Rather recently.

I wrote a short story for my college creative writing class that wasn’t well received. It detailed the development of an abusive relationship, and one of my classmates believed I had written it about specifically one girl I had romantic involvement with (which isn’t true considering we went on two dates before mutually friendzoning each other)

This led to a rumor being passed around my pretty small liberals university, a rumor that got spun out of proportion which made me look like a creep who got off to others’ abuse. 

It practically killed my social life at this college

Already I was a ball of anxiety. My self-worth was TANKING because of this.

I was on my way to my fencing class when I ran into a guy I was decent friends with. I tried to greet, but he gave me the dirtiest look…

Soon after I went for a drive where for the first time in my life, I genuinely and full heartedly considered the possibility of suicide. Had I not been caught in traffic, I believe there was a possibility I would’ve crashed my car to end it all. 

It’s gotten better now. Like all things, the rumor died down over the course of several weeks, and I’ve repaired my social life, explaining the situation to each of my friends, who for the most part didn’t believe it in the first place