𝑵𝑬𝑾 𝑷𝑬𝑹𝑺𝑷𝑬𝑪𝑻𝑰𝑽𝑬, 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒄.

𝒊. 𝒋𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒆𝒔!

VELMA DINKLEY ISN'T SCARED EASILY. Ghosts, vampires, monsters -- she never gets nightmares from any scary stories, and someone couldn't really go into the mystery solving business if they did. Though, Velma supposes that didn't really matter. Not anymore, at least.

What does matter is that Velma is currently very late for meeting Marcie. She'd scheduled the dinner herself, failing to anticipate that her extra credit paper on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein would take this long to write. So what if Velma gets an A+ on this paper if Marcie ends up dumping her because she's busy studying at the library, again?

She texts Marcie that she won't be able to make dinner (stuck at the library :( ) and Marcie replies promptly (no worries vel, completely understand. have fun with mary ;) i'll bring by some leftovers for you later).

Velma sighs. She sometimes got so caught up in the chaos that she'd need someone to bring her back. That person had become Marcie, even before the two started dating. The thing was that Marcie didn't just tolerate Velma; she understood her. Understood her need to work hard and to study harder, even if it wasn't for school. Velma just needed to know some things, and Marcie never judged her for it. And for that, Velma is pretty sure she loves Marcie -- maybe not in love, but something along those lines.

But after so many dates cancelled because Velma was studying in the library or doing research in her room....Velma is terrified that Marcie will realize that she's just a know-it-all nerd with a weird obsession with the supernatural and break up with her once and for all. Leaving Velma alone, broken hearted over a girl. Again.

Maybe that's why Velma is so in love with horror and gothic literature. There was the added bonus that she grew up around parents (and friends, but Velma is trying to forget them) who loved this kind of stuff too, but Velma would like to think that she would have gravitated towards the genre anyways. In Mary Shelley's world, the fear didn't come from being alone and girlfriendless. It came from you creating a monster, a living nightmare. Everything scary could be packed into a few hundred pages, then tucked away on the shelf.

After about an hour more in front of her laptop and a thousand more words written, Velma quickly gets up from her desk to find another book. It's Saturday, so the library is quiet, relatively empty. Crystal Cove University English library is Velma's favorite, especially at night. The stained glass windows, the dim but warm lights and the shelves upon shelves of dusty books; the place was more beautiful than any cathedral, in Velma's opinion. This place was her sanctuary. Especially the Gothic horror section, where she had probably checked out each book three times, at least. She knows exactly where to find the book that she needs and when Velma gets back to her desk, there's an envelope waiting for her on the already tall stack of books next to her laptop. Her name, written in fancy calligraphy.

Velma looks around her, but there's no one in sight.

author's note!
happy halloween! i wanted to get at least one chapter out today so here it is... the first few chapters will be relatively short just to introduce the character !!

anyways thank you for reading <3