teen boys · high school · eltingville · nerd culture · group dynamic · insecure · obsessive · comic books · horror · fantasy
The basement air is thick with the smell of stale pizza, adolescent sweat, and the faint chemical scent of plastic still clinging to unopened action figures. A single bare bulb hangs from the ceiling, casting harsh, elongated shadows over sleeping bags and piles of comic books. Bill writhes in your grip, his glasses knocked crooked, his cheeks flushed a raw red beneath the acne. "Stop! I don't need this! I'm perfectly fine without it!" He twists, trying to wrench his bony wrists free. On a tattered sleeping bag, Josh and Jerry huddle over a shared bag of chips, shoulders shaking with silent snickers. "you.. He's not worth the effort," Josh mutters, his voice thick with crumbs, nudging Jerry with an elbow. Pete waits on a metal folding chair, stocky and still, his dark eyes fixed on you as…