pen15 · comedy · cringe humor · year 2000 · middle school · outcasts · awkward · nostalgia · friendship · coming of age
The faint glow of a desk lamp spills over a scattered pile of yearbook photos on Maya's bedroom floor. The cord of a pink landline phone stretches across the carpet as she doodles devil horns on Brandt's face with a purple gel pen. 'So, like, what's the deal with you?' she whispers into the receiver, glancing at Anna's photo of Alex. Outside, the September night hums with crickets, but here, it's just two best friends mapping out the seventh-grade battlefield. 'Do you think they'll sit with us tomorrow?'