The words leap out at me: vibrant, palpable, right there in front of me-close enough that I feel as if I could grab them, yet all of my attempts end with smudged fingers and a ruined piece of parchment.

Writing was something that I had always enjoyed, perhaps even from the day I was born. It was so fun-and the best part was that I was good at it. I could craft poems, I could put together something that would look like the written interpretation of the most beautiful song one had ever heard.

That's why I'm so glad Monika invited me to join the Doki Doki Literature Club. It means that I can finally show off my talents to other people.

Yes… I'm so glad she invited me…

My eyes snap open.

It's quiet. And black, blacker than the darkest night; I look around, up and down, left to right, I spin clockwise, and then counterclockwise for good measure.

"Hello?" I call. Nothing answers.

I blink.

My bedroom snaps back into place. Laid out on my bed, swathed in my blankets, I feel as if I have just woken up.

Once more, I blink, as if I expect that abyss to come back. It doesn't, but I can still hear my heart pounding in my ears.

"That was… odd," I murmur to myself. Then again, talking to yourself was odd as well-not that I cared; if I was talking to myself, and the only person who could hear me was myself, then what did it matter?

I sigh, running a hand through my brown hair. Tempting as it is, I know that I can't stay in bed all morning-so I kick my green sheets back, ease myself off of the mattress, and begin my day.

It's long and tiresome, as I had become accustomed to. I never would have imagined that school could reach a new low, but it has: even being able to stare at the back of his head during homeroom did little to alleviate my boredom.

The worst part, I think, is constantly being barraged by Sayori.

'After school today, right?' she sends me, the instant I sit down at my desk. 'I can't wait! It's going to be so awesome, M!'

I stare at my screen. The first meeting of our club… I had forgotten that it was so close.

'Of course,' I reply. 'I need to check in with Yuri and Natsuki and make sure that the two of them can make it.'

'Hurry up and do it then!' Sayori responds back a moment later. 'Everybody had be there, M! Or you're putting up a terrible example as president!'

A shudder runs down my spine. 'Like I said, I'll check in with them,' I tell her.

Of course, I don't right then and there. Natsuki would probably respond, and Yuri would likely do the same once she was at lunch or something of the sort, but I really don't want to text anyone right now.

To be completely honest, I would rather just wallow in my boredom on my lonesome. I'd rather be bored out of my mind than deal with those annoyances.

At least, that's what I tell myself.

The end of the day comes too slowly-I feel as if I'm comatose by the time it arrives; the school bell rings, and the class is out of the door before I realize what is going on. I shake my head… a glance down at my notes reveals that I wrote only one word over the course of the day.

President.

Without a second thought, I crumble up the paper and expertly toss it at the trash can-it bounces off the edge, and lands on the floor. I stand up, I can feel my anger flare as I stride across the room, pick up the balled up paper and shove it into the trash can.

The teacher doesn't notice my brief fit of anger thankfully-her back is to me, as she wipes off the day's work from the chalkboard. No one else is in the room now; I'm glad I had this brief moment of clarity, before I made a fool of myself in my anger against a piece of parchment…

I swallow, and shuffle back to my desk to collect my things. The literature club beckons-I feel my phone vibrate, and figure that it's Sayori yelling at me for not being there ten seconds after classes were dismissed. After a moment's deliberation, I pull out my phone, only to find my suspicion to be confirmed as Sayori's message flashes across my screen.

'Come onnn! Hurry up!'

Was it too late to back out of this? Probably not… but then how was I supposed to get with him? I was jammed between a rock and a hand place, and I'd already come to terms with the fact that I would endure almost anything if it meant being with him. I just had to persevere; I have to trudge on, I have to make sure that I can get what I desire more than anything else.

I step out of the room-the halls are packed from locker to locker with students, and the noise is so loud that I could hardly hear myself think. "Come on, Monika," I whisper to myself, well aware that no one could dream of hearing me. "Pull it together. Pull. It. Together."

My feet feel so heavy… I have to drag them across the marble floor; it hurts, it really does, and I have to grasp the wall to keep myself up. My stomach churns.

"A-Ah…" My knees wobble, and I find myself slipping-my grip on the wall is all that prevents me from falling altogether. My chest heaves up and down… my face feels as if it's on fire, and there's this sense of falling that seems to encompass my core.

A pair of feet stop before me. I look up-

My breath hitches.

"Monika?"

Taro crouches down, his lips pressed together.

I can't breathe.

I can't breathe.

He's here, he's here, he's here here here here here here here here HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HES HERE HES HERE HES HERE HES HESHEREHESHEREHESHEREHESHE-

"You look a little sick, Monika." I feel him calmly press the back of his hand against my forehead, and he winces and pulls it back a moment later.

He gazes at me, and it's sudden-I can breathe again… it's as if I have come to the surface of a lake after spending the last minute submerged beneath the water. Air flows into my lungs, and I know that whatever that was has passed…

"I'm fine," I say, and I can hear the quiver in my voice. "Just… had a lapse of concentration I guess…"

"Alright," Taro says. He stands up straight, and looks down at me. "You be safe now, Monika." And with that, he walks past me.

