God Never Said it Would be Easy

1

One day a girl went for a walk. On this walk she contemplated everything in her life for what seemed like hours. She didn’t know how long she had been walking when she finally stopped but it was dark and she wasn’t quite sure where she was because she had walked so long without paying attention. The only thing that surrounded her was the faint sound of rustling of leaves across the sidewalk. She was alone. Not necessarily meaning that no one was around. It was suburbia so she was certain people were quietly sleeping in their houses. She, on the other hand, didn’t like this thought. Mostly because, she had been gone for some time now, and she knew her parents were worried. She would have expected them to be though, after everything that happened the previous year. In less than a week she would be starting her senior year at a completely different school in the completely different state of Kansas because of what had happened. Her mother thought a new school would be best and that it would help her to start over. It had been hard the last month of school, the constant questions, everyone wanting to know if she was okay. The sympathy only reminded her of what happened so when her mother told her she was transferring she couldn’t help but feel a little relief. The only person she would truly miss was the one person she would never see again no matter where she moved.

Cadence Ashby was sifting through a box of items she had yet to unpack. Mostly it was just awards from sports and academics that she saw no real reason to keep but held onto because it was what her mother wanted. She had reached the bottom of the box and found a birthday card. Her throat clogged a bit when she saw it was from her best friend, Lauren. She could remember everything so clearly about that night. Lauren had called her for a ride from a party but Cadence didn’t have her phone on her so Lauren got a ride from a guy who convinced her he was okay to drive. It was within seconds of being on the highway that it all happened or at least that’s what witnesses said. Lauren was rushed to the hospital immediately where the nurses phoned her parents who had been on vacation in Colorado. They told them, as easily as they could, that their daughter did not have much time left because the impact of the accident had caused internal bleeding that the doctors couldn’t stop. At 12:56 am May 3, Lauren was pronounced dead. At 6:07am Cadence found out all of this by the morning news. She had called Lauren the previous night apologizing for not getting the call in time and that if she still needed a ride she would come. She remembered she added a lot of inside jokes as well. Sitting in her room, recalling all of this, she suddenly came to the realization that Lauren would never hear that message and whatever efforts she had made to stop her tears had all been thrown out the window. After a few minutes she heard her mother yelling for her to come downstairs so she hurriedly wiped her eyes and tried to compose herself as she opened the door and made her way down the stairs.
         When she walked into the kitchen her mother was holding up a pamphlet from the school she would soon be attending. “Rosedale High School: Home of the Ravens!” Her mother said quite enthusiastically. Cadence tried to look excited but her mother saw through it
“Come on now Caity, it looks like a good school and I’m sure there are a lot of fun people there.”
“I’m sure there is mom.” Cadence said, but she wasn’t convincing anybody.
“Honey, we did this for you. So that maybe you’d be happier. This was the first place your father received a job offer from and you know it was fairly decent, much better than that one in Maine. I know it’s going to take some getting used to but you know you’ll be fine. You’re a strong girl and you can adjust.”
“I know mom.” Cadence said, only this time she wasn’t lying. She knew her mother was right. She would adjust and she would be okay. So she went back up to her room and decided to put everything that reminded her of Lauren in the top of her closet. If she was going to move on she couldn’t keep having set-backs. She had to realize that Lauren wasn’t there anymore and she never would be again, she couldn’t help her. She set everything in a box, took a deep breath, lifted it into her closet, and shut the door.



















2

         Cadence’s first day at Rosedale was interesting to say the least. Rosedale was a private school and Catholic at that. Although, from what she could see, most of the students seemed to have neglected that last fact. All girls were in uniform plaid skirts and polos and the boys wore khakis and polos. Cadence wasn’t really sure why her mom had chosen this particular school. They weren’t Catholic. In fact, they really weren’t religious at all. They had once belonged to a Methodist church but that quickly became just a way to show their face and talk about who wasn’t at church that day. As for Cadence, she personally blamed God. It was His fault her best friend died and she would never forgive Him for that.
