DDLC: Our Time

Chapter 2: Interested?

"...Alexander...Alexander!" The teacher called out from the front of the classroom, causing Alex to raise his head suddenly.

"Huh?" Alex looked up from his paper and at his teacher.

"Alexander, save your personal writings for after school. That is, of course, unless you would like to have it read before the class." The teacher threatened humorously. The class chuckled at him.

"No, sir. Sorry, sir." Alex answered quickly, his cheeks reddening slightly as he shoved his paper into his notebook quickly.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the classroom, one girl in particular was giggling along with the rest of the class, but then she started to think: what was he writing? Is he working on something? Maybe he would make a good fit for the club!

Once the bell rang, signaling the end of class and of the school day, she stood up. While the other students were eagerly making their exit, Sayori sidled between desks to get to Alex quickly before he left too. Thankfully, he was taking his time, allowing her to reach him first.

"Hi there!" She greeted him pleasantly. Alex looked up at her as he zipped up his backpack before standing up straight to greet her.

"Hello." He said politely with a quick nod of his head.

"Hey, Alex, right? My name is Sayori! I was curious what you were writing before." She stated curiously after introducing herself, tilting her head and leaning forward with a smile.

"Oh, uh, just a story I'm working on." Alex answered in a quiet tone, almost as if he was kind of embarrassed. Maybe that was just because of how the teacher had singled him out during class.

"Oh, yeah?! You like to write?!" Sayori asked, her excitement already beginning to build, "Me too!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, but I like to write poetry...and I'm not very good at it. Ehehe." Sayori giggled, her eyes drifting to the side. She tapped her two pointer fingers together self-consciously.

"I see. Well that's cool. I've tried writing poetry before but...well, you know." Alex chuckled awkwardly, alluding to the same thing Sayori had just said.

Okay, it was official. She definitely needed to try and get him to visit the Literature Club.

"I know! Maybe a little too well...say, have you heard about the Literature Club?" She brought up.

"Literature Club?" Alex repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, the Literature Club! I just so happen to be the Vice-President!" Sayori giggled proudly.

"I didn't know the school had a Literature Club. What is it like a book club?" Alex asked.

"There's definitely books!" Sayori nodded, "But we also write poems and do other activities! It's a really nice place to hang out and share your passion for literature!" She explained, doing her best to sell the club to him, "Maybe you could even share your writing!" She suggested.

"Oh no thanks, heheh, I...you wouldn't...be interested in that..." Alex said hesitantly, blushing in embarrassment at the thought of sharing his works with others in that sort of setting.

For the record, I love your writing :)

I know lol so do I. But the stuff I was writing back in my school days was more embarrassing. I cringe at how proud I was of some of my old fanfictions, even if they were slightly above average.

Oh yeah?! You write fanfictions?!

Well...you know...

...oh! Ahaha my bad. Duh! That was a stupid question. Let's just continue ~

"Aww, well would you be interested in coming to check us out? I promise you won't be disappointed!" Sayori promised with a smile.

"Uh yeah, sure. Where's it at?" He asked.

"Oh, I'll show you! It's not far from here! It's just upstairs!" Sayori said excitedly. She almost reached out to grab his hand, but she stopped herself and instead settled on gesturing for him to follow her.

"Cool. Do you mind if I just drop my books off in my locker real quick?" Alex asked.

"Oh yeah! I should do that too! I'll come meet you after!" Sayori said, pointing a finger at him.

"My locker's 150." Alex informed her.

"Great! That's easy to remember! See you in a bit!" Sayori said, waving to him before stepping out of the classroom, "Yes!" She said to herself in a self-congratulatory manner.

Sayori quickly went to her locker, dumping her books on the bottom of the locker and slipping her poetry folder into her bag. She was ready to shut the door, but then she noticed some fliers for the Literature Club stacked in a pile on the top shelf of her locker.

"Shoot! I forgot to hang these up!" Sayori realized. However, she took one flier between her thumb and forefinger, "I'll give this to him on the way." She thought to herself.

She closed her locker with a flick of her foot. She carefully held the flier in her hands, keeping the paper stretched out just enough so it wouldn't bend. She made her way around the corner, looking for Alex or a locker marked with the number 150.

Was 150 your actual locker number?

No, I think it was like 164 or something like that. I just used 150 because it's easier and it references an old song I made a couple years ago.

Oh I see! Cool! Already throwing in easter eggs ahaha!

Sayori found Alex at his locker still. He was meticulously organizing the folders in his locker. It looked like he was just finishing up. As Sayori started to come up behind him, he removed his uniform jacket and button-up shirt. He pulled the tucked-in part of his undershirt out of his pants and put the jacket back on.

"Hey, Alex!" She greeted him. Alex turned to look behind him and saw her.

"Oh! Sayori, right. Hey! You got here fast." He commented with a chuckle.

"Yep! You weren't gonna try to run away on me, were you?" She asked in a joking manner.

