Page 138 of The Ruthless Note

“No, this is a new one.” She sighs in disappointment. “I lost the other one.” Slipping the lighter back into her pocket, she glances at me. “By the way, I saw a video of you playing at the concert this weekend.”

I groan and cover my face. “I’m so embarrassed.”

“Why? You wereamazing. I mean, I didn’t expect you to just… explode all over the stage like that. You really have a gift, Cadence.”

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s something,” she insists. “I think you could go far. Maybe as far as having your own sold-out theaters and piano albums—do they call them piano albums?”

“These days, composers stream their music same as everyone else.”

“You’ve got star quality.”

“Reel it back in and come back to reality.” I laugh.

“I’m serious. Haven’t you ever considered studying music further?”

“Not once. Music can’t pay the bills.”

“If you get famous—”

“The likelihood of me getting famous is the same as me winning the lottery. And I’m not going to stake my rent and grocery money on a pipe dream.”

“Aha. But you admit itisa dream.”

I shake my head.

“If you didn’t have all the other things holding you back, would you want it?”

“No.”

That feels like a lie.

My heart wrenches, but I stubbornly stand by my word.

“My sister isn’t holding me back. She’s the reason I’ve gotten this far. I never would have made it here today without her.”

“Fine. Bury your talent in this hell hole. As long as I get to hear you play in person one day, I don’t care.”

I chuckle and glance down.

She pokes a black-painted fingernail in my shoulder and wiggles her thick eyebrows. “So you and Dutch, huh?”

“He was here to torment me. As usual.”

“Right. Dutch Cross dragged himself out of bed and drove all the way to Redwood Prep just to make you miserable. That makes perfect sense.”

“It’s true. He’s diabolical.”

“Or maybe he just wanted to be around you.” She lifts the lighter and flicks it again. “Maybe you’re his lighter.”

“Maybe he should learn how to have a mature conversation rather than acting like an entitled brat every time he sees me.”

“There’s that.”

We both grin.

Serena hops off the desk and takes the broom from me. “Come on, ‘New Girl’. I’ll help you finish up.”