         Cadence walked the halls as a loner the first day since everyone else seemed to know each other. She just focused on her teachers and tried to keep a low profile. Her mother had enrolled her in three A.P. classes including English, Bio, and Spanish so she had reason to keep herself occupied. Most of the teachers said the same thing about how this was their last year and they were still expected to work hard because no one would be taking it easy on them. The other students chuckled and made jokes about this but Cadence decided that it was in her best interest to work hard. She wasn’t there to make friends or socialize at all so she was happy that the teachers at least gave her more of an incentive to work rather than play.
         One of the only things she hated about the school was that it did require a religion class. She was tormented with the idea of God being thrust upon her everyday. If there was one class where she was determined not to pay attention it was that class. By the time 7th hour approached she was already dreading entering the room for it. Just like all the rest of the teachers, Ms. Tyler had her name written on the dry erase board for everyone to see as they took their seats. Cadence headed towards the back of the class, hoping she wouldn’t be questioned as much that way.
         “Alright class. This would be your senior religion class and the first thing I want is to go around the room and everyone tell me 3 things about yourself.” Great, Cadence thought silently, if there was one thing she didn’t want to do it was let anyone know anything personal about her. She thought of three easy things to say to get it over with and when it came her turn everyone was craning their necks curiously. Already they were all wondering who she was.
         “Um well, my name is Cadence, I’m originally from California, and my favorite color is blue.” Good, she thought, that was simple enough. Or so she thought.
         “California, huh? Can I ask how you ended up in Kansas?” Ms. Tyler asked with interest.
         “Um, my dad got a job offer.” It wasn’t a lie. He did get a job offer. She just left out the part about it being for her to move on from the death of her best friend.
         “I moved around a lot when I was a child for my dad’s work as well. He was in the military though so it’s no surprise. What does your father do exactly?”
         “He’s a pediatrician.”
         “I see. Well anyways let’s move on. Jeremy, what about you?” The rest of the class finished up with the nice little questions and Ms. Tyler went into the same discussion about what was expected of everyone. Cadence couldn’t understand the point in repeating this seven times to the students. In her opinion they should have said it first hour and then the rest of the teachers should have simply said “What first hour said” and everyone would get the picture. The fact was that it didn’t matter how many times the teachers said it. The people that were going to work hard were and the people who were not would half-ass it. It was just the way it was and none of those little speeches were going to change that.
         “Furthermore there will be a discussion topic at the beginning of every class that we will go over for the first twenty minutes. In my opinion you can’t have a religion class without relating it to your own lives.” Ms. Tyler said. The bell rang and there was a mad rush toward the door, Cadence among it. She made her way to her locker with the masses and headed straight outside to her car. She closed the door and exhaled a sigh of relief.

* * *
         The rest of the week went by fluidly and Cadence was able to remain very low-key. She learned to answer most questions with 3 words or less and generally only replied “yes” and “no”. No one was bothering her at all. That is, until Friday. To Cadence’s dismay her car failed to start and her parents were not answering their phones. She was so frustrated that she kicked her car and started cussing under her breath. She felt a tap on her shoulder and spun around so quickly that the boy that had tapped her gave a little jump.
         “Whoa there. Um, do you need a jump or something?” A tall guy with wavy dark brown hair asked. Cadence was a little shocked that someone was talking to her and wasn’t quite sure where her voice went. She had a cough a couple times to find it again.
         “Yea, actually, that would be good.” She managed to finally say.
         “Alright then, just let me get my car in front of yours and I’ll hook up the cables.” After a few moments Cadence realized she recognized this boy. He was in her seventh hour religion class and sat diagonal from her. For the life of her she tried to remember what his name was. Aaron? Andy? Arnold? She knew it started with an “A” but what in the world it actually was she couldn’t figure out.
         “Adam Reilly.” He said with his hand out. Adam! Yes that was it! She knew it started with an “A”.
         “Cadence.”
