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chapter nineteen of:
worse
SUNNY LICKED HER LIPS NERVOUSLY, her gaze fixed on Eric as he absentmindedly twirled the nearly empty coffee cup between his fingers. The soft clink of ceramic against the table seemed to echo in the quiet room. His phone was still in his hand, its screen illuminated by the message that had been sitting there for what felt like forever. The silence between them was heavy, almost suffocating, as if the air itself held the weight of unspoken fears and decisions yet to be made.
"I shouldn't get involved again." Eric's voice finally broke the stillness, but his words only deepened the tension. His tone was low, conflicted. "It'll only get worse if I go there," he added, his gaze distant as if he was already lost in the memories of a past he'd rather forget.
Sunny exhaled slowly, a sigh that carried with it the weight of months, perhaps years, of understanding and unspoken support. She set her empty mug down on the table with a soft clink, the action deliberate, as if she needed to ground herself before making her next move. She hesitated for a moment, watching Eric, studying the lines of his face, the furrow of his brows, the slight tremble in his hands. Then, without a word, she rose from her chair and moved to sit beside him on the couch. The cushions dipped under her weight as she settled in next to him, close enough for their shoulders to touch.
Without asking for permission, Sunny reached for his phone, her fingers brushing against his before she gently took it from him. With one decisive motion, she locked the screen and placed the phone facedown on the coffee table in front of them, as if she could lock away all his worries and doubts with a simple touch. The tension between them hung in the air like a thread stretched too thin, ready to snap at any moment.
Eric turned to look at her, his brow furrowing in confusion. His eyes searched hers for answers, for reassurance, for anything that would make this easier. But Sunny only offered him silence at first.
Then, slowly, she reached for his hand, clasping it in her own. Her grip was firm, yet tender, like she was holding on for both of their sakes. "You definitely shouldn't," she whispered, her voice steady, but tinged with a sadness she couldn't quite hide. "I was always there for you when things got bad in the South, remember? I saw it all. I knew everything that happened... and everything that was going to happen." Her words were soft, but her conviction was strong. She squeezed his hand a little tighter, as if willing him to believe her. "You've got everything you've ever wanted now," she added, her lips curving into the smallest of smiles, though her eyes shimmered with unshed tears.
For a moment, neither of them spoke. The room seemed to close in around them, the silence filled with the sound of their breathing, the distant hum of the town outside, and the quiet ticking of the clock on the wall.
"But..." Sunny's voice broke the silence once again, and as she let go of his hand, Eric's heart sank. He didn't need her to finish the sentence. He already knew. He knew the second the word left her lips.
"You owe him, don't you?" she asked, though it wasn't really a question. It was a truth she already understood, one that had been lingering between them all along.
Eric didn't answer, but he didn't need to. The look in his eyes said everything.
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Veronica stirred from her deep sleep, her dreams fading into the darkness as the persistent vibration of her phone pulled her into the waking world. With a groggy groan, she blinked against the soft glow of the screen beside her, the numbers on the clock catching her eye. It was well past midnight. She furrowed her brow in confusion, wondering who could possibly be messaging her at such a late hour. Slowly, she reached for the phone, her hand brushing against the cool surface of the nightstand.
Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the name on the screen.
Eric <3
The message was brief, but it filled her with an inexplicable sense of dread.
"im sorry. i have to go somewhere for a while. please send a message after two days. none before it."
Veronica sat up in bed, her sleepiness forgotten as her eyes scanned the words over and over again. The cryptic nature of the message gnawed at her, and she read it repeatedly, as if the meaning would become clearer with each pass. But it didn't. All she felt was the growing unease in her chest, a knot tightening in her stomach. What could he possibly mean by that?
She clutched the phone in her hand, staring at the message, her mind racing with questions. Where was he going? Why couldn't she reach out to him before two days? What was happening?
And most troubling of all—why did it feel like he was slipping away from her?
Veronica's fingers hovered over the screen, her mind racing as she tried to make sense of the message. Her heart pounded in her chest, a sudden sense of urgency gripping her. She bit her lip, her mind screaming with questions.
Without thinking, she began typing, her fingers moving quickly across the keyboard.
"where are you? what do you mean you have to go somewhere? eric, please just tell me what's going on."
Her thumb hesitated over the send button for a moment. She read the message again, wondering if she should say more, if she should call him instead. But something in the way he had written his text—the apology, the insistence on waiting two days—left her feeling unsettled, like she was missing a vital piece of the puzzle.
Finally, she tapped send. The message flashed briefly on the screen, the small circle next to it spinning as the phone tried to deliver it.
But it didn't go through.
Veronica frowned, her breath catching in her throat. She glanced at the top corner of her phone—full bars, Wi-Fi connected, everything seemed fine. But the message still hadn't sent. The circle spun again, almost mockingly, and then the words appeared.
Message not delivered.
Her stomach tightened. She tried again, typing faster this time.
"eric, please. just tell me where you are. are you okay?"
She hit send, but the same thing happened. The message hung in limbo for a moment before the dreaded notification popped up once more.
Message not delivered.
Frustration and panic started to bubble inside her. She tapped the message and tried resending it, but it refused to go through. Her phone was working perfectly—so why wasn't his? Was his phone turned off? Or worse... was something else going on?
Veronica threw back the covers and swung her legs over the side of the bed, standing up quickly as if the sudden motion might help her think more clearly. She paced around the room, her mind racing with worst-case scenarios. She tried calling him, pressing the phone to her ear as it rang, her heart thudding in anticipation.
But the call didn't connect. Just silence, followed by the automated voice telling her the number was unavailable.
She pulled the phone away, staring at it like it might hold the answer to this growing mystery. Why was he being so cryptic now? What was he hiding?
She swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to calm the rising panic. Two days, he'd said. She had to wait two days. But the more she thought about it, the more impossible that seemed. How could she go two whole days without knowing where he was or what he was doing?
Veronica stared out the window, her reflection barely visible in the dark glass. The town below was quiet, the streets bathed in the soft glow of streetlights. But to her, everything felt wrong, as if the very world had shifted off its axis. She couldn't just sit here and wait.
