August 14, 2026

Student Starts Underground Yearbook Club For Unflattering Photos Only

Student Starts Underground Yearbook Club For Unflattering Photos Only

Frustrated by glossy perfection and toothy grins, senior photographer Riley M. has launched an underground yearbook club dedicated entirely to candid, awkward, and deeply unflattering photos of Memorial High’s student body. Called “The Realbook,” the club claims to offer “a raw, unfiltered portrait of the Maverick experience.”

The Realbook includes pages of hallway sneezes, mid-yawn choir shots, and dozens of frames capturing the exact moment someone drops a tray in the cafeteria. “I’m tired of fake smiles and staged superlatives,” said Riley, who proudly sports a T-shirt that reads, “I Blinked, So What?”

Teachers are not exempt. Mr. Gilman has been caught mid-nose scratch 14 times, and Principal Harris’s “Concerned Assembly Face” appears no fewer than nine times. “It’s like being haunted by my own face,” he said. “But oddly empowering.”

Students can request a spread, but the club warns: “We don’t take requests. We take reality.” The Realbook is distributed via encrypted USB drives sold behind the bleachers for five bucks and one awkward story.

Meanwhile, the official yearbook staff has issued a cease-and-desist, calling the project “emotionally blurry and possibly cursed.” Riley remains defiant: “This isn’t sabotage. It’s documentary art.”

Rumors suggest The Realbook is already being considered for a Netflix docuseries titled “High School: The Ugly Cry Edition.”

Annabelle Bransford

Hi, I’m Annabelle Bransford, Memorial High School’s unofficial satirist-in-residence and proud founder of The Daily Detention—a publication so edgy it’s been banned twice and resurrected three times, like a sassy phoenix with a flair for detention slips. I write satire because someone has to hold the line between cafeteria chaos and gym class tyranny. Whether I’m exposing the secret emotional feud between our Algebra teacher and Euclid, or investigating why the pep rally feels like an ancient ritual sacrifice, I try to speak truth to hallway power. Sure, I’ve been called “disruptive,” but mostly by people who wear lanyards unironically. My work has been read by at least two janitors, my entire AP English class, and one substitute teacher who thought it was a cry for help. I consider that range. When I’m not sharpening my wit, I’m dodging group projects, winning banned book club trivia, or mentoring the school's AI Isn’t Funny Club (membership: just me and 17 bots I’ve emotionally manipulated). I’m also a National Merit Semi-Finalist, certified eye-roller at Student Government meetings, and the only girl in school who’s been accused of “weaponizing irony.” My goals? Keep writing, keep laughing, and one day publish a satirical exposé called Yearbook Superlatives and Other Lies. If you want something sugarcoated, try the bake sale. If you want the truth with a punchline, I’m your girl. I've landed a sweet job at Bohiney Magazine, so don't bother me. EMAIL: annabelle@bohiney.com

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