can’t exactly remember the first time I saw Fast Times at Ridgemont High. I know it was sometime in the summer, on VHS, and I have a distinct feeling it was in the cozy suburban living room of my cousin’s Michigan home, where I would sink into the plush Lazy-E-Boy couch, kick up the footrest, and lose hours in the company of movies and Little Debbie snack cakes. (Good old days.) Since then, I have seen the movie at least half a dozen times, enough that I didn’t really need to see it again in order to write about it and quote it. I watched it anyway. I’ve always thought Fast Times at Ridgemont High was an important movie, much more important than the teen-sex romp it is remembered to be, and I was so glad Nerve gave me a chance to write about the film for its 25th anniversary. Even cooler is that the story isn’t just me blabbing on and on about the film; it’s an interview with my friends, who helped me articulate what is so compelling about it. My editor and I sort of grappled with the story’s approach, bouncing around a few different tacks, and when he finally got this piece, he told me, “See, this was the way to do it. Bring Fast Times to the people.” Read the story here.