Where Do We Go From Here?

I stared at the nearly covered canvas before me. It no longer was plain and white, but instead it resembled the night sky on a winter’s evening. I sighed since I was barely halfway completed with this assignment and yet I found myself exhausted with it. My inspiration was slipping through my paint stained fingers with each passing second. There was a soft knock at my door as I stared back at the unfinished canvas and the tripod centered in front of it.

“Come in.” I called out.

My father entered my room with a hesitant smile on his face. “Hey kiddo.”

“Hey dad.” I said while placing my paintbrush on the paint cover.

My dad walked over and sat at the edge of the bed. I could tell that there was something on his mind just by the way his shoulders slumped a little, and from the look on his face I could tell that it wasn’t particularly good news.

“What’s the matter?” I questioned.

“It’s your sister.” He sighed while rubbing his hands down his face.

This time I turned my body so I was completely facing him. “Is she alright?”

“Not really.” He replied before continuing “Your sister ended up in the hospital. Apparently, she’s been struggling with an eating disorder that made her severely under weight.” He told me in a soft voice.

I felt myself tense a little. Veronica, my beautiful sister had an eating disorder? I just spoke with her the other day and she sounded fine. “What happened?” I asked with a hint of urgency in my voice.

“She passed out at work and was rushed to the hospital. As of right now, your mother flew over to New York to deal with the doctors. When she’s released—which a date hasn’t been confirmed yet—she will move in with us temporarily until she recovers.” My father informed me.

The news looked like it took a toll on him. He had bags under his eyes and his face looked a little pale. I never saw my father like this. I always viewed him to be this serious man that would occasionally tear down his wall, but never enough to see him overly affectionate. However, right now all I could see was a worried man.

I sat next to my father and leaned my head against his shoulder. “She’s an Abraham.” I told him. “She’ll pull through, we all will.” I never thought the day would come where I would be assuring my father, telling him to not worry, but the day came and even then I heard my voice waver a little.

My father smiled. “We can only hope.”

After my father left I debated whether I wanted to call Callie or just listen to my music. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do any of the above because all I wanted was to see Veronica and make sure she was okay. I couldn’t imagine her—someone who always was sure of herself, someone who had grace and confidence—could ever develop an eating disorder. It didn’t sound like the Veronica I knew. I came to the conclusion that I was gonna drive until my head didn’t feel like a mess of thoughts. I was gonna be one of those drivers that followed the open road with no set destination in mind. Hopping into my car, I cranked the engine as the band Thursday blasted through my cars’ speakers.

Another life
Swinging in the breeze
These southern trees
Have the strangest fruit

Follow the path that’s straight and narrow, hand in hand
Our roads are paved with broken arrows
We will overcome
We will overcome

I was singing along with the lyrics while pulling into the gas station. (Alright, I might have lied about not having a set destination, but after I fuel up then I will hold true on the ‘no set destination’ part.) I fueled while thumping my fingers along to the drumming of the song. I could hear someone pull up from behind me, but didn’t look since I was almost done fueling.

“Verity!” I heard Austin’s voice call out to me.

I turned around with a wary expression on my face. “Hey.” I said while offering a small smile.

Austin and Mike hopped out of their truck and walked over to me. “What are you doing?” Austin asked.

Seriously? He has to ask? I thought to myself. “I’m fueling up. My gas gauge was threatening to go on E.” I replied.

“Listen, some of us—” Austin began.

“Including Tony.” Mike cut in with a toothy grin on his face.

“Are heading to the beach to soak up some skin cancer. You wanna join?” Austin finished.

I inwardly rolled my eyes. “No, but thanks.” I answered sincerely.

“C’mon, it’ll be fun.” Austin urged.

“There’ll be drinks and tunes and the beach.” Mike chimed in.

“I’m actually busy, so thanks for the invite.” I lied.

“Too busy for the beach?” Austin asked with puppy dog eyes.

“Yeah, even for the beach.” I laughed.

“Are you listening to Thursday?” Mike asked, stalling me from hopping into my car and leaving.

“Yeah.”

“That’s Tone’s favorite band. Well them and Thrice.” Mike smiled.

The coincidence made me want to roll my eyes, but I fought the urge and remained aloof.

“Cool.” I replied impassively. “Well it was nice seeing you guys, but I gotta go.” I said while looking at my car.

“Okay, see you tomorrow at school.” Austin said as I waved at them both and hopped into my car.

Leaving the Gas-N-Gro just off of the highway, I drove north until the sun crept closer to the horizon. I passed the city and weaved through the winding roads of the country until I found myself staring at the rocky cliffs that overlooked the roaring ocean. My phone began buzzing from the cup holder in which I had placed it in. I answered it without checking the caller ID in hopes that maybe it was my mom or dad.

“Hello?” I asked with a hopeful voice, my breath catching in my throat just slightly.

“Austin and Mike said they saw you at the gas station.” Tony’s voice filled my ears.

I was a little disappointed to hear him rather than my parents. “Right, it was just for a second though.” I shrugged.

“Why didn’t you come?” He asked.

“I had—still have some things I need to take care of.”

Tony went quiet and for a second I thought he hung up, but if it wasn’t for the muffled shuffling on the other line I would’ve hung up too. “You sound a little stressed.”

“Not more than I usually am.” I lied.

“You’re lying.”

“I’m not.” I challenged.

“What’s wrong?” He asked sincerely.

I looked away from my view—which was the sun hanging just above the water—to the lattice of shrubbery not far from where I was parked. “Nothing, I’m just brooding.” I answered.

“You can always talk to me if you want.” He offered.

“Okay.” I said with a chorus of silence following.

“Well, I better go I guess. Austin is bringing out some smores for the bon fire.” Tony sighed.

“Okay.” I said again with hesitancy.

“You can join us.” Tony offered. “We’re at Sandy’s.” He added.

“Thanks, but I’m gonna finish my brooding. Bye Tony.” I said quickly and hung up.

I sat in my car, which was idling, thinking about my sister. She wasn’t always verbose, but it wasn’t like her to keep a secret like this from any of us. Our conversation made me realize that those subtle hints was what she was trying to hide—the sentimentality, the way I knew she was lying, it was all because of her eating disorder. Concealing my anger, I hit the road again, this time I had a set destination, I was heading home.

Notes

The only reason I put a 'warning' is because this chapter does mention an eating disorder and I'm never sure of how triggering it can be for other people. Just thought I'd let you know :)

I will be updating again today, not sure when but if I get a decent amount of comments then it'll be sooner rather than later, and next chapter will be a little cuter than this.

Let me know what you think!

Thnx for reading <3