DDLC: Our Time

Chapter 8: Diversion

Another day at the Literature club: last day of the school week. All club members were present and accounted for: Yuri was deep in her book, Natsuki and Sayori were sharing a manga, and Alex was sitting in a desk scrolling back through some of his writing on his phone.

Monika made her way over and crouched by Alex, "Hey." She whispered to him and smiled. Alex closed his phone and turned to face her, smiling back.

"Hey, Moni. What can I do for you?" He asked.

"Can we talk for a second?" She requested.

"Of course. Anytime."

"Great," She smiled again. "Here, let's step over here by the chalkboard." Monika invited him. Alex got up and they walked over to the chalkboard.

"Everything okay?" He asked, resting his hand on the teacher's desk, which was a little too low for him.

"Heheh, yeah. I was just thinking...you know, would you like to share one of your stories today?" Monika offered. Alex glanced at her sideways.

"You want me to share? So soon?" He asked.

"If you're comfortable, yes. It would do a lot for helping you get comfortable in the club, I think." She said with an encouraging smile.

"I...I'm a little hesitant. I don't know." Alex shook his head.

"Oh, come on, Alex. You're a great writer! You should be proud of it. Are you worried about what the others might say?" She asked.

"Uh...well, maybe a little. I don't know. It just feels weird, getting up in front of people and talking about what I write, you know? I like to talk about it, but this just feels..." Alex paused, unsure of what word he wanted to use.

"Hey, it's okay," Monika said, putting a hand on his arm. "We can wait. There's no pressure." She said softly, with a reassuring smile. Alex nodded.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome...if you don't mind me saying, I don't think you'll have to worry much about what the others think though." Monika commented.

"No?"

"Yeah. I mean, you already told Natsuki a little bit, and she took it very well." She pointed out.

"Hey, that was supposed to be a private conversation." Alex pointed out. Monika laughed a little, blushing in embarrassment.

"Sorry! Sorry, I didn't mean to pry, but someone's gotta help you with your spellcheck," She pointed out. "But yeah. Natsuki's good, Sayori will probably wanna support you regardless of what you say, so the only one that you might have to worry about is-"

"Hi there. Is everything okay?" Yuri asked, standing nearby. She eyed Monika's hand on Alex's arm. She quickly retracted her hand and stood straight.

"No...yeah, everything's fine! We're just talking." Monika replied with a smile, holding her hands behind her back.

"Talking...of course. I don't mean to intrude, I just...I brought you something, Alex." Yuri said.

"Oh! What did you bring me?" Alex asked curiously.

"I...was doing some cleaning and found a spare copy of this book. It's one of my favorites. I thought you'd might...like it," Yuri tilted her head down, her cheeks reddening as she held out the book. "It's a fantasy adventure story. You said you liked those."

"I do. Thank you, Yuri," He said appreciatively, walking up to her and taking the book. "I'll definitely look it over. Maybe you could give me an overview sometime?" He offered, glancing up at her and smiling a little.

"O-Oh...I'd be happy to." Yuri blushed harder, looking down at her feet and smiling again.

"Great. We'll talk in a bit. I just need to finish up with Monika." Alex said, gesturing back to her.

"R-Right, of course. Sorry for interrupting."

"It's no problem," Alex smiled. "Thanks, Yuri."

"You're welcome." She said before going back to her desk and sitting down. Alex made his way back to Monika, who was looking at him with a smug little smile.

"Nice. Smooth."

"Haha, I don't know what you're talking about." Alex shook his head. Monika squinted at him.

"Sure you don't."

"Yeah yeah, very funny. Anyways, Monika, I was wondering if you would...like to hang out this weekend." He offered. Monika's eyes widened a little.

"Really? Like a date?"

"If you want to. We can go out, we can have a date, or we can...just hang out at my place. Anything you want." Alex answered with a smile.

"That sounds great. All of those sound great." Monika said with an excited smile.

"Well, just let me know." Alex chuckled.

"Do you mind if I...?" Monika requested, holding her hand and glancing towards the other club members. It took a moment for Alex to figure out what she meant, but once he understood, he nodded to her.

Monika walked up to Alex and gave him a tight hug. Alex smiled and returned the hug, wrapping his arms around her and rubbing her back soothingly. Monika settled against him, resting her head down under his chin. She wanted to kiss him, but she figured they could save that for later.

"You give great hugs." Monika said with a giggle.

"Haha, I was designed for maximum feminine comfort." Alex joked. Monika started to laugh at him.

"You're such a dork! That's so dumb. Have you ever actually said that to anyone?" Monika giggled and looked up at him. Alex chuckled.

"Yeah, I have. I'm a dork, I know. I own it." He smiled.

"Yeah you do," Monika said, resting her head under his chin again. "Well I am definitely looking forward to the next chapter now." She giggled again.

"Haha, me too. I actually would really like to hang out with you." Alex said with a smile.

"Yeah? I'll go with whatever you wanna do." She said.

"Haha, alright. We'll do it soon. We should probably, uh...actually, it looks like the time's about to run out." Alex realized. Monika looked at the clock and saw that it was almost time to end the club meeting.

"Oh, you're right! Haha, lost track of time," Monika said. She let go of him and cleared her throat before addressing the other club members. "Okay, everyone! It's about time for us to clear out of her. We'll see you next week!" She said with a grin. All the girls looked up from their respective books.

"Oh wow! It's time already?" Natsuki exclaimed in surprise.

"Aww but we weren't finished!" Sayori said.

"Well, make sure to use a bookmark." Monika said with a little laugh.

"I'm looking forward to the next meeting as always." Yuri said pleasantly as she packed up her things.

"Yep!" Monika agreed.

"Later, everyone. Thanks again for the book, Yuri." Alex said appreciatively before grabbing his backpack. He waved and left the room.

Monika clasped her hands together and did a little spin, grabbing her things and following him out. She was very much looking forward to the next chapter...