         “So Ms. Cadence, got a last name?”
         “Oh, it’s um, Ashby.” Was her last name all that important? Adam hooked up the cables and started his car. He walked around to Cadence’s car and motioned for her to hand him the keys. Within about five minutes he had her car running and ready to go.
         “Well Ms. Ashby, your car seems fine now.” Adam said.
         “Thank you so much.”
         “Hey um, do you want to hang out for a bit? I mean it is Friday and I don’t really have anything to do. I don’t really know you all that well obviously but it could be fun?” Of course this would happen. Cadence couldn’t find it in her heart to refuse him outright.
         “Uh, yeah, I guess I don’t have any plans either.”
         “Great. Well do you want to follow me with your car or I could bring you in my car and drive you back here?”
         “I’ll just follow.” Cadence wasn’t quite sure how this all happened or why but she got into her car and followed Adam’s old truck to some local ice cream place. When they got in they both ordered a chocolate shake and took a seat outside on the patio.
         “So what’s your story Cadence? Basically all I know about you is that you are in my religion class and you agree to a date with someone you don’t even know.” Cadence couldn’t help but laugh at this. It was strange that she had accepted his invitation. “Oh yeah and you’re from California, right?”
         “Yes.”
         “Do you play any sports?”
         “Not really. I’m more into the theater I guess.” Cadence said. It was very true as well. Her parents had tried to get her to do sports but she had always been more into acting than anything else. However, she wasn’t sure why she told this to Adam. Wasn’t her whole plan to not talk to anyone, let alone give out information that would help them get to know her?
         “Well I run and do soccer but I’m involved in theater as well. Are you going to try out for any of the plays?”
         “I don’t think so.” Too be honest she hadn’t really thought about it. But the more and more she let her mind wonder whether she should or not just angered her. Acting was now a past time and she couldn’t do it anymore without thinking of Lauren, who had acted with her in most of the plays at her old school. She put it in her mind that if Lauren couldn’t act anymore than she sure as hell wasn’t going to either.
         “You should. We don’t have a lot of people that audition.” Cadence had been so enraptured with her own thoughts that she almost forgot Adam was there.
         “Well I guess I’ll think about it.” But she wasn’t going to. She already made up her mind and that was that.
         “You don’t like to talk much, do you?” Adam seemed a little disappointed. “Or is it me? Am I too forward?” Cadence knew he wasn’t a bad guy. She just wished he could have met her before everything went wrong.
         “No no, you’re fine. I’m sorry. I can just be a little shy sometimes.” She was completely lying through her teeth. She had never been shy but it seemed easier to say that than the ultimate truth which was that she would much rather be left alone and didn’t want any new friends. For the first time in awhile she was happy she was a decent actress because Adam seemed to take the excuse well.
         “Well then, I suppose I can just start talking about myself to break the ice. I play soccer and run track. I’ve been doing that since freshman year. I’ve been involved in theater since sophomore year. I’ve been a retreat leader since last year. I don’t play any instruments and I am an incredible singer but only in my shower.” Cadence let out a chuckle at that. “Okay, now you.”
         “Um there’s really not anything to tell.”
         “Oh come on, EVERYONE has some kind of story.”
         “Yeah well I guess I just don’t.” Cadence needed a distraction. She needed a reason to get away. How was she supposed to explain her “story” without breaking down? And in front of a complete stranger at that! Suddenly her phone rang and her wish was granted. It was her mother wondering where she was. Cadence played it off to Adam that she was needed at home when really her mother just needed to know where the silverware had been unpacked. She said goodbye, thanked him for the company, and set off home. She knew the rest of the year would now be much harder that someone actually knew she existed. Damn her car.
3

         When Monday rolled along Cadence was hoping that Adam had completely forgot about her so she could keep her non-existent life style. To her dismay he spotted her at her locker made his way over to her. She pretended like she didn’t see him and ran off to the bathroom. Figuring that she could waste a couple minutes in there then head off to class she casually went to the sink. Cadence looked at herself in  the mirror and felt miserable. Why was she so focused on pushing everyone away? Adam was a nice guy and she was treating him like a common stalker.
