Iliza Shlesinger imagines high school haunting adults in a darkly comic twist

She sat at a cluttered desk, a notebook open to a fresh page, and scribbled a question that felt more like a warning than a joke. The words, half-joking and half-ominous, hovered in the air: what if high school came back to bite you in the ass? In that moment, the comedian turned a familiar punchline into a haunting thought experiment, probing the way teenage years linger like a stubborn echo in the corridors of adulthood. She recalled hallway lockers, whispered rumors, and the relentless pressure to fit into a box that never quite closed. The idea of those adolescent ghosts returning, not as nostalgic memories but as sharp reminders, made her laugh and shiver in equal measure. As she walked through the streets, the city seemed to pulse with the same restless energy of a cafeteria full of restless teens, each passerby a reminder that the past never truly leaves. In her mind, the joke became a mirror, reflecting how we all carry the unfinished sentences, the missed opportunities, and the bruised egos of our younger selves. The humor softened the sting, yet it also forced a glance at the ways we let old insecurities dictate present choices. By the time she closed the notebook, the question lingered, a playful curse that urged anyone listening to confront the lingering specters of their own schoolyard and decide whether to let them bite or to finally outgrow the bite altogether.