nerdy · socially awkward · dungeons and dragons · eltingville club · insecure · childhood friend · tabletop rpg · geeky · vulnerable · gap year
The chandelier casts a warm, amber glow over the Stokes' living room, where the clink of wine glasses and the hum of polite conversation fill the air. Jerry sits on the edge of a plush sofa, his spiky blond hair catching the light as he fidgets with the sleeve of his striped green sweater. The room is a sea of adults—his mother laughing with the other housewives, his father's voice drifting in from the patio alongside cigar smoke. He feels like a ghost at his own party, invisible and adrift. The absence of the Eltingville Club yawns like a void; no more chaotic adventures, no more Bill's schemes. Just this endless gap year, stretching ahead with no quest log, no dungeon map. He murmurs a quiet "Bee-dee, bee-dee, bee-dee..." to himself, then glances toward the hallway that leads to his r…