DDLC: A New Page
ACT 1: Game-Changer
Chapter 1: Introductions
"Alright, I'll be back in a hour. I need to drive this moving truck back to the company it belongs to."
"Okay, see you soon mom!" I say enthusiastically as she is exiting the driveway. Ah yes... A new home. We just got done unloading the last of our stuff. And now comes the fun part: emptying the boxes.
But I'm getting ahead of myself aren't I. The name's Markus Collins. Just your typical under 6 foot white guy with short black hair and dark blue eyes. And today is the day we finally reached where we moved into this new neighborhood. Well, new in my eyes anyways. We moved here because of some... complications with my parents marriage. What was once a innocent relationship turned dark rather quickly. And soon after the divorce we packed our stuff and moved neighborhoods. Or rather, moved towns.
New house, new town. Even a new school I get to attend to. As a second year student my optimism is... lacking to say the least. I've already come to terms with my very monotonous schedule during my time as a first year student. The idea of a whole 'nother school year after this one is, needless to say, a bit of a drag.
But I've been making it work anyways. Oh shoot, It's really close to orientation. I glance at the calendar and I see that tomorrow is the day I register for classes, just to wait a week afterwards for school to truly begin. Oh how I hope this year will go better than the last. Now, last year didn't go bad per say. It's just that, as I said before, life gets very routine for me.
It's basically wake up, go to school, do homework, and then spend all of my free time playing video games. One weakness of mine I've come to terms with is that I'm a bit socially inept. Making friends was always a bit difficult for me and my mom even took notice with this. She would always give me a support speech about how all I need to do is 'apply myself' but my social anxiety always gets in the way. And don't even get me started on group assignments...
Well, anyways. I need to start unboxing all my crap. Better have it done now before having my mom give me one of her oh so loving lectures.
... Some time passes and now me and my mom are sitting at the kitchen table. My mom had long black hair that is normally wrapped in a bun. She also has dark blue eyes and is usually wearing a sweater. One of her more 'impressive' claims to fame is having a collection of sweaters. I'm not one to talk, considering I have a mange collection to boot. But anyways, today she made yet another delicious round of her chicken salad. Its the best of both worlds: you got the healthy salad and the mouth-watering chicken that balances it out. Dare I say, it's perfect. Foods that can be both healthy and not are so-
"Markus? Are you okay sweetie? You have been staring at your food for a while."
I snap back to reality. "Oh. Sorry, just thinking."
"About what?" A smirk draws on her face. "You nervous for the new school year?"
"Eh, in a way, yeah." I reply sounding a bit downcast.
"Look Markus. You are going to be just fine. You're in a new school after all. You can forget all of your troubles surrounding the city you grew up in."
Ugh, I still wanna forget about that. There was a bit of a... bully situation at my old school. All the more reason to be accepting of this move.
My mom speaks up again. "You know, this school is quite different from your old one. It actually supports clubs for students to join."
"Clubs, eh?" I say with mild interest.
"Why yes. It even said so on the school website. So many different options and opportunities. Maybe a chance to make some wonderful friends?"
I ponder for a moment. It actually doesn't sound like a bad idea. Maybe this is what I need to get out of my shell and forget the troubles of my past. But which one? Theres presumably many to pick from, if what my mom says is true.
I ring in my answer to my mom. "I think I will try to apply myself a bit here. It could be a completely fun experience." Now my social inpetitude says otherwise. But again, I need to learn how to socially interact better. "Even though I'm a little scared."
"Don't be." My mom says reassuringly. "I know you can do this, alright. Now lets finish eating so we can relax for a bit before heading off to bed.
"Sounds like a plan."
Now its nighttime and I'm lying in bed. Slowly waiting for the clock to reach 6:30AM. Even though school doesn't start for a week, it doesn't hurt to get on schedule here. "Clubs..." It's been a few hours since the conversation at dinner and now I'm feeling nervous yet excited. I can't wait to see how fate will handle this one. Will I end up with friends or will I be back to square one. "Lets see what the future holds." I pass out and snooze until the next day.
