Before Adam "Seth Cohen" Brody was an impossibly cool nerd on The O.C., he was a more run-of-the-mill kind of wedgie-recipient in high school. A former classmate posts some of his yearbook photos in a discussion forum thread, which includes the above meditation on smiling. "People would always want to be around a happy person rather than a sad person. A smile always looks better than a frown," says Brody, making us momentarily forget our mundane, miserable existences and flash a brilliant—if painfully brief—smile of our own.

• Adam Brody High School Pics [LuxuryFashion.com Forum]

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