Page 6 of Losing the Rhythm

“Burn it into ash!” Bryan called out after him.

“Don’t worry, you’ll never see it again,” Seth said. “Didn’t realize it had been packed up.”

“That was a dick move. You know how I feel.” Bryan glared hard at Toby.

Toby finally managed to look guilty. “I’m sorry, man. I just didn’t expect to see it.” He glanced at me briefly before looking away. It felt like something really bad had happened, but it was hard to tell.

“Just fucking decorate.” Bryan grabbed a box and stormed out onto the back deck.

Toby ran a hand through his hair. “Shit.”

“Yeah, you fucked up,” Paxon said.

“Give him time and then go talk to him,” Seth said. “After you hang these up.” He tossed Toby some fake spiderweb. Toby was a bit more sedate as he went over to a corner and began spreading out the white fabric to cover it.

In a low voice, I asked, “Will they be okay?”

“Yeah. They’ll be laughing and joking again in an hour,” Paxon said. He glanced at me and then at Bryan.

I frowned down at him. “I can see your thoughts clearly.”

“Oh?” He smiled. “And what is that?”

“You want to make sure I don’t fall, but you want to go to Bryan too.”

His smile slipped.

“Go. I’m not going to fall. I’m what, two feet off the ground? I’ll be fine. I know how to use these things.” I wasn’t even on an actual real ladder. I was on a three-step one that was so steady, I could probably jump around on the top step and be okay.

Not that I was going to do that. Paxon would have a heart attack.

“Okay.” He still didn’t sound sure, but at least he stopped hovering over me and went to his friend. I stared after him as he slipped outside, kind of itching to go to Bryan myself. He seemed so upset. And once Toby stopped to think about it, he realized his mistake and seemed nearly just as upset.

“Don’t worry about it,” Seth said, handing me another pumpkin to hang.

“Thanks,” I whispered, taking it from him and quickly attaching it to the hook I had put up. Then I climbed down, but before I had a chance to move the ladder, Seth was doing it for me, moving it a couple feet away from where I hung up the pumpkins.

“I can do that,” I said.

He grinned at me. “I know.” And yet still, every time I was ready to move the ladder, he was there, doing it before I could say or do anything.

Only after Bryan and Paxon came back did Toby finally ask, “So, Cadence, Halloween costumes. What do you have for us?”

“What do you mean?” I frowned.

Toby turned to me and tilted his head to the side as he raised an eyebrow at me. “You won, remember.”

I really tried to figure out what he was talking about.

“The creepy doll you found,” Justin said.

“Oh! Right.” I grinned big. We had gone to a little open market before one of Paxon’s games. Toby had turned it into a competition so the person who found the weirdest item won. I obviously won. “I did win, didn’t I?”

“Yes, so what costume are you going to torture us with?”

“I haven’t had a chance to think about it. Definitely a group theme. I always thought those were so cool. But there still needs to be some individuality to it.” I tapped my chin, pretending to think about it. I had completely forgotten so I really didn’t know. What would go well this group? What was acceptable?

“Anything,” Seth said. “We’re open to whatever you’ve got in mind.”

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