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

55. Afterschool Conversation

As the rest of the day passes on, you can't help but notice that you and Scott have completely switched roles. After telling the truth about your lie, and then winning the dodgeball game in the most unlikely but coolest way possible, you couldn't be in a better mood. And now Scott, who seems to have come to terms with an inner issue he's been having, has now become more shy and reclusive. Knowing him, it won't last long, but it still feels odd to be Scott's inspiration rather than the other way around. In science, you couldn't help but notice that Scott seemed to be ignoring Vicky. She had tried to start a conversation with him, but it soon became clear to her that he was in no mood to talk. She approaches you, and asks, "Hey, did you ever find out what's up with Scott? I heard he was fine this morning, but now he seems upset again.." "I'm not 100% sure what's going on with him, but I guess just give him some space for now." She smiles sweetly. "Roger that." She looks at Scott again, and looks back at you. "You two really are good for eachother. I'm happy for you guys." You smile at Vicky's comment, and class starts.

The bell rings, and class is over. Everyone gets up, gathers their things, and leaves the room. Once you have everything, you approach Scott, who's still sitting at his desk. You scratch his head and say, "You awake there?" He snaps out of his trance and looks at you, saying, "Yeah, yeah, I am. I was just thinking." "Okay." You give Scott a moment to gather his things and the two of you leave to go to your respective classes.

The rest of the day seems to fly by, and before you know it, the final bell of the day rings. You walk back to your locker, and as you put your things in your backpack, you have a strange encounter. You put your backpack on the floor and of to the side, and put in a textbook, and a few notebooks for homework. You're about to reach inside for one more thing, when your locker is slammed shut. You look to see who did it, and you see Damien. He leans his back on the locker next to yours, his arms crossed as he stares down the hallway in front of him. You give him a quick once-over before opening your locker back up. You attempt to reach in it again, but he slams it shut. You sigh, "What do you want?" "Alright, listen up twinkle toes, because I'm not repeating this." Twinkle toes..? "Brian told me to tell you thanks for getting us together. He insists you did something at the party, even though I don't remember shit. So thanks, I guess." "Uh, no problem." You open your locker back up to get that final thing, but he ends up shutting it a 3rd time. "I'm not finished, jackass. Ugh." He rubs his eyes his thumb and forefinger. "He tells me I owe you a favor." Those words make you curious. "A... favor?" "Yeah, so listen, as 'thanks' for getting us together, I guess I owe you one." You think to yourself about what you could possibly ask for. Before an idea even pops up into your brain, he adds, "And don't even think about asking for access to my dick, or my ass alright? They are off the table, they don't belong to you." In a stroke of genius, you make a comeback. "Yeah, I know. They belong to Brian." Damien's usually red skin turns a bright pink as he says, "Just don't say I never said any of this shit." He bitch-slaps you in the head as he walks away. While his back is turned, you flip him off. You open up your locker, and finally get the thing you needed. You shut your locker, lock it, and begin walking outside.

You take a few steps outside in the freezing cold. You look down the way and see Damien grumpily scrolling through his phone. Brian may have put him up to it, but you can't help but feel grateful that Damien thanked you. Without even noticing you, Brian walks by, and sidles up next to Damien. He puts his arm around Damien, and just like magic, Damien's dark scowl turns into a happy smile. Damien puts his arm around Brian in return. Brian takes his hand and gently places it on Damien's cheek, turning his head so they face eachother. They lean in and peck eachother on the lips. They interlock their hands together and begin walking towards the parking lot. You may hate Damien, and be pissed at Brian, but you can't help but admit that they are really cute together. "Heyyy. You mind if I walk you home?" You turn and see Zoe giving you wide smile. "Uh, sure, but we should probably go now." "Okay!" And with that, Zoe joined you on your walk home.

A few minutes pass by in an awkward silence. She wanted to come with you, yet she hasn't had anything to say yet. Suddenly, she says, "Good job getting Brian and Damien together. Damien's been drooling over Brian for weeks. I even tried getting them together myself, but it didn't work." "Why didn't it work?" "Because no one takes me seriously when it comes to this stuff." You can't say you blame them. Zoe is always writing fanfiction about her fellow classmates, so it's hard to take anything she says along the lines of romance as a serious fact. She adds, "Is that annoying?" "Huh?" "Me writing fanfiction and stuff like that.." "Uh, no. If that's what you wanna do, then do it. As Polly would say, you do you boo." The conversation dies a bit after that, leaving you alone with your thoughts. You think back to the conversation with Damien. He may have offered, but was he really serious about owing you one? He did say that Brian put him up to it, so maybe he doesn't expect you to request something. Maybe he didn't even mean it when he thanked you. "Oh, he meant it." You stop in your tracks. You slowly turn in Zoe's direction. "What did you say?" "I said he meant it." "Who meant what?" She looks confused, "Damien meant it when he thanked you?" "How did you know I was thinking about that?" Her eyes suddenly shoot wide open. "Um.. I.. Have an amazing intuition." You lift up your hand and wag your finger at her. "Uh-uh. Nope. That's not gonna work. How did you know?" She seems to desperately think of a lie. Her eyes dart all over the place and her arm nervously strokes her tentacle. "Do you promise not to get mad?" "I promise." "I maybe.. Might be able to.. Possibly... Read minds.." "Zoe! Are you kidding me!" "You said you wouldn't get mad!" "You and I both know that was a lie!" "Well I'm sorry!" You stare at eachother for a minute. You want to ask her questions, but you don't know how. She says, "Just ask them." "Stop doing that!" Another few seconds pass and you ask, "Do you read our minds a lot?" "Sometimes.." "Do you ever hear things you don't wanna hear?" "For me personally, no. But no normal person would want to have heard the things I've heard. For example, Oz, Brian, Damien, and Liam all had a foursome once." A blush of embarrassment comes across your face. You choose to ignore that new information and continue walking home. You are about to make it home, when one more question comes to your mind. "Zoe, what's been bothering Scott?" As soon as the words poured out of your mouth, you regretted saying them. You told Scott you'd wait for when he's ready and then you turned around and asked somebody who already knows. You begin to tremble and you quickly grab your arm, realizing what you must do to yourself. You take a step backwards. Zoe says, "No, no, (Y/N). It's okay! Don't do anything rash, alright? Please, just.. When you get home, don't start..." She takes the tip of her tentacle and makes swift horizontal lines on her arm, mimicking cutting. You end up screaming, "Get out of my head!" And start running home.