Once the track finished, Eric immediately said goodbye to Billy and Wendy. He slid his guitar back into its case, slung it over his shoulder, and walked toward Emma, Priya, Chloe, Monica, Heidi, and Laura, who were waiting for him. As Eric stepped up to the girls, they all visibly jolted. Eric was standing there with a smile, light sweat glistening on his face, his hair slightly damp, and his wet t-shirt clinging tightly to his frame, with part of the hem tucked into his jeans.

Their eyes locked onto his build. Even though he was on the leaner side, the damp shirt clearly outlined a well-defined chest, visible abs, and solid biceps.

"Sorry to keep you guys waiting," Eric said with a smile.

The six girls didn’t answer right away, they just stood there, completely entranced. Eric raised his hand and waved it in front of their faces.

"Hello?" Eric asked, completely bewildered.

"Oh... right, sorry, haha... so, where are we heading?" Emma asked, being the first one to snap out of it and return to reality.

"Huh... oh yeah... right... where should we go?" Priya chimed in, finally catching her breath.

Emma and Priya turned to the side, noticing that Chloe, Monica, Heidi, and Laura were still completely spaced out.

"Hey!" Priya barked.

The four girls instantly jumped, startled out of their daze. They all turned to look at Priya and Emma, looking thoroughly confused and caught off guard.

"Where are we heading?" Emma asked one more time.

"Oh... how about we grab some food first?" Chloe asked, still visibly flustered.

"Yeah... sounds good, let’s do that," Monica agreed, clearly just finding her bearings again.

"Where do you want to eat?" Heidi asked, running a hand through her hair.

"I’m fine with whatever," Laura added quietly, placing a hand over her chest.

The girls launched into a full-blown debate, leaving Eric standing there like a statue while he waited for them to decide. Eric looked down at his damp shirt, pulled off his glasses, and took off his cap, letting his messy hair fall free as he wiped his brow with his sleeve. Suddenly, the chatter in front of him died down completely. He looked up and saw all six girls staring right at him again.

"Why are you guys looking at me like that?" Eric asked, totally confused.

"Um... you should probably put your glasses back on," Chloe muttered.

"No way... he looks way better without them," Heidi area.

"Keep the hat off," Laura chimed in.

"Yeah... the hat kind of ruins it," Monica agreed.

"Hmm... it doesn’t really matter, he looks hot either way," Priya added.

"Why are we suddenly talking about his outfit? Where are we eating?!" Emma asked, completely annoyed.

"Um... how about we go clothes shopping? I actually need to find some everyday clothes," Eric said, raising his hand to offer a suggestion.

All six girls instantly snapped their heads around and stared daggers at Eric, making him feel a little self-conscious for even speaking up.

"But hey, we can totally eat first, it’s fine," Eric added quickly, shifting uncomfortably under their collective gaze.

"No way... I’m not even hungry yet. Let’s go look for clothes first," Emma insisted.

"Yeah, totally. Let’s go," Chloe agreed.

Priya, Monica, Heidi, and Laura all nodded along, completely on board with Emma and Chloe’s plan. They finally started moving. The six girls, who clearly knew the city inside and out, took the lead while Eric lugged his guitar case along behind them. As they passed Billy and Wendy, who were currently packing up their gear to head out, Eric gave them a quick wave. Billy and Wendy waved back, even flashing a hand sign to mimic a phone call, signaling him to keep in touch.

Eric nodded and waved back before picking up his pace to keep up with the girls. [Ding]—a notification popped up on his phone. He pulled the device out of his jeans pocket and unlocked it. He actually had two new alerts: a bank notification confirming a deposit of $20,000.00 had cleared into his account, and a text message from Richard.

"Alright. Come by the office this Monday and bring your personal documents," the text read.

"Sounds good, sir. What time works for you?" Eric typed back.

"Right around this time is fine. I’ll be waiting," Richard replied.

"Got it, thank you sir," Eric messaged back.

He slipped his phone back into his pocket, but a second later, "yank," someone grabbed his arm from the side. He looked over to see Emma stepping up right next to him. She pulled him forward so he was walking shoulder-to-shoulder with her and the rest of the crew.

"Don’t just trail behind us like that," Emma said.

"Oh... okay, sorry," Eric muttered, rubbing the back of his neck as he gently nudged her hand away to break the hold.

"Don’t worry about it, just relax haha," Emma replied.

As they walked together toward the mall at the end of the street, checking out the surrounding shops along the way, Chloe, Monica, Priya, Heidi, and Laura bombarded Eric with an endless stream of conversation and questions. Eric did his best to answer them without giving away too much about himself. Naturally, the group became the center of attention, turning heads left and right among the pedestrians.

***

Meanwhile, back in Eric’s hometown, inside a suburban house on the edge of the city, Vivian sat on the edge of her bed. She gripped her smartphone, her screen displaying Eric’s phone number, but she couldn’t get through because he had completely blocked her. Vivian looked like an absolute wreck, staring blankly into space with dark, heavy bags under her eyes from days of insomnia.

"Ding."

A text message notification popped up on her screen. Her face instantly lit up with a glimmer of hope, only to crash right back into a dark frown when she saw the sender. The message was from Ruby, who had simply dropped a video link without adding any text or context. Vivian’s thumb hovered over the screen before she finally tapped the play button.

Instantly, her bedroom was filled with the sound of a high-tempo guitar melody that felt incredibly beautiful, catchy, and strangely comforting. Vivian closed her eyes, letting the music wash over her, but the moment she listened closely to the lyrics, the brutal reality of what had happened to Eric rushed back into her mind.

She snapped her eyes open and stared in disbelief at the young man playing the guitar in the video. Her mind went completely blank as she recognized the figure on the screen.

"Eric? Is that... really you?" she muttered, thoroughly confused, narrowing her eyes to study his features intensely.

Once the melody ended, she immediately hit replay, this time focusing entirely on Eric’s face from the very first chord. She obviously noticed how much his appearance had changed, shifting from totally ordinary to strikingly handsome in such a significant way.

Tears began to stream down her face as an overwhelming wave of regret consumed her heart. When Eric had turned to her for help, she had completely brushed him off.

Then, out of spite, she had immediately started dating Jason and because things had already gone too far, she couldn’t just take it back and break up with Jason out of nowhere. On top of that, a much deeper sense of remorse was sinking in, making her chest ache with a far sharper pain.

She pressed her forehead flat against her smartphone screen, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Where did you go, Eric... please come home... I’m waiting for you, and I am so sorry," she cried out silently in her heart.

For the rest of the afternoon, the only sounds in her room were the echoes of the track playing on loop and her own muffled sobs, which grew louder and heavier as she listened closely and truly felt the weight of the lyrics playing in the video..