Our Sick Inheritance (editing)

Ch 111 (jake) - Whose Fault Is It Anyway?

Almost as if Bryce read his mind, Jake saw the flashing light on his phone indicating he had an incoming call. Bryce's name was dominant in black on the blue background of the light as if the phone were screaming at him to answer it in the darkness of his cab. Jake hit a button and greeted what might no longer be his friend.

"Hey man, your dad was just here. How are you doing?" Bryce asked. Jake sighed not knowing where to start and if he even wanted to.

"Are you alone?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, well alone in the room, everyone else is in another part of the house. I'm sorry to hear about Stacy." Bryce said then paused. Jake couldn't trust himself to speak.

"I'm going to call around to some of our friends to see if I get word from anyone. Skyler's mother is getting search parties organized so I'm getting a bunch of guys together with big trucks to help find her. I can't see Stacy getting caught up by someone because she has kicked my ass a few times when we hung out. She's a tough girl. Stacy's most likely having a good time without telling her parents or family anything so she won't get into trouble." Bryce tried to reassure Jake but he could hear the worry in his unsure voice.

"She hasn't even checked into lie about where she's at." Jake stated trying to be positive but felt the need to state the facts.

"I'll check around for you to put your family at ease. I'm sure I'll hear something."

"Thanks man, I appreciate it." Jake replied.

"Hey, your Dad mentioned something to Harmony about Anna. Did she go on a trip with you?" Bryce asked lowering his tone. Jake wanted to hesitate but felt he needed to tell someone.

"I'd say she followed me." Jake said.

"Be careful with her man. She has something wrong and twisted in her head." Bryce said not making Jake feel any better.

"What do you mean?" Jake asked as his stomach started sinking. He didn't want to slow down but decided to in order to concentrate on what Bryce was saying from the speaker of his phone.

"My parents ski at a few of Anna's father's resorts. Colin knew my Mom was in Real Estate so my parents helped them find a house and get situated into society when they first moved here. I'm telling you this because you're a friend. I've had entanglements with Anna. At the parties my Mom threw Anna and I got to know each other. And oh man, as a teenager she got obsessive quickly. Anna brought Harmony to one of the parties and introduced us. I was interested in Harmony but Anna had a crush on me and called me all the time. It was overwhelming and uncomfortable but I liked talking to her sometimes because she is smart, it was a strange situation." Bryce explained and Jake felt a familiar story. Bryce surprised him further.

"Anna and I somehow ended up having sex, but you know what man, I..." Bryce trailed off and didn't finish his sentence. Jake got impatient.

"What say it." Jake said.

"I don't remember it, I just know it happened." Bryce said as he lowered his voice even more making it difficult for Jake to hear him. After Bryce said that Jake's ears when into hyper sensitivity to catch every word Bryce almost whispered.

"I understand completely." Was all Jake said. After a few seconds pause that was clear Jake wasn't going to elaborate, Bryce continued.

"Somehow, I made Anna angry and she did a couple of things to let me know it. I even kicked out my roommate because of her. Even though now I think he was a victim too. Anyway, that is why I had stopped talking to her and just hung out with Harmony. Harmony keeps the peace between us and my party was the first time I had seen Anna in several months. I'm just saying, I wouldn't get tangled up with her unless you plan on marrying her and even then, it would be prison." Bryce said then cleared his throat. Jake could hear in the background that Harmony had walked into the room.