Eric was happy to return home after the therapy session with Frances with almost as much relief as his mother surely felt. There had been plenty of things that scared him, but he couldn't help responding the way he did at the time. It was that lack of control that had frightened him, but in its own way, talking with Frances helped. Not only did it let him get things off his chest but it also get answers to things that he and Nate had privately pondered on when things began to go bad in Minnesota, but also some of Eric's personal ponderings as to why his mother decided to be a werecat after his father had gotten scratched. All of that was quite helpful to him and that did make him feel better, even if Frances hadn't given any formal diagnosis...
Frances had told Martha that she had suspected something along the lines of depression to bipolar disorder, but hadn't given any formal diagnosis in the session itself. However, regardless on what the specific diagnosis was, Frances had also said that Eric didn't need drugs, which had to mean that regardless of what issue there was, it couldn't be super serious to confront. And to a certain extent, with the misunderstanding between him and Julie over Arthur sorted out, things had seemed to be smooth sailing between him and Julie again. That also built some confidence in some of the suggestions that Frances had to help him with regard to social situations, and that was something that Eric had in mind as he made his way up the stairs with the plan to work on his homework.
He tossed his backpack on his bed while turning to flick on the power to his computer and wait for it to warm up. He figured he could talk with Julie about things that could be done with regard to clubs and that sort of thing and if any might be looking for new members that Moon Lake High had, and thus he let the computer power up while then focused on getting his homework out and hoped that Julie was either at her computer or had it on, as normally they held their Skype chats in the evening, since they lived in different houses at the moment and it was a good way to say goodnight, but his homework hadn't been too lengthy and he figured he'd it be a good idea to talk with Julie on the issues.
When he sat down with one of the pieces of homework he did have set down on the desk in front of him, he set about logging into Skype and waiting to see if Julie responded. If she did, they could talk, if not... he could always go on YouTube and play some music that was posted there. For a few moments he got no reply and he was about to give up and switch over when the Skype system flashed an alert that included Julie's number/email information with the orange and white window that stated that she was online. Eric smiled and answered it with one click of the mouse. He was rewarded with Julie's image coming up before him.
"Are you okay?!" Julie wondered before Eric could say anything, making Eric think that she'd been waiting for him.
"Yeah... I'm fine," Eric managed a smile, "Talking with Frances was a big help..."
"Did she say what was wrong?" Julie asked, her upper lip quivering slightly while her lower lip was pulled back and underneath her front teeth. Clearly she was worried, Eric could sense that by how quick she was getting the questions out and that he wasn't getting the full time to explain things.
"Not expressly," Eric answered, "but she also said that things aren't to any point where I'd need medication. Which would mean that what ever it is... it's small and something that being able to talk with you, with family, and with Frances can work with..." Eric then paused for a moment to look at the worksheet and the book he had laying beside it. "Say... would you mind if I work on my homework while we talk and I update you on some things? There isn't much..."
"It's okay," Julie answered, "I've kinda been nervously trying to do homework myself."
Eric nodded and then looked down to resume his work on the worksheet he had for the class. It wasn't too hard and he had a fair share of answers already written in. He just had to get it done, and while it gave Julie a good look at the brown hair on the top of his head, had Eric looked up he would have only seen Julie's own blonde tresses hanging down while she worked on her homework and waited for Eric to continue his answer.
"Anyway... Frances told me and my folks that while there are "issues" to work with and work through, it's not something that would require medicine to help control," Eric answered.
"That's good news... but what did she say the problem was?" Julie wondered, "Was it just jealousy over Arthur?"
"Well... I think she thinks that was probably the trigger for the latest bout of what I've been wrestling with," Eric answered, "but some of it would also come from things that came from before my family moved here... Things like the stresses in my parents' marriage and other personal things for them... and of course... the bullying that I took... but again Frances said that I don't need medication, so I'd guess that means that a lot of this has been more situational than anything else."
Eric flipped through the pages in the book while looking for the information that would be needed to answer one of the questions presented while pausing in his answer. This time, Julie didn't interject anything and let the pause go naturally. After he found the answer he needed for his homework, Eric wrote it down and then continued.
"The big thing that Frances said to do was to make friends," Eric managed.
"But you do have friends... you have me, Arthur... and I'd think we could add Spencer and Morgan to the list," Julie commented, "there are still some times where I think Spencer has some interest in you... and in me..."
"Well... if she is bi, she just might," Eric commented, "but right now... that isn't the issue or the point... the idea that Frances commented on would be to find friends and activities that would go beyond just what we know right now. You know... go looking for a wider group of friends... You know... like what you have besides me and Arthur."
"I don't think you'll want to hang out with the girls I've hung out with at school," Julie said nervously.
"They're not mean to you?!" Eric asked and finding himself looking up to seeing Julie closing one of her school books on the screen.
"No..." Julie gave a giggle, "It's just that a lot of times the discussion has been about things most girls would be interest in... and for those that are born weres that have had their first transformation there has often been the discussion on WHO they find interesting. That sort of thing..."
"Am I not interesting?" Eric teased.
"You are," Julie answered, trying to hide a blush, "but... it's idle gossip, that sort of thing. And really... until I met you, some of that didn't hold that much attention... and most of them aren't weremers... and since none of our stages are real good at going overland through the woods, which your brother and parents will be able to do very well, a fair number of the things they do for fun during the school year... and sometimes even during the summer aren't things I can physically do very well. More often than not when we've hung out, it's either been at the lake or at our pool during the summer..."
"Beating the heat, as it were," Eric surmised.
"And it's been fun," Julie smiled, "Just... unless it'd be a big party... not something you'd have too much interest in."
"Well... good for us that I'm not out to date your girlfriends, just you," Eric teased again.
Julie shook her head with a small smile. Eric laughed and then tried to bring things back to the subject.
"Any way... the solution was to look for friends that I could relate with and relate to," Eric spoke, "more than you or my family... The whole get out and meet new people sort of thing. I was wondering as to if you knew of any groups or activities that they might be interested in new members."
"Well... the school does have a sort of "knowledge bowl" team," Julie commented, "they go to various schools in the area and answer trivia questions... but I think their team is pretty much set. You might be able to sign on as an alternate in case someone gets sick or has some family emergency."
"Anything else? Like a club or something?" Eric wondered, "my mom said something of her high school having a chess club when she went through school."
"Yeah... Moon Lake doesn't have that," Julie admitted, "not as an official club anyway. Some may play the game, I'm sure, but I don't think there is a club in existence... You could ask around, though. See if anyone would want to form a club. I don't think the school would mind and for the most part... the sort of bullying you ran into in the past probably isn't likely. It could happen... but much like rogue weres, it's not likely. No one wants a fight, particularly as with everything weres have gone through in history... "bullying" would begin to get into the range in which the school or the town would look on it as potential "rogue" behavior."
"Would anyone join the club though?" Eric wondered, "you actually know the school better than me."
"Probably," Julie answered, "you may not get a huge chess league... but I'm sure you'd get at least some volunteers."