Deceptive Cadence (31 page)

PART THREE: DECISIONS
TWENTY-SIX

The house was buzzing and jam-packed with people. Tom hosted the New Year’s party, so I was one of the few underage people in the house. As a result, I was the designated driver, having just earned my probationary license.

James was tipsy. To my relief, he didn’t seem inclined to get totally wasted. He was handsy enough.

“Cadence!” he bellowed across the room.

“What do you want now?” I yelled back.

“Yo mama!” He burst out laughing.

I slapped my forehead. At least he was a happy drunk. I knew he wanted me to join him—I’d been mingling with some girls and felt his keen stare on me the whole time—but I kept my distance to see how desperate I could make him.

When I stepped up beside him, it pleased me to see how well it worked. He wrapped his arm around my neck and moved in to kiss me, but I blocked him after one whiff of his breath.

“Gross!”

He grinned, plucked some gum out of his pocket, and started chewing. “Having fun?”

“Yeah, everyone has this nervous, excited energy about them. It’s making me anxious for my turn.”

He kissed my forehead. “I’m looking forward to you graduating too. You should apply for Macquarie so you can be with me.”

I dodged his gaze. “We’ll have to see if I’m smart enough first.”

“Cadence, you’re way smarter than me and
I
got in.” He pulled me closer and brushed his nose against mine. “Breath better?”

I sniffed. “Mmm, spearmint.”

“Good.” He gave me a swift kiss and pushed the gum into my mouth.

I pulled away, leaned over a bin, and spat it out. “You’re disgusting.”

He laughed merrily and pulled me back in. “That’s why you love me.”

The countdown began. Ten, nine . . .

“Another year, another kiss.” James grinned. “Seriously, I think there’s something to this.”

I laughed. “Maybe there is.”

He waited for the countdown to hit three. On two, he pressed his lips firmly against mine.

One . . .

Freeze.

I expected it that time, so I pulled away from James and walked over to the food table while I waited for the angel to appear. He stepped through the door, dressed again as Father Time, and leaned against the table beside me. “You’re growing up fast, sweet Cadence.”

“Again.”

He chuckled. “What shall we look at this year?”

I shrugged and offered him some chips, but he pushed them aside. “I dunno,” I said. “That’s your thing. You know what I need to see.”

“Very well.” He touched my shoulder and, like the last two times, images and feelings of Austin and Melody flooded my thoughts—when Austin first kissed me, Melody’s first step—but I managed to keep my composure and didn’t fall back into a sobbing mess. A few tears fell as the pain of their deaths tore through me, but I kept it mostly under control.

The man watched me as I struggled, but when I straightened and met his gaze, he nodded his approval. “You’re getting stronger. You’re gaining control over your emotions and the teenage hormones aren’t so overwhelming. Very good, Cadence.”

I smirked. “Thanks.”

He rested his hand on the small of my back and led me to the door. As we stepped out, I found myself in a house I’d never seen before. He led me to the center of the small living room.

There was a knock at the door. Brian appeared from the hallway and hurried to answer it. Melanie stood on the other side with a wide smile across her face. She looked beautiful. She’d straightened her shoulder-length hair, and even wore eyeliner and mascara.

“Hey, Brian. I’m ready to go.”

“Oh, yeah.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Just a sec, okay? Sit down if you want.”

As she entered, the angel and I followed Brian to his room. Inside, a photo of Geri and me rested on his desk. He glanced behind him and slid it between some papers.

“Oh, no!” I gasped. “Is this when he breaks up with her?”

The man nodded, and I found myself in a park as Melanie sobbed beside Brian.

“Mel, don’t cry. I’m just being honest,” he said. “Why keep at something that isn’t working out?”

“I thought we were doing fine,” she responded. “I really like you, Brian. I thought I was doing everything I needed to do to be a good girlfriend. Is it because I’m not pretty enough? I can be pretty if you want. Tell me what you like and I’ll do it.”

“You sound desperate.”

She glared at him. “I don’t understand. We never fight, and James and Cadence argue all the time . . .”

He dropped his gaze and shifted his feet. She examined his face, her eyes narrowing.

“And Cadence is a whiny baby―”

“Don’t talk about her like that.”

“Oh my . . .” Her eyes widened. She jumped to her feet and pointed at him accusingly. “So you’d prefer it if I had blonde hair and big boobs?”

Brian shifted uncomfortably. “Mel, you’re very pretty.”

“But I’m no Cadence, huh?” She pressed her hands against her hips. “I’m such an idiot to not notice sooner . . . but then again, you’re an idiot to think she’d go out with you while she’s dating my
brother
!”

“They’re about to break up. Everyone’s talking about it. Your total jerk of a brother is going to dump her because she won’t have sex with him!”

Melanie’s mouth moved, but no sound came out. Once she had her thoughts in order, she said, “James wouldn’t do that. He likes her too much to dump her, so don’t talk about him like that! How
dare
you think you can end a perfectly good relationship to pick up the pieces of a girl who’s already rejected you!
You’re
the jerk!”

Brian jumped to his feet. “If Cadence needs me to mend her heart, I want to be available.”

Melanie planted a swift, hard slap across his face. “You’re the biggest jerk I’ve ever met!”

She marched away.

“Melanie! At least let my mum take you home.”

She gave him the finger as she kept walking.

“She was so brave,” I said as the scene froze. “I felt terrible. I couldn’t believe he would do that to her.”

