Page 3 of All the Discord

Chapter Two

They were arguing again. Lately, that was all they ever did—screamed at each other. I covered my ears and curled into a ball, wishing I could melt away into the floorboards. Anywhere was better than here.

I reached for the iPod nearby that Daddy bought for me as a birthday present. I popped in the earbuds, turned the music up high, and tried to drown out their voices. The music thrummed through me, trying to pull me into its world.

But it wasn’t enough. I could still hear Daddy as he yelled, “Don’t ever fucking touch me again.” A door slammed shut and not even a second later, there was a piercing scream.

I squeezed my eyes shut as she screamed over and over again, begging for Daddy to come back.

My own scream for her to stop woke me up from the nightmare, and I rolled out of the bed from the surprise. The floor took on my body and won as I grunted from the impact, not even the carpet enough to soften the landing. Sharp pain dug into my lower back and slowly crawled up my spine. My muscles screamed in protest as I tried to breathe through it. Gritting my teeth, I twisted my eyes closed as the lower muscles in my back spasmed in displeasure.

Damn. Damn. Damn.

I blew out a hard breath and repeated the process as the pain slowly subsided. An eternity passed until my body was strong enough to listen to me without a repeated performance.

A song by Bastille blasted from my phone, reminding me that I needed to get my butt moving. While letting one of my favorite songs play through to the end, I took a moment to just feel the coldness of the floor as it seeped into my heated skin. Disorientation from the fragmented nightmare and the reminder that today was going to be a long day didn’t click as fast as it should have.

Today was Tri-Town Fun Day.

Shit.

I lived in Higginham, which shared borders with two other towns: Faydelle and Coronac Falls. Every year, the Saturday before school began, the three towns got together and hosted the Tri-Town Fun Day for all the local residents. There were always games, sports exhibitions, competitions, live bands, tons of food, cook-offs, raffles, and at the end, after sunset, fireworks. The event was a last effort to get all the kids to release their excess energy before school started.

Finally pushing off the floor once the song ended, I staggered to the bathroom and got ready. The master bathroom had a massive full-length mirror, allowing me to see the last of the injuries that were still healing. All that was left from Lindie’s attack were light yellow blemishes on my skin along my sides as the rest of the bruises faded away to nothing. The proof of her attack disappeared more and more each day, and eventually all that would be left as a reminder would be a medical report at the hospital and a file with the police. To think this all happened almost two months ago.

Once I finished getting dressed, I forced myself to take the pain medication and did light stretches taught by my physical therapist, hoping to relieve the stiffness from sleeping all night. When I glanced out the window, dark clouds gathered in the sky with an oncoming storm. According to the weather reports, it wasn’t supposed to hit until late tonight, but it looked like it was gathering up quickly. I hoped it held out until after the Fun Day was over.

The day already looked to be rather bleak, and I didn’t need the rain to add on to it. Either way, I had to go, and I had to face the stares from Faydelle’s darling wives and daughters, and their speculation that was going to be sent my way. I’d sent their Queen Bee to a psychiatric hospital, after all. When word got out that Faydelle’s favorite model citizen beat the shit out of her daughter, no one was willing to believe it. Not until someone got their hands on the report and passed it around. Everyone who knew my mother learned the truth. Another reason I needed to move out of that community. They kept coming by, pretending to be sympathetic when really, they were a bunch of vultures trying to get more of the story to gossip about.

Why didn’t he take you with him? You’ve ruined everything. Everything! I’m saddled with a goddamn useless little shit.

I ignored the memory of Lindie’s words leftover from the nightmare and threw on a basic, gray skater dress that flowed around the middle of my thighs and paired it with white Keds. My hair stayed down to soften my features. Exhaustion dotted my face, and it took a bit to hide the dark circles and puffiness.

Your life is a performance now, Cadence. Show nothing but perfection.

My hand froze as I was about to apply some lipstick. The lipstick shook until I finally dropped it into the sink. It clanked, leaving a pink streak against the white porcelain as it rolled to the drain. Lindie wasn’t going to be there. She wasn’t going to pick apart my performance, tell me I’d done terrible and that I was an embarrassment.

When was the last time she wasn’t there? Or at least ready to hear the gossip about my performance. Too long. I blinked furiously, pressure building in my ribs, ready to burst out. But fear kept me clenching my teeth. I didn’t want to know what would happen if I opened my mouth. I stayed like that until the feeling slipped away before I headed back downstairs.

Just as I was about to run out the door with my guitar, purse, and keys, I paused, glancing into the living room. The boxes still sat there, untouched. After biting my lip, I sighed and went over, grabbing a random box.

Maybe if I opened a box a day, eventually I’d be done. Deciding that was the best plan, I dug through the box and pulled out the throw pillows belonging to the couch pushed off to the side. I tossed them on there and then broke down the box.

One down, a lot more to go.

Feeling somewhat accomplished, I ran out the door, knowing once I got there, I’d have to deal with the high-society prissies. They’d been trying to get the full scoop about my mother and I’d done everything I could to stay away from them. This was going to be my first public event after it all went down. I was going to be fair game to them.

Sighing, I crawled into my maroon Impala and drove the fifteen minutes to get to the park. Another ten minutes were needed to find parking. I told the lady selling tickets at the front entrance who I was. The smile Mrs. Kelly was flashing everyone widened even more as her green eyes grew keen. She screeched in my ear as she forced a hug onto me. My body stayed stiff, and I fought to not shove her away. When she finally stepped back, I sighed in relief as the nausea that had been building calmed down.

“My, my, my. It’s such a shame, what happened to Linds. I never knew.” Mrs. Kelly shook her head in mock sympathy, and I had to grit my teeth. The light in her eyes dimmed. “Thank you for doing this for us despite everything that has been going on in your life. It must be so hard on you.”

I sighed as she prattled on about things she knew nothing about. There was so much I wanted to say to the two-faced woman. Why did she expect me to tell her anything? The last time we talked, she snubbed me, believing my mother’s lies about skipping school and being a delinquent.

With a tight smile, I said, “I need to get going.” I nodded behind her, wanting her to understand I’d rather be anywhere but here.

“Oh, right. You’re performing. Here is your badge.”

Mrs. Kelly handed over a lanyard with a badge at the end that said ‘Entertainer.’ I looped it over my head, letting it dangle just below my breasts.

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