Doki Doki: My Life With Monika

Chapter 4: I Meet the Future Mayor of Post Falls

The next day, I woke up to my alarm, and after taking care of my personal hygiene, details not required, walked out of my room to make breakfast. Monika was still sleeping peacefully on my pullout couch. She looked so peaceful, I almost hated to wake her.

"Poor kid," I thought in my head. "She must be exhausted from finding out she's not part of a computer program anymore." But I woke her up anyway, and let her go upstairs to take a shower while I made breakfast: two bowls of Cheerios and some coffee. Yes, my cooking skills are superior, I know. As I was busy setting the spoons on the table, Monika came downstairs, wrapped in a towel. Her hair also wasn't in a bow, so she looked completely different for a couple seconds. But I had to admit, she looked just fine without it.

"Abe-y, we have a problem," she told me.

"What?" I asked.

"You don't have any girls' clothes," Monika stated.

"Crap." I should've seen that coming. "Okay, tell you what: You can borrow some of my clothes today, and then tonight after my shift at the library, we'll go buy you some." Monika smiled.

"Works for me." She went upstairs, and came back down a minute later. She was wearing my NeedtoBreathe concert shirt, which was still a little big for her, and a pair of my sweats. Her hair was tied back in her signature bow. "What do you think?" she asked.

"You look like a female me," I answered. We sat down and ate breakfast, and then I had to go to college, at North Idaho University.

............

College had been boring, but that should be expected. Math was by far my least favorite, and chemistry was my strongpoint. Working at the library had been the better part of my day. I came home to find Monika watching TV while she did my laundry for me. I wasn't expecting that, I can tell you, but I thought it was sweet just the same.

"Aw, Monika, you didn't have to do that for me," I told her. She smiled sweetly.

"Oh hush, Abe-y," she said. "I figured it was the least I could do, since you're caring for me." I smiled, then sat down and helped her finish. "Well, now that we're through with mine," I said, "let's go and get some for you."

Shopping with Monika had been way cheaper than I'd been expecting. I had brought about $300 in cash, wondering how in the world I was going to be able to afford more than one pair of clothes for her. I got in my old worn-down pickup, and she climbed in the passenger seat. (If you're wondering why I had a beat up truck at only 21, my dad was willing to give it to me, so he could replace it.) As soon as she saw a thrift store, however, she stopped me, and rushed us in there. When we came back out, she had five more sets of clothes, and we'd only spent $75. So I decided to take her to the mall to look around.

We were walking down the aisle, when we saw a large crowd gathered around a makeshift stage. On it stood a boy at about twenty, surrounded by four men in tuxedoes. I was surprised at his identity.

"That's Craig Mueller," I told Monika. "He was one of my friends from high school. What is he up to?" Curious, I led my roommate over to the crowd, who were all laughing at Craig as he monologued about the government or some such thing. I snickered to myself. Craig must be putting on a comedic show. Then I noticed a sign near Craig's feet. My eyes widened. VOTE CRAIG FOR MAYOR OF POST FALLS, the sign read. On the bottom was his hashtag: There's no need to beg when you have Craig.

"Like I've been saying," I heard Craig's voice announce, "It's time Post Falls got a younger face for its leader. And I, Craig Mueller, have the smarts and capability to make this town known for more than just its hillbillies!" The crowd laughed all the harder to this, and then Craig's eyes fell on me and Monika. "Even my friend and his lovely partner can tell you, I'm the man with the plan!" As he said this, he looked at Monika like he recognized her, and I decided to dash before he called anymore attention to us.

That night, I turned my TV to the local news, where they went over state politics on a fairly regular basis. To my surprise, Craig actually was one of the candidates eligible for mayor, and had quite a large group of voters, too. Monika must've noticed my stunned expression, because she came and sat down next to me, and put her hand on my shoulder.

"Are you okay, Abe-y," she asked me, mildly concerned. I nodded.

"Yeah," I told her. "I just never would've expected Craig to get such a large number of votes. His ideas on running a government are a little... socialist." Monika didn't look thrilled about that idea. "Don't worry about it," I assured her. "Craig may have some bad ideas, but he'd never go through with them." I had no idea how wrong I was.