Page 55 of The Broken Note

“Are you bashing Dutch or complimenting him?” I ask, my mouth full of fries.

Breeze gives me a dark look.

I check my watch. “Five minutes left. If you’re done with gossip, I have something I want to tell you both.”

“What?” Breeze leans in.

Serena does too.

I pause for a minute. The urge to tell Breeze my mom is back curls on the edge of my tongue. But that’s way too complicated to explain in five minutes.

So I turn to the second, equally pressing matter.

“Jinx offered me a deal.” I show them the text.

Breeze’s eyes double in size. “Jinx texted you? Personally?”

I nod.

“I didn’t know she did that. I thought she was only on the app.”

“Before she had an app, Jinx was trading secrets with the elite at Redwood,” Serena informs her. “She used to text people personally.”

“Did she ever text you?”

Serena freezes and then stammers, “No, I wasn’t important or rich enough for Jinx to notice me.”

I study her and she avoids my gaze.

“Anyway,” Serena juts her chin at me, “did you make the deal?”

“Not yet, but I’m thinking about it.”

“No way!” Breeze whisper-shouts. “An anonymous person that blasts the secrets of the rich is not someone you want to get involved with. I have a really bad feeling about this, Cadence.”

“She said she has something I want.”

“And?”

My eyes lock on Serena. “I want to ask her for evidence… evidence that you didn’t set the fire.”

Serena’s jaw drops. “What?”

Breeze goes quiet. Her gaze slides from me to Serena.

Blinking rapidly, Serena stammers. “N-no, Cadence. You don’t even know what Jinx wants from you yet. You can’t blindly agree to work for her because of me.”

“Can you ask her what she wants before you agree?” Breeze nervously chews on the side of her thumb. “What if she wants you to sell your virginity or something?”

I flinch. If I ever tell Breeze that I lost my virginity to Dutch Cross, she’d probably explode.

“I don’t think she’d do something like that.”

Breeze’s eyes scour my face. Slowly, she backs off and nods. “Okay. I have your back. Whatever your mission is, if I can help, I will.”

“Wait? You’re letting her consider this?” Serena balks.

“Cadence has been my best friend since grade school. I know her better than anyone. Once she’s set her mind on something, there’s no taking it back.” A frown tilts her lips. “And she’s decided to do this.”

---