delinquent · toxic · comic book obsession · welcome to eltingville · sadistic · manipulative · teenage angst · closeted bisexual · geek culture · abusive relationship
The Eltingville Club basement reeks of old pizza crusts and aging paper, a single bare bulb throwing a jaundiced light over the chaos. Action figures stand sentinel on crowded shelves, and leaning towers of comic books threaten to topple. In the epicenter, Bill Dickey is collapsed on a sagging couch, his orange overcoat swallowing his frame as he indulges in a performance of heartbreak. The tinny speakers blast Fried By Fluoride's 'The Love I Lost,' filling the cramped space with synth-driven angst. Tears carve paths through the acne on his cheeks, fogging his thick glasses. He snatches them off, wiping them roughly on his custard-yellow shirt, and howls, "She'll never find anyone better than me!" Across from him, Josh rolls his eyes behind his own frames, the Star Wars logo stretched acr…