Page 87 of Never Started
His eyes narrow in confusion. "What the..."
I arch an eyebrow, plant a hand on my hip, and let the question spread on my face. The door pushes open further when Mav walks up behind me and places a hand on my shoulder, throwing Ander a puzzled look that matches my own.
"Damn, Bear, don't you look spiffy," Maverick says, breaking the awkward silence.
I don’t crack a smile. Something’s off.
"Ander, what's wrong?" My voice is low, concern evident in my tone.
"Why are you here?" he rasps, the look of confusion on his face morphing into something of anger.
Maverick opens the door wider and motions for Ander to come in.
"What do you mean, 'why am I here?'" I scoff, crossing my arms over my chest. "You come over here, alone, dressed like you're going to a damn ball, looking confused as all hell and demanding to knowwhy I'm here. What the fuck is going on, Ander?"
"You texted Via... She's there checking on you... Your car was there."
There? He must’ve come from my and Via’s house.
He runs a hand over his face, and it’s then that I notice how pale he looks.
I shake my head, stepping toward him. "Via hasn't been texting or calling me back, Ander. I haven't spoken to her in five days. I lost my phone for half a day, and after finding it, I haven't heard back from her. Also, my car broke down yesterday. Mav picked me up. What the hell?"
Before I know it, his eyes go wide, and he takes off running back to his truck with me hot on his heels. Ander pulls his phone out and begins calling Via, and by the look on his face, she doesn’t answer.
"Let me try to call her," I say.
"Don't bother, I'm going back over there."
"We're coming." I hop in the truck, leaving no room for argument. "I'll keep calling her on the way."
Ander nods just as Maverick gets in and closes the door, then we take off.
Something really isn’t right. Fuck, I’m worried.
Too much weird shit has been going on. First, it started with Via receiving creepy black and red flowers that always appeared dead, then notes that said things like ‘I am thinking of you.’ She thought it was all harmless attempts to get with her from Clark at her old nursing job. But these past few days, after finding my phone, I haven’t heard from her.
The more I think about it, in this moment, the angrier I get with myself for not better protecting her.
She’s my person.I need her to be okay, but something in the pit of my stomach tells me she isn’t.
I continue calling her phone repeatedly with no luck.
"It's still going to voicemail," I say aloud, shaking my head. "What the fuck is happening, Ander? I swear, I never talked to Via. I've been wondering why she's been ignoring me. When I lost my phone a few days ago, I found it weird that I had no missed calls or texts from her after finding it. I've been trying to call and text her, but I just figured she was busy trying to get her photography business in line. I should have known something was off."
Mav leans over the back of the passenger seat and places a hand on my shoulder as if to comfort me. I don’t mean to, but on impulse, I shrug him off as the panic ensues.
"Calm down, Iz. We don't know what's going on yet," Ander says, attempting to keep his voice calm, but it's shaky.
Right. Calm down. I need to calm down.
"FUCK!" Ander screams, slamming on the brakes, sending us jolting forward. I feel something slide from under the seat and hit my foot. He’s driving like a maniac to try and get to her, and I don’t blame him one bit.
"Are y'all okay?" Ander asks, looking over at me and Mav.
"Yeah, man, just… slow down a little. I'm sure she's fine," Mav offers from the back seat, and Ander and I both shoot him a warning glare.
I face back toward the front when my gaze falls on the floorboard. "Wait..." I say, my voice small, leaning over and picking something up off the floor..
