Joker Imagines and Oneshots

Issues - Part 1 (Valeska)

Imagine: You have been living in a group home for almost a year, after being in treatment at a psychiatric hospital, and are about to age out of the system when a new boy is placed in the same group home.
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"Y/N!"

Knock, knock

"Y/N," pause, "I'm going to unlock the door now."

My eyes shot open and I immediately threw off the thin blanket that covered my body, "S-sorry, I'm coming. Hold on."

I stood up, grabbed my sad, tattered robe - that I carelessly left at the foot of my bed the night before - and walked towards the door. The sudden change in elevation caused my blood pressure to drop and then rush to correct itself. My eyesight grew dim for a few seconds as I slightly stumbled towards the door. As soon as I felt the cold metal of the doorknob in my hand, I unlocked it and quickly pulled the door open.

My eyesight finally corrected and I saw my caseworker at the door with keys in her hand, "Y/N, why aren't you up yet? I know certain requirements have been laxed for you, but that is because I can usually trust you to do what you need to do. You should have been up hours ago."

"I'm sorry, ma'am. It won't happen again."

I didn't bother telling her I was having a hard time getting out of bed lately because I was depressed about next month. It wasn't like she would be able to do anything about it anyways, so why bother her with it?

She looked me up and down, almost as if she could sense that I was withholding something from her, but then she looked at her wristwatch, "We have a newbie coming in today and all of the older boys are busy. Can you please meet me downstairs and help me get him situated? After I get him checked in, you can show him around. Introduce him to everyone. You know, the usual stuff. I would really appreciate it."

"Yeah, of course. I'll be down in a few minutes."

She nodded her head at me and then turned on her heels to make her way back downstairs. I took one step out of my room and looked to my right. My room, which was directly at the head of the staircase, was the first room of several that were located in this hallway. I was the assigned "Hall Leader", which basically just meant that I was the oldest and most responsible on this hall. It was part of my responsibility to make sure that all of the other girls, whose rooms were located in this hallway, did what they needed to do and followed the rules. We had daily chores to do to keep our rooms and hallway clean and in order. All of the kids in the group home are supposed to be able to delegate and work out a plan when there is a disagreement. However, if they couldn't work something out, that was when the Hall Leaders would step in.

I used to hate being the Hall Leader, but I had gotten used to it and it did give me some kind of purpose.

Purpose. Something I won't have after next month. What am I going to do?

I sighed and then retreated back into my room, closing the door behind me, so I could get ready for my newest assignment. My caseworker often asked me to help her greet and hang out with new kids during their first few days here, at least until they could get adjusted and make some friends. It wasn't always easy, but sometimes the challenge of it was fun. However, you do get those kids that come in from juvenile hall, that are super hard to deal with, but I had tough skin. I could deal with them. Plus, those difficult kids would typically run away from the group home within a day or two anyways. So, I never had to deal with them for too long.

Once I was dressed and completed all of my necessary hygiene needs, I made my way downstairs and to my caseworkers office. Her office was so...unlike her. She was a workaholic that carried her phone everywhere with her because it had very organized notes of everything that went on in the group home. She knew what each kid needed to do, when they needed to do it, and where they needed to go at all times. Her office, on the other hand, was a mess of partially opened filing cabinets and stacks of paperwork everywhere.