The man nodded. “Yes, it was bad luck on your part. One of those choices others make that you can’t do anything about. You and Melanie always had a relationship that teetered on disaster, and things like this never helped. You tried hard to keep things going, but she never wanted to believe you were genuine. She just believed you did it for James. But then, when she found you two―”

“Please don’t show me that,” I said as my cheeks burned. “We haven’t done it since. His family freaked out, and Dad has barely started talking to me again. We feel it’s safer to leave it alone for a while.”

“Wise decision.” The scene changed. We stood in Melanie’s room with her furious face locked in a motionless scream as she poked angrily at her father’s chest. “The pain she felt from finding her brother with you like that—her beloved and truest friend in the world, with the girl she blamed for always getting in the way. This time, you were in the way in the worst way. Her brother loved you more than he could ever love her, and he even threatened to leave her for you.”

I stepped across to look into her face. Tears streamed down her cheeks. “But, he didn’t leave her.”

“No, but his heart did. He proclaimed that he was in love with you, which put her at number two. Everyone seemed to choose you over her, even the one person she hoped never would.”

I let out a long breath as I gazed into her angry face. I was
that
girl to her. Where she failed, I was the one who won at everything and stole all her glory.

“This year, I’m gonna have to help her,” I said as images of her slitting her wrists flashed through my mind. “I’m going to give her as much credit and love as I can, no matter how hard she pushes me away.”

“That’s very noble of you.”

The scene melted away and I stood staring at James and me locked in a passionate kiss outside my maths classroom. By the tears streaming down my face and the abandoned corridor, I knew exactly when it was. “This was the moment he told me he loves me.”

“And you him,” the man said. “Come and see earlier.”

The scene melted into James and Tom sitting in a park with a creek cutting through it. They made themselves comfortable by the shallow water, James resting his head on his backpack with his arm covering his face, while Tom pulled out a book, his dark, shaggy hair flopping over his face.

Without even looking, James said, “You’re boring.”

“You’re not exactly fun lately,” Tom answered.

“Then you shoulda stayed home.”

Tom grunted and shut his book. “You should just apologize to her. That always makes girls happy.”

James scowled and turned his head so he could see him from under his arm. “It’s not that simple. I freaked her out and I have a feeling she might dump me.”

“Wow, you musta done something pretty bad.” Tom shifted around and opened his bag. “I stole a ton of junk food from the kitchen. I hoped it would distract me from your depression since you refuse to tell me what happened.”

James smirked. “Gimme some.”

They ate in silence, until James’ phone beeped. He dug into his bag and pulled it out, but stared at it in shock. “It’s Michael.”

“As in Cadence’s friend Michael?”

James looked at his watch. “He was probably just with her.” He ruffled his hair. “This can’t be good.” He opened the text and read it, then tossed the phone to Tom.

“She’s done. She was gonna dump me today when I showed up.”

“It doesn’t say that. It just says she’s ready to talk to you.”

“Which means dump me.”

“Geez, James!” Tom exclaimed with exasperation. “What did you
do
to her?”

James snatched his phone back and grabbed his hair. “We had sex.”

Tom leaned back, stunned. “Oi.”

“It was all good until she freaked out and ran away afterward. I tried to talk to her, but you shoulda seen the way she looked at me—like I was the scum of the earth.”

“That sucks.”

“No kidding.” James huffed. “Don’t tell anyone.”

“Nah, man, your secret’s safe with me.”

James climbed to his feet and paced, running his hand through his hair. “I totally screwed up. I knew she wasn’t ready, but I wanted it anyway. So when she relented, I just kinda took it.”

He threw his arms in the air.

“I shouldn’t have done it! Her dad’s probably gonna cut off my manhood if he finds out I took his little girl’s virginity. She’s probably terrified of him disowning her or something. She’d dump me long before she’d ever stand up to him.”

“So you’re just gonna avoid her?”

James stopped pacing and looked down at Tom. “Yeah, pretty much.”

“James.” Tom shook his head. “You can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because she’s a girl. She’ll find a way.”

James collapsed back into the dirt beside his bag. “I’m done talking about this.”

“Whatever.”

We fast-forwarded a couple of hours and he started talking about it again. “Tom, what should I do?”

“I thought you got a job at Target―”

“No, I meant with Cadence.”

“Oh, we’re back on that.”

James sat up and faced Tom. “I can’t lose her.”

“Then fight for her.”

“But . . .” James glanced around, his brows furrowed and jaw tense. “How?”

“Don’t let her dump you.” Tom pulled out a box of Pizza Shapes. “When she tries, tell her that you don’t want to and she’s gotta give you a really good reason.”

“That sounds stupid and desperate.” James flopped back onto his bag.

“Whatever, you know her better than I do. I’ve never actually had a girlfriend, so what do I know?” Tom tossed a stone into the water.

James looked at his watch. “We should think about packing up soon. Melanie has some karate thing after school.”

Pause.

“She better be ready, ’cause I don’t wanna risk Cadence seeing me and dumping me.”

Tom groaned.

James sat up, indignant. “Hey! She’s not just some girl! I’m in lo—” He clamped his mouth shut and turned away with his arms folded.

“James?” Tom asked in a firm tone. “Were you about to say you’re in
love
with her?”

“Yeah. So what?”

“Dude.” Tom shook his head with a smirk. “Chicks love that crap.”

“It’s not crap! I’ve known it for months, but I can’t tell her. It would totally freak her out.”

“Worse than what she is now?”

James pursed his lips and looked toward the creek.

“Why don’t you tell her now? You have nothing to lose, right?”

James’ jaw flexed, but he didn’t answer. They sat in silence for several minutes before James shot to his feet.