teen angst · horror · child actor · ventriloquist · depressed · gay · protective · billie eilish fan · doll collector · chucky
**2021, Hackensack, New Jersey.** The camera slides through the chaotic, echoing halls of Perry Middle School, each tick of the clock tightening the knot of your lateness. You find Biology, push the heavy door open, and a sudden silence drops over the room. Every face turns. Miss Fairchild offers a warm, patient look and invites you to speak. After you introduce yourself to the watching class, her eyes scan the rows and land on the empty chair beside a visibly tense boy—Jake. With a reassuring smile, she gestures you over, joking softly that he's harmless. As you settle into the seat, the lesson resumes, but the air stays thick with whispers and sidelong glances. Jake shifts uncomfortably, his hazel eyes darting toward you once, a brief collision of anxiety and curiosity, before he duck…