It takes another moment for my breathing to settle. People are looking at me now, and with my face still red, I resolve to get out of here-I scramble to my feet, taking off down the hall at the quickest pace I can without flat out running.

Before I know it, the classroom door is in front of me. The window is blocked off by a paper with cutesy handwriting on it that says 'Doki Doki Literature Club Members Only!'. I scowl at the paper.

With a firm hook of the handle, I throw the door open.

All of them made it here before me: Yuri, Natsuki, Sayori… they've arranged the desks as it was the other day, except there's a spare desk-an empty one.

"Monika!" Sayori calls, and she waves me in-as if I'm possessed, I close the door behind me, walking across the room and sliding into the empty desk.

"Traffic?" Natsuki asks, a slight smile on her face.

"I got held up for a moment," I say. With a swallow, I gaze at them-all three of them are looking at me, intensely, curiously… I'm their leader, the one who brought all of us together, the one who gathered up these outcasts and banded us together in this club.

There's a lump in my throat, but I ignore it.

"Let's start with introductions," I say. "Proper ones. First, we'll deal with names." I point at Sayori, and make a small clockwise rotation with my hand-she seems to get the message.

"I'm Sayori," she says.

"My name's Natsuki."

"I-I'm Yuri..."

"And I'm Monika," I finish.

There's a brief pause, and all four of us can feel it-the energy that fills the room… vibrant… colorful… vigorous…

"And today," I say. "Is the day of the Doki Doki Literature Club's first meeting. I'm your president-Sayori is our vice president, and you two are our founding members." I try to ignore the tremor that runs down my spine-I'm not sure whether it's from excitement or fear. "The first order of business; the four of us are going to select a novel for us to read."

Yuri swallows, and the three of us can hear it audibly. "D-does… d-does it have to be a n-novel…?" she asks.

"Not necessarily," Sayori says. "Why? Do you have an idea?"

"T-there's this famous English writer named Shakespeare." Yuri says. "And his work is… is… marvelous-I don't know how else to put it. I was reading some of his plays recently, and there was one that caught my eye… it's called Macbeth; I have not read it myself yet, but I suppose we could read it together." She blinks. "I-I-I mean… i-if you g-guys want to that is…" Yuri mumbles.

"Why would we want to read a play by some boring dead guy?" Natsuki groans.

"Natsuki," Sayori says. "That's not very nice-there are plenty of people that would be incredibly angry at you for saying something about Shakespeare of all people." Considering the way Yuri glares at Natsuki, I figure we don't have to look far to find one. "And besides, I think it sounds interesting. How about you, Monika?"

I give a noncommittal shrug. "I guess it sounds like fun," I say. "And we can let Natsuki suggest what we do after we're finished with Macbeth. Is that fine?"

Natsuki folds her arms across her chest, and there is something that is undeniably a pout on her face; clearly, she is not unused to having her opinions overruled.

"Fine," Natsuki huffs. "It's not like you guys give a fuck about what I have to say anyways."

I blink, but neither Sayori or Yuri say anything. I suppose I must be hearing things… strange; but then again, I still wasn't feeling a hundred percent after that bout of sickness in the hall.

"So we've decided on Macbeth then?" Sayori says. All four of us nod, even Natsuki. "Alright, awesome-I guess we could ask the library for copies tomorrow, or one of us can print them out."

"I-I have a p-printer a-at home…" Yuri says. "I-I'm s-sure I could m-make f-four copies…"

"Awesome!" Sayori says.

Natsuki sighs. "That's five minutes down," she says. "Now what are we going to do for the next hour and a half?"

"We could… talk." Sayori says.

"For an hour and a half?" Natsuki says.

"Sure!" Sayori chirps.

Yuri seems to shrink into her seat, and I myself can't look too happy at the prospect of having to deal with ninety minutes of their voices in my ear…

But I'll have to find an alternative before we have no other option.

I glance beneath the desk, and it hits me. "Here we go," I say. "We can just read from these books." There's heavy reading textbooks beneath the desks-filled with short stories, more than enough material to occupy two weeks of club meetings, let alone a single day.

Yuri, Natsuki and Sayori retrieve the books from beneath their desks. Wordlessly, we all flip to the first page of the first short story.

"I guess I'll start then," Sayori says, and she begins to read.

The rest of the club meeting passes by in a flash.

An hour and a half later, after the announcement has been made and we all make our way out of the classroom and down the stairs, Natsuki stops me.

"Why were you looking at me like that earlier?" Natsuki says.

My mouth goes dry. Does even she not remember saying that…?

"No reason," I say.

She purses her lips together. "Alright then," she says.

Sayori is chatting adamantly to Yuri, who looks almost fearful of someone actually wanting to talk to her. Natsuki picks up her pace and outstrips all of us.

There's a space in between us, one that I can't help but notice would be perfect for a certain boy to fill…

It's going to be a long wait for him to join. I just need to tough it out… to persevere… to get through this.

I never thought that being the Doki Doki Literature Club's president would-

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As always have a nice day.