Tear Jerker / Class of '09

Warning: Spoilers are unmarked on these pages. You Have Been Warned.

Class of '09 is a Black Comedy "rejection sim" visual novel that is known for it's snappy, over-the-top offensive humor that is not meant to be taken too seriously. Which makes it all the more shocking when the story has it's moments that will leave the audience in tears.

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• Even though the intro veers into Black Comedy territory by the second half due to her father's suicide being played for laughs, Nicole recalling what her life's been like in the first half actually manages to earn The Sociopath some pity points, if only because it can be easily inferred that her refusal to form emotional attachments with anyone was born from the exhaustion of having to move from school to school constantly due to circumstances outside of her control. By the time she actually could start to settle down and actually became popular due to puberty being kind to her, she found that she couldn't fit in with the popular girls, with her tone making it seem like she was envious towards them for acting like they had never been alone in their lives.
  Nicole: "The popular girls would talk to me all the time. And they were just STUPID. Like they had always been pretty. Never left out, never alone."
• The 'Dating Ari' story and ending. As Jecka points out, most of the time when Nicole is being an asshole, she's being an asshole to someone who deserves it, and never did anything as terrible as what she did to Ari. After abusing and grooming the girl for a month, Ari, with the quietest voice she has, breaks things off with Nicole because she decides she can't take Nicole's abuse anymore. But that's just the start of it. A month later, Ari reveals, despite being entirely a lesbian and not at all interested in men, she felt the need to date Hunter because Nicole taught her that women were trying to undermine and hurt each other. When Nicole still refuses to see what a monster she was, Jecka leaves Nicole in disgust. As Ari explains it, all the joy she had looking at a woman's hair or smelling their perfume was indelibly ruined by the month of anguish Nicole put her though. Even worse, Ari had no one to go to - the counselor is a pedophile trying to get close to her, and she's literally the only lesbian in the entire school. Ari truly felt trapped and alone.
  Ari: "The truth is... I still love everything about girls. I love how they talk, how they laugh, how they use moisturizer, how they do makeup. I love how girls do their hair, how they smell nice, they don't wear the same thing everyday... And I really love how they hold your hand... and how it feels when they kiss you back. Dating you helped me find the words for that, Nicole."
  Nicole: "... Then you're dating a guy because...?"
  Ari: "Because like... even though I feel that way, I have to be honest with myself. Girls are kinda high maintenance. Girls play mind games I can't figure out. And so the month we had together made me realize something else."
  Nicole: (Finally starting to get uncomfortable) "Realize what?"
  Ari: "I realized that guys turn me off but... girls make me wanna fucking kill myself."
  • Even Nicole gets some pity points during her ending narration for the fact that even at the end, she legitimately still doesn't know why Ari stuck with her despite all of the abuse she blatantly piled onto her, or why Ari decided to go as far as to settle for being straight. Her values have been so warped by both her sociopathy and her general terrible life that she can't comprehend the idea that someone wouldn't just see her as disposable. The ending image lingering on a picture of Nicole and Ari together, with Ari giving her a kiss on the cheek, while giving the narration really paints a really conflicted Nicole who just can't understand her and Ari's feelings.
    Nicole: "You ever feel guilty just...wondering if you should feel guilty? She poured her heart out again and again over how she felt about me but it's like... Isn't she better off?"
• The suicide ending is shockingly somber for a game so dedicated to crossing lines. Nicole chooses not to immediately judge the guys and tries to be nice to them, only for them to immediately hound her because they think she wants to be in a relationship with them. Every relationship she wants to form completely falls apart because the guys won't leave her alone, her mother is completely unsympathetic to her problems, and to cap it off, the counselor she gets sent to turns out to be a pedophile. The ending narration is on a completely black screen until the image fades in of Nicole's hanging body, and then Nicole speaks two more lines that aren't in the narration text...
  Nicole: "If you're reading this, I'm dead."
  • In her final conversation with Nicole in this route, Jecka pushes her away because she can't understand why Nicole puts up with all the guys and seemingly prioritizes them over her. The route's ending is one of only two where the text message the player receives is not from Jeffrey:
    miss u
    im sorry
• Short of the routes where Nicole outright dies, the expulsion route is one of the most depressing, as it gives Nicole so much Humble Pie it's surprising she makes it through. All her posturing about her capabilities, all her bluster and confidence, all of it gets stretched to the absolute limit as she's forced to sell her body for drugs. As she tells it, she can't even go to a women's shelter because they don't allow drugs there, and Nicole is both addicted to drugs and admits that she's only able to get through each day because the drugs keep her from thinking about how far she's fallen. Her conversation with Jecka has Nicole at her lowest, most pitiable state, and all she can do to avoid breaking down is hissing about her lot in life through gritted teeth as she makes it clear how much Jecka hurt her by not letting her couchsurf. Even the ending is bittersweet at best - Nicole managed to get back in school and under her mother's care, but she admits the trauma will probably stick with her in the future.
  Nicole: "I probably did a thousand dollars in free drugs this week."
  Jecka: "They're not free if you're doing favors for 'em."
  Nicole: (Sounding like she might just cry) "Let's not get that deep."
  Jecka: "But you're only doing this cause you're homeless."
  Nicole: "For real?"
  Jecka: "What I'm saying is, being a regular ho for actual cash would be better than where you are right now. Then you could get your own place maybe."
  Nicole: "No shit. I ask for drugs because I can't do this sober. I can't beg sober, I can't starve sober, and I definitely can't fuck a stranger sober."
  Jecka: "Yeah but why not go to a women's shelter or something?"
  Nicole: (Starting to sound honestly angry) "You can't have drugs in a women's shelter which is the last place you want to be sober in."
  Jecka: "I guess, it's just a month ago I couldn't imagine you doing this, I could never do this. It's so gross."
  Nicole: (Seething with rage) "Well, a month ago I wasn't homeless, but when your Mom kicks you out and your friend won't let you stay with her, that kinda forces you to do shit you wouldn't normally do."
  Jecka: "... Are you trying to guilt me right now?"
  Nicole: "I don't need to try."
  • Later on, when Nicole catches Mr. Lorre, the teacher who got her expelled, on camera as he goes to buy favors from her, Nicole briefly lapses into frothing rage and screams at him for 'ruining her life.' In that moment, it truly becomes clear just how Nicole, for all her attempts to seem calm and above the trauma, has truly come to understand what rock bottom feels like.