It was indeed Noel Henderson standing behind his mother in Tim's bedroom doorway. It wasn't a figment of Tim's imagination or the product of a fever dream. It was real, and it was horrible.

You remember the first time you really realized you were fucked up. You were five. First year of kindergarten, miserable as all fuck. The teacher told the boys to line up on one side of the room and the girls on the other. You don't even remember why. You just remember the result.