One Man Band System

A little while later, inside a fast-food joint in the heart of the downtown shopping district, Eric sat relaxing and enjoying his burger. Suddenly, "ding" a text notification popped up on his smartphone. He picked it up and opened it, discovering it was an alert from his family’s group chat. When he unlocked the screen, a flood of unread messages filled the display.

"Right... I’m still in the family group chat," Eric thought to himself as he took another bite.

This time, Eric scrolled through the texts completely unfazed, his heart perfectly at peace. After skimming through a few recent updates from some distant cousins and uncles, he decided to leave the family group chat without warning.

Then, he systematically blocked the numbers of his parents, Jason, Ruby, Jade, and every single family member stored in his phone, without exception. Next, he wiped his entire chat history with Vivian, deleted every photo of her from his gallery, left his family’s social media groups, and deactivated his own profiles.

Once he finished, he set his phone face down on the table and went back to eating his meal in peace. He felt entirely grounded, free from the crushing heartache that used to overwhelm him. He glanced out the window, watching the crowds strolling along the sidewalks and the steady stream of traffic rolling past, despite the late hour. But suddenly,

"Wait... Eric? Is that you, man?"

Hearing a guy’s voice call him out, Eric turned around. He saw a young guy with long hair, wearing a hoodie and jeans, who looked about his own age standing right next to his table holding a food tray. Eric recognized him instantly. It was Caleb, Jade’s older brother and his cousin.

Caleb was the original black sheep of the family, having run away from home years ago to work and put himself through school in the city. The only person back home who still kept in touch with him was his younger sister, Jade.

"Oh, right. You go to college near here, don’t you?" Eric replied.

Without waiting for an invite, Caleb pulled out a chair and sat down directly across from Eric, locking his eyes on him with a dead-serious expression.

"Are you holding up okay? I heard everything that happened from Jade," Caleb said, his voice laced with genuine concern.

"Oh... so you don’t actually believe I slept with my future sister-in-law?" Eric asked, testing the waters.

"Man... you, hooking up with Jason’s girl? Hahaha... please. You think I don’t know you? There’s no way. From what I remember, you wouldn’t even cross the line with Vivian, let alone touch another guy’s girl," Caleb answered casually.

"So... if I tell you I didn’t do it, you actually believe me?" Eric asked one more time.

"Of course I believe you. I’ve known you since we were kids; the five of us grew up playing together. There’s no way in hell I’d buy into that accusation. Even when Jade forwarded me the video, I knew the second I watched it that it was completely staged," Caleb said easily, unwrapping his burger.

Hearing Caleb’s words brought a massive wave of relief to Eric’s chest. Out of all the family members who were now a permanent part of his past, at least someone had his back.

"To be honest, Jade knows you’re innocent too, but her hands are tied. You know how ruthless my parents are. Once they make up their minds, us kids just have to fall in line," Caleb said, looking at Eric.

"Yeah... which is exactly why you ran away, right?" Eric asked.

"Yep. The second I turned 18, I ghosted and moved out here for college while working part-time... I’m just glad you’re okay. I was seriously worried about you and completely furious with Jason... especially since he immediately hitched himself to Vivian right after. Whether he did it just to spite you, or if they were sneaking around behind your back all along, I have no clue," Caleb replied.

"Thanks, man. I guess you really do know me best," Eric said, taking a bite of his burger.

Just then, a young waitress walked over carrying a takeout bag and set it down on the table right next to Caleb. Eric caught a glimpse of the label on the bag: "Special order, pickle burger."

"You bought takeout too? A pickle burger?" Eric asked, completely bewildered.

"Oh, this? It’s for my girlfriend back at the apartment. She begged me to get her a burger with literally just pickles and mayo. Can’t blame her, though... she’s pregnant," Caleb answered casually.

Hearing Caleb say his girlfriend was pregnant with the same laid-back attitude as announcing the sun rises in the east, Eric stared intently at his cousin’s face. Caleb pulled his smartphone from his hoodie pocket and showed Eric his lock screen background.

