Page 118 of Losing the Rhythm

“What the hell happened?” George burst through the door with the boys, minus Paxon, pushing through behind him.

“Cadence!” Toby was kneeling before me, reaching out for me.

It felt like chaos had erupted all around me, everyone talking at once, questions being tossed my way.

Yelling.

So much yelling.

Justin charging at the boys. Even getting a punch off before Seth pulled him off them.

Then the police showed up and it only got worse.

Chapter Thirty-seven

By the time the game was over, a crowd formed. Students wearing school colors. Parents. Teachers. The principal talking with the police. It was chaos all over again. For a moment, I thought I was back outside the cabin where the police saved me after my abduction. The lights, the chatter, it was all the same. Different people, but the same anyway.

The female police officer I had been giving my statement to finally walked away, leaving me. Laura was still by my side. She never left through it all. Neither did the twins. In fact, they practically used a stick to beat the guys back. I wasn’t even sure how the police let them stay considering they forced the guys away from me.

I stared at them behind the police blockade that was created. At first, the blockade wasn’t needed, but the moment the game ended and they realized drama involving police was occurring, they all flocked over, hoping to get news on what happened. At that point, the police forced the guys away from me. I really wanted them by my side. I’d feel safer with them there. The longer I was apart from them, the colder and number I was beginning to feel. My body was preparing itself to be hurt again.

It felt like at any moment, I’d be attacked again. I squeezed my hands together to hide that fear as I focused on the guys’ faces. They were all frowning and worried, staring right back at me. My gaze met Seth’s and for the longest time, I couldn’t look away. He looked like he was in even more pain than I was. The need for him to be at my side was so loud that I wanted to grab him and hug him close and let him know everything was okay. He looked like he wanted to do the same for me.

“I can bring you home,” Laura said, stepping in front of me, breaking my focus and forcing me to look at her.

I could only nod, still unable to really think clearly. I just wanted her to move again so I could see the guys. Why couldn’t they be with me right now? I couldn’t even remember the answer Laura and the cops spewed when I had initially asked. I should have fought more to keep them by my side. Where I could touch them. Where they could remind me that I was okay.

“I’ll go grab the car. I’m parked far away.” She turned to the twins. “Keep an eye on her?”

“Of course,” they said, almost in unison.

The moment Laura moved out of my way, I went back to staring at the guys. This time, I looked at Paxon. He had showed up rather quickly after the game ended, but I hadn’t had a chance to talk to him yet. George stood behind him, his hand resting on his shoulder like he was holding him back. Calv was tucked right into Paxon’s side, George’s other hand on his shoulder. Calvin’s little face was completely white as big round eyes looked around.

That broke me out of the numbness a little. I couldn’t stay like this forever. I needed to function. To keep moving. I pulled out my phone, the movement stiff.

“What are you doing?” Lillian asked.

“Telling them to get Calvin home,” I mumbled.

My fingers were shaking as I typed out the text to the guys. Then I looked back up to see them all whipping out their phones so quickly that it seemed some of them didn’t move. They didn’t have their phone and then they did, looking down to read my message. Slowly they all looked up at me with different expressions.

My gaze met Paxon’s. He was as shocked as the others, but also confused. He had been with his team, winning the game, when all this went down. One of the twins had mentioned they won.

This should have been a moment of celebration. Instead, it was destroyed by my drama. Guilt gnawed at me.

Paxon leaned over and said something to his dad. George’s eyes widened, and he looked down at Calvin before saying something to Paxon. Paxon shook his head and seemed to argue with him, but then George said something that had his shoulders slumping. Toby wrapped an arm around his shoulders and the two disappeared into the crowd with Calvin in tow.

The little guy didn’t need to see all this drama.

Suddenly, my view was blocked by two girls. I blinked, trying to focus on them. Slowly, their features came in. India and Trinity.

“What are you doing here?” I asked. How did they get here when I couldn’t even have the guys by my side? I glanced at the police nearby. One man was frowning in our direction but then went to ignoring us as he wrote something down in his notebook.

India’s and Trinity’s expressions were twisted into pure rage.

India stepped closer, her voice full of dark malice. “You dragged not only Justin, Toby, Bryan, and Seth into your games, but also got Paxon into a fight with his own teammate.”

“And after causing all that trouble, now you’re involving boys from other schools?” Trinity said, standing confidently next to India.

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