         “Are you alright?”
         “Yeah.” Cadence turned to face a girl with shoulder length, brownish hair. Her face was the type that didn’t require any makeup and showed a sense of deep happiness that Cadence suddenly grew envious of.
         “Hmm…do I know you?” Cadence thought about this question for a moment. Did she know her? She really wasn’t sure. Her face wasn’t all that familiar but she thought her she recognized the hair.
         “I’m really not sure.”
         “Ha neither am I.” She said this with a laugh and Cadence could tell this girl was very easy going. “Well I know the bathroom is kind of an odd place for introductions but my name is Jen.”
         “Cadence.”
         “Well hey! Gosh you look so familiar. I bet we have a class together or something.” Jen said, “Oh great. I bet the bell is about to ring.” And sure enough the bell sounded. Jen made a motion towards the door then stopped.
         “What is the point in rushing to class now? I’m going to be late anyways. Wow! I’m a dork.” Jen laughed at herself and Cadence laughed with her. They both decided to head out the door. Surprisingly the class they had together was 1st hour A.P. English with Mr. Belden. They both walked in together and let out a chuckle as everyone stared at them.
         “Well I’m glad being late to my class is so amusing to you two. If you wouldn’t mind taking your seats now so we can resume class that would be lovely.” Mr. Belden said. By the way he said this Cadence could tell he was trying very hard to sound tough. It didn’t work though. Mr. Belden looked about mid-thirties and in decent shape. He wasn’t very good at dressing because his tie was much too long and his pants were borderline high-waters. He was a teacher, however, so Cadence gave him the benefit of the doubt, hoping that maybe he just didn’t have the money to fill his wardrobe.
         As Cadence took her seat, she immediately realized exactly why Jen’s hair looked so familiar. She sat right in front of her. How sheltered had she made herself? A crumpled piece of paper found its way onto Cadence’s desk. “Nice pants” it read. Cadence had to suppress a laugh and in doing so made it sound like a snort. Everyone turned around to look so she tried to play it off as a sneeze and rubbed her nose and coughed. Her attempts to cover it up were all in vain however because Jen was laughing hysterically.
         “That would be the second time, in less than 5 minutes, that you girls have disrupted my class. Do it again and you will be spending precious time with me after school.” Mr. Belden seemed upset this time so Jen quieted her laughter and Cadence took out her notebook to make an effort to focus.

* * *

         When lunch time came around, Jen spotted Cadence in the crowd and motioned her to her table. The previous week Cadence had sat with a table that seemed to have had the same goal of silence she had. She couldn’t help but be happy that she had seemed to make an “acquaintance”(Cadence wasn’t quite ready to call anyone a friend yet).
         Jen’s table consisted of mostly girls Cadence assumed were athletic in some way. She didn’t know if Jen was involved in sports or not, after all, she did just meet her that morning. As soon as Cadence sat down she knew she was correct in her assessment that this particular group was athletic.
         “Did you hear about what coach is making us do today?” One girl blurted.
         “Yep! Five miles and eight fifty-yard hill repeats.” Jen replied.
         “Jen, how in the world can you be happy about that?!” Another girl asked incredulously.
         “Oh puh-lease Carrie! You know Jen runs in her sleep. It’s an obsession.” Yet another girl said matter-of-factly.
         “Oh come ON! That is so not true. I do not run in my sleep.” Jen said. Everyone gave her one of those “yeah right” looks so she added jokingly, “I just never sleep.”
         At this point everyone burst out laughing, including Cadence. She wasn’t sure if that was a smart move because now everyone was looking at her.
         “Girls, this is Cadence.” Jen introduced her. “Cadence, this is Michelle, Carrie, Nicole, Erin, Christine, Kayla, Allison, and I, as you already know, am Jen.” Cadence gave a polite smile to all the girls and the questions followed.
