And I Thought My Anxiety Sweats Were Annoying

I’m in tenth grade and I have a tough teacher. Her grading system is inconsistent, but I do well for the first semester. In the second semester, we are assigned to do a long research paper and an hour-long presentation on one poet, basing our premise on one poem.

On the day of my presentation, I am very stressed, but I get through the first part of it okay. Suddenly…

Me: “In The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, Coleridge… Um, Mrs. [Teacher]?”

Teacher: “Did you have a question?”

Me: *Holding up my hand* “I’m bleeding. Can I get a bandaid?”

Teacher: “After class.”

Me: “Can I get a paper towel or something?”

Teacher: “Fine.”

No matter what, I can’t find a single cut or scrape. I just find my hand covered in blood. I go back to the classroom.

Teacher: “Because you disrupted your presentation, the highest grade you can get is now a C. Resume.”

I finished and got a D+ because I stopped discussing Coleridge and the feminine divine to bleed on my notes.  

I’ve since discovered that I sometimes bleed without apparent cause during severe episodes of anxiety.