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

62. The Dating Game

The next day, as you arrive at school, you get to your locker to find a note on it. It says, "Meet us at the library during lunch, and come alone." You look up and down the hall, as if looking for a clue as to who wrote it. Sure enough, you get that clue when you see Zoe with Oz, as she winks at you and gives a thumbs up. Oddly, Oz seems totally oblivious to Zoe's obvious scheme. The day passes by as you wait for lunchtime to finally arrive.

The 4th period bell rings and you go to your locker, again finding another note. This time, it says, "Don't forget the library." You turn around to see Zoe inches from your face. She puts a finger up to her lips and says, "Shhh," winking again. You respond with the only logical conclusion you could come up with, "Are you high?" As if on cue, Polly floats through the ceiling and puts a finger to your lips and says, "Shhh." They both step away and beckon you with a finger. If someone had asked you a year ago what you would be doing a year from that day, your last answer would be 'following a sexy ghost and a kawaii eldritch deity to have lunch in a library.' You follow them until you get to the library. They lead you inside and go to a more excluded corner of the library. Polly traces her finger across many books, looking at each one. You ask, "So what did you guys want?" Polly covers your mouth again, saying, "Shhh.." She pulls on a book, and suddenly, the whole bookcase lifts up, revealing a medium sized room. There is a large, round, green table, a ceiling light overtop of it, a grandfather clock in the corner, and a painting on the back wall. Sitting at the table is Vera, Damien, and Liam. They are playing poker. Once you step inside, they all look up at you. Liam says, "(Y/N), welcome." You squint and look at each of them, then say, "What is happening? Where are we?" Zoe says, "Oh, you know that picture of the dogs playing poker?" You nod your head. She responds, "This is where that picture was taken!" Ypu look around the room, and realize she's right. "But why are we here?" Vera stands up and pulls out a chair for you. She says, "We are here to discuss our plan." You take your seat, "Our plan for what?" "To teach those four a lesson." "A lesson?" You here a loud groan come from Damien, he says, "They obviously have no fucking idea what's going on, so why the hell are they here?" Vera scowls at him. She sits down and says, "Let's just get this over with."

Vera pulls out four folders, their colors are yellow, red, blue, and green. She slides the green one over to Damien, the yellow one to Polly and Zoe, the blue one to Liam, and puts the red one between you two. She opens it up and inside, is a picture of Amira. It includes her full name, birthday, species, blood type, address, a list of her likes and dislikes, allergens, kinks, and past medical issues. You look around at the other folders to see they belong to Brian, Vicky, and Oz. Vera says, "Alright everyone, turn to page 5 of each folder." Everyone does so and on the top of each of their pages, it says, "The Dating Game". It reads: "Amira Rashid is one of four students who partake in 'The Game'. The goal is to take their chosen love interest on a date. They must woo someone through a series of situations that will boost our feelings towards them, so it will increase the likelihood of having a successful date." Vera announces, "Alright, so our first order of business, does anyone know anything about this game they play? For example, I have noticed that they all tend to separate from eachother. Like at lunch, if Brian sat at a table, the rest of them would stay away from that table. Any other information is useful." Zoe raises her hand, "Oh! They seem to think that certain places make them better in different categories." Vera takes out a notebook and opens it up, jotting something down. She asks, "Can you elaborate on that?" "Oh yeah, sure. So like, if they wanna get smarter, they go to class, as if you can't get smarter anywhere else." Vera makes another note. Zoe continues, "Or they go to the library specifically to make money off of their scams, as if they can't just do it from their phone." Vera nods her head and asks, "Do you know where else they go?" "No, I don't." You say, "But I do." Vera looks at you, and her eyes widen slightly as her lips curl into a smile. She says, "That's right, you were at that meeting, tell me all about it." You smile, "Gladly."

You give them the play-by-play of what happened at lunch yesterday. You mention how Vicky was telling everyone to go to certain places in order improve themselves. After explaining everything in great detail, Vera is finally satisfied. She finishes writing in her notes, and clicks her pen. She sits up straight with her hands folded on the table, a smile on her face. She says, "Alright, here's the plan. While the four of them are trying their best to get in our pants, we won't have any of it. Every single solution to a problem we have, we have to deny it. We have to make them feel sad about how stupid they are! We'll also have to make sure that we sit at full tables at lunch, that way, none of them can sit with us. And knowing them, despite the fact that they failed throughout, their thirsty asses will probably still ask us out, and then we'll reject them, and tell them off for how they've treated us!" Vera raises her fist in the air triumphantly. Polly chugs a bottle of whiskey and smashes it on the ground, screaming, "Yeah!" And Liam pushes his glasses up on his face like an anime villain. They're clearly into it, but by the looks on Damien and Zoe's faces, they don't seem to love it. To be honest, you're not 100% on board either. Zoe says, "Do they.. really deserve that?" Vera looks at Zoe, "Why not?" "Well.. Oz and I have been going steady for about a month, and I'd hate to make him feel bad." Damien adds, "Same with me and Brian. As much as I'd love to make people feel shitty, they've kinda grown on me. And Brian's been there for me, even when it wasn't close to anything." Despite his scowl, Damien has a slight blush on his face. Vera says, "Then what the hell do you want us to do?" A brief moment of silence ensues. An idea pops into your head, and you break the silence, "H-How about.. An intervention?" They all look at you as you continue, "When Leonard was blackmailing me, you guys didn't know what was up, and.. You held an intervention.. To get me to talk about it." Everyone lifts their eyebrows, considering the idea. Surprisingly, Damien was the first to say something, "Yeah, whatever. Sounds fine." Vera asks, "Well, how are we supposed to gather them all in one place? They are barely with eachother." Polly shouts, "An orgy!" Everyone looks at her. Liam clarifies, "Polina, Victoria, and I were discussing the idea of having an orgy yesterday." Vera taps her fingers on the table. She says, "Alright, everyone. I think I have a plan."