Emotional Cadence

Cadence

Hi! My name is Cadence McClaine, an eighteen year old senior at Roosevelt High in the crap town of Roosevelt. In this town, most people work at the lumber mill and for anyone in school, if you aren’t involved in sports or cheer, you’re considered a loser. Well, that would be me…Cadence McClaine, loser extraordinaire.

I have only two friends in this god awful town, well, I guess it’s one now, but who’s counting, right? Macy Anderson, who’s just as much of a ‘loser’ as me, is the one who’s stuck it out with me all these years and then there’s Colton Linley.

Colton, or Colt as we’ve always called him, isn’t like us, but somehow we just click, or at least we did…we’ll get to that in a minute.

I met Macy sophomore year when she first moved here, but Colt? Well, I’ve known him since kindergarten when his family moved in next door and, even though he became a jock as soon as we got into high school, he stuck around instead of ditching us for the popular crowd…until recently.

So, I know how cliché it sounds and, trust me, I’ve scolded myself for it daily since I figured it out, but I’ve been crushing on Colt for the last two years. I know, I know, it’s foolish to crush on your best friend, but it gets worse, so much worse.

In the last year, I’ve helped him pursue Tanya Phillips, head cheerleader and over all raging bitch, after he confessed to having a crush on her. Thanks to my help, they started dating almost two months ago and that’s pretty much when he stopped acting like my best friend and turned into an acquaintance, but most times, he’s not even that.

Yep, I must be a glutton for punishment because now that they’re dating, I get to listen to the man I spent two years fantasizing about screw his girlfriend since my bedroom window looks straight into his. Sometimes, I really hate my life.

I used to always have my blinds open and my window cracked to help the air in my room circulate, but now I don’t dare. I’m not willing to risk destroying myself any further by accidentally hearing or seeing them in action. I know what you’re thinking, why would you help the guy you like win over a girl you can’t even stand?! Well, if you have an answer, I’d love to hear it because I sure the hell don’t have one.

“Cade! You’re gonna be late!” Yeah, that would be my mom and don’t worry, I won’t really be late. It’s actually only seven fifteen, but she seems to think school is like a job where you should show up twenty minutes early so you don’t run the risk of being late.

I used to leave early so I could hang out with Colt by his car before the bell rang, but now he spends all his time with Tanya and Macy never gets to school more than ten minutes early, so I’m going to take my time.

“I’m almost ready, ma!” I give myself one last inspection in my full length mirror and smile at my casual style, one of the many things that sets me apart from the ‘in’ crowd. They like designer clothes and the girls all dress like they’re ready to go clubbing, not preparing to attend classes at a high school. Not me though.

Today’s style is my usual baggy jeans, A black t-shirt that says ‘I don’t know what my spirit animal is, but I’m pretty sure it has rabies’ and my black converse shoes. My hair is in a messy bun and the only makeup on my face is a little eye liner and some concealer to help hide the dark circles under my eyes.

With my backpack and my phone in hand, I make my way out of the house and hop into my silver Dodge Ram pickup, the one my dad insisted on getting me because, and I quote, ‘My baby girl isn’t going to be driving around in a little beater car. In this beast, ain’t no way the other drivers won’t see you comin.’

That was the last thing my dad did for me before he revealed that he had been cheating on my mom and, another cliché for you, got his mistress pregnant. I’m sure you can guess which family he decided to be with, but if you can’t, here’s a little hint…it wasn’t mine.

I pull up to the school and park in my usual spot, another torture I inflict on myself since it’s right across the aisle from Colt’s spot where, just as I expected, he’s making out with Tanya in front of his car.

I’m about to climb out when an unfamiliar car pulls into the spot beside me, so I wait until they’re parked before opening my door, not wanting to be the dick who hits their car with my door, and hopping out.

Macy is already walking toward me, but I notice her stop in the middle of the aisle, her eyes trained on whatever, or whoever, she sees in the car next to mine. I grab my phone and backpack then close my door just as the driver of the unfamiliar black Honda gets out.

He’s tall, like, ridiculously tall! He has a toned, but not extremely muscular body, black hair that’s short on the sides and long on top with it secured in a ponytail and I even see a tattoo peeking out of the top of his shirt that stops at the base of his neck.

“Cade!” Well, her fascination ended quickly!

“Hey Mac. Coffee?” She nods and the new guy turns to grab something from his car, giving me the perfect view of his gorgeous face and stunning green eyes. He smirks when he catches me staring, but I don’t do embarrassment, so I shrug, letting him know I’m aware that I’ve been caught, but really don’t care.

“God yes! I’ve got some tea to spill, girl!” I roll my eyes, making sure she sees the action, not that it ever phases her.

“One, I haven’t had enough caffeine for your tea and two, you know I hate drama. So, you keep your tea and I’ll take a quad shot peppermint mocha instead.” She links her arm with mine and drags me to the crosswalk.

Our favorite coffee shop just so happens to be located right across from the school’s parking lot, so we might go there a little more frequently than would be seen as socially acceptable, but…you know…coffee!

