It's that time of year again when guys and gals doll themselves up to go to one of the most cliché events of all time: Homecoming. What is homecoming anyway? Is it a pre-game warmup for Prom? A way for guys to ask girls out on a date without seeming to forward? Whatever it is, it's filled with quite a cast of characters, and here is the list of all the colorful folks you see every year on that nerve racking, cringe-worthy night to remember.

1.) The Overly Confident Girl Whose Daddy Paid For Everything

We all have seen the girl who shows up to the dance in a 1,000 dollar limo, a $700 dress, and with her hair and face fully beat. She's been dreaming of being Homecoming queen for as long as she could remember, and she's gonna get it no matter what, even if she has to push aside that girl who got paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident that everyone is pity-voting for. There is no room for compassion in this empty-headed queen’s brain.

Does it matter that her boyfriend of two years dumped her right before the dance because he realized what a monster she is? Not at all. Her focus isn't on some dumb boy who tried to break her heart; she wants that crown, the popularity, and the attention she never got from her father growing up. She might scare everyone into voting for her, but she will have a place in the yearbook where everyone will know her name for years to come.

2.) The Drunk Kid

Anytime sports, nerves, and dumb, teenage boys mix, there's going to be someone who gets a little too tipsy. Whether he's screaming obscenities at the opposing team (and getting carried out by security as a result), throwing up and passing out on the dance floor, or getting a little buzzed to get enough courage to ask the girl he likes to dance, there's always the drunk wobbling somewhere near when Homecoming is here. You might not be able to detect him at first, but once you smell the PBR on his breath you'll know without a doubt that he drank before (and that he's a complete idiot).

Maybe he's drinking as some act of retaliation against “the system” or because he's best guy friends thought it would be hilarious to see their buddy in a tux get completely wasted, but he is a classic character in High School America, and will forever be a total legend.

3.) The Testosterone-Pumped Athlete

If you can hear the sound of “HOORAH!” being chanted somewhere nearby, you're probably in the vicinity of a hyper-masculine athlete. We all know the guy who was scrawny as a little kid, beefed up after his dad forced him to work out one summer, and has now tried to proclaim his hard-earned manhood to the world ever since. Deep down, we know he's insecure because he still sees himself as the tiny nerd he used to be; but with enough bros and weights surrounding him, he can shroud his fear for a little while before he breaks down again. Unfortunately, even though everyone knows him, no one really knows him. Before you know it, he's 35 with a part time job because he never moved out of town, he and goes to every single football game (including Homecoming) after graduation to try to relive his glory days (how harsh).

4.) The Weird Old Couple Who Goes To the Game For No Apparent Reason

Who are these people? Do they have a kid or grandkid on the team? Do they come for the cheap snacks and loud noise so they don't have to talk to each other for 3 hours? No one really knows, but they're always there: watching, waiting, and listening in on the teen gossip to feel young again. The husband is always super pervy and will only talk to you if you go to the game in booty shorts, and the woman brings her Kindle to read when the game is in a slump. You can never see their eyes because of the glare from the field lights on their glasses, but you know deep in the pit of your stomach that they're watching you. They're always watching you.

5.) Nervous Boy On His First Date

You know that Freshman with the cracking voice sitting in the front row with a girl he barely knows from his math class who's too nervous to hold her hand? That's the guy I'm talking about. He's never asked a girl out on a date before, but he thought Homecoming would be the perfect opportunity to practicing his romance skills. The girl with him is about to have the most awkward and embarrassing night of her life, and she'll probably go home halfway through the game because she has a “stomach ache”. Everyone in the situation is very hormonal and nervous, and as soon as the boy leans in for a kiss with a little too much tongue, the night will quickly go from bad to worse (to the amusement of everyone watching from behind).

6.) The Overprotective Father Making Sure His Daughter Won't Sneak Off With Her Date

Remember the girl that was on a date with the nervous boy from the last section? Well, there's a guy watching her from five rows back making sure her date doesn't get too handsy, and it's her father. The one who's in denial about his little girl growing up and doesn't want her to get hurt but knows she has to become an adult. He has good intentions, sure, but the way he's going about it is a little creepy. His daughter can't understand why her dad doesn't just trust her to do the right thing without him watching. The boy knows he's there, which makes him even more nervous, but as hard as the dad tried to be incognito, he just fails miserably and embarrasses himself and his kid. The prettier the girl, the more aggressive the dad gets.

Maybe when he was in high school he was a bit of a player and knows first hand how untrustworthy men are and is trying to redeem himself from that in some weird, indirect way, but it's uncomfortable for everyone and no one has the courage to tell him to stop.

7.) The Crazy Ex-girlfriend

This is the girl whose boyfriend didn't ask her to the dance, broke up with him, watched him ask out someone else, and is now unable to accept and move on from her disastrous mistake that has ruined her entire year. She'll probably hover around the punch bowl all night with a dirty look on her face as she watches her ex dance with a girl who's better than her in every conceivable way and try to not to make eye contact with anyone. She knows she's being petty by being there, but she just can't help herself. She also knows her chances of getting asked out again after tonight are slim and none, so she'll just watch from the shadows with a red cup in her hand while crappy pop music blares in the background.

8.) The Creeper Under the Bleachers

What's that noise coming from underneath? Oh yeah, it's that guy from Spanish who's trying to get a glance at some girl's panties and maybe some loose change while he's down there. He'll try to be quiet so as to not get caught by security, but at the end of the game, the cops will find him there, gazing up with a fedora on his head and a can of Mountain Dew in his hand. No one really knows how he snuck down there, but every girl knows to check their skirt every 10 seconds so pictures of your crotch don't get spread around the school like wildfire.

9.) The Kids Who Came To The Game Because They Worked On A Float

These kids don't care whose playing or when the dance starts, because to them the only thing that matters is the Homecoming float they spent weeks decorating. Finally, their hard work will pay off, and nobody will remember it the following year because no one gives a crap about the floats or the people who made them. Sure they're pretty and all, but they look exactly like the floats from last year, and the year before that. They're pretty boring and cheaply made in general. Regardless, at least the kids get to go out on the field for a while and feel cool for once, and that has to count for something.

10.) The Kids Who Are “Too Cool” for Homecoming

These kids, of course, you'll never see at Homecoming, but you always here them talking at school about how going to school events is for preps and they're just too much of a special snowflake to go to something that took Student Council months to prepare for. If you don't know how cool they are, just wait, they'll tell you (several times). Most people just ignore them, and maybe they're cool in their own little group, but in a few years they'll regret not going and wish they could go back in time and change their mind.

Whoever you are this year at Homecoming, make sure to have a good time, be safe, and have the time of your life. You're only in high school once after all, you have to make it count while you're living it!