Something There

Chapter Six

Chapter Six:

The call goes totally silent and I pull the phone away from my ear for a second.

I don't think my brain is comprehending what just happened. Prime example of zero to one hundred real fast. I feel my heart rate pick up, and I'm mentally freaking out.

What if something happened to him? What if he's hurt?

"Bryce? Hello?" I call out into the microphone after waiting another minute or so.

"Hey, hey. Sorry about that, it was just my dad. Riled up on some work call."

Bryce's voice is back to normal and what he claimed makes moderate sense, yet at the same time I sense that there's still a hint of dishonesty behind his words.

Nonetheless, saying that I had a huge flood of relief wash over me upon hearing his voice would've been a great understatement. What even was I supposed to do if he didn't comeback to the phone? Granted, it could have just been something minor, but I'd be haunted forever if he ended up hurt in some way.

"You know, my mom doesn't live with us anymore. It's just Dad and I now." His voice is soft and relaxed now, as if he's deep in thought.

Did his mom pass away? Is that why they ended up back in this city? I guess it's really not that bad here, but there's just not enough opportunities for me as someone who wants to make it in the entertainment industry.

That's beside the point; everybody seems to keep talking about him as if he's fragile and needs to be protected after some serious traumatic event.

The death of a parent could definitely do that to a person.

I pull my covers tighter around me. I'm not at all fond of my mother but I'm sure I would still be shaken if she were to die, especially anytime soon. I would certainly be a mess if my dad passed away in the near future as well.

"Did she—" I start before Bryce quickly intervenes before I can finish my thought.

"No. She's alive and healthy," he says bitterly. There's something almost metallic about his voice and it practically sends chills down my spine. I was clearly on the completely wrong track.

"She stayed in Florida?" I assume, and Bryce let's out something between a laugh and a snort in reply.

"You could say that."

Great. We're back to being extremely vague and elusive again. Sometimes I think people trust me, and it hurts when I realize that they don't.

I get that sometimes people just don't want to converse about certain things; I would really rather not mention what happened to me either, especially since it's been years. Everything is resolved now, legally at least.

But Bryce can't just show up all of a sudden and act like everything is fine. He just shows up to school, sits down at our lunch table, and pretends that the last four years didn't even occur. He can't expect me to believe that his mother vanishing from his life has nothing to do with all of this.

He seems to assume that this conversation is about to go downhill really quickly, so he quickly changes the topic. "Daniel called me earlier. He's a character."

That makes me laugh. Daniel really is something. The only slightly-normal person any of us like is Mateo, but even he has his moments.

"Well I'm glad you found one person who's going to appreciate you for what you are."

"That hit hard. Are you saying you don't like me? Even after all this damn time?" he jokes.

I smile, shutting off the lamp next to my bed and curling up farther underneath the blankets on my bed. "I clearly despise you. I didn't realize there could be any doubt about it."