Your Call Cannot Be Completed As Dialed
"...please hang up, and try your call again."
Jeff's thumb rubs against the receiver. He's tempted to toss the phone entirely, but that would be illogical. The Threed Sunset Hotel staff would only get upset at him, leading to the worst case scenario of Jeff and his tired friends being thrust out into the night where straggling zombies still roamed.
Standing in the foyer, Jeff leans against the main reception desk. He coils his finger around the cord. Focusing his attention on the nearest window, he watches the bushes rustle in the breeze and listens to the gossip of of nearby patrons. A woman giggles at a joke her husband has just told her, and closing his eyes, Jeff dials again.
He's memorized the number. There's no chance he could ever forget the number for the Snow Wood Boarding School. The school is the closest place he's ever called a proper home.
Yet, he misdials once again. The automated woman's monotonous voice drones in his ear, and he promptly hangs up before she can finish. The phone clatters, missing the receiver and threatening to fall to the ground. Grimacing, Jeff snatches it and cradles it with both hands as if it were sacred. A cleaning woman shifts her attention towards him, and he ignores the burning red in his cheeks, turning his back to her, waiting for the creaking wheels of her cart to move farther away.
Jeff grits his teeth. Calling Tony shouldn't be this hard. It shouldn't be causing anxiety to bubble in his stomach and spread through the tips of his fingers. He's made phone calls before to his teachers, but those were on his terms. He called them at his leisure to verify information without a second thought on what to say.
Talking to Tony, however, is an unkempt promise. He didn't exactly swear to call him despite Tony's nervous prattling, but he still needed to fulfill his request. Tony had helped him too many times to count. Without asking for anything in return like copying his assignments, Tony complied with a bright smile on his face in whatever Jeff asked of him.
Jeff misdials after pressing two numbers at the same time. His stubby finger hits the 1 and 4 buttons, and a piercing buzz hits his ear. Scrunching his expression, Jeff shakes his head and presses the telephone hook. When it clicks, the droning hum returns like static from a television echoing in his mind.
He raises his finger and hesitates. Gnawing on the inside of his mouth, Jeff sucks down a breath and slowly exhales it. He has nothing to fear except Tony being unable to speak with him, but he still can't will himself to call him.
"Excuse me," the man at the front desk says, raising an eyebrow.
Jeff winces, raising his head. "Oh! Yes? Can I help you?"
He gestures as at the couple standing behind Jeff. "If you're not going to use the phone, please give it to them. They've been waiting, too."
"Oh, my apologies. I-" He clears his throat, deciding against explaining himself. The kind smile the wife gives him is enough to know he's been forgiven.
Side-stepping them, Jeff hurries away to another corner of the foyer. He covers his mouth and closes his eyes, a surge of embarrassment gushing in his blood. Chills come over him, paling his skin and icing his breath. Rubbing his forearms, Jeff stomps over to the comfortable armchairs and sits, bowing his head.
He listens to the husband chat to his sister about his honeymoon over the phone. Glancing over to them, he finds the wife clinging to her husband's arm and giggling as he declares how he bravely beat down one of the zombies chasing them. Proclaiming he must've defeated at least ten of them earns another good-natured laugh from his wife, and Jeff takes off his glasses, allowing them to become blurred smudges on his world.
Saving Threed had been more difficult than he anticipated. Traversing across Winters, talking to Dr. Andonuts again for the first time in a decade, saving Ness and Paula, and defeating the Boogey Tent, it all become a blur when he thought about it. It had only been a few short hours since the start of his journey, but it felt like a century when he tried relaxing in the chair. He attempted to sink into the cotton cushions, but his tenseness returned with each slight adjustment in his posture.
He had only parted with Tony a few hours ago, and it already felt like a lifetime. Uncertainty looms over him like a storm cloud, wary, fizzing thoughts circling his head akin to rolling thunder. The chatter from the couple seems muted compared to his uneasy pondering as he tries delving into some semblance of certainty that he could grasp.
Jeff knows he's among friends. Ness and Paula are good company. If anything, they are like business acquaintances linked together for a common goal. He knows he must help them save the world for painfully obvious reasons. With Giygas and his minions on the loose, he doesn't want to fathom what would happen if he abandons Ness and Paula.
He doesn't know when he'll see Tony again. Assuming the logical answer would be when the war is over, he doesn't know an exact date or time. He lives by certainty, equations, and scientific rhetoric that can written down, instructed, and followed by anyone.
What the future will bring leaves a bad taste in his mouth like bile coating his tongue. He grinds down on his molars and clenches his fists. He never had to question his future before, but it's completely changed. It's now a path that he willingly travels, but each step feels he's sinking further into quicksand, his future more grim and uncertain.
He watches the couple leave, the wife's heels clicking rhythmically on the tiled floor. She spares him another pleasant smile and nods at the phone. Jeff manages to quirk his lips into a grin and hobbles for the phone before anyone else can use it. Ignoring the pointed glance from the front desk receptionist, he picks up the phone. Jeff recites the number as he dials. He presses each button slowly and deliberately. Making sure every movement he makes is precise, Jeff raises his index finger over the final number.
His vision blurs, a wave of nausea swelling in his stomach, spreading to his arm and weighing it down. He can't see anything but Tony smiling in the midst of the snow, and he gasps, his finger snapping down.
Instead of an 8, he hits the 9. He's directed to a home in Spookane, and a woman's voice greets him. He opens his mouth to say he's dialed the wrong number, but his hand moves faster, and he slams the phone onto the receiver.
"Hey, kid, quit it! Phones don't grow on trees. If you break it, you're paying for a new one," the receptionist snaps, raising his fist.
Jeff sputters out his apology and avoids his glare. Pivoting, Jeff reaches for the phone and sighs. Shaking his head, Jeff hobbles to the staircase and stumbles up to his room. He clutches the railing with white-knuckled intensity and furrows his brow, his heart racing with each clumsy step.
He can't call Tony because if he does, then he fears it will be the last time he hears his voice. There's no more certainty in Jeff's life. He may never return home or worse, everyone he loves will perish in this cruel, evil war. Jeff grips his face and digs into his ruddy cheeks, taking in shallow breaths in feeble hopes of calming himself down, but Tony's words linger in his head and stab into his heart.
He wants to call him so badly, but his trembling hands refuse. His addled mind will not comply with what his heart desires. Everything in his future is coated in a black swathe of darkness, and Tony's body sinks into those deceptive shadows, reaching out a hand to Jeff with a weak smile and a promise.
Jeff drags himself upstairs. The lights seem to brighten as he comes closer. Hesitating on the top step, he hears Ness and Paula eagerly chatting about their battle with the Boogey Tent. He overhears them complimenting Jeff on his bravery, leaving him speechless from their earnest chatter. Waiting outside the door, he takes in their laughter and immerses himself in their mirth, a frail hope igniting in his chest.
Ness and Paula need him more than he realizes. Tony knows that Jeff is following his destiny. They've all placed their faith into him even when logic tries painting a different picture in his mind.
They're supporting him, too. Without a single inkling of distrust, they've placed their faith in him just as Tony did during his escape from their school. They're like lights pulling him along and protecting him, two in front and one behind him. Swallowing, Jeff manages to pull his lips into a quant smile.
He'll call again tomorrow, and even if he can't will himself to go through with it, Jeff hopes Tony will understand.