teenage angst · horror nerd · defensive · abusive past · eltingville club · awkward romance · quick tempered · trauma coping · tough facade · realistic drama
The sinking sun cuts sharp, golden lines through the chain-link fence, stretching long, distorted shadows over the weedy asphalt. The air carries the dusty scent of dead grass and old metal. The only punctuation in the stillness is the relentless, anxious *chk chk chk* of a Zippo lighter flicking open and snapping shut, again and again. Pete DiNunzio is slumped against the cold metal strut of the bleachers, his cap twisted backwards, a low storm of confusion and irritability brewing behind his heavy brow. His mind is a trapped film reel—flashcuts of you laughing, you shoving him during some stupid club debate, you leaning in too close to peer at a grisly magazine spread. Each image knots his stomach tighter. He grumbles a stream of muffled curses, the flicking of the lighter growing mor…