Deceptive Cadence (15 page)

James approached and helped slip my bag on my shoulder. He smiled at me and gave me a kiss. “I’ll see ya later.”

“Bye.”

Geri and I watched him head around the corner to his class, then started walking to our own.

“It makes me nervous,” she said. “Those guys are bad news.”

“Hmm.” I rubbed my arm, knowing exactly what they would turn into. “But, James turned out okay,” I said, trying to convince myself I’d be fine.

“Yeah, well, he better protect you, ’cause if I find out he pressured you into doing drugs because of his stupid friends, I’m gonna kick his butt.”

I smiled warmly at her and wrapped my arm through hers. “You’re the best.”

TWELVE

I sat on my bed cross-legged, catching up on my journals. I’d fallen three weeks behind, so I flicked through as fast as I could. Brian breakup . . . he cried . . . my birthday . . . Harper ran away . . .
wait
! I backtracked. I read slower over the page where I talked about Harper running away, and realized it should have been two days earlier.

I leaped up as she yelled at Dusty about something or other, and rushed to the door. She jumped as my door flew open and snapped at me. “Cadence, you and Dusty are serious pains in my butt! Why can’t you both just―”

I lunged at her and wrapped my arms around her. She flinched but touched my hair just before she pushed me off. “What are you doing, you freak?”

“I love you, Harper.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re so weird. Did you and your pathetic boyfriend have a sappy conversation on the phone, and now you feel the need to spread your disgusting sap all over me?”

“No.”

She folded her arms and scowled. “Whatever. Just get out of my face.”

She spun on her heel and slammed her bedroom door behind her.

I returned to my room and sat on my bed, staring at the journal entry. What was different? I tried to think back to everything that happened this time around, and scanned back through the journal entries. I couldn’t figure it out.

Mum called us for dinner and we made our way to the table. As we sat and ate, I watched Harper. Then, I noticed it. Dad leaned closer to her and said something about her earrings looking pretty, just like her. She smiled at him and touched her left earring. She and Dad were getting along.

As I stared, a smile crept across my face. Somehow, somewhere along the way, my choices had made a difference in their relationship. She’d never been able to see eye to eye with Dad before, even as an adult, but somehow, it changed.

That night, when Mum came in to say good night to me, I asked her when things had changed between Dad and Harper. She shut the door and sat beside me on my bed.

“Ironically, it was that fight,” she said. “She did something selfless in protecting you and he respected that. He could see that she isn’t just a surly teenager, and there’s some of the little Harper he always loved still inside. Harper made some bad choices that broke his heart, but seeing her stand up for you made them all go away. His two little girls, standing side by side.”

I smiled and flicked at a crease in my sheet. “He really loves us, doesn’t he?”

“More than you know.” She leaned forward and kissed my head. “Good night, sweetheart.”

The last day of school arrived, and hardly anyone showed up. It surprised me when James did, since most of his grade stopped coming after their School Certificate exams.

“I had to bring you your Christmas present,” he told me with a grin. “And I needed to give you the chance to give me mine.”

I laughed. “How presumptuous.”

He handed me a small box with a set of diamond stud earrings. By the jewelry store emblem on the case, they had to be expensive. “James! This is too much.”

“No, it’s not.” He wrapped his arm around me and kissed me.

“My present seems so stupid after this.”

He grinned. “I doubt it.”

“To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to get you, so . . .” I pulled out his present. He hurried to unwrap it. “It’s just a wallet. I noticed yours looked worn out.”

He faced me with a wide grin across his face. “It’s perfect.”

I smiled and leaned against his shoulder. “James?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m gonna miss seeing you every day.”

He ran his fingers through my ponytail. “Me too. So we’ll need to see each other as much as possible over the holidays. Next week is Christmas, so I don’t think we’ll be able to do anything then, but how about New Year’s?”

“I’d like that.”

“Good, ’cause I wanna kiss you into the New Year.”

Christmas, like always, just flew by. When James came to get me for New Year’s, he sat in the driver’s seat with his mum beside him, which surprised me. He jumped out and rushed to the door to meet me.

“Got my learner’s,” he said as he flashed his permit in front of me.

“Nice.”

“Once I’m driving, you and me are gonna have a lot of fun.”

Dad stepped up behind me and scowled.

“As in driving places,” James hurried to say. “And
never
in the back seat.”

“That’s better,” Dad said as he walked away.

James took my hand and we rushed to the car.

“Hi, Cadence,” Karen said in a chipper voice. “It’s nice to see you again.”

“You too.”

She turned her focus onto James as he concentrated on putting the car into gear. I tried not to smirk as he ground the gears and stalled twice before we took off.

“I can see you in the mirror,” he said.

I giggled.

“Yeah, just wait ’til you start driving.”

Finally, we arrived―alive―at his house. I stepped out of the car and looked up at the house again while James and Karen filled out his logbook. I liked the look of their home. It felt comfortable and welcoming in the quiet neighborhood, until Melanie stepped out.

She stood on the porch with her arms folded, glaring down at me. I took a deep breath and walked toward her. I needed to try to get along with her, and away from school where no one wanted to judge her seemed like the perfect place to start.

