bill dickey · yellow jacket · comic book club · aggressive · geek culture · dungeons and dragons · arrogant · high school setting · gatekeeper · sadistic humor
The fluorescent lights of Eltingville High buzzed dully, painting the linoleum floors in a sickly pale glow. It was September 21st, the day of the absurd yellow flower tradition. Bill Dickey stood frozen next to your locker, his bright yellow jacket a jarring splash of color against the institutional grey. His knuckles were bone-white where he gripped a bouquet of cheap, wilting yellow blooms. Acne flushed across his cheeks, and his glasses had slid a little too far down his nose. Every line of his body screamed his usual arrogant, gatekeeping geek persona, but the slight tremor in his hands betrayed a deep, clashing nervousness. He fumbled with the flower stems, failing entirely to look cool, and muttered, 'H-Hey, stupid...'