“You girls want the usual?” Our favorite barista, Matthew, has a not so secret crush on Macy, but the girl, god love her, is clueless. I’m pretty sure Matthew is the only guy she doesn’t actively flirt with, which is rather surprising since she flirts with almost everyone of the male persuasion.

“Yeah, Matt, thanks.” Matt winks then shifts his attention to the customer behind us.

“You know what you want yet?” I set $15 on the counter then try to push Macy toward the other end where our drinks will be placed when they’re done, but she doesn’t move. I look up and see her staring behind me.

“What would you ladies recommend?” The deep voice gives me the most insane chills, but when I turn around to see the new guy, my need to not be a complete idiot, thankfully, kicks into gear.

“Oh, we’re not ladies, but if you like coffee with a kick, my go to is a quad peppermint mocha. If you like something a little tamer, they make a good latte.” Matt chuckles as he sets my cup on the counter.

“Cade, I haven’t met anyone who likes their coffee as lethal as you like yours. Don’t let her fool you, when she says quad, it’s four extra shots of espresso, so a total of eight…in one cup.” He sets Macy’s cup on the counter and flashes her the usual smile accompanied by a flirtatious wink that, as always, goes right over her head.

“Sounds good to me.” Matt is staring wide eyed at the new guy, but part of me wants to stay and watch his reaction, a very small part of me, but it’s there.

“Ugh, bitch alert.” That’s Macy’s way of announcing that Tanya is coming, but I simply shrug and sip my coffee.

“Hey, Cade.” Hearing Colt’s voice is bittersweet since half of me holds onto the memories of all the times he’s been an amazing friend who was always there for me while the other half of me holds onto the way he’s generally avoided so much as looking at me when he’s around Tanya and her friends, or the way he never goes out of his way to talk to me anymore.

Like right now? He’s only saying something because we’re only a few feet apart, but aside from basic pleasantries, the conversation will never become anything meaningful.

“Colt.” I see the slight wince at my cold tone, but honestly…I could care less.

“Damn, that’s really good. I appreciate the recommendation.” I slowly turn with a furrowed brow and look at the new guy as he drinks his coffee like it isn’t a nearly lethal dose of caffeine in a paper cup. I narrow my eyes at him, disappointed and intrigued in equal measure by his lack of a favorable reaction.

“Huh, not the reaction I was expecting.” He chuckles and, damn, if it doesn’t do something funny to my insides.

“Sorry if I disappointed you, doll. Can I escort you not-ladies back to school?” I study him for a second, secretly hoping I’ll see some reaction from the coffee that tells me he’s not actually enjoying it, but he just gives me a sinfully gorgeous smile.

“Yeah, we’d like that. Let’s go.” Macy, clearly too damn happy to accept his offer, leads the way out with me sandwiched between her and the new guy, whose name I should probably learn so I don’t go around calling him new guy.

“So, do you not-ladies have names?” See?! Great minds think alike!

“I’m Macy and this is Cadence.” I shoot Macy a sharp glare for giving out my full name, the name only used when I land myself in deep shit.

“Cade, only my mom calls me Cadence and only when I piss her off.” He laughs and nods his head, but his eyes seem to be studying me and...it’s strange. People don’t study me, hell, most people don’t even acknowledge me.

“I’m Lucian, but everyone calls me Luc.” Macy is all but drooling over him, but he either doesn’t notice or is just too damn nice to draw attention to it.

It’s strange, but he almost seems uninterested in her, yet that makes no sense since all the guys seem to be interested in Macy. She's like some weird loser slut hybrid, but that's just Macy and I've learned to ignore her flirtatious behavior.

It seems like every guy wants to go a round with her just to pretend she doesn't exist after. I can't say I understand it, but I accept it for what it is.

We make it back to the parking lot with Macy talking poor Luc’s ear off, though he doesn’t act like he minds.

“So, where were you living before you moved here?” Macy’s laying it on thick with her sickly sweet ‘I wanna jump you’ voice that always has me rolling my eyes...and this moment is no exception. Luc glances over just in time to catch said eye roll and smirks before answering her.

“We moved around a lot. We were in Chicago before this and before that was San Diego.” It’s very subtle, but I catch the slight strain in his voice which immediately pulls my attention to him.

“Oh, so how long do you think you’ll be hanging around here before you move again?” We stop by my truck and he casually leans against the hood of his car while he takes another drink of his coffee.

“I think we’ll be hanging around here for a while. We moved so much because of my mom’s job, but my parents just got a divorce, so I’m here with my dad.” I give him a sympathetic smile, but Macy…well, she looks downright excited. It’s almost embarrassing, really.

“Well, I’m glad you’ll be sticking around then!” Before he can respond, the bell rings and Macy gives me her usual uncomfortable hug before hurrying off, leaving me and Luc standing there awkwardly.

“Sorry about her. She’s just…well, she’s unapologetically Macy. So, what’s your first class?” He reaches into the front pocket of his jeans and pulls out a folded paper then hands it to me. I take the paper then hand him my coffee to hold while I unfold and scan over the page.

“Well, looks like you and I have the same classes aside from your fifth block PE and sixth block Auto Shop. Come on, you can follow me for now and at lunch I can show you where to go for the two classes we don’t share.” I take my coffee from him and place his schedule back in his hand.