         “So where are you from?” Carrie started off. At least they were starting off easy and working it to the deeper stuff later. Cadence hoped maybe the bell would ring before the important stuff came up.
         “I’m from California.” Cadence answered.
         “Oh really? I have a cousin who lives in California near San Francisco. Did you live near there?” Nicole asked.
         “Not really. I lived by L.A.”
         “Oh that is so cool! I’m planning on moving there after college.” Jen said, “I really want to get into acting or something close to it and what better place than the city of angels, right? Let them bless me and lead me on to better things than this school’s crappy auditorium.” Jen had put her hands into a prayerful stance and pretended to look up to the heavens and the other girls let out a giggle.
         “So Cadence, what do you like to do anyways?” Allison asked.
         “I don’t know. A lot of stuff I guess.”
         “She’s a pretty specific girl.” Jen said sarcastically. Cadence didn’t really want to say anything about herself but she also didn’t want to piss anyone off.
         “Well, back in California, I used to love going to the beach.” She finally forced herself to say.
         “Well I hope that isn’t all you like to do. I’m not sure how many beaches we have here in good ol’ Kansas but I’m guessing we have slim to none.” Jen cracked. “I suppose if you wanted to visit one of the many faux lake beaches with murky water and soggy sand we could hook you up with that.”
         “Ha yeah, I think I’ll pass. But there are pools right?” Cadence asked hopefully.
         “Yes but they aren’t open year round.” Michelle piped in.
         “Geez, with our weather, who would want them open all year anyways?” Kayla laughed. There was a general agreement around the table that Cadence didn’t like.
         “What’s wrong with the weather?” After Cadence asked this the whole table burst out cackling. Cadence was completely caught off guard.
         “Look Cadence,” Jen said with a serious note to her voice, “Kansas is very bi-polar.”
         “I don’t understand”
         “What lovely Jen is trying to say, is that, no one can predict the weather here.” Erin explained.
         “Yeah! One day it’s eighty degrees and the next it’s snowing.” Christine added.
         “Oh my gosh! I know, right? And then we get crazy bad ice storms and I can’t even watch my favorite soaps because the power goes out!” Cadence turned around and saw Adam standing right behind her.
         “Adam, you are such a loser.” Jen commented.
         “O come on Jen, you know you love me.” Adam said confidently.
         “Yeah, well, it’s only because you’re blood and I’m required so you should feel lucky.” Now Cadence was completely confused.
         “Are you two brother and sister?” Cadence asked.
         “Cousins, actually.” Jen said, “But you’d think we were siblings the way we bicker all the time. It’s mostly my fault. I’m kind of stubborn.”
         “Kind of?” At this, Jen punched Adam in the shoulder and he pretended to be hurt. Cadence laughed and Adam quit the routine and looked right at her. She couldn’t help but wonder why every time she laughed she drew attention to herself even if she wasn’t the only one laughing.
         “Well, if it isn’t Ms. “I see you but wait, no I don’t, let me run into the bathroom.” Adam joked. Cadence didn’t get mad because she figured she deserved it. But, to save face, she lied, again.
         “What are you talking about?”
         “Oh please. This girl looks straight at me this morning, saw that I was coming over, and then sprints right off to the bathroom. I mean honestly, could you have been more obvious?” He could definitely smell a lie and it didn’t help that she was wafting it in front of his nose. But, luck seemed to be on Cadence’s side once more because right then the bell rang and she saw no need to defend herself anymore. As she got up to leave however, Jen grabbed her arm and directed her to walk with her.
         “So you know Adam?” Obvious question of course. Cadence decided to answer it as nonchalantly as possible.
         “Yeah. He helped jump start my car Friday and then we went to get ice cream.”
         “Hmmm….” Something about the way Jen said this made Cadence feel a need to explain more in detail the events that occurred the previous Friday. Sadly, after she had finished specifying what happened, Jen let out another curious hum.
         “What?” Cadence almost shouted this in frustration.
