Page 77 of Losing the Rhythm

“And you didn’t come over right away.”

“So you assumed something bad happened.”

“We’re just making sure all our bases are covered,” Seth said. “You don’t have to tell us the specifics, but if you aren’t okay, we’d like to know.”

I went back to picking at the veggies on my pizza, but instead of eating them, I was creating a small pile on my plate.

“I didn’t call him. He learned about Lindie and wanted to talk to me about it.”

“But he said—” Toby was stopped by the nudge of Seth’s foot.

“That he’d wait for me to call. But he found out that Lindie was in the hospital and came to find out what was really going on. So I told him. She put me in the hospital, was arrested. I was able to get her committed instead. And that I’m emancipated.”

“He didn’t do anything to you, did he?” Justin asked. “He didn’t get mad at you, did he?”

“No. I think he got mad at the situation.”

“He yelled at you?” Seth’s words came out sharp.

I quickly shook my head. “No. It was…” I trailed off trying to decide what words to use. What was yesterday? Talking to Dr. Arason helped me put some of it into perspective, but she was right in that I needed to talk to him more to really understand what was going on.

“Cadence?” Paxon called out, getting my attention.

“Emotional. It was just emotional. Talking to him. Airing everything that had been going on. His reaction. Even just him being there. It’s all emotional. And then he mentioned he wanted me to go live with him.”

“What?” Toby practically yelled, and he looked like he was about to jump to his feet.

I went back to focusing on my pizza. “Yeah. He only mentioned it when he found out I was emancipated. We didn’t really have a chance to talk about it more.”

The impregnatable silence was heavy after that. I drew in what little courage I did have and looked up. Everyone was frozen as they stared at me, not even blinking. They all seemed to be in a state of shock.

“Is that what you want to do?” Bryan finally asked, breaking the intense silence.

“Live with my dad?” I knew that was exactly what he was asking, but I wanted to stall from even thinking about that answer.

“No, no way. You can’t do that,” Toby spoke up.

“Toby,” Justin warned.

“No. That’s bullshit. You’re emancipated. He can’t make you do shit anyway. And you had to fight to get where you are now. You grew up here. Lived here. Everyone you know is here. He can’t take you from that.”

“Toby!” This time it was from Seth. “Check yourself.”

Toby froze, blinked a few times, and then he practically crumbled into his seat, looking a bit broken. The paper plate he had been using became a crumpled mess in his hand as he glared down at his jeans.

Again, no one said anything, but everyone’s eyes were still on me, like they expected an answer right then and there.

But what was I supposed to answer?

Everyone I knew was here, in this town?

Sure, lots of people were.

But not everyone because my dad lived in Las Vegas. Not here.

“I’m going to talk to him again tomorrow,” I said without really giving an answer to Toby’s question. Would I move to Las Vegas to live with my dad? I wanted to say no. I didn’t want that. He was right, I’d have to completely uproot my life to move there, and I wasn’t ready for that. Besides, Lindie was here and I had to take care of her. She only had me left now. And I was only half a year from being eighteen.

Toby made a grunting noise and got up, going into the kitchen.

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