Memories of middle school and high school can often be cringeworthy - even more so when you were part of a trend that seems to have since died out. For me, this really applies for the time in my life that I like to call the Emo Years. If you were one of the kids, like me, who was more often than not a Hot Topic mall rat, then you'll definitely relate to these quintessential late-2000s emo kid things:

1. Listening to the "Emo Trinity."

While I was mostly an MCR fangirl (RIP, you will never be forgotten) I can't deny the power that these three groups had within my particular demographic. I mean, everyone knows the words to songs like "Sugar, We're Going Down," "I Write Sins Not Tragedies," and "Teenagers.

2. The search for the perfect black eyeliner.

In order to even remotely pull off this look, you had to have a heavy duty eyeliner that could stay put on the your waterline and on the inner corner of your eye, which means lots of time and money spent on testing every single eye pencil labeled "blackest black" that you could find at the drugstore.

3. Using black Sharpie on your nails.

Maybe you actually managed to go through an entire bottle of nail polish. Maybe it was a form of rebellion when your mama wouldn't let you wear black nail polish. Maybe you were just bored in class. Regardless, we've all done it once or twice.

4. Throwing shade at scene kids.

If an emo kid and a rave kid made a weird subculture baby, you'd get a scene kid. While the emo girls often had dyed hair and wore extensions, there was just something about the sky-high teased layers and raccoon-tail dyejobs that was incredibly grating. Ugh.

5. Adamantly denying being an emo kid.

Yeah, OK, whatever you say. If I'm honest, if it looks like an emo kid, it's probably an emo kid. Trust me, in five years you'll find yourself sighing and nodding your head in acceptance and resignation as to what you were.

6. Yet also getting overly offended by, and defensive about, the "Emo Kid" song.

"I'm an emo kid, nonconforming as can be/you can be nonconforming too, if you look just like me!" While obviously the song is an exaggerated caricature of the emo stereotype, words always hurt the most when they're true.

7. Writing song lyrics on everything.

In notebooks, on tables, on your clothes, on your arms - really anywhere was fair game. Bonus points if the lyrical subject matter was noticed by an adult, and you had to have a talk with your parents because they were "concerned."

8. Spending your allowance almost exclusively at Hot Topic.

During our Hot Topic heyday, older goth kids would shake their heads and complain about how Hot Topic had changed, watching the swarms of tight-denim-clad teens come in and out of the store. Years later, I find myself doing the same thing as it has now apparently turned into fandom city and really has nothing to do with music anymore.

9. Excessively using the word "rawr."

Apparently, it meant "I love you" in dinosaur, but honestly I still have no idea how this trend came about. What I am glad about, though, is that it's over.

10. Wearing multiple studded belts at one time.

Being an emo kid meant that you pretty consistently wore two studded belts at one time -- one in your actual belt loops, and one buckled outside your pants with the buckle pushed all the way to one side and sitting on your hips at a weird diagonal angle. Fashion, y'all. It never really makes sense.

11. Pushing your bangs in your face for your selfies.

I will never know why we thought it was so cute to only have partial vision, but goodness I remember my hear going pitter-patter when my friends and I would look at pictures of "cute emo guys" with their bangs all perfectly arranged in front of their eyes. So edgy. So mysterious. So desirable.

12. Finding the perfect MySpace layout to describe your teen angst.

There are no words for the amount of time it took to curate the perfect MySpace profile -- especially when you were trying to be edgy. Somehow everyone ended up learning a little bit of HTML coding to tweak their pages to perfection.

13. Frying your hair with your overused flatiron.

It took a lot of heat and hairspray to keep up the teased top and stick-straight bottom look and honestly our manes paid the price -- especially if you were also a fan of bleaching your hair to add bright color. The breakage was real.

14. Thinking that snakebites and other lip piercings were just about the hottest thing ever.

JK, it's still pretty hot.

15. The "skinny jeans dance."

If you don't immediately know what this is, let me tell you: The skinny jeans dance is the combination of jumping around and wiggling that's necessary to get into skintight denim that didn't have a lot of stretch to it. Bonus points if you accidentally ripped a belt loop in the process.

If the flashbacks are real right now, be sure to share with your friends & add on anything I might have missed!