The Monsters Inside and Out (Scott Howl x Depressed Reader)

57. Emotional Wisdom

You wake up to the sound of your torturous alarm. You rub your eyes and reach over to turn your alarm off. You lie in bed for another minute to collect yourself before getting up. You stretch, yawn, and drag yourself to the bathroom. As you get ready for the day, you think back to after school yesterday. Vera said she wanted to talk to you. What about, you have no clue. All she said was that she was busy yesterday so she couldn't discuss it then. So yesterday, the two of you made plans to hang out today, even though you have no idea about what's going on. You brush your teeth, put on an outfit, and begin heading out. The familiar feeling of anxiety encompasses you while you take a step out of your bedroom as you realize you have to pass your mom on your way out, not to mention you have to tell her where you're going anyway. You make a quick attempt, "Hey mom, I'm going to a friend's house." You put your hand on the door handle and turn it, but you're interrupted by your mother. "Wait a second hun, you're not going to that maniac's house are you?" You curse under your breath, "No mom, it's a different friend." "Alright.. but I'm serious about seeing that one, no more, got it?" "Yeah." "I don't need you around a bad influence like that." Ignoring her last sentence, you exit the house and shut the door. You flip off the door, directing it at your mom. What does she fucking know? Nothing, that's what. Scott's the best influence for anyone ever. As you finish your inner monologue, you realize Vera isn't even at your house yet. You can't go back inside, that's for sure. Maybe you should just start walking there yourself, and meet her along the way. You begin walking, hoping your mother doesn't notice you leaving without Vera. After walking for about 5 minutes, a car honks at you. You jump, and turn to see Vera. She rolls her window down and says, "What the hell are you doing? You're going to catch a cold! Get in here!" You sniffle and get in the passenger's seat. "Here." Vera hands you a tissue, and you blow your nose. Vera continues driving down the street, and she asks, "So how's it going?" "Oh you know.. Fine. How about you?" "About the same." You nod in understanding. The car once again fills with an awkward silence as you're left to stare out the window. You decide to ask Vera, "So what did you wanna talk about?" She taps her fingernails against the steering wheel as she thinks to herself. "Let's wait until we get into a more comfortable area." "Okay." A few more minutes of an awkward silence later, Vera pulls into her driveway.

She unbuckles her seatbelt and asks, "You haven't eaten yet, right?" "No.." She smiles and says, "Good." She steps out of the car and you follow suit. She steps inside her home and a sweet smell immediately fills your nostrils. You step inside and see Valerie at the stove, wearing an apron and holding a spatula. Mr. Oberlin is sitting at his place at the table, reading a newspaper, drinking some tea. Vera walks up to him and kisses his forehead, saying, "We're here, dad." He shuts the paper, and says, "Welcome back, sweetheart, and (Y/N)! Good to see you are well! Do I get a kiss from you too?" Vera chuckles and playfully hits her dad's arm, "Shut up, dad." He chuckles back, and Valerie gets your attention. "Hey, (Y/N)! You like pancakes?" "Yeah, I..." You trail off as you see what's on Valerie's apron. There's a picture of a cat, and it says, 'Made from scratch'. It causes you to giggle. Valerie, embarrassed, hastily takes off the apron and tosses it into the corner. Vera tells her, "Aw c'mon, Val, it's adorable!" "Shut up!" You and Vera continue to giggle about the apron, and Valerie continuously shoots dirty looks at the two of you. After 45 minutes of eating and talking, you finally wrap up breakfast. Vera leaves the dishes in the sink to clean later, and she leads you to her room.

She gives you a sly look as she opens the door, revealing a rather large room which seems to be split down the middle. As in half of the room seems to be Vera's, while the other half is Valerie's. The entire room is symmetrical, there's a bed in each corner with a side table next to each. In front of each bed is a little desk with a computer. Each side also has a shelf with different contents. Everything on one side has an equal on the other side. There is only one exception: right smack dab in the middle of the room is a desk, with a chair both behind and in front of it. Vera says, "Welcome to the Oberlin sisters base of operations. Here, have a seat." She gestures towards the chair in front of the desk. You sit down, and watch as she step to her side of the room and takes out a key. She unlocks a file cabinet, and flips through the contents, eventually taking out a few folders of varying colors. Once she has everything in order, she sits down in the chair behind the desk, and folds her hands. "So, (Y/N), you are probably curious as to why I have called for this meeting." "...Sure?" "Well, as I'm sure you know, Scott has been.. Down lately. Now, I believe I may understand why that is." She begins opening a brown folder with Scott's name on it, but it makes you feel uneasy. Hesitantly, you say, "Wait, is.. Is that... What this is about?" "Well, yeah. I figured that together, we can really get to the bottom of this." "I'll pass, thank you." Vera's business expression suddenly turns much more confused. "You'll.. Pass? But don't you want to know what's wrong with Scott?" "Well of course I do, but he's not ready to tell me." "When will he be ready?" "I don't know. It depends on how bad it is." Vera seems to grow a little nervous. "But I've been doing research, looking at little details, and I think I've figured it out." "Scott can handle this himself. I trust him to figure it out at his own pace." "How can you be so okay with this?" "Because I know what it's like to fake my feelings for others, and I don't want him to have to deal with that." "But.. No! I have known Scott for the past six years, and never, not once ever, has he gotten so.. Depressed! He's always been happy, that's who he is!" "Maybe that's what he wants you to believe." She looks even more confused. You continue, "Maybe he always lifts everyone's spirits because he thinks he needs to. Maybe he thinks he's not allowed to be sad or something, so he hides behind a smile so he doesn't upset anyone." "But I don't like seeing him like this!" She lightly pounds her fist against the desk, and you notice a single tear forming in her eye. "Vera, are you okay?" She massages her head with her hand. After a moment, she says, "I'm sorry, (Y/N). I just... I don't know!" You chuckle. Not because her confusion is funny, but rather endearing. "Do you miss it?" "Miss what?" "His cheerleading, his sweet remarks, his unrelenting positivity? Do you miss all the annoying things he does." A blush grows on her face, and her expression changes as if she just realized something. You continue, "I'm sure Scott will be back to normal in no time, you just have to patient for that time to come." She let's out a hearty sigh. "Dammit (Y/N), when did you become so wise?" You laugh and shrug your shoulders in response. You both stare off into space, thinking about your own thing, until Valerie barges in. "Sup guys, you done with your meeting?" Vera clears her throat, "Yes, why?" "Cuz the girls just got here, and we were gonna watch a movie, and I thought you'd like to join?" You and Vera exchange a look and get up to join the fun. You, Vera, Valerie, Dahlia, Aaravi, and the coven sit down and spend the rest of the night watching movies, drinking tea, spilling tea (the gossip kind), spilling tea (the actual kind), and just having a good time. At the end of the night, Vera takes you home. After a night of fun, you're tired. You yawn as you get comfortable in bed, slowly going to sleep.