Page 69 of The Darkest Note

“Doesn’t he seem familiar?”

I purse my lips and look closer. “Not really.”

“Cadence!”

“What?” I jump when she yells.

Eyes flashing, Viola swipes her thumb over the screen and shows me another screenshot. This one is of the wanna-be gangster and Hunter.

I gasp when I see Hunter’s gorgeous face staring up at me. He’s got his arm slung around the kid. The caption reads, ‘brothers for life’.

“They’re in a gang together?” I gasp.

“I could smack you…” Viola grumbles heatedly. “They’re brothers, Cadey.Brothers.I found out from my friend who’s going with Hunter’s brother. Hunter is going to be at the school as a chaperone.”

I sigh. “Why is that information I need to know?”

“Hello! You can sign up to be a chaperone too. Then you can go to homecoming, slow dance with Hunter and fall in love.” She smacks her hands together. “It’s perfect.”

“It’s a fantasy that you’ve built up in your own head. Have you been reading romance novels lately?”

My sister flails her arms like a child throwing a tantrum. “You’re no fun.”

“And you’re going to be late for school if you don’t hurry and finish eating now.” I gesture to the food.

Hunter might be hot, but I’m not into him like that. I barely know the guy, so there’s a chance we can strike a match. Maybe. Not that I’m looking for anything.

A memory of Dutch’s kiss flashes through my mind and my body tingles in all the wrong places.

I’m not apathetic towards Hunter because of Dutch.

He has nothing to do with it

In fact, Dutch is the reason I’m against men in general.

He sends my blood pressure rising just by stepping into the room. And every time he makes my life a living hell, I want to smack him. But the moment I see him shirtless, I want to throw my arms around him.

He’s dangerous and evil, sure.

But I obviously have a few screws loose if I can’t see past his gorgeous face to his ugly insides. My hormones are clearly not a great judge of character.

Sighing, I take the bathroom first and change into my Redwood Prep uniform.

Viola’s in her room doing her makeup magic so I just give her a slight wave, which she returns, and make my way to Redwood.

It’s always a good day when people don’t look at me, look at their phones and snicker. I only release a breath when I see that the gawking and stares are about the usual.

Today’s already heading in the right direction.

I stop at my locker and find that everything is dry.

Another good sign.

Maybe I can start to breathe now.

“Hey, stranger,” Serena says, popping up by my locker.

I grin over at her. I’m in a good mood and her presence just proves that today is going to be my day. Screw Dutch and his overbearing self.

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