STUTTER

Chapter 1

I sat under the cherry tree in my schoolyard, back against the damp wood. I'd been reading a new book from the library for the past week, but it was really starting to get interesting. It's difficult to put so many plot twists in a book and make it work but somehow each one caught my interest even more.

A girl with long brown hair sat beside me. Her hair was pulled into two braids, which were tied up into a bun at the back. She wore the school uniform, as well as held quite a few educational books in her hands. "What're you reading?" I showed her the cover of the book without saying anything, which made her frown. "Can I offer you a cookie?"

I held my hand out, to which she placed a slightly warm chocolate chip cookie in my hand. I didn't hesitate to take a bite of it as I continued to read. The feeling of it in my mouth was slightly uncomfortable.

I'm not one for sweet things but since she's the class president, I had no choice but to be nice to her. I ended up eating the whole thing. It tasted fine but the sweetness made me want to puke.

"I saw you in class and I noticed you read a lot."

"Yeah." I turned the page, to which she laughed nervously.

"Well I was wondering if you'd have any interest in joining a club. We've got a lot and you're not in any extracurricular activities. You should interact with the school and students more."

"No thanks."

"What about the cooking club? That's the one I'm in! We make all kinds of stuff!"

"Look.", I slammed my book shut and turned to her. "I'm not interested in-" my voice stopped in my throat when I saw her clueless expression. Her eyes were a rather brilliant shade of brown, mountains of the rich color built inside of them. She had a slim neck and soft jawline, her stomach a bit puffy due to the way she was sitting. When I didn't say anything else and simply turned bright red at the sight of her, she smiled almost as if she was confused.

"You should really reconsider...it's fun. If you don't like cooking, there's-"

"I'll join."

"Huh?!", she flinched before smiling brightly. "Really!?" Her eyes lit up even more than usual, which made me smile like an idiot.

"Y-yeah....", I softly scratched at the back of my neck, eyeing the white stretch marks trailing down her outer thighs.

She's pretty...

"Great! We meet every Thursday afternoon after classes are over, does that work for you? If not I'm sure we could change it."

"You're-...I-I mean it- its fine!"

She stood up. "Well then I'll see you there! Enjoy your book!"

"My book?", I cocked my head.

She bent down a bit and pressed finger to the left page of my open book. "This one. You seem to like it."

"Oh! Right...you too!"

She snorted a laugh and walked off, leaving me to cover my mouth and widen my eyes in embarrassment.

YOU TOO?!