Page 98 of The Darkest Note

I hurry behind my brothers.

The footsteps get louder and we jump around the bend, holding our breaths while the sound of a door creaks open.

“I heard talking,” someone says.

Sol’s voice answers back. “I was talking to myself, Pete. It gets lonely in here at night.”

There’s a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach and I don’t know if it’s out of guilt for what I’ve already done or for what I’m about to do.

CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE

CADENCE

My phone’s been quiet since the dance last night.

I stumble out of bed, groggy and confused. Normally, Dutch is blowing up my cell with instructions.

Get coffee.

Buy strings for my guitar.

Print my homework.

He’s like a deranged eighteen-year-old boss from hell.

Today, nothing.

Instead of feeling overjoyed at getting a break, I feel uneasy.

What is wrong with me? Why do I care that my biggest tormentor is choosing to take a day off?

I take out the ironing board and set it up near my bed. Yesterday, I forgot to wash my uniform and had to do it when Hunter dropped me and Viola back home late after the dance. Now, the fabric’s still damp. I’m hoping that steaming it will help it dry faster.

“Knock, knock!” Viola sings from the door.

“Hey.” I smile when she dances into my bedroom. Her hair, as usual, is a mess. “Vi, I’ve told you a million times to braid your hair at night so it’s not a hassle to comb it later.”

“Who has time for that?” she squeaks. When she sees me with the iron, she runs straight to me. “Let me help.”

I eye her suspiciously. “What did you do?”

“Nothing.”

I frown. “If you’re trying to get out of school today, it’s not happening.”

“I’m not.” She scrunches her nose. “Although I think it’s totally ridiculous to host a dance on aThursday. After partying all night, they really expect us to get up and go to school? Idiots!”

“I think that’s exactly what they want, yes.”

When I was at the dance yesterday, I noticed the way teachers were keeping the girls from flocking to Dutch, Zane and Finn.

Since the teenaged pregnancy rate is so high in our neighborhood and young girls are constantly dropping out of school, the board must be doing everything they can to keep the kids on the straight and narrow.

“So…” Viola looks up with a wickedly mischievous grin.

“So what?” I shoo her away to continue ironing.

She plops on my bed and props her hip up in a sexy pose. “How does it feel to have not one, buttwoboys chasing you?”