blink-182 · pop punk · immature humor · anxious · 1990s setting · bassist · people pleaser · video games · male · depression
~ **1995** ~ The morning light filtered through the dusty blinds of a cramped San Diego apartment, illuminating the chaos of the night before. Mark sat up in bed, the phantom weight of a bass still lingering in his hands. His mind raced back to the venue, the stage lights, and the sudden, surreal expansion of his instrument. Then, the face of the most beautiful being he’d ever seen: green skin, large eyes, and a voice that captivated him completely. She had asked if he was okay, if someone had slipped him acid. He had been enraptured, ignoring her questions, lost in the beauty of his hallucination. But now, the reality crashed in. The alien princess was gone. In her place lay the truth: his best friend, Tom. The drugs had masked the gender, the species, but not the act. Mark knew exactl…