
"About a month later there was another 6th grader, on the same bus but that’s not really relevant, who brought booze to the high school football game."
"No one knows how he got it, and he was taken in a cops car."
"That same kid also apparently set fire to a public bathroom but there was no proof and it was probably just a thing people were saying."- Remarkable-Rule-4423
What sort of "guidance" was she really offering?
"Guidance counselor, woman, sleeping with one of the drama students, boy."
"Rumored to be happening during high school and came out to be true after he graduated."
"She divorced her husband, and they were supposedly seeing each other for a time."- matty_the_demon
Let's hope she was dared to do this...
"That a girl named Victoria, in my grade but not my classes, put a hotdog in her hooter at a party."
"That tube of mystery meat broke off inside her and they had to remove it from inside her at the hospital."
"It was indeed true and she was called 'Icky Vicky' until graduation."- ReferenceOk7943
A loophole if there ever was one...
"That the daughter of the band teacher, born again Christian family, was all about anal because she needed to save her virginity for marriage."
"Apparently it was absolutely true."- fluffy_navel
Where do you even begin?
"That a dude was selling e-cigarettes."
"He was in second grade."- Diamondtrolis164
Barely even tried to hide it...
"One of the girls from my class was dating the biology teacher. "
"They were never explicit about it in school, but he had a clear favoritism for her during class, and after she graduated they let it out officially on Facebook."
"The bonus: the girl’s mother was our language teacher, so the girl was dating her mom’s coworker."- lenalc
Dangerous games
"Freshman year, someone called a threat in."
"Someone said it was a fellow Freshman my friends and I were close to."
"Police raided his locker."
"Someone said they found a 'punch' list."
"Bout a week later he texts me."
"Apparently he called two upperclassmen girls stupid so they started the rumor to get back at him."
"Police figured it out cause their answers were rehearsed, scripted."
"They still tried to expel him."
"Didn’t work."
"Nothin happened to the girls though."- YaHoomanFlame
The people they let teach children...
"One of the teachers called a student a disgrace because of the way he read a sentence."
"I was at school, 1st period, we had RS with a teacher that we will call Mr. A**hole."
"We were halfway through the lesson when Mr. A**hole called out one of my classmates to read to the class."
"This kid had a very strong accent so when he started reading, Mr. A**hole stopped him and called him a 'disgrace' for how he spoke."
"We told our form tutor what had happened but he still teaches us to this day."- TheManicCat2
At least not a rumor anyone should hide.
The big rumour was I will be a doctor and it came true."- Hungry-Theme-5031
It must be said, most rumors begin from an element of truth.
Even though I'm sure there are many people who still can't believe these rumors weren't just the work of devious children.