Page 28 of All the Discord

I shrugged. “I have more. And I’ll be sure to tell you guys to fuck off next time.”

That got him laughing and me smiling in return. He had a great laugh, low in tone, acting as a great basis to what could be great music. Not quite deep enough to be the base, but definitely low enough to add depth, acting as a strong foundation. I wanted to sway to the sound of it. My dad used to say laughter was like listening to music, and I had always agreed with him. Especially now, hearing Seth’s genuine laugh.

“Do you want us to leave now?” he asked after calming down.

I thought that over? Did I? Since stepping away and talking with Seth, I felt less crowded and knew they only did this genuinely out of the kindness of their souls. I shook my head. No, I liked their company, liked the way their presence made my house seem full and alive. Like it could be a home.

“Come back into the living room then?”

“Yeah.”

I let him lead the way. As soon as I stepped into the room, everyone included me into their conversation like I had never left.

My heart filled with contentment as the rest of the evening passed, and they stayed until I had no choice but to kick them out so that Paxon could get Calvin home for bed and Toby didn’t get in trouble with his aunt.

My cheeks were sore when I lay down to go to bed that night. It went from a bad day to one of my favorites. I hoped there was more of that in the future, but at the same time it scared me too. I didn’t want to have more only to lose it all.

Chapter Twelve

Driving to school was a blur of pulsing pain and trying to hold myself together. My knuckles were white as my hands ached from gripping the steering wheel tightly. I was pretty sure at this point, I shouldn’t have been driving. I meticulously put each piece of my persona together, making sure there were no cracks to show weaknesses. I tricked my mind into thinking I was a perfectly healthy seventeen-year-old teenager with no worries.

Now I just had to hold on to my image until school ended and I was tucked away in my car, heading home.

I arrived at school early and hunted down my teachers to get all my missing assignments and to turn in the ones that were due yesterday. My bag was heavy with books and papers, the teachers determined to make us work hard our final year. The weight of the books only added to my pain.

There was still plenty of time, so I went to the nurse’s office.

“Cadence?” The nurse’s eyes widened as she took me in. “Are you in a lot of pain? Maybe you should have called out today.” She was at my side in a flash, taking the load of my bookbag off.

“It’s only the first week of school. I didn’t want to fall behind. I already missed yesterday.”

“Well, do you want your prescription or something else?”

I sighed. “Prescription, please.”

She withdrew a key and unlocked a drawer, getting a pill for me. I took it, waving off her attempt to give me a Dixie cup of water.

“Thank you,” I said.

“Don’t be afraid to come to me if the pain is too much.”

I nodded, knowing I’d never come here if I didn’t have too, but I was determined to get through the day.

“Oh. Justin.” The nurse’s attention switched over to the door. Justin was standing in it, staring at me. My eyes widened. How long had he been there? What did he see?

“Uh, morning,” I said, bending over and grabbing my bag, hiking it up on my shoulder with a grimace.

“Justin, is everything okay?” the nurse asked.

“Finished morning swim practice. I have a headache.”

“Okay.” She dug in a cabinet.

I approached Justin, not looking away from him. A million questions ran through me. What had he seen exactly? His expression gave nothing away, not even his eyes.

“I’ll see you later,” I mumbled, slipping by him. He smelled heavily of chlorine, his black hair still wet, glistening from the light.

“Wait for me, I’ll be out in a second,” he said in a low enough voice for only me to hear.

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