Chieko - A Doki Doki Literature Club! fanfiction

Day One

Hi everyone~! Welcome to my fanfiction for Doki Doki Literature Club!, Chieko! I'd like to start off by telling y'all that I DON'T OWN DDLC. I've never even played it.
"So, Cate, how do you know what goes on in this game if you've never played it?"
Well, it's partially due to YouTube, but I'd like to give the rest of the credit to Laseri_Dreamer for getting me the code for the game, including the dialogue and every possible path. A huge thanks to you, Laseri!

While I don't own DDLC, I'd like to point out that I do own Chieko, as well as all the art I post in this book. Please don't steal it, I spent forever on thaaaat~!

Okay, now that that's been said, on with the story!

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"Hey, Chieko!"

The mention of my name pulls me out of my daze. I look around for a second, trying to hold on to my daydream, but then they slip out of my grasp and I'm back, being me.

"Chieko, wait up, would you?" the person shouts. I turn around and see my good friend Monika, her who is frantically waving and running towards me. I slow down and let her catch up.

"Hey, Monika." I say, smiling.
Monika is panting, trying to catch her breath. "Just...hold up..."
"Aren't you meant to be a netballer or something?" I put one hand on my hip and make a tutting noise, waving my other hand at her.
"Yeah, yeah. Shut up. Not like you can do any better, Lady Chieko, Smeller of Books."
It's an inside joke between us, from when she first noticed my...mild obsession with the smell of old books.
I laugh. "Hey, if you ever get around to smelling one, you'll be hooked for life." I recall the dusty, almost chocolate-y smell of some of my favorites. Alice through the Looking Glass. Lord of the Rings. The Divine Comedy. The further a book is from reality, the better.
"I'll take your word for it." Monika says, standing upright.

We've always been like this. Monika's the shining star – she's smart, social, and sporty - not to mention, she's gotten really hot over the last year or two. But me? I'm the most socially awkward person alive. I'm so uncoordinated that if I was barefoot, I'd still trip over my laces. I'm sort of a strange celestial barnacle, clinging to Monika for all I'm worth.

"Besides, I quit netball, remember?" Monika says.
"What? You quit?" I shout, surprised.
"I didn't tell you? Oh, God... I'm such a crappy friend. I'm doing piano instead. I have been for about a month."
"Right. Why?"
"I got bored of netball, and I've wanted to try piano since the beginning of time."
"You've been doing netball since you were ten. How can you suddenly get bored now?"
"Jeez, Chieko, who gave you question soup for breakfast?"
I sigh. She's right. I always get into long streams of questions, but at least Monika has the good heart to make a joke rather than just ignoring me, like most people do.

I look towards the school, which is flooded with crowds of students, giant groups united by a common interest like manga, fashion, or sport. That's the social rule in this school – you make friends with someone based on superficial things. I didn't follow that rule. Or rather, Monika didn't follow that rule. She was a confident little girl, and the social rules didn't apply to her. She didn't give a damn about the norm, and she practically adopted me.

"So...what were we meant to do for the Club again?" I ask.
Monika frowns at me. "Naughty girl, not remembering your homework. Aren't you meant to be co-president or something?"
"Ha ha. You know we have a test today, and I had to study."
"We were meant to pick something to read. You know, it is the Literature Club."
"Ah. That's okay then."
I make a mental note to go to the library later today.
"You'd better pull something together. Remember, there'll be a new member coming today. Sayori promised to bring someone with her, and we can't give her a bad image of the Club. We really need the extra members."
I heave a heavy sigh. Of course a new member would pick today to show up, the day I run out of coffee. I'm going to be exhausted by noon, so how am I meant to be social at the end of the day?
"Hey, wanna get a coffee? You look like you need one." Monika says suddenly.
"You read my mind." I put on a monster voice. "I need coffeeeee..."
Monika laughs. "There's a new shop just a few minutes' walk from here, and they do really good lattes."
"Yeah, why not? We've got a few minutes to burn."