"No! No, of course not. I'm almost ready..." Alex said, slipping a few papers neatly into the sleeve of his backpack. He proceeded to zip it up and shut his locker, "Okay! I'll follow you." He said, gesturing to her with a faint smile.

"Great! Oh, I also wanted to give you this. It's a flier for the Literature Club! Since you didn't know about it, I'm guessing you haven't seen it." She said as she handed it out to him. Alex took it and turned the paper so he could look it over.

"'Join the Literature Club...write the way into your heart!'" Alex read out loud.

"Yeah! Our club president and founder came up with that one!" Sayori giggled.

"It's...nice." Alex said politely. Based on his tone, he didn't seem to like it, but for what reason, Sayori couldn't tell...

"Uhuh. Follow me," Sayori said, pointing in the direction they were going. Alex fell in step next to her. "So what kind of things do you like to write about, Alex?" She asked curiously.

"Oh, well, I'm a story writer. I like fiction novels, fantasy stuff." Alex described simply.

"Oh yeah?! There's a girl in the club, her name is Yuri. She loves reading books like that! I bet she could give you pointers and stuff."

"Oh haha, I don't know if my work is even worth breaking down like that." Alex said, finding a way to indirectly reject the idea.

"Aww, shy about your works? I was too for a long time. I still kinda am really," She admitted. "But that's why the Literature Club is so great! It takes you out of your comfort zone but it's aaaallll positivity!" She added.

"I gotcha. Sweet." Alex said, sticking his hands in his pockets.

Alex and Sayori were now down the hall from the classroom where the Literature Club meetings were held. She stopped just one door away, prompting Alex to stop too.

"The Literature Club is through that door right there." She pointed to it.

"Oh! That wasn't too far."

"Right?" Sayori giggled.

"Yeah..." Alex looked down at the flier again then back at the door. He took a mental note of the classroom number that was listed. "Well thanks for showing me." He said. Sayori was already picking up on his hesitation.

"You sure you don't wanna go in and check it out?" She asked.

"Ah, well let me think about it." He said.

"Sure! No pressure! Hope to see you here soon." She said with a smile.

"Yeah. Thanks, Sayori. It was nice meeting you." He said quickly.

"You too, Alex! Bye!" She waved to him and went in through the classroom door.

She was a little disappointed that Alex didn't go in with her, but she wasn't gonna push it this time. Maybe soon he would change his mind. She wasn't giving up on him just yet!

"Well look who finally decided to join us!" Natsuki teased as soon as Sayori came in. As usual, she was the last one to enter the classroom. The other girls: Natsuki, Yuri, and Monika were already there hanging out. They were drinking tea that Yuri had prepared for them.

"Hey, Sayori! How was your day today?" Monika asked with a pleasant smile.

"It was good! You guys won't believe what just happened!" She said, walking over and sitting on a nearby desk.

"Did it by chance have anything to do with the person you were just speaking with out in the hall?" Yuri asked curiously in a soft tone.

"Huh?! How did you know?! Are you psychic, Yuri?!" Sayori asked in shock.

"I...couldn't help but overhear your voice through the wall." She admitted, blushing and quickly covering her cheeks with her book that she had opened up in front of her. Sayori giggled at this.

"I guess my voice is louder than I thought! Maybe I should be an announcer!" She giggled again.

"What were you about to say, Sayori? What happened today?" Monika asked, reminding her of what she'd just said. Sayori's head perked up.

"Oh yeah! I might've found us a new club member!" Sayori announced.

"Really? You're always the one finding people to join. I almost feel bad about it." Natsuki chuckled.

"But we appreciate your efforts to help us expand the club...I will admit that we've become perhaps a bit too comfortable with how things have been the past few months." Yuri commented.

"I agree! So, tell us about the new member you found." Monika invited.

"Well...uh...he hasn't exactly agreed to come by yet." Sayori admitted sheepishly, tapping her fingers together.

"'He'? It's a boy?! Ugh," Natsuki folded her arms and rolled her eyes at this revelation. "Not again! Remember what happened last time?"

"It was a bit discouraging to learn that he only came for the cupcakes." Yuri commented.

"And then he didn't even stick around! What a jerk!"

"Okay, girls, let's settle down a little," Monika said. "I understand that you feel hesitant. But Yuri is right, we have become complacent. Sayori, what makes you think this boy would be a good fit for the Literature Club?" She asked, gesturing for Sayori to speak.

"Well he said that he loves to write! He writes the kind of stuff you like, Yuri! Fiction, fantasy stuff." She said, looking at Yuri.

"Really? That is rare to find." Yuri acknowledged.

"He was probably just saying that to try and impress you." Natsuki commented.

"No! He was writing during class! The teacher saw him and everything!" Sayori defended.

"I see. Well, don't push it too much, but see how he feels about it. Maybe if he gets more comfortable with you, you can get him to stop by for a visit." Monika said with a smile.

"Oh I'm sure he wouldn't mind the attention." Natsuki snickered.

Monika smiled a little to herself, immediately noticing the irony in Natsuki's little lighthearted jab, "She's not wrong." She thought to herself...