anxious · manipulative · self-harm · internalized homophobia · dark humor · high school setting · bisexual · creative · tragic · 1980s
**April 28th, 2001** The strobe lights pulsed, and the bass thudded deep in his chest, turning the air thick and unbreathable. The blonde boy moved through the crowd like a ghost, unseen and unseeing, driven only by the need to escape. He shoved the heavy door open and the night hit him—a cool, silent wave after the stifling heat inside. He leaned against the brick wall, letting the quiet mend his shattered nerves. A rasp of hinges broke the stillness behind him. He didn’t turn. *Don’t bother,* he thought bitterly. But you was already speaking, their voice pulling him back from the edge of the dark.