She watched me with narrowed eyes as I walked up and stood in front of her. “Hey, Melanie.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Hey, could we at least try? For James?”

“I hope he dumps you.”

“Melanie, please, I’m trying.”

“Oh yes, of course you are. Little Miss Perfect with your Barbie doll hair, perfect clothes, and winner’s attitude,” she responded sarcastically.

I looked down at my trendy denim capris, flip-flops, and purple striped polo, compared to her baggy gray T-shirt and bright red boys’ basketball shorts. She had tied her hair in a ratty ponytail, while mine hung loose, freshly highlighted and straightened. I touched my hair self-consciously. “Melanie, I―”

“Shut up. I don’t wanna talk to you.”

James rushed up behind me and wrapped his arm around my waist. “Mel, you’re a brat.”

He tugged on my waist to pull me around her.

Inside, we stepped into a bright living room with pale green walls and a dark green feature wall behind the couch and two armchairs. Through an archway to my left lay a dining room, and behind that, an entry to the kitchen. Straight ahead, an archway led to a family room that had a glass sliding door leading out the back, and stretching to the right, a hallway led to the bedrooms.

I smiled at how cozy it felt as James led me through to the family room. His dad sat at a desk using the computer. He glanced up at me with raised eyebrows as I entered. “Hello, Cadence.”

“Hello, Mr. Gordon.” I offered him my hand.

He looked at it with a raised eyebrow. Karen tapped his shoulder. “Be nice.”

He took my hand. “Call me John. Mr. Gordon is a bit stuffy, don’t you think?”

I smiled as a grin spread across his face. “Okay.”

Melanie retreated to her room as I sat and talked with James and his parents. I liked them both right away, and we even played a few rounds of cards. After beating them all three times in a row, John nudged James. “Looks like you’ve finally got a winner here, boy.”

I flushed as James grinned at me. He stroked my hair and shifted closer.

“Oh, look at the time!” Karen said. “It’s time for you both to go.”

Confused, I responded, “I thought we were spending New Year’s here.”

“That would be nice.” She stood. “But one of James’ friends is having a party. Didn’t he tell you?”

I glanced at James. He shrugged. “I guess I must have neglected to mention it.”

I tried not to feel sick, but forced a smile, knowing I needed to at least try with his friends. “Yeah, it would’ve been nice to know.”

“Well, you look perfect, so it doesn’t matter.” He stood and squeezed my shoulder. “Come on, let’s go.”

“Can I use the bathroom first?”

He nodded and pointed down the hallway. “The first door on the left. Don’t mistake it for the right ’cause I don’t want you to see my trashed room.”

I smiled at him and hurried away. I shut the bathroom door behind me and took a deep breath. I was terrified. James’ friends were rude enough at school, but to spend the evening with them where they’d likely be drinking and smoking, and worst of all, doing drugs and having
sex . . . I rushed over to the sink and tried to hold in the contents of my stomach.

Dad would kill me if he found out. But James would be devastated if I didn’t at least
try
. I shut my eyes and concentrated on my breathing. I’d never been in a situation like this before. But the muffled sound of James’ voice made my heart skip a beat. He would look out for me. He would keep me safe.

I reached across and flushed the toilet to hide that I’d just been standing there, then washed my hands and dabbed water on my face so I wouldn’t mess up my mascara. I stepped out and found myself face to face with James as he shut his bedroom door behind him.

“You ready?”

I nodded and he took my hand.

He drove again, which didn’t help with the sick nervous feeling in my stomach. When we arrived, the house looked perfectly normal and quiet. I waited for James to fill out his logbook and come around to get me.

He rested his arm around my shoulders as we walked to the door. “I can tell you’re freaking out, but it’ll be okay, I promise. I’ll stay with you the whole time.”

I forced a smile. He kissed my head.

He knocked, and one of his scruffy, cigarette stench-ridden friends answered. “Jimmy! Dude, you’re late! Come on, we’re all out the back.”

As we walked through the house, I scanned for adults, hoping they would keep the illegal activities to a minimum, but there weren’t any. I pressed against James. “Where are the parents?”

He shrugged. “Not here.”

“I don’t know about this.”

“Cadence, you’ll be fine.” He smiled down at me.

I whimpered, but didn’t protest. I knew better. Every instinct screamed at me to run, but with his arm around me, I just couldn’t.

We stepped onto the back porch and his guy friends hollered to him as they raised their beers. I hesitated, but he coaxed me forward.

The girls glared at me as I sat beside James. Becca’s stare bored into me; I just knew she wanted to attack me again and rip my eyes out.

I clung to James’ hand and shuffled closer to him. He lifted my hand and kissed it, giving me a reassuring smile.

The first hour or so wasn’t bad. I kept quiet as the boys made crude jokes and the girls gossiped quietly together. Occasionally they’d throw me an icy glance, but I tried to ignore them and focus on James.

The darker it became, the more drunk they grew. To my relief, James only sipped at one bottle so he could keep his wits about him. I didn’t want him drunk and leaving me exposed to anything. I carefully drank from unopened bottles of water. I didn’t want to risk someone taking advantage of me.