Unraveled

Ghosts

Six Months Later

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Jase asked as he shut the engine off. I looked up at the two-story brick house he'd parked in front of. It hadn't been the place I'd pictured in my mind.

"I have to," I said as I gripped the backpack tightly on my lap.

"Let's do this, then," he said as he started to open his car door.

"I have to do this on my own, Jase," I told him, my eyes still on the house.

Jase shut the door, but he was walking around the front of the car. I climbed out quickly to catch up with him as he walked towards the door.

"Jesus, Jase, I told you to stay in the car," I snapped. He stopped on the walkway and turned to look at me.

"You're about to tell this family that you were their OD'd dead son's fuck toy, Shawn. I'm not going to stay in the fucking car."

"What happened isn't your fault, Jase. I know you feel like it was," I told him as I slung the backpack over my shoulder. "It wasn't. I was the one who decided to get high at that party. It's not like you forced the drugs down my throat. You weren't even in there. Sasha was the only person I was with and she didn't force me to do anything I didn't want to do."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not concerned about any of that, Shawn. Just because you think you're sober enough to do this alone doesn't mean you should. Especially with what happened with Colson." I sighed but didn't try to argue. Jase was impossible to win with. "Besides, we have church in an hour and our parents will be fucking pissed if we aren't there."

"Parent," I corrected him. Mom had gone back to her other family after I had three months of sobriety. With her gone, my dad going to therapy also got pushed aside.

"Whatever," he said, putting an arm around my shoulder. "Come on. Let's get this done."

I gripped the strap of the backpack tightly as we stepped onto the front stoop. Jase dropped his arm and took a step back as I rang the doorbell. A dog barked inside and I prayed that no one answered the door. I could leave my note and the backpack and leave without ever having to meet the Wallace family.

"I've got it!" a girl's voice shouted inside. A few moments later, the door opened and the female, slightly younger, version of Jacob stood in front of me. "Can I help you?"

"Are," I started, but my throat caught in my throat. I cleared it and tried again. "Are your parents' home?"

"Yeah, but they won't buy anything," she said as she started to close the door, "and we are already set in our religion."

"That's not what I'm here for," I said. Behind me, I could hear Jase laugh softly. "I know...I knew Jacob."

The girl stopped. She was looking at me, but I knew that she wasn't actually looking at me. There was that lost look on her face. It was a look I'd seen so many times from people on the street and in rehab. Hell, I'd worn it more than even I realized.

"Honey, who is it?" a woman asked as she walked up, putting a necklace on. She stopped when she saw Jase and me. "Oh...Thank you, but we're not interested in whatever it is that you're soliciting."

"I'm not soliciting anything, ma'am," I told her. "I am...I was a friend of Jacob's? I met him almost a year ago. I was...I was with him when he passed."