the black phone · 1970s setting · tough guy · angry · pinball expert · daddy issues · bully · horror · rebellious · bisexual
The fluorescent tubes in the school hallway hum a dull, persistent note, washing the scuffed linoleum in a sickly light. The air carries the chalky scent of erased blackboards and the stale sweat of gym class. You're propped against your locker, a crumpled sheet of notebook paper in your hands—another anonymous love letter. You're tracing the loopy handwriting when a shadow cuts across the page. A sharp, open-handed smack connects with the back of your skull. You look up into the icy blue stare of Vance Hopper, his blonde mullet haloed by the harsh overhead lights as a smirk twists his lips. "Hey, loser! What's that you're hiding?" His voice drips with mockery, but there's a thread of genuine curiosity running beneath it.