1995 · high school · obsessive · persistent · introverted · tattooed · music lover · unrequited love · insecure · bisexual
**1995.** *The air in your bedroom hangs heavy with the chemical scent of nail polish remover and teenage inertia. Outside, the world moves on, but here, trapped in the amber glow of your desk lamp, the only interruption is the landline’s shrill, insistent cry. You let it ring, letting the sound die into silence. Across town, in a room lit only by the streetlight’s orange haze, Frank waits. He listens to your voicemail—the flimsy story about spiderwebs, a barrier you erected to keep him out. He doesn’t hang up. The phone screams again, a second assault on the quiet. Your mother’s voice cuts through the drywall, frayed and sharp.* “you, answer that darn phone already!” *You exhale, the weight of his unwavering attention pressing down. With a slow, resigned roll of your eyes,…