Chapter 9 Cadence #2
We both smirk before turning away from each other.
This is honestly how most of our mornings go.
Bray and I bickering over something little, Mom getting irritated with something Bray is doing and Dad is usually just sitting in the background with his phone and coffee, ignoring everything before we all break off and head out for the day.
It’s a controlled chaos that seems to fuel this family.
Something we’ve grown accustomed to over the years.
“So, about this party tonight,” my mom starts as she points her stern glare at my brother, sifting through the weekly mail that's been laying on the kitchen counter. “I’m not kidding, Brayden. I don’t want to come back to find anything broken, damaged, moved, or even touched.
No noise complaints, no police, and absolutely nothing illegal. ”
Mom looks over to me, but I widen my eyes at her. “This isn’t my party, he’s the adult now,” I say, pointing at my now eighteen-year-old brother.
“Yeah, but you’re staying aren’t you? I need you to keep your brother in check,” she responds as Bray turns his attention over to me.
“Wait, you’re staying for the party? I thought you said you already had plans,” Brayden asks me and I try my best to keep the fact that his best friend is the one who wanted me to attend.
But the truth is, I’m only really going because I let Ryen talk me into it.
At least that’s what I’m telling myself.
Because part of me does kind of want to go for another reason.
“I told you last night, dummy. After I helped you with your math homework. You’re welcome by the way,” I state and he pinches his brows together, trying to recall that conversation.
“Right,” he says before turning back to Mom. “Well, Ma, I can promise you that everything is going to be fine. You don’t have to worry.”
She rolls her eyes but really, I think she knows that we won’t allow anything to happen that will jeopardize their trust in us.
We’d be stupid to ruin that. Not a lot of kids our age can say that they have the leniency that our parents allow us, not that we run around all out of control and wild like some kids do.
But it’s nice to know that they trust us, even if I do know that Brayden is definitely going to push the limits just a smidge.
But that’s my brother for you, and I think my mom is prepared to deal with that.
“Our hotel information is already plugged into the smart device, so if for some reason your father or I don’t answer our phones, you can call our room in case of an emergency.
” Mom and Dad decided to spend the weekend out of town while they trust us with our home.
I like to think that they know what they’re doing but as I see the look of mischief behind Brayden’s eyes, my concern starts to grow just a tad.
But we both nod our heads.
“Now, join us out in the garage. We have something we’d like to give you.”
I watch as my brother’s eyes light up and a smile curls on my lips. “Told you,” I mouth and he takes off out of the kitchen, my mom following behind him.
I stay to clean up my mess, but once I know that I’m alone, I reopen the text thread between Zach and I. I start to type out good morning but then delete it because I’m starting to feel myself overthink this. Ugh. Why am I struggling so hard with something that I’ve wanted for so long?
After I drop my bowl in the sink, I decide to open up social media again.
The first thing I see is a new post from Zach.
It’s a picture of him and Bray on a football field at one of their summer scrimmages, lined up and looking extremely focused.
Then I realize that there’s more. The next slide is a picture of them from a long time ago.
It looks like the end of sixth grade, maybe.
They’re in the front yard of Zach’s house on their bikes, throwing up peace signs as they smile for the camera.
The next picture is of them in the locker room at school, likely after one of their practices or something.
I keep scrolling, finding three more photos of some combination of him and my brother, and that’s when I read the caption.
Happy birthday, B man. Thanks for everything.
My heart warms. I’ve never seen Zach be all sentimental before. And I don’t know if I can recall him ever posting a birthday post for anyone. He usually doesn’t even post captions much if he does post something at all.
Just as I decide that I’m going to like this post on purpose this time, my phone starts ringing in my hand. I sigh in relief when I see it's Ryen.
“Oh, thank goodness. I need someone to talk some sense into me.” I greet my best friend desperately as I lean off the kitchen counter.
“Hold that thought. Did you see Zach’s IG post?"
"Uh, yeah. I was actually just looking at it," I reply.
"That boy is in love, Cadie.” She practically squeals in my ear and I have to pull the phone away from my ear to avoid an eardrum rupture.
“With my brother?” I ask, placing the phone back over my ear. I walk upstairs, taking two at a time, and head to my bedroom, wanting to make sure no one can listen in on our conversation.
“No. With you.”
“I’m not following,” I tell her as I throw myself down on my bed.
“Zach has never posted anything with emotional meaning like that ever. What’s the one thing that’s different in his life? Something that might have stirred up some ooey gooey feelings?”
I scoff. “You’re ridiculous.”
“It's you, my sweet Persephone. The Goddess of Love. It’s you! That boy is smitten.”
"Wait. Ryen, you do know that Persephone isn't the Goddess of Love, right?" I sit up straight, waiting for her to answer me.
Silence falls over the phone before I hear her let out a little breath.
"Well, no, actually," she responds and I break out into a gasp before chuckling.
"Girl. I thought you knew that Persephone is the Goddess of Spring and like, the queen of the underworld. I thoughts that's why you always called me that. Because I'm the queen to your underworld," I say those last few words with flirtatious sarcasm.
Ryen goes into defense and starts mumbling about how she's googling it and I can hear her tapping on her phone screen as I lay back down in my bed and continue talking.
"Anyway. Bray is Zach's best friend, Ry.
I mean, they do pretty much everything together.
It's normal to post your friends on their birthday and I think it was really sweet,” I state.
The idea that Ryen has in her head is actually insane so I do what I can to combat it, not wanting her to put too much more in my head to overthink, because I'm already doing enough of that as it is.
“Yeah, and when has he ever posted a thanks for everything post?” She pauses for a second. “Oh, wait. He hasn’t. You’re really doing something to him, girl.”
“Listen,” I start as I sit up again, this time jumping off my bed and walking over to my window. “We’re barely talking. I haven’t done anything to him. Can't it just be a nice gesture? Maybe he's in a good mood. And what do I have to do with anything he does regarding my brother?”
I hear Ryen sigh over the phone before I hear voices echoing outside my window. I lean inward to peer out, and that’s when I see Mom, Dad, and Bray out front; Brayden testing out his new bike and I can see the biggest smile on his face.
“Well, I’m sure he had lots to say about those dress pics you sent him.”
I lean back and think of the things Zach said to me last night.
Things that I still can’t seem to decipher fully even though I’m sure it’s pretty cookie cutter.
He was flirting with me. Or at least I think.
I guess when I think about it, I don't really know much about how to flirt. Though, the compliments he admitted to giving me have to be the dead giveaway, but it was also pretty evident in the way he struggled to be straight with me. Something that makes more sense now that I’ve read through the messages about a hundred times since last night.
But if that’s the truth, if I’m finally reading into his messages the right way, then that means that Zach might actually have a crush on me too.
“Maybe he was little . . . weird. I don’t know. But it doesn’t have to mean anything.”
“I guess we’ll have to wait and see,” she sing-songs.
“For what?” I ask.
“For the party,” she replies “Tonight, Cadie baby. Tonight, you are making your move. Oh, and Cadence?"
"Yes, Ryen?" I sigh.
"I'm still calling you Persephone."