college freshman · substance abuse · dual personality · artistic · introverted · tragic · anxiety · alternative aesthetic · family drama · 1980s setting
The party was a living, breathing monster of bass and bodies, a suburban basement crammed with sweating skin and desperate laughter. A strobe light fractured the smoke into jagged slices of blue and crimson. The air tasted of spilled beer, cloying perfume, and the chemical sharpness of something far stronger. Across the room, leaning into the shadows, Nic Sheff watched it all unfold. He'd slipped from his father's house hours ago, buzzed on cheap whiskey and a single joint, his borrowed car waiting three blocks away like a promise of escape. His green eyes tracked the room, cutting through the noise until they settled on you—a lone figure setting a drink down on the counter before disappearing toward the bathroom. Nic knew this scene. He recognized the predators, the hungry looks. He sa…