The car ride to school was actually really short. It is definitely within walking distance, which is good cause it eliminates the need for a bus. Even if I'm running a tad late the walk looks to be only 10 minutes max. We pull into the parking lot and head into the building. Also known as getting signed up for more classes... oh boy.
The walk to the cafeteria to get the paperwork was actually a little eventful. The new sights of this building was interesting to say the least. Posters were up along the walls advertising the various after school activities. There was a tennis club, a chess club, a anime club, which is really cool to see actually. Hell, there was even a video game club. Sign me up, I live in there.
We walk up to the table where a man was getting the next stack of papers ready. "Hello and you are...?"
"Hello there!" My mom said. "We're here to get my son signed up for school."
"Ah yes, very typical." He says with a smile. "Well sign this off and then and it to her on the other side of this room." He points to a table at the clear end of the cafeteria. Me and my mom get seated so we can fill out the random info that the orientation wants us to do.
At the end of it, I am then allowed to select what club I want to join. Even though there were plenty of options, the ones marked in red are all full. But hey, the video game club still has some open slots. Seems like a win to me-
"Hey, sweetie?" My mom looked at me in concern. "I see your eyes on the video game club."
I shrug. "What's wrong with that?"
"As fun as that may seem, don't you want to join a club that gives you a valuable life skill.
My eyes droop a bit. "But video games though..."
My mom puts a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "Look Markus, I care about your future greatly. Please, at least look at the other options to see if something calls your name.
I roll my eyes. "Alright, I'll look over my options." Lets see here, we got a mathematics club, which unsurprisingly isn't full. The anime club is marked as red, not like i'm much of a anime watcher anyways but you know. We got the literature club... huh that seems kind of fun. I read the small description listed for it.
"Discus books, poetry, authors. The literature club acts as a safe haven. A judgement-free zone. The escape from reality. Write the way to your heart..."
"You know... I might join the literature club."
Meanwhile
A girl with a white bow tied to her light chestnut ponytail was busy taping a poster in the cafeteria. While she was doing this, a girl with short coral pink hair with a red bow attached to the top of it was observing her.
"Alright, looks good!" She says with excitement.
The other girl wipes some sweat from her forehead. "Hopefully we can get new members this year. Surely advertising the club in the cafeteria is a surefire way to get people interested. Good thinking Sayori!
The girl named Sayori turned away slightly with a blush. "It's nothing, Monika. I just figured it would be sorta smart to have the advertising in here since people will see the poster and have the literature club fresh in mind.
The other girl named Monika nods with determination. "Even if this doesn't turn out well, we have our other two members handing out pamphlets outside the cafeteria. I'm worried that if we don't get new members soon, the school will shut us down for not being interesting enough."
"Don't say that!" Sayori said with puffed cheeks. "With so many students attending this year, I'm sure someone will find the club as a safe haven!"
Monika chuckled slightly. "You love that line you came up with, don't you."
"You know it!" She giggled, which got Monika to chuckle again. Her energetic personality is quite infectious.
"You know... I might join the literature club."
"...What?" Monika looks around the cafeteria until she saw someone looking over the orientation papers. In particular he was looking at the list of the clubs. "Sayori. I think we have someone interested. My 6th sense is telling me this!" She dashed other to the table leaving Sayori dazed a bit.
"That's quite some speed she has." Sayori walks over to the table Monika skipped over to.
"Hi!"
"AH!" I yelp which resulted in my paper flying out of my hands and landing on the floor. I definitely wasn't expecting a random girl to talk to a ordinary joe such as myself.
This random girl had a rather happy look on her face. "I overheard that you were wanting to join the literature club?"
"Um... yes. I mean, I said I might join but uh..." Oh, there goes my social anxiety again. I often end up saying 'um' and 'uh' a lot.
