Chapter 16 Cadence
Cadence
“What do you mean he asked you to homecoming?” Ryen whispers as she leans over her desk and covers her mouth with her hand while the teacher reads from a textbook.
I roll my eyes as I stick my phone back into my pocket.
“The reason I texted you was so that we wouldn’t get caught talking,” I tell her and she just swipes her hand at me.
“Not the point. Drake asked you to the dance? When?” Her enthusiasm peeks as she turns her boldly completely to me and I shift in my own chair to get a little closer to her.
“Last night,” I keep my voice as low as possible as I look around to make sure no one can hear us.
Luckily, we got seats in the back of the class today.
But after my last run-in with a teacher calling me out and how embarrassing it was to present that insanely niche paper to the class, I do decide that I do not want to go through that again.
“He texted me shortly after Zach left my house,” I add before sitting straight up when I see the teacher start to lift his head up.
Ryen and I stay utterly still until he does his routine glance around the room. When he turns back around and continues reading, a slight chatter falls over the class as people start discussing the topic and Ry and I use this opportunity to talk a bit more freely.
“I’m confused. Have you ever talked to him before?” she asks as she pulls a book out from her bag.
“No,” I shrug, trying to think of a time I would have run into him. “I don’t even think we have classes together and I don’t even know how he got my number, to be honest.” I shrug, puzzled by what prompted him to ask me to homecoming.
I mean, I don’t really mind. He did it very respectfully and now that I think about it, I’ve never been asked to a dance ever. I’ve seen him around here and there and of course he plays for the football team so that’s where I see him the most but we have never talked. Ever.
“Well, are you going to tell Zach?”
I tilt my head at her with an obvious frown, but then I realize it is a bit of a valid question.
“Should I? I mean, it doesn’t really mean much to me. I told him no, of course.”
“Okay, class,” Ryen and I jump, pulling our attention abruptly back to the front of the class as the teacher speaks.
“You’ll have about fifteen minutes to finish reading the chapter on bioengineering of synthetic organs, page one-hundred-fifty-six.
I will be giving a pop quiz after so please make sure you actually read it.
” Everyone starts flipping through their books while the teacher takes a seat at his desk.
I pull out my text book and start flipping to the chapter, but then feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. I carefully pull it out and I see Ryen’s name pop up on the screen and I turn my head to look at her. She pops a bubble of gum against her lips as she flips the page of her book.
I open the text.
tell him. do you remember how you felt when you heard about Brianna?
She’s right. I didn’t take that very well.
In fact, I cried; something no one but me knows.
And maybe my reaction was a little excessive and I know guys handle things differently.
But Ryen has a good point. I hated being blindsided like that and now that Zach and I are a little bit more serious, I think the right thing to do is to just let him know.
Not only that, but we didn’t really get a chance to talk last night after my mom walked in on us and I really want to ask him about the news she revealed to me.
I check my surroundings to make sure the teacher isn’t looking before I switch over to my text thread with Zach.
Hey.
He responds almost immediately.
Yes, Sunshine?
I was wondering if we can meet in the library during lunch?
Is something wrong?
No. Not really. Just need to talk to you about something.
That doesn’t sound good.
It’s not bad. Please?
You don’t think people will notice that both of us are missing?
It’ll be quick, I promise.
You promise nothing is wrong, Cadie?
Yes, Zachariah. Promise.
Okay, I’ll meet you there.
I look up, everyone is doing their work and minding their own business. I’m thankful I read ahead last week and already finished this chapter, otherwise I’d be screwed for the pop quiz seeing as I’ve wasted most of my time on my phone.
I jump back over to my thread with Ry.
Hey. Gonna meet Zach at lunch. Cover for me if Bray asks?
I watch her as she silently sides her phone out from between her thigh and the chair.
Gotcha. Mad period cramps. Possibly bled through your jeans.
I read the message and don’t know if I should be annoyed or laugh.
If you tell him that, I’ll murder you.
That’s not very Persephone of you.
Have I taught you nothing? Persephone is the queen of the underworld. I know a thing or two, I’d say.
She laughs at my text and we both put our phones away.
Now if I could just focus on the rest of class on not what I’m going to say to Zach when I see him.
