A friendly chat with the student council president.

You leave your place with the purpose of meeting Monica at the usual coffee shop. When you get there, you end up bumping into the girl herself right at the entrance. You look at your phone and confirm that this is exactly the time you both set.

“Good to know you’re punctual even outside school,” she says with an approving smile.

“It helps that I live close by,” you tell her.

The both of you enter the coffee shop and take your seats at a table for two. And while it’s somewhat weird that you’re meeting a girl you have no romantic interest in, all things considered, it’s also quite refreshing. Hanging out with your girlfriends is relaxing now that your relationships are well established, but before that it made you a little tense, worried you’d say or do the wrong things. Having no such worries here is a little liberating.

“Sorry to make you meet with me for something so silly,” Monica says, smiling wryly.

“Hey, I agreed to it. It’s fine,” you laugh.

You order some coffee and pastries and Monica starts the conversation.

“Before anything else, let me ask you,” she says, “how do you think you did in midterms?”

“I’m confident,” you nod to yourself. “Helping the others study is useful for me, as well.”

“You have a perfect record, don’t you?” she asks with interest. “Kinda sucks that you’re a year below me. It would’ve been fun competing with you.”

“Did you also get a perfect record on your first year?” you ask, raising an eyebrow.

“I did. Highest scoring student last year. So don’t go slacking off during finals, okay? If you do, you’ll have lost to me,” She grins.

“Alright,” you laugh. “Don’t worry. I don’t plan on slacking at any point. I don’t have that luxury.”

“Luxury, huh? Yeah, I get you,” She nods, her face turning serious. “Plans for the future, right?”

“Big plans,” you nod, smiling sheepishly. “Very, very big plans.”

“You’re getting me curious,” Monica smirks.

“Before we get to that, though,” you stop her, “what can I do to help you with your romance troubles?”

“R-Right. That’s what we’re here for,” she sighs.

Your orders arrive and you take a sip out of your cup of black coffee. They really do make it good here.

“The guy’s name is Noah. He’s been teaching me piano for over three months now.”

“Three months, huh? Alright, I can see why you’d be at your wit’s end.”

“Right!? How am I supposed to concentrate when he’s being… well… himself right next to me!?” Her groaning and blushing face definitely make this amusing, but you’re not about to comment on that.

“Have you had any kind of talks about this with him? Has he said anything?”

“Nope. Nothing. Nada,” she shakes her head in frustration. “I’m at the point where I think the looks he gives me are all in my head.”

“Have you ever met him outside of piano lessons? Or even talk about anything other than piano?”

“I…” she swallows. “No, we haven’t met outside of lessons. And whenever we talk, we end up talking about music.”

Okay. You’re starting to get an idea.

“You have a shared interest, then. That’s good, but not enough,” you say.

“What do you mean?” Monica asks, looking a bit scared.

“What else do you know about him other than he’s good enough at playing the piano to teach you?”

“…I know he’s studying music in college,” she says, hiding her head between her shoulders.

“…Anything else?”

“N-No…”

“Then there’s your starting point,” you nod confidently, making Monica straighten her back and raise an eyebrow. “Don’t give me that look. It should be obvious, right? You need to talk to him and show you’re interested in his life. He already knows a lot about you. He goes to your house and can deduce a lot of things from it. Your relationship with your family, your general situation, and of course, that you’re learning piano. He has less things to ask than you do.”

“…”

“However, I don’t think asking those things during your lessons is a good idea,” you add. “What I’m trying to say is that you should just ask him out.”

“W-W-W-What!?”

“Don’t freak out. I’m not saying you should ask him out with the intention of getting together,” you clarify with a soft sigh.

It’s not like you don’t understand her. In fact, you perfectly understand how frightening it is for her to think of making a move. You’re not particularly proud, but you’re sure you wouldn’t have made any moves yourself on any girl had you not had the AMA to give you an immense confidence boost. And the best thing you can do for Monica is try to give her some of that confidence.

“Look, let me tell you something. Emily, Megan and I started out kind of like you and Noah are. I started tutoring them at Ms. Miller’s request and they helped me get in shape.”

“Oh. So that’s how it happened,” Monica says, leaning forward with interest.

“It was only when we started to understand each other that our relationship moved forward. It was once I understood that they were not just soccer obsessed jocks and when they saw that I was a little more than just a spineless nerd,” you chuckle. “It’s the same with everyone else. You know Olivia, Lilian and Jessica to be the school’s bullies, but there’s more to them than that. And it should be obvious it’s the same for this guy. He’s more than just your piano teacher. You need to find out who he is first.”

“…” Monica keeps quiet for a good while, pondering. Meanwhile, you quietly drink from your coffee, remembering the moments that led you to get together with your girls. Some came out of nowhere, some took a lot of time, but all of them happened because you dared to do something about it.

You smile.

“Nothing can happen until you swing the bat,” you say to yourself, remembering an old quote.

“So I should just go for it?” Monica asks.

“You should. Just don’t rush a relationship,” you nod.

Now that you think about it… perhaps telling her about that will help her in some way? If she knew what you have planned, perhaps she’ll see that what she’s trying to do is not as terrifying.

“Can you keep a secret?” you ask her.

“What?”

“I want to tell you something, but you can’t tell absolutely anyone. I’m risking a lot telling you this, so I need you to promise.”

She nods. “I’m good with secrets.”

You take a deep breath. “I’m asking my girlfriends to marry me in two weeks.”

You watch as your words slowly sink in. Monica’s eyes widen and he jaw hangs.

“Y-You can’t be serious,” she says. “How will you even marry them all!?”

Right. Even if people think of your relationship with many girls as normal, it’s still a legal impossibility to marry them all.

“…it’s a figure of speech. I’m asking them to stay with me forever, even if there’s no legal contract,” you clarify for now. “I’ve been thinking of a way to do it. I know where and when to do it. I just need to figure out how,” you sigh again. “How does asking a guy out sound like now?” you ask with a light chuckle.

“You’re an ass,” she groans. “Of course my issues seem small compared to that.”

“Believe me, I know very well how scary what you’re trying to do is. But unless you put a little effort on your part, nothing’s gonna happen. That’s one thing I’ve learned since coming to Hayes.”

“Alright!” she groans again. “I’ll ask him out. Any suggestions?”

“I went bowling a few weeks ago,” you say. “That was fun. You have time to talk while also having something to keep you busy if you can’t find a good topic.”

“Oh! That’s a good idea!” she nods in approval. “Okay! I’m actually feeling good about this now!”

“I’m glad,” you tell her. “Now, if you happen to have a suggestion on how to make a proposal memorable, that’d be a great way to pay me back.”

“What makes you think I may have an idea?” she asks, raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t know! I don’t have anyone else to ask, for obvious reasons.”

“Fine, I’ll help you think of something,” she says.

She gets her phone out and together you start brainstorming ideas for a good while. And there’s one in particular that resonates a bit more with you. Simple, but might be very effective.

Author's side note: for those interested, Side Story 8 is now published and it's a continuation of the D&D chapter. Check it out!