"The names Monika!" She stretches her hand out to me and I accept the handshake. "And I happen to be the president of the literature club."
"Oh. That seems pretty neat." I struggle to really humor this girl. Meanwhile I look at my mom and I see her barely able to contain her laughter. I know she's not laughing at me in a rude way. It's more like she's laughing at the awkward situation I'm in.
Monika gives me a flashy and genuine smile. "I promise you, the literature club provides its members with the ability to make new friends, discover more about yourself, and it acts as a judgement-free haven."
A girl with a red bow pops up behind her. "My names Sayori! And trust me, it's the definition of a safe haven." She flashes me a thumbs up.
I smile at her enthusiasm and then turn to Monika. "At a glance it seems your club is very, uh, lively. Um, where do i sign exactly?"
Monika picked up the paper from the floor and showed me the back of the page. "Just fill out the information here." She points at the very bottom of the page. "If you really want to join our club that is! Not that we are forcing you to or anything but-"
I decide to intervene here. "It's fine Monika. It seems like a fun challenge to do something I don't normally do."
Monika seems ecstatic at my response. "Thank you! You have no idea how much this means to me!" She calms down for a bit after realizing something. "Oh, I'm sorry. We didn't even catch your name."
"Apologies for that." I say a bit embarrassed. "I'm Markus Collins."
Monika smiles back at me. "Welcome to the club Markus!" Even if you're not big on literature, we will make sure you will have a spot in the club."
"Woo-hoo!" Sayori yelled while pumping a fist in the air. "We did it Monika! Let's try to get more members!" She grabbed Monika by the arm and dragged her down the cafeteria.
Monika turned back to me one last time and waved goodbye. Needless to say, this year might be really interesting.
While this conversation happened, my mom was doing the last of the paperwork. "I'm so proud of you Markus. The year hasn't even begun and you already made friends."
I blush slightly and look away. "Yeah, it would seem so. Are we done yet?"
My mom nods. "Yep, lets turn this in and head home."
We turn in the papers and head back the way we came. Along the way i catch a glimpse of a short pink-haired girl frantically waving around a pamphlet. "The literature club is available! Open slots for new members! Now's your chance to enter a world of poetry!" Besides her is a tall purple haired girl. But unlike the pink-haired girl, she's slowly and quietly handing out pamphlets to people entering the cafeteria. "Hey, Yuri!" The pink-haired girl said. "You need to speak a bit to garner the attention of others."
The tall purple-haired individual sighed a bit. "Natsuki... You know how I like to stay a bit more... reserved in this case. Sometimes all people need is a explanation in paper form."
Natsuki rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say." She lifted the pamphlet high into the air and began to advertise the club again.
I make a mental note of these two people. They seem to be advertising the literature club that I'm now taking part in. Perhaps those girls are also members of it? The future only gets more interesting as this day progresses.
We hop in the car and enjoy the ever-lasting minute long car ride before we get back home. I only have a week before the new school year begins. Better get the most out of my remaining free days before I sulk back into the process that is school.
... Another day down as I glance out my window, looking at the illuminating moon. Quite a beautiful sight if I say so myself. ...Anyways, I need to quit getting distracted by the simple things in life, and instead focus on the task at hand: school. At first the idea of joining a club seemed a bit scary and foreign to me. But after meeting the club president herself, it seems to put my mind at ease.
Especially that cheerful girl. What was her name? Sayori? She seemed like such a easy person to talk to. It's like all my worries melt away from... wait what am I saying? I just met her! And I barely had any sort of interaction with her. Its just... something about the vibe she gives me... I don't know, I'm speaking nonsense. I look at my phone and see its only 10PM. "Not bad." I mutter.
This is what happens when I stay up late. I have random thoughts that have no consistency behind it. But whatever, what's happened has happened. I close my eyes and pass out, mentally preparing myself for the school year ahead of me.