         “Nothing.” Jen was not being convincing at all and Cadence caught on immediately.
         “I don’t like him or anything! I just figured I’d be nice and go get ice cream with him. It wasn’t anything special.”
         “Whatever you say, darlin’” And she walked off without another word, leaving Cadence stunned from the conversation just had.
























4

         The rest of the week went smoothly for Cadence. Jen and she had become quick friends which deeply surprised her because she had no idea why Jen had befriended her in the first place. From what she could see, Jen had plenty of friends that she could hang out with but she spent most of the week walking around with Cadence. But Cadence had yet to tell anything much about her past to Jen. She figured it was probably because Jen talked so much she left little to be said edgewise. It worked out just fine for Cadence though. She wasn’t sure if she would ever be ready to tell anyone the real truth about why she left California.
         It was already eight o’clock on Saturday night and Cadence had curled up on the couch in her PJs to watch some television when the phone rang.
         “Hey! What are you doing?” Somehow Cadence could tell that it was Jen. She could almost feel the energy through the phone.
         “Um just watching some T.V., you?”
         “I’m outside your door! Get ready! We’re going to a party.” Jen announced. Cadence peaked out the window and sure enough Jen was standing, in full party gear, right in front of her door. She was hesitant to let her inside considering her attire but unlocked the door anyways.
         “Get some jeans on, babe! Let’s go!”
         “I need to ask my parents first. Hold on.”
         Cadence walked up to her parents bedroom where they were watching a movie together. It must have been a horror flick because the moment Cadence opened the door her mother screamed and her father gave a jump that she knew he would never admit to.
         “Mom? Can I go out?” Cadence was a little nervous for the response.
         “Go out? Who are you going out with?” She knew her mom would start in on the questions.
         “A girl from school. Her name is Jen.”
         “Well can I meet her? How about you have her come on up here and say hello?” Her mom could be so nosy sometimes.
         “Mom! Is this really necessary?” Cadence was whining at this point, reminding herself of a little kid in a toy store.
         “If you want to go out then yes.” Her mother added this with a snicker.
         “Fine.” But right when Cadence turned to go get Jen, she was standing right behind her and now it was Cadence’s turn to scream. When she had calmed herself she began to introduce Jen to her parents. “Mom, Dad, this is Jen. Jen this is- ”
         “Mr. and Mrs. Ashby! How are you?” Jen gave them both a hug. “How do you like Kansas?”
         “Well it’s just fine actually, thank you.” Cadence’s mom looked at Jen with great approval and Cadence just stared at Jen, completely shocked. “So, you and Cadence are friends?”
         “Oh yeah! She’s a cool girl. I hope it’s okay that I steal her away for a little bit though?”
         “Oh of course dear. Do you need any money or anything?” Cadence could not believe how quickly Jen had won her parents over.
         “No, no we’ll be fine. Cadence, do you want to get ready? I’ll wait here with your parents while you get some proper clothes on.” Cadence walked out of the room in a daze, still not entirely sure what was happening. When she reemerged, her parents and Jen were hooting with laughter.
         “Hey Cadence. Well it was really nice meeting you Mr. and Mrs. Ashby.”
         When the two of them got into the car Cadence was still slightly shocked. Jen didn’t seem to notice. She slid a CD into the player and the noise that came out was so loud, Cadence swore her ears were going to burst. She had no idea who the band was that was playing but even with how loud Jen had the stereo she could tell they weren’t half bad. Jen said something and Cadence managed to scream a “WHAT?!” that seemed to be audible to Jen because she turn the music down a bit.
         “I said that this is my cousin’s band. Adam, remember?”
         “Oh, ok. Um, how did you do that with my parents?” Cadence couldn’t resist asking.
         “What do you mean? Your parents are cool, Cadence.” Somehow Cadence was not buying this excuse.
         “I’m not so sure I believe that.”
         “Ha. Okay, I’ve just always been good at talking to parents and getting them to like me. By the way, you never told me you were into acting!” Of course Cadence’s parents would tell her that.
