Deceptive Cadence by Katie Hamstead

teachers around. I’ll be fine.”
    “Okay. See ya.” She waved as she climbed into the car.
    I rested my head back against the wall and shut my eyes. I had to be up early in the morning, so I wished my parents would hurry up. Someone approached, then sat beside me. I opened my eyes as Justin settled in where Geri had vacated. I did a quick double take and remembered we hooked up at this disco last time.
    That night had gone very differently. I arrived in the same way, meeting my girlfriends soon after, and we danced. Tyler and Mitch had joined us momentarily, and thinking back on it, Mitch did hit on me. They fought for the following two weeks and I’d never known why, but now I did. How had I never noticed that before?
    Geri and I did go out to get drinks and sit, and then Justin moved in on me. Our conversation at that table took a different turn. After he’d asked if I was ready to move on, we engrossed ourselves in a deep conversation. I couldn’t remember what we talked about, but we soon sat alone. He ran his hand down my back, telling me that he’d liked me for a while and wanted to see where things could go. I blushed, giggled, and dashed away in search of Geri.
    When I found her, I told her about Justin and she teased me like she always did. Then she saw him enter the hall and told me to dance sexy to get his attention. So, I did. He came right over, but before he joined us, James Gordon had pretended to spank me. I didn’t know who he was then, though. I was stunned I hadn’t remembered that.
    Justin tailed me like a lost puppy for the rest of the night, and sat with Geri and me while we waited for our parents. Then, once she was picked up, he’d . . .
    I looked at Justin.
    He grinned. “Did you have fun tonight?”
    “Yeah,” I said breathlessly. I could see he wanted to kiss me; his gaze kept falling on my lips.
    “You know, you look really hot.”
    Ah yes, a teenage boy’s attempt at flattery. They never say beautiful, which in reality is all a girl really wants to hear. “Thanks.”
    He shuffled closer and I leaned away. “You know, I’ve liked you for a while―”
    I raised my hand. “Let me just stop you there.”
    He stared at me, confused.
    I sighed. “Look, here’s the thing. I like you, but just as a friend. If we hook up, we’ll have this huge drama-filled breakup because we’re both so hotheaded, and we’ll throw around terrible things about each other and cause a huge rift between our friends. I really don’t wanna do that.”
    His eyes darkened. “You don’t know that. How can you even say that?”
    I gnawed on my lip. I wasn’t handling the situation well. “Look at what happened with Tyler. He hates me now, and he’s fighting with Mitch because of me.”
    “He is?” Justin sat up.
    “Yeah, but it only started tonight.” I glanced around uncomfortably. “Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I’m not ready for a new relationship.”
    He raised an eyebrow. “Cadence, I don’t like being messed with.”
    “I’m not messing with you!” I grasped his shoulder. “Please don’t be angry at me. I don’t want to fight with you. You’re a good friend and I enjoy hanging out with you, but I don’t feel ready to turn it into a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship.”
    He stood, dejection showing on his face. “All right, Cadence. I get it.” He rushed away.
    I sighed. At least it wasn’t as bad as when we’d been together. What a loud and public breakup that had been! This way, neither of us had invested anything into each other emotionally, and he could walk away with his dignity still intact.
    Laughter from farther down the building drew my attention. Robbie and his cronies hung around a car. I pulled my knees up to my chin, uncomfortable with them acting like idiots so close to me and being potentially dangerous. I glanced across, nervous that if I didn’t watch the car, it would back out and hit me. I scanned the group of boys and noticed James staring right back at