Page 15 of Cadence
Day one is complete!
Might have had a rocky start, but today was everything.
For the first time in a long time, I felt like I belonged somewhere.
The band was nice… Well, mostly. The lead singer’s a little hard to read, kind of intense, but not exactly outright rude.
I don’t know. Maybe that’s just his vibe? Or maybe he’s one of those serious musician types who don’t believe in small talk.
Either way, it doesn’t matter. I’m not here to impress him.
I’ve worked too damn hard to get here. And I’m not going to let anyone—even a ridiculously talented, slightly broody frontman—distract me from that.
I’ve got this.
Just like I always said I would.
P x
Chapter Six
Paige
“Igiveup,”Eligrumbles under his breath. “It’s too hard today.”
“What is?” I ask, the question muffled around the half-eaten Nerd Rope dangling between my teeth. Dragging my stylus over my tablet, I finish making a final tweak to a post I’ll schedule for later in the week.
“Strands,” he huffs, turning his phone around to show me his screen, the background still completely white with exactly zero progress, not a single word found.
“Do you play the New York Times games every day?”
He nods, tapping his temple. “Gotta keep this thing sharp.”
“Shame you only manage some of them, though,” Beau teases from across the room, his grey eyes appearing above his laptop.
“Fuck you,” Eli laughs. “At leastsomeisn’tnone.”
“Hey, I get it.” I try to hide my smile as I crunch the last part of the sour candy. “My dad buys Sudoku books.”
“See?” Eli says, setting his foot on the side of the table and swinging back in his seat. “I’m not the only one who likes to challenge their brain.”
“Every day I’m with you is a challenge,” Beau deadpans, sending him a wink. “So I think I’m all good.”
Eli flips him off without looking up, the gesture almost affectionate.
“You two are pretty close, huh?” I ask, setting my tablet down in front of me, the screen going dark.
Eli nods as he scrolls on his phone.
“Known each other since I was fourteen,” he says. “My grandma moved a couple doors down from Maddox’s grandparents when I was in high school, and I used to spend my summers there when my mom and dad were at work.”
“Mad and I were two years above Eli and had been friends since middle school,” Beau adds, eyes back on his screen before adding fondly, “Eli was this gangly kid with too-long blond hair and a big, dopey smile who used to pace up and down outside the garage while we practiced guitar, peering in and watching like we were some rock gods.”
Eli shrugs, smirking. “You were wearing matching hoodies and playing Snow Patrol.It was adorable.”
Beau snorts. “First off, it was Mayday Parade.Why do you think all our songs are kind of pop-punk? So get it right if you’re going to tell a story.”
Eli rolls his eyes. “Oh yeah, you just played all the sad songs thinking you were edgy. How could I forget.”
