Page 14 of The Darkest Note

A part of me wonders if he’ll bother picking up, and I’m slightly surprised when he does.

“What do you want, Cadence?”

I can hear the reluctance in his tone and my pride stings. But this isn’t about begging. This is about him making promises and not keeping them.

“You said you’d help with the electricity this month. You know I’m scrambling to come up with Vi’s school fees.”

“Something else came up,” he says irritably.

I rub the bridge of my nose. “Fine. That’s okay. But you could have told me. I thought that was one thing off my shoulders and I didn’t plan for it. The least you could have done was given me a heads-up that plans had changed.”

“Damn, Cadence. What do you think this is? A charity? I had my own responsibilities before you two came along.”

My eyelashes flutter. I dig my fingers into the phone. “You’re right.” I scrape the bottom of my heart to find the last shred of calm and inject it into my voice. “I’m sorry. We won’t bother you or your busy life again.”

With that, I hang up the phone.

Then I slam it on the bed. Over and over and over. Until the storm in my chest settles into a simmering volcano.

My breath ragged, I straighten and bat my long brown hair away from my face. Mom’s ‘help’ fell through, as I predicted it would.

But that’s okay. We’ve always had to fend for ourselves. Nothing’s changed with mom gone.

I gave Rick the benefit of the doubt because we’re half-siblings. But now there’s a snowball chance in hell that I ask that man for anything.

* * *

Jinx: You still haven’t replied to my welcome message, New Girl. I trade secrets for secrets. Wanna play?

Cadence: I don’t know who the hell you are, but I’m not interested in your twisted games. Don’t text me again or I swear I’ll find you and I will skin you alive.

CHAPTERFOUR

DUTCH

Sol’s mom wouldn’t let us see him or tell us where he was. It hurt because she’s always loved us.

We used to sit at her table slurping tamales like hot pockets and butchering conversations with our pitiful Spanish vocabulary.

We learned to salsa at her hands. We picked up a secret obsession with dramatic telenovelas with Sol’s abuela. We attended her daughter’s quinceañera. Finn was chosen to escort her in because no one trusted Zane to do it and I wasn’t interested in donning a sparkly blue suit to match the kid’s dress.

But the light went out of Mrs. Pierce’s eyes when she saw us at the door this morning. She couldn’t smile. There was no laughter or welcome. I saw in her gaze that she thinks we’re a bad influence.

She’s right.

But damn. That doesn’t make it hurt any less. It doesn’t make the guilt any better either.

Sol is family. We got him into Redwood Prep. He sang back-up vocals for some of our sets. He was the only friend allowed around our table at lunch. Sometimes, people thought we were four brothers. Most days, it felt like it.

I slow the car down in our designated spot. There’s no clear marker or sign to set it apart, but it’s established that the Cross park their ride here.

Zane and Finn have their own set of wheels, but they always leave school with a chick on the cheerleading squad. Of course they don’t admit that. They tell everyone we ride in one car because we’re ‘environmentally conscious’.

I drag my bag out of the backseat, kick the door open and set my boots on the pavement.

Finn joins me, his lips set in a thin line.

Zane runs a hand through his hair, wearing his frustration in a dark scowl.