DDLC: Our Time

Chapter 6: The First Step

"Most times, the way isn't clear, but you want to start anyway. It is in starting with the first step that other steps become clearer."

"Hey, man," Alex's friend sat down next to him at their lonely little lunch table. "Is it just me, or has today been dragging on lately?" He asked.

"Sure feels like it," Alex answered with a shrug. His friend leaned over and snuck a peak at his phone. "What're you looking at?" He asked curiously.

"Oh, just...quotes. I'm trying to find a nice quote about trying something for the first time. This one seems nice. What do you think?" Alex asked, showing him the quote he had just read. His friend took a moment to look it over then nodded.

"Yeah, that's nice. What's up? You looking for inspiration?" He asked in a teasing manner, laughing after he made the joke. Alex rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"Shut up, dude. I just needed something nice for this...school club I just joined." Alex answered, resting his arms on the table. He wasn't sure why, but it felt weird for him to say that.

"You? Joined a club?" His friend asked, clearly surprised. "I thought you didn't wanna be at school!" He said with a chuckle.

"Yeah that's true, but I thought it might be nice, I dunno. Anyways, it's a Literature Club, so they're all about books and poems and stuff. I figured maybe it would give me some nice story ideas." Alex explained with a shrug.

"That's cool, I guess. At least you're taking your writing more seriously. Those My Little Pony fanfictions aren't gonna pay the bills." His friend said with another laugh. Alex groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Ugh! Yeah...they are kinda fun to write though, can't lie." Alex chuckled.

"...yeah, they are." His friend agreed. The two laughed again.

"Heheh, uh, anyways, yeah. I just joined the club, so I gotta get a feel for it and everything. I mean, I have stuff that I can contribute, but I'm not exactly excited to share it." Alex admitted. His friend hummed in thought as he chewed his food.

"Why don't you just make something up? You're good at that. You literally do it all the time with your writing." He suggested.

"That's...actually not a bad idea. Or maybe I can rework something I've written and just make it sound original?" Alex added.

"That's the same thing!" His friend pointed out.

"No! They're different! Slightly different." Alex defended.

"It's what I just said but with extra steps." His friend argued. Alex tilted his head to the side as he thought about it.

"Yeah, alright, same difference, sure. Either way, I need a little time to get comfortable. I'm still not 100% sure if this is gonna work out, so..." Alex said to cover up his true apprehensions.

"How long's the club meeting?"

"30 minutes." Alex answered.

"Oh alright, that's not too bad!"

"Yeah? You wanna come with?" Alex offered.

"No!" His friend answered with a laugh, "I value my free time." He added with a smile.

"Ah yes, video games and children's cartoons; where genius is born." Alex teased him in return. His friend smiled and shook his head.

"Speaking of which, wanna come over? You know, after your...group therapy session?" His friend joked, waving his hand at him as he made the offer.

"Heheh, yeah, sure. I'll head straight to your place after the club meeting." Alex agreed.

"Great! Oh hey, that girl's waving at you, I think." He tapped Alex's arm and gestured for him to look.

Alex turned his head and saw Sayori standing in the lunch room. She had a big smile on her face as she waved at him. Alex chuckled and waved back to her. What he didn't expect, however, was that she would come over with her lunch tray in hand.

"Hi!" She greeted him pleasantly as she sat down next to him, plopping her lunch tray on the table.

"Hey, Sayori," Alex smiled a little. "What's up?"

"Just wanted to say hi! And say welcome to the Literature Club!" Sayori giggled and gave Alex a quick hug from the side, which caught him off guard. "Now I've done both of those things!" She said after she let him go.

"Haha, uh, thank you! I'm looking forward to...seeing how it goes." Alex replied slowly.

"Me too! It's gonna be great! Monika and I have been talking about tons of different ideas!" Sayori said excitedly.

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah! Natsuki's suggestion about you sharing your writing got her thinking: maybe we could all do that! We could do simple stuff, like poetry, and share it with everyone! I think it would be really fun if we all did it!" Sayori shared.

"Poetry...?" Alex repeated.

"Yeah! Do you do any poetry, Alex?" Sayori asked curiously.

"Uhh...nothing that doesn't come out sounding super cheesy and overly indulgent." Alex answered with an awkward chuckle.

"That's okay! It's poetry! You can be as dramatic as you want!" Sayori said with a laugh.

"I guess that's true." Alex chuckled a little.

"Ehehe, well give it some thought, okay? We could use your help! Because between you and me, I think Yuri and Natsuki are gonna take some more convincing!" Sayori said, covering the side of her mouth with the back of her hand and speaking in a quieter tone.

"Heheh, yeah? Well, I'll think it over."

"Thank youuu! I'll see you at the club meeting, 'kay?" She said with a smile before getting up, taking her lunch tray with her.

"Sure. See you then." Alex replied with a nod. Sayori nodded and turned to leave. Both Alex and his friend watched her trot away.

"Ohh, so now I see why you really joined this little Literature Club of yours." His friend laughed. Alex chuckled and shook his head.

"Shut up, dude! Shut up!" He giggled, "I didn't join for that."

"No no, that's just a bonus." His friend replied. It took a moment for Alex to understand what he said, but when it clicked for him, he started laughing again.

"Sure." He played along with it.

"Heheh, I mean hey, she is kinda cute though," His friend pointed out. "How long was that Literature Club meeting again?"

"You're such a dork!" Alex shook his head and chuckled.

The two of them continued to eat and idly chat until the bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch period. Alex's friend got up and stretched a little bit before putting his backpack on.

"Well, back to labor camp. See you back at the house!" His friend said with a wave before leaving.

Alex nodded and gathered his things, making his way to his next class. He started thinking about what his friend had just said, teasing him about the 'real reason' he'd joined the Literature Club. There was a part of him that couldn't help but acknowledge that he was, in an indirect way, partially correctly.

Even if that weren't the case, it did look that way. Especially after Sayori and Monika had gone through so much trouble to convince him to join. He could only imagine what the other members' opinions of him could be. Or maybe he was overthinking it?

If cute girls were indeed part of the reason that he'd joined the Literature Club, was that really such a bad thing...?