You let me deal with Bray, okay Cadence?
Goosebumps ignite everywhere. The way I read his message with his tone of voice in my head gives me chills. I can onlyimagine him saying those words to me out loud. But now, I don’t know what to say, so I type out the first thing that comes to mind, eager to play it cool.
You played a good game yesterday by the way.
Thank you. Felt a little off my game but we won, that's all that matters.
I stare at my phone, trying to figure out how to respond or what to say next. Nothing comes to mind, but before I can decide to just close out the conversation, another text comes through.
Anyway… I’ll ask him about his whereabouts since you won’t tell me. But I hope you have a good day today.
Okay then. Well, you too.
Another text conversation down, and this time it was because he texted me first. He texted me even when he told me we shouldn’t text. After a week of silence. But maybe he realized it was trivial. But I’m just glad he didn’t bring up me spying on him yesterday morning. That would have been humiliating to have to discuss.
In any case, Zach and I have never texted before. It’s something that might seem kind of surprising really, because I’ve known him nearly my whole life and, in some ways, he’s always carried that familiarity close enough to resemble family. And sure, we’ve had conversations and such, but nothing as private as a text conversation. So even with his close proximity,even though he’s always around, I finally have something of Zach that is just for me.
I’m finally texting my brother’s best friend, so I guess that’s a start.
4
Cadence
Iswear, if my alarm wasn’t blaring from my cell phone, I’d throw it against the wall. I’d feel satisfaction in watching it shatter. Instead, I groan as I reach for it, frantically trying to swipe at thestopbar to shut it off. But then, from all of its violent vibrations, it falls off my side table and onto the floor.Great. I don't know what's got me in a hostile mood. Maybe it's because I didn't sleep well last night, which hardly happens. And I love my sleep, but I usually wake up early on school days just because I like to beat my brother to the shower. But today, for some reason, I'm just not having it.
I throw my head back in annoyance, huffing when I decide to roll out of bed to pick my phone up off the floor.
“I really loathe you right now,” I complain to the device before turning off the alarm and tossing it onto my bed. But then it vibrates again.
I turn my head, eyeing it. My phone is slightly buried in my scrunched-up blanket, but I can still see that it’s a text message; my screen lit up with a familiar name across it.
Zach.
What could he want this early in the morning? Why is he texting me?
I hesitate and I'm not sure why. I should be jumping at the opportunity to talk to him, right? But I think part of me is apprehensive because he makes me nervous and I don't want to say or do the wrong things. Or seem overly eager. But I decide to check the message, unlocking my phone and clicking on the notification.
Just wanted to say good morning. See you later.
My heart races. We haven’t texted since Saturday, which was only two days ago but to say I didn't expect to hear from him again so soon is an understatement. That reminds me, I almost forgot that he's taking me to school today, along with Brayden of course, since Ryen's car crapped out on her yesterday. Usually, when her car is working, she'll take me to school. Otherwise, ever since both boys got their licenses, one or the other will usually drive us.
I stare at the message, wondering how I should reply or if I should reply at all. What should I say?Hey, sorry I haven’t texted you but you kind of make me nervous and I'm scared that my brother will find out and I also don't want you to think that I'm super desperate to talk to you all the time even thoughI kind of am because I've secretly had this crush on your since the fourth grade and I'm not sure you'd ever like me like that.
Yeah, no thanks.
But not to mention, Ryen told me to be a little less available. Her exact words were, "Okay, well now that you know he was thinking about you, don't text him for the rest of the weekend. Wait to see if he texts you again."
So that's what I did. And now, I don't know what to say. So instead of trying to come up with a response, I simply click on the reactions and press the pink heart emoji before tossing my phone back down and heading to get my morning started.
“Cadie!” I swing my head behind me to find Ryen pushing her way through the hall. Students are either eagerly rushing through the hallway, standing around as they chat with their friends, or have their faces buried in their phones as they blindly navigate the hallway.
I can tell she's annoyed. Ryen hates crowds, especially when there really is no reason for them. For instance, when she's driving down the highway and traffic comes to nearly a complete stop only to find out that the reason is because drivers are being nosy regarding an accident on theotherside of the highway. And now, it's because-
“Hello?" She snaps at a group of kids who are just standing in the center of the hall, gossiping between themselves. "Pay attention." She waves her hands around as if to let them knowthat they are disrupting foot traffic, and the scramble, allowing her to proceed.
"Someone is sassy today," I say to her once she makes it through to me.
"Someone pissed me off earlier," she says before she sighs. "And it’s like a freaking zoo in here. Like they've never learned how to keep it moving!” Ryen turns her head back to the crowd and practically shouts that last sentence over the stampede of students, as if to insult them. A few of them look her way and give her wide eyes while others simply just ignore her. I giggle as she turns back to me and we proceed with the crowd moving toward the cafeteria.