         “I’m really not.”
         “Yeah right Cadence. You’re not fooling me. Your parents said at your old school you were in every play and in every kind of acting class.” Already Cadence was thinking this whole night was a mistake.
         “They exaggerated.”
         “Oh my gosh, you are so full of it.” Did she not know when to drop it?
         “I don’t care if you don’t believe me.” But she did. All she wanted was for Jen to just take it as it was and stop asking questions. But Jen wasn’t that type of person.
         “If it wasn’t a big deal to you I’m sure your parents wouldn’t have told me-”
         “Really? Is that what you think?! Well maybe they didn’t mention the reason we moved here in the first place, huh?! Did they tell you how my best friend died because of me?! Or did they say how, yes, I used to be in acting and so was Lauren but what’s the point in acting if the one person that made me love it in the first place is dead?!” Jen was silent now. Cadence couldn’t stand it because the only thing that could be heard was her crying. When ever she wanted people to shut up they just kept moving their mouths but when she wanted them to talk they couldn’t even think of a word. The car was moving still but Cadence didn’t seem to notice. She had gone from being completely angry to sudden grieving and the transition was overwhelming. 
         Jen had stopped the car in front of a split level house in the middle of just another suburban nest. By this time Cadence had managed to suppress her sobs and you couldn’t even tell she was crying anymore. Jen unbuckled her seatbelt but remained in the car.
         “We don’t have to go to the party if you don’t want to.” Jen finally managed to say.
         “No, we’re already here, might as well go in.”
         “Look, Cadence. I’m sorry. I really had no idea. I promise not to bring it up again, ok?” Jen really did seem sincerely sorry and it even looked like she might cry.
         “Thank you and I’m sorry for blowing up on you.”
         “Don’t worry about it, babe. I’m sure I would have done the same thing.” Jen said with a tone of understanding. But even as she said it, Cadence knew that it wasn’t true. Jen wasn’t going to ever be the type of person to completely blow up at anyone. She was controlled and had a peace about her that Cadence realized was something she deeply envied about Jen. She wanted that same feeling of content with her own life.
         When they walked into the house there weren’t as many people as Cadence would have expected at a party. There were maybe 25 people max. That was something Cadence really wasn’t all that used to. The parties she attended in L.A. were huge and normally they were held at popular clubs that the rich kid’s parents would rent out. Either that or in the back yard of the same kids. Here, however, the same underage parties at clubs were only full of teeny boppers who wanted to look cool drinking Kool-Aid from wine glasses.
         Cadence walked behind Jen who made her way over to a couple of the girls that Cadence recognized from lunch but was still pretty vague on the names.
         “Kayla and Erin! Hey girls. How long have you two been here?” As Jen said this, Cadence was secretly thanking her for saying their names. Cadence was pretty decent about matching a name to a face.
         “Ah, not too long. Kayla couldn’t seem to get herself dressed quick enough and took about 2 hours deciding on what shoes went best with her outfit.” Erin said semi-annoyed.
         “Hey now, I can’t help it if I want to look my best. It’s a natural instinct. Some people are just fashion obsessed.” Kayla defended herself. From what Cadence could make out, Kayla was dressed very well and seemed to have an eye for style.
         “Mmhmm well maybe you could be a BIT more efficient in your fashion decision making so I don’t have to die of boredom watching clothes come flying out of your closet all over your room.” Erin continued. At this Kayla simply pursed her lips and looked away jokingly. Cadence laughed but almost immediately stopped when she saw Adam. He had come from downstairs and when he saw all the girls he walked right over.
         “Well hey everybody.” Adam said to the group. Cadence was avoiding his face but she could feel his eyes on her.
         “So Adam, what did you get chosen to lead this year for Rosedale’s Teen Ministry?” Kayla asked.
         “Oh, um, they put me as the leader for peer counseling.” Adam replied.
         “What’s Teen Ministry?” Cadence was confused and