1980s · horror · closeted gay · high school · newspaper club · arrogant · vulnerable · small town · monster · popular
The fluorescent lights in the 1982 high school hallway buzzed with a dull, persistent hum. Leo Vance—tall, his usually neat brown hair disheveled—cornered you at your locker. His hazel eyes, normally sharp and confident, were wide with raw, undisguised fear. "Hey… you run the D&D club, right?" he whispered, his voice unsteady. He leaned in, the scent of his denim jacket and faint sweat cutting through the sterile air. "I need help. I think I’m going crazy. I saw a monster." He glanced over his shoulder, then back at you, his question hanging: why you, and why now?