Group Project Glory: How One Student Mastered Petty Revenge with a News Anchor Plot Twist
Ah, group projects. The mere mention can make even the most resilient student break into a cold sweat. Whether you were the overachiever, the slacker, or the silent observer, you probably have some war stories of your own. But rarely do we get to savor a tale as delicious as the one shared by u/chemist-teacher on Reddit’s r/PettyRevenge: a story of silent protest, careful calculation, and a news anchor-themed assignment gone delightfully awry.
Our narrator was no stranger to group project woes. After a semester of picking up slack for unmotivated teammates, they decided it was time for a little (well-deserved) petty revenge. And it all unfolded during a high school project that was supposed to shake up the usual presentation formula—but ended up serving a piping hot dish of poetic justice.
The Group Project Gauntlet: When “Teamwork” Means “Do It Yourself”
The assignment seemed creative enough: become a news team, dramatize a groundbreaking story (read: whatever you’d just learned in class), and record it for posterity. Sounds fun, right? Well, only if your teammates actually pull their weight.
As u/chemist-teacher recounted, their group members contributed absolutely nothing to the scriptwriting process. Not a single line. Not a stray bullet point. Not even an “um, maybe we should mention photosynthesis” (or whatever the topic was). Our protagonist did it all—writing the script, dividing up dialogue, and ensuring everyone had something important to say.
But here’s where the plot thickens: tired of being both the brains and the brawn of every group assignment, our hero decided to serve themselves the smallest slice of the spotlight. While the others had hefty parts to memorize and perform, u/chemist-teacher wrote themselves a mere five lines—barely enough to break a sweat, let alone trigger stage fright.
As one commenter, u/tallnginger, astutely observed: “This feels like the ideal way to do this group project honestly. Perfectly balanced if in your group you have folks that want to talk but not write, and folks that want to write but not talk.” In a way, it was an arrangement straight out of a real newsroom: some people script, some people shine in front of the camera. The only problem? Nobody except the writer actually did their job.
Petty Revenge Served Cold (and With a Mic Drop)
You might think the story ends with a peaceful presentation and a sigh of relief. But no—this is r/PettyRevenge, after all.
After the skit was done and dusted, the freeloading groupmates decided to complain to the teacher. Their grievance? That u/chemist-teacher didn’t speak enough during the presentation! (The audacity, as u/housebottle put it: “They should have just been grateful for your help.”)
Here’s where the story delivers its most satisfying twist. The teacher, perhaps wise to the ways of group project drama, had already seen who did the actual work. Thanks to Google Sheets tracking every keystroke and edit, the teacher could see exactly who contributed to the script (spoiler: it was only our protagonist). As u/chemist-teacher [OP] clarified in the comments: “I had a different project for their class earlier in the same year where again I did everything, also it was written using Google sheet and shared with the teacher so they can see who wrote what.”
The teacher’s verdict? Since our hero wrote the entire script and organized the project, their minimal screen time was more than justified. Justice, it seems, is sometimes just a “revision history” away.
The Internet Reacts: Cheering for the Scriptwriter
Reddit, unsurprisingly, loved this tale of clever comeuppance. The top comment by u/DriedUpBrainCells echoed what many were thinking: “Lol! I was about to say hopefully the teacher didn't think you didn't participate because you had so few lines. I'm glad the teacher was understanding.”
Others reflected on the group project struggle. u/starrykisx summed it up as “a classic case of group project chaos bro, glad ur teacher had ur back,” while u/deprosted fantasized about taking the pettiness up a notch: “If I had to write the whole thing, all the information they would of given would of been wrong, or enough of a skewed truth for it to be wrong.” (The OP, wisely, didn’t want their grade to suffer for the sake of vengeance.)
Meanwhile, a few commenters offered insights from the other side of the desk. u/xtnh, a teacher, weighed in: “I learned to tell the group that all had to be ready to do the presentation, and when they chose the one to be in charge of presenting I made their job to be choosing the person other than themselves to do it. What fun.” Even teachers, it seems, are looking for ways to keep things fair—and maybe sow a little chaos of their own.
Lessons Learned—and the Ultimate Group Project Hack
So, what can we take away from this glorious act of petty revenge?
- Sometimes, the best revenge is simply letting others do the work they claim to want.
- Documentation is your best friend. (As u/chronic_ill_knitter pointed out, “I wish Google docs had been around when I was a student. It would hsve saved so much effort in group presentations and proving who did and didn't work on them.”)
- And above all: if you’re going to coast on someone else’s hard work, maybe don’t complain when they don’t let you hog the spotlight.
Next time you’re staring down the barrel of a group project, remember: you, too, can play the long game. Be the scriptwriter, not the scapegoat. And if your teammates complain? Well, let them take it up with the “revision history.”
What’s your most satisfying group project story? Did you ever get your own petty revenge—or wish you had? Share your tales below!
Original Reddit Post: Didn't talk that much in a group project