Page 103 of Losing the Rhythm

Micah:You can hide there?

Me:Yeah. I’ll come meet you so you know how to get here.

“You don’t mind if Micah knows about this, do you?” I asked Lillian, since this was their special spot.

“Not at all. I like him,” Hazel answered instead.

Lillian frowned at her sister but eventually nodded.

I jumped to my feet and went to get Micah, feeling bad for not making sure he knew beforehand.

Chapter Thirty-two

~Bryan’s POV~

“Now that she’s gone,” Lillian said, her voice going hard, “what are you trying to do to her?”

“What are you talking about?” Paxon asked.

“Sticking so close to her but not protecting her. Letting these rumors grow. Kissing her.” Her glare went to Justin.

“You don’t understand anything, so cut that shit out,” I warned her.

Her anger met my own. “She’s a good girl. She doesn’t deserve this. And you guys haven’t been doing shit to ensure she’s safe. You don’t realize how bad girls can get and what they can do to get what they want. The boys aren’t getting riled up on their own. Keep that in mind.”

Old anger rose up from our last real confrontation. When she dared to stand before not just my parents, but a party full of influential people and call me out as some kind of playboy because of that lying, conniving friend of hers.

“You have no right to make any kind of accusations,” I said, my voice rising.

She grimaced but then shook her head and straightened herself into the queen she was known to be. “I already apologized for that and learned from my mistakes and you know it. This is completely different. Cadence isn’t trying to play anyone. She doesn’t deserve this shit. And I can’t just sit back and watch you do nothing to keep her safe. She deserves to finally be safe.”

“We know better than you do,” I snarled at her.

“Do you? Or are you too busy being butthurt because Justin got to kiss her but you didn’t?”

My mouth clamped shut as she hit the nail on the head. I was burning with jealousy and anger. Justin kissed her. Seth did too. What the hell was going on? Why was everyone kissing her?

Were they really going to try to do what Seth wanted to try? Where she dated everyone?

“You guys don’t understand anything. I don’t want to see her hurt like that again. She doesn’t deserve it. She’s full of a lot of good,” Hazel said in a softer voice. She lifted up her camera. “I watched her since our sophomore year. She’s a quiet girl, but she’s done a lot of good. Genuinely. Not to have her name in newspapers. She’s talented too. Did you know she raised over fifty thousand dollars in one night at a fundraiser event last year to help a domestic abuse shelter? And she donated more during the summer. It was never in the paper. I only know because I was one of the volunteers.”

“She really did that?” Paxon asked, sounding like he was in awe.

I dimly remembered that fundraiser. I was there maybe an hour before I dipped out. Long enough to hand our donation over, shake some hands, let it be known I was there. There had been scheduled entertainment, and if donations were made while they were doing their set, that money went to a fundraiser of the current performer’s choice. I left as soon as the toast had ended in the middle of it. Cadence must have done her set after I left.

By the way Lillian glared at me, she knew exactly what I did for that event. Absolutely nothing. It wasn’t even my money. I was just there to represent my parents. But Cadence had done so much more and I didn’t even know. The thought that I could have met her even sooner slipped through my mind and I had to shake it off.

Thinking of what could have been only led to more misery.

“Why are you guys acting like you’re her protectors?” Paxon asked the two girls.

“We’re just tired of the bullshit,” Lillian said.

I knew Lillian and saw something slip across her expression. Something she was hiding. I tried to think about anything I knew about her. A lot of people liked her, thought she was on her way to great things. She was also my competition for the valedictorian slot this year. We were neck to neck, had been since starting high school.

“We’re back,” Cadence called out as she came into view with Micah trailing behind her. “What did I miss?”

She sat down and focused on unwrapping her lunch. She was trying to hide her nervousness, but she was gnawing on her plump lips, clearly upset.

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