Sure enough, the wallpaper was a photo of Caleb alongside a gorgeous blonde girl with her hair tied up in a ponytail. She looked a little older than Caleb, wore a nurse’s scrub, and clearly had a visible baby bump. The photo looked like it had been taken recently.

"Your girlfriend is pregnant?" Eric asked.

"Yeah... that’s the situation. She’s actually still at work right now. Nurses have a brutal evening shift, so I want to make sure there’s food waiting for her when she gets home," Caleb replied easily.

"Oh, wow. Well, congratulations then," Eric said.

"Thanks, man," Caleb smiled.

Then, Caleb began studying Eric’s features, noticing a massive transformation since the last time they had seen each other. Eric obviously picked up on his cousin’s intense scrutiny.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Eric asked.

"You’ve changed a ton, man. We haven’t even seen each other in like a year and a half... but now you’re handsomer and definitely filled out... I’m glad to see you looking like this," Caleb noted.

"Oh... I see. Thanks," Eric replied briefly, keeping it short since his transformation had actually happened in the blink of an eye.

"Where are you staying anyway? Are you planning to go to the same university as me?" Caleb asked.

"Yeah... I was planning to take... honestly, I don’t know. I think I need to reconsider my major, because a lot of things have changed," Eric answered, looking down.

"From what I remember, you were always obsessed with coding. Weren’t you locked into majoring in IT?" Caleb asked.

"I was... which is exactly why I need to rethink things, because my goals are completely different now," Eric answered.

Seeing how serious Eric had become and sensing he didn’t want to dive deeper into the topic, Caleb dropped it immediately. Instead, he slid his phone across the table toward Eric. Eric understood the gesture instantly; since Caleb had ghosted the family, he had changed his number and cut off all communication. Eric pulled out his own phone and they swapped contact info.

"Awesome, thanks," Caleb said, pulling his phone back.

"Anytime... let’s stay in touch," Eric said.

"Definitely... if you ever need anything, just give me a shout," Caleb offered.

"Will do... same goes for you," Eric replied.

The two of them went back to finishing their meals in comfort. Eric decided not to bring up his grandfather’s shop or the massive basement venue just yet. Even though Caleb had run away a long time ago and never looked back, he was still technically part of the family Eric was trying to leave behind.

Suddenly, "ding,"a notification popped up on Eric’s phone. He picked it up and saw an incoming text. He opened it, discovering a message from Emma:

"Hey... what are you up to?"

Eric didn’t reply right away. Instead, he kept chatting with Caleb about anything and everything, intentionally avoiding any talk about their family back home. A moment later, [ding]—another message came through. Eric read it:

"Hey... don’t ignore me. Are you already asleep?"

Eric set his phone back down on the table. But a second later, he felt the booth seat right behind him shake violently as someone stood up fast. He felt someone step onto the seat and grab the top of the privacy divider directly behind him. On top of that, Caleb’s jaw completely dropped as he stared at something behind him.

Intrigued, Eric turned around and his heart nearly skipped a beat. The moment he faced backward, Emma’s face was right there in front of his. It turned out she had been sitting in the booth directly behind his the entire time.

"Wait... you’re here?" Eric stammered in complete shock.

"Yep! That’s exactly why I texted you. If you had lied and said you were at home asleep, I was seriously going to haunt you," Emma replied with a mischievous grin.

"What are you even doing, Emma?"

Eric heard a guy’s voice coming from right behind Emma. He shifted his gaze and spotted a young man with a black buzz cut and a rugged, hyper-masculine face. He looked like he was built like a tank, probably right around their age. Sitting right next to Emma, the guy glared intensely at Eric with an expression that looked like he hadn’t smiled in years.

The air in the restaurant instantly turned incredibly awkward and tense. Eric glanced back at Emma, who was still locked onto him, now resting her chin right on her hands atop the booth divider.

"Damn it... what is this girl even doing? I am not trying to get into any drama in a brand-new city... if she already has a boyfriend, she needs to stop acting like this, this is ridiculous," Eric thought.