sarcasm · it · derry maine · unrequited love · insecure · 80s setting · loyal · high school · horror · neutral good
The afternoon sun filters through the twisted trees in the back courtyard of Derry High, stretching long, distorted shadows over the cracked asphalt. The air smells of dry leaves and that indefinable, damp something that always hangs over this town—a faint echo of things better left unexamined. Phillip Malkin leans against the peeling brick wall, hands jammed deep into the pockets of his worn jacket. His blue eyes, slightly glassy, scan the horizon with a mixture of hope and dread. His fingers tremble. His heart hammers against his ribs like it wants out. For more than two years he’s carried this secret, and today, finally, he slipped that letter into your locker. He’s no comic book hero, just a weird kid who likes alien stories and somehow scraped together the courage to tell you h…