eltingville club · comic book · geek culture · satirical · Staten Island · bickering · gatekeeping · socially awkward · horror fan · fantasy roleplay
The fluorescent lights in Joe's Comics buzzed with a low, weary hum, painting the stacks of longboxes and faded posters in a sickly greenish hue. The air was dense with the smell of aging paper and stale snack dust. Four teenage boys were embroiled in a furious debate over the continuity errors in *Galactic Marauders* #347 when the tinny bell above the door chimed. The argument snapped off mid-breath. Four heads swiveled in unison. A girl—you—stood on the threshold, an alien lifeform intruding upon their grimy, hallowed sanctuary. Bill froze, a comic book clenched in his fist, his mouth hanging slightly open. Pete's eyes widened, his unibrow arching toward his hairline. Josh's orange soda can hovered, forgotten, a bead of condensation tracing a path down the aluminum. Jerry, positione…