Novel & Cerita No Sunshine When She's Gone

“Don’t you find it ridiculous to say something like that now?” The busy tone after the call ended echoed in her ears. Susie gripped her phone, her hands trembling slightly. She sat dazed on the couch as Mr. Solace’s sarcastic words replayed over and over in her mind. Outside the window, dusk slowly fell. Looking at the empty living room, Susie suddenly realized that perhaps I really wouldn’t be coming back this time. Susie slowly picked up the ring, and a cold, unmistakably real sensation spread through her fingertips.

Mom placed a platter of my favorite desserts in front of my headstone. She had finally remembered that I loved mango tarts when I was little. But she remembered far, far too late. Dad and Conner knelt beside her, repeating my name like a prayer. They swore they would spend their lives atoning for their sins. But I didn’t need their atonement anymore. The funeral was grand. Only Ella wasn’t there. She claimed she wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t come. In reality, she was at home, celebrating. Celebrating that there was finally no one left to compete with her for love.

Kendra wore a light blue dress, the sunlight dancing along the tips of her hair. We promised forever as the sun dipped behind the trees. But now, all those sweet moments had turned bitter. Time changed everything. What once felt sacred now felt like a cruel joke.

I saw her change, her shoulders going back, face sliding into calm and poise. "We need to go." She sidestepped Uncle Frank, meeting Mom's gaze. "I'll bring them both back." Mom hesitated, brushing at tears on her cheeks. "Please forgive us," she said. Sunny shrugged. "Nothing to forgive." Oh, but there was so much damage done here, I could feel it even without my power. And that scared me almost as much as anything. Uncle Frank reached for her one last time. As if on purpose, Sunny flickered into shadow and vanished.

"Brooke, I'm already married, and you're about to get engaged. Whatever feelings I had for you are now in the past. Let's just go about our lives by ourselves." I set down the documents on her desk and turned to leave. "Theros, if I said… that I regret it now, are you willing to come back to me?" I turned around in confusion. I didn't think I'd see such a pathetic look on Brooke's usually haughty face. "But Brooke," I thought, "It's impossible for us to go back anymore." … While I was still preparing everything for Brooke's and Gaston's engagement party, I was suddenly informed that it was now canceled.

Zoe had always been insecure about her looks and wanted plastic surgery but didn’t have the funds. Calvin offered her an olive branch. She took the money, which was tainted by what happened to both Grandpa and me, and used it for her surgery. For a while, she even maintained a relationship with Calvin, but once he got bored, he dumped her without a second thought. Zoe had begged Calvin to take her back countless times, but he remained unmoved. Now, hearing my words, I saw her eyes light up again.

The early morning sunlight filtered through the curtains of the hotel room, casting a golden glow that felt cruel against the somber mood. The air was heavy, and the once lively banter and laughter that had filled the room between the trio was now replaced by silence. Veronica sat by the window, her knees drawn to her chest, staring blankly at the world outside. Her usually fiery, outspoken demeanor was nowhere to be found. The news of Daisy's death had shaken her to her core, leaving her raw and vulnerable in a way she hadn’t experienced in years.

The sunlight on her face was so soft, so beautiful. A smile I'd never see again. For the first time, a tidal wave of regret and despair washed over me. I took out my phone and dialed the number I knew by heart. The number that used to connect me to her sweet voice. The call connected. Not to her voicemail. Not to a busy signal. It was a cold, robotic voice. "The number you have dialed has been disconnected." Disconnected. The final nail in the coffin. She wasn't just gone. She had erased the path back to her.

"Until…' Then she was gone." Not gone the way people disappear into crowds — shoulder-turned, heads-down, absorbed by motion. Gone the way a flame goes out. Between one blink and the next, she simply was not there. The space where she had stood held nothing but platform grime and a discarded ticket stub and the fading warmth of afternoon light. Kai's hand stayed raised for several seconds more, fingers spread, reaching for something the world had already taken back. * * *

Zayne had more money than he could ever spend, and Jeremy had received his punishment. It was finally time for me to go. The wind stirred around me. My body grew lighter, dissolving into strands of golden light that began to fade from my fingertips. I turned toward Vera's headstone and slowly knelt before it. "Mom," I whispered. "I'm coming to find you."