I’m walking through the library, students sitting at cubicles and others walking the aisles, looking at the shelves.
I look around to make sure no one notices me, or that I don’t notice anyone else.
I don’t want to risk anyone seeing us and spreading something that might get to my brother, before we can get the chance to tell him ourselves, which is why doing this at all during school is risky. But it’s the only time we have.
I round the corner, going all the way to the back of the library and as I walk past the bookshelf at the very end of the hall, I hear a whistle.
I turn around and immediately feel relief when I’m greeted with dark brown eyes and the best smile I’ve ever seen. Zach leans up against the shelf, shrouded in the shadows and hidden away, arms crossed, and eyes pointed right at me.
“Shh,” I whisper to him as I walk toward him. A smirk curls on his face.
“Hey, sunshine,” he whispers back.
I can feel the tension between us. I mean, it’s practically bleeding from the both of us considering we were seconds away from kissing last night.
I get nervous being this close to him again, because I want nothing more than to finish what we started.
I hope he does too. But right now, I want to focus on something more important.
I close the distance between us as he stands up straight.
“Zach, there’s something I have to tell you.
Or want to tell you. Or I don’t know, something you should know.
” I stutter a bit, feeling anxious for some reason.
It’s not that I think he’ll be upset or mad.
It’s more so that I don’t really know if he'll even care or if I’m just making a big deal out of this.
“Whatever it is, you can tell me,” he says and despite the nerves that tangle in my chest, I sense reassurance from him.
It’s safe. Something I’ve always felt from him but now that we’re closer, it means more than it ever has.
I can trust him and he seems genuine when he says I can tell him anything.
“Well, first,” I start, deciding that I want to start with the other thing. “I have to ask you something.”
“Okay?” He raises his brows as he looks down at me, and I have to calm my nerves to get out the question.
I lower my voice and gently center my eyes over his. “Are your parents getting a divorce?”
His facial expression immediately contorts to something resembling worry, frustration, possibly even . . . fear.
“How did you hear that?” His tone raises a bit, and I look around to make sure no one is nearby before stepping in a bit closer. But I can sense that he tenses up and it puts me a bit on edge, worried that I’m overstepping.
“My mom,” I tell him and he sighs.
“Zach, I’m so sorry. I wish you would have told me. I didn’t know you were going through that.” I try my best to sound as comforting as I can, not really knowing how he feels about the whole thing.
“It’s new,” he says. “And I just didn’t think it was important.” I can tell he’s trying to hide his emotions again. I know it the moment his eyes move away from mine.
“Zach, of course it’s important,” I tell him, reaching out and placing my hand over his upper arm but he retreats.
“Hey, look at me.” I move into his sight, forcing him to focus his eyes on me and I can see that his demeanor changes ever so slightly.
“Are you okay?” I ask him and I witness as he tries to hold back something. Not tears. Not anger. But something deeper.
A loneliness.
I don’t even hesitate, I reach up and wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him in.
It takes him a second, but he returns the gesture and wraps his arms around my waist. We hold each other like this in silence.
He doesn’t need to say anything to me about it and I don’t need to ask anymore.
I already know what this is doing to him.
I know how hard he’s taking it and how hard he’s working to not let it show.
But I know.
“You’re not alone,” I whisper as I lean back and press my lips to his cheek.
I fall back on my feet and look up at him, but he doesn't let me go.
I can feel the walls coming down, but I won't force him to let me in completely if he doesn't want to. I know who Zach is and while I want to be someone he can come to, I know he'll talk to me about it when he's ready.
“What did you want to tell me?” he asks, changing the subject. And now I fear I might have relayed my information to him in the wrong order. Now, I’m worried that I stirred up his emotions and he might actually have a reaction to the news I’m about to tell him.
“Well, after you left yesterday. I got a text.”
“Okay.”
“It was from Drake.” I wait. Watching him as he just stares at me, and a few seconds pass before he responds.
“Drake,” he repeats calmly.
“Yeah. He’s on the-”
“I know who he is. What did he say?”
“Well,” I pause before taking a breath. “He asked me out. To homecoming.”
“To homecoming,” he repeats again and I can’t tell if he’s not bothered, concerned, upset, or what.
