When I enter the school, I am hit with the sights and sounds of the school festival. Rooms are turned into makeshift little cafés and restaurants, there are stands set up in the halls trying to grab people's attention for games or for some other activity. The smell of fried foods wafts through the air. My stomach rumbles and I am reminded that I haven't eaten all day long. I had skipped breakfast to make room for all the food today, as I had planned on spending the day with Sayori and the other girls in the club. But now…

I snap back to reality and continue on my way to the clubroom. As I approach the room, I see a makeshift curtain of ribbon in the doorway. There are little scraps of paper on the ribbons, and each one has a different word on it. I remember Yuri mentioning her plan for this but I am still amazed at how it turned out. Walking inside, the smell of what could only be Natsuki's cupcakes hits my nose like a truck. The sweet smell of vanilla is so enticing. There is a surprising amount of people inside, brought here by the smell of the cupcakes I'm sure.

In the front of the room, I see Monika. She is standing in front of a podium reciting her poetry for a large crowd. I am stunned at how her voice carries. It's almost like she's using a megaphone or something. She stops as she sees me walk in, smiles, then continues to recite. When she finishes, she bows deeply to surprisingly enthusiastic applause. She gracefully makes her way over to me.

"(Player)! You finally made it! Where have you been? We were worried you decided to skip out on us." She frowns, as if imagining what would have happened had I not shown up at some point.

"Well," I start, "Today has been pretty hectic, to say the least." I give her a look to get my point across that we should continue this conversation somewhere else. She catches on and we make our way to the door, only to be stopped by Natsuki.

"(Player)! Monika! Where do you think you're going? (Player) just showed up and now you guys are already leaving? I knew you didn't care about the club." She folds her arms and glares at me. I still can't let her know yet. Sayori wouldn't want that.

"Natsuki, it isn't like that. I would have loved to come to the festival but…something came up. Something important, and I need to talk to Monika about it." As I say this, I motion for Monika to continue on our way. Natsuki doesn't look any less mad, but she can tell something is up, and she relents and lets us pass.

"Hey by the way! Yuri said she was going out for a few minutes but she's been gone for like half an hour. If you see her, tell her to get back here! I can't run this by myself!" Natsuki calls out after us as the door closes.

I lead Monika over to a section of the school where not many students are at. Damn. I still haven't thought about how to word this yet. Might as well come right out with it.

"What's wrong (Player)?" Monika asks. She looks genuinely concerned, and this makes me feel worse. I can't shake the feeling that she has something to do with all this. But why?

"Monika," I start, "Sayori tried to hang herself this morning. I found her in time, luckily, and she's at the hospital now. You were one of the last people to talk to her when she went home early Friday, and I want to know what you said to her. I can't shake the feeling that whatever you said had a negative effect on her."

She looks at me with an innocent look on her face. "What do you mean? I thought she left early because she wasn't feeling well. This is awful! How is she doing?"

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. You obviously talked to her this weekend. You knew we both confessed our love for each other! You even told me I 'left her hanging this morning.' An odd choice of words, considering what happened. How did you know? What did you say to her?" I can hear myself practically screaming at this point, but I don't care. I want to know what Monika did to Sayori.

She looks serious now. "(Player), I really don't know what you're talking about. She texted me and told me what happened between you two. I just thought it was weird you didn't walk to school with each other, that's all. I had no idea she would've tried to hang herself. I am surprised you were able to save her in time. I didn't think you would have made it."

There it is. She slipped up and I got her now.

"You didn't think I would make it. So, you did know! What did you say to her to cause this!?"

She gives me a sickeningly sweet smile. "I didn't say a word (Player). Not one word to her. All I did was mess with her coding a bit. Nothing too drastic, but enough to aggravate her depression. It didn't take much apparently. But it's not like you'll remember me telling you this. Just give me oooone second." She seems to look through me for a minute.

I feel…different. Like I'm passing out. I fight to retain consciousness, but it's a losing battle. I hit the floor, and everything goes black.

Okay guys, I am very sorry for the delay for this chapter. I was out of town all last week and suffered from a bit of writer's block. But! I am back on track now and Chapter 4 will be out this Saturday, Guaranteed!