Do you ever feel like someone's watching you?"

"Not really."

"Hmm...maybe...maybe it's just me."

I look at Monika with a puzzled expression as she looks down at her homework in distress, while twirling her pen. Something seems to be off with her today... another existential crisis again? No, that can't be it. She seems worried, which is quite rare considering the events that occurred this past week. I try to remember everything we went through in the past, looking for something that she could be worried about. The festival...no that can't be it...the club...no, we sorted that out months ago...maybe its our relationship?

"Yeah...our relationship..." I mutter.

"Sorry?," Monika asks while looking up.

"Our relationship. I-is that what you're worried about?," I hesitantly ask.

"Worried?" She gives a small giggle at my question. "No, its just...I had a weird feeling just then.''

"Oh?," I inquire.

"I-it's really nothing to worry about sweetie!," she says while getting up from her seat. "Okay everyone! It's time to share poems!"

Our conversation repeats in my head, leaving me mildly curious. No, I've never felt someone watching me before...why would it happen now? I shake my head and decide to drop it, making a mental note in my head to ask her at home. Besides, I think I'm excited to show Sayori my poem today!

"Hey Caleb!," a voice exclaims from my right. "I know you're dying to read my poem right?"

"If you spent enough effort on it I guess...," I crack while holding her torn out sheet of paper with hints of maple syrup on the edges. "Gee, I really wonder when you wrote this!"

"Well..well lets see yours meanie!," she retorts while snatching my poem from my hands. She skims the slightly crumpled sheet of paper and smirks. "Heh, huh...this is about her isn't it?~"

"W-well, i-its about a girl...? "

"Oooo!~" she playfully exclaims. "I wonder who has 'emerald gems' in this club?"

Darn it. I knew I shouldn't have wrote about Monika. Too obvious.

For the next hour or so we continue sharing, complimenting and critiquing each other's poems, before packing up and leaving. As always Sayori, Monika and I buy something from the vending machine before heading home. Well...I buy something from the vending machine, and then receive a promise from them that they'll pay me back in the future.

"Thanks Calee!~," Monika gleefully says with a mouthful of chocolate-chip cookie. "If you ever need help with your rent, you know who to call!"

"And if you ever need help on your homework-," Sayori says while crunching on chips. " -I'll be right next door!"

"Sigh..at this rate I don't think I'll be able to even afford to go to school anymore," I mutter while stealing some of Sayori's chips.

"H-hey!," she whines as she tries to take the chip back from my hands.

"I'll remember to bring some home-cooked stuff for all of us tomorrow, you know, for the sake of your wallet~," Monika whispers in my ear.

The three of us walk to our homes while chatting and arguing about anime, video games and who the best writers are. Its so...stupid but it feels like we're alive now. Like we're actual happy human beings. Now all I can hope for is that it stays that way, and that our problems don't become insane. Like before.

I receive a crippling bear hug from Sayori before she runs off towards her house, while Monika and I walk up to the front door of ours. Its routine at this point; I cook, she showers, I shower, she finishes what I cooked, we eat, complete homework, write poems and both jump into bed. Arguably my most favorite and relaxing thing to do because of how her hair brushes against my chest...and how it really tickles when -

"Caleb..."

"Uh...yeah?," I whisper.

"I-I'm...I'm having that feeling again."

"I don't think anyone's watching..."

I can feel her shudder in my arms, beneath the blanket.

"No. Someone is watching us."

"Who?"

She looks up into my eyes on the verge of tears. Our eyes meet for a solid minute before she hesitantly opens her mouth to say something,

"Are...are you real?"

"I-I'm pretty sure of it..."

She stares again while gently caressing my cheeks and chin.

"Monika...you're freaking me out."

"Y-you're freaking me out Caleb."

"What?"

"Do you remember when Sayori confessed her love to you?"

"Yeah, and then uh...we saved her from killing herself. Right?"

She lets out an audible gasp after my statement.

"W-What about Yuri? And Natsuki? What about them?," her voice getting gradually louder.

"We were there when it all happened Monika," I say. "Don't you remember? We stopped Yuri from stabbing herself. We stopped Natsuki from err...dying..."

"Thats not how I remember it."

"Are you okay?"

"Caleb...Sayori h-hung herself. Yuri stabbed herself, and...and..."

Her voice trails off. She buries her face in my chest and sobs. I wrap my arms around her and as her cries slowly get quieter, I find myself...falling...asleep...with..her...