“Yeah.” I shift in his hold, realizing that his thumbs are running circles against the small of my back. I try my best to avoid the goosebumps he leaves in his wake, wanting to focus on what he’s going to say.
“And why didn’t you tell me this last night?” His tone seems to lower, like he’s trying not to raise it.
He’s mad. That means he’s mad, right?
“I don’t know. I mean the whole situation with the kiss and then mom walking in and…”
“What did you tell him?” Zach interrupts me and I have this urge to ask him if he’s mad. So much so that I start to feel a tear form in my eye.
The last thing I want to do is upset him but before I get a chance to come up with an answer, he leans in, cupping my face with both of his hands and pulls me in.
Our lips connect in an instant and all of the worry I had just moments ago seems to fade.
He holds me, caressing my face as he kisses me with a fierceness that travels down my spine.
He moves one of his hands from my face and pulls me in by my hip and I take that as my cue to step closer.
The second there is no more space between us, he reaches down to my thighs and lifts me up.
I gasp as he flips us around and presses my back into the bookcase.
I wrap my legs around his torso and link my arms around his shoulders.
He leans back in to kiss me and it truly takes my breath away.
He’s soft, and sweet. And it’s everything I ever imagined.
I press myself into him, eager for him to never let me go, but I feel him pulling away and I pant as I feel a burst of cool air feather against the warmth where his mouth was.
“No,” he says to me in a low, guttural tone. I have to blink several times and force myself to breath before I can respond to him.
“What?” I ask, still heavy breathing.
“You tell him, no, Cadence.” I look up at him, our bodies still so close together. I let my fingers play with the hair at the nape of his neck and he looks from my eyes to my lips and then back up.
I smirk. “I told him no last night,” I say to Zach and something akin to pride swells behind his eyes.
“I know that this is complicated,” he starts as he leans in closer to me. “I know that. But just to make myself perfectly clear Cadence. You are mine, okay?”
My heart thuds violently. I feel something warm swirl between my legs, something I can’t say I’ve ever felt before and I shift. I think Zach notices, because then I feel it. The evidence of what I do to him pressing into me. I squirm a little, not really knowing I do it and Zach groans my name.
My breath hitches, but then I silently unwrap my arms from around him and he lowers me back down to the ground. He pushes his hands through his hair while I pull my shirt down, having ridden up from the position we were in.
Everything feels overwhelming and I reel, touching my lips and smiling hard to myself. I can't believe that just happened.
A beat of silence plays between us before I finally look back up to him, and say, “I think we should tell Brayden.”
“I think so too.” he doesn’t even hesitate. “I can’t believe that Drake went against his-
I stop him. “What? No.”
Zach tilts his head at me. “Isn’t that what you meant?” he asks and confusion pulls on my features.
“No, what I meant was that I want to be with you, Zach. We should tell Bray about us.” He stares at me for a second before I continue. “What are you talking about?”
Zach sighs and something flips in me. I can tell that what he’s about to say to me might just ruin the mood and I prepare myself for whatever it is he’s about to unveil.
“Don’t get mad,” he starts and then Zach reluctantly proceeds to tell me how Brayden has been speaking to the football team, warning them all that I am off limits. Telling them that I am not to be bothered, asked out, flirted with, or even spoken to.
I feel my blood boil when I hear Zach talk, thinking of all the years I’ve gone without a date to anything.
And I always wondered why. I always thought it was me.
That I wasn’t likeable. Not that I would have been interested given my very single-focused interest. But still, hearing that Bray has been daring to be this controlling over the boys that I can or can’t talk to kind of infuriates me.
Zach stops talking. His eyes search mine for a reaction.
But I don’t know how to react. I don’t really know how to feel at all.
I know it hurts a little, and I'm trying to find a reason why Bray would assume that his actions were necessary.
But at the same time, I'm not sure if it truly bothers me much.
All I know is that I have to talk to him.
"I've got to go," I tell Zach. I recognize that I come off a little short, and possibly even annoyed, but I turn around and start to walk away.
“Shit,” I hear Zach hiss before the sound of his footsteps follows after me. “Cadence," he calls out my name but there's no use. I'm determined to give my brother a piece of my mind.