This is the tenth part in a series, so if you have not already done so, you might want to read Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII, and Part IX before continuing.
I’m lying in bed, deep in the YouTube rabbit hole when my phone buzzes. It had been silent all morning, so the sound took me by surprise.
It’s Jake. And he’s not just texting me. He’s calling me. Who does that?
I deliberate picking it up, sure it must be either scam or a butt dial. The deciding factor is he knows I have nothing to do, so if I don’t pick up, he’ll think I’m ignoring him.
“Hello?”
“Is it true?”
“Is what true?”
“Are you the reason Addie’s dead?”
“What? Oh my god, why do people keep saying that? She killed herself. I wasn’t even there.”
“But you drove her to it.”
I sigh heavily before saying, “You can’t force someone to commit suicide.”
The silence that follows drags on so long I think the call has been dropped. “Jake?”
“You don’t even care, do you?”
“Care about what?”
“That Addie is dead.”
Honestly, I don’t care. But I know I can’t say that without sounding like a total psycho, so I deflect.
“I never said that. I just don’t understand why everyone thinks this is my fault.”
“Did you, or did you not, orchestrate an entire social media campaign targeting her?”
“She started it. I told you what she said about me.”
There’s another silence, and this time it is because the call has been dropped. Either that or he hung up on me, but I refuse to believe that.
I scream in frustration at the idea that I could lose Jake over this. I look around my room, searching for something to pin my anger on.
“Happy now?” I scream at Addie’s ghost.
As soon as the words are out of my mouth, Addie appears at the end of my bed, staring at me.
I let out a yelp as I leap out of bed and run for the door.
To be continued…