The text message was something Chitanda Eru had never encountered before, and she wondered what it meant. Was it a compliment or a sarcastic remark? She had no way of telling. It would really depend on who the recipient was, but it was an unknown number. At first, she had asked herself whether it was wrongly sent, however she quickly realised it was not the case. At the end of the message, it was clearly typed "to Eru-chan."
Eru re-read the message several times in her bedroom, half-awake.
She never recalled anyone calling her "Eru-chan." It could be her dear friend Kaho, but the message definitely doesn't sound like her.
Buttons gleaming and then suddenly the device vibrated, indicating another text message was sent. The phone nearly fell from Eru's small hands, but she managed to catch it, and saw the notification that shone on the screen.
An unknown number.
Click.
..
Eru quickly ran to shut the fluttering curtains.
Uneasily and breathing heavily, she struggled to fall asleep.
The paperback novel I just bought yesterday was boring. It didn't interest me as much as I thought it would, so I decided to abandon it altogether.
It was then that I realised, after throwing my focus away from the book, that Chitanda was acting .. strange. Stranger than usual, I mean.
Her chest was rising and falling at a rapid speed, and clutched tightly in her hands was her cell phone, which she kept hidden on her lap.
... It wasn't like I was curious or anything.
It just got me thinking.
"Chitanda," I said without much thought, still keeping my eyes on her phone, "Are you waiting for someone to call?"
Naturally, she jumped, and probably yelped a little, when she heard me speak.
If Satoshi and Ibara were here now, they'd definitely over-react and stick their nosy noses in between us.
Luckily, they weren't here today, so I didn't really hesitate talking.
"I... yes, I think," she said quietly.
.. It probably didn't matter, I dismissed, but she continued speaking.
"Last night, I got a few weird messages," she murmured. This was.. weird. It was never good when Chitanda was troubled.
"Lemme see."
She was aghast, but complied to my order.
Receiving her cell phone, our hands touched.
"They're cold," I thought as her fingers touched the side of my palm. And .. are her palms always this sweaty?
Now then.
I flipped it open.
After scrolling through her messages, my jaw mentally dropped.
I saw through her lie.
What the hell does she mean by "a few" messages?!
There's about a dozen or so- no, wait- probably thirty text messages from the same person.
And they're all weird. Very weird. I had to hold my urge to puke.
The first few messages were okay, to say the least. More like moderately disturbing.
"Hello, babe ;)" and "You look hot tonight"
And then it gradually became unsettling.
"Why aren't you wearing that dress you wore the other night?" and "You adore me, you cutie"
At that point, I felt pity for Chitanda. I glanced at her, and she was looking at me.
Those usually mesmerising, curious eyes were.. different that day.
She was asking for help. I knew it.
I continued to scroll down, until it could be scrolled no longer.
The last message sent was last night, at 3:04 a.m.
"Sweetheart, why aren't you at bed yet?"
And next thing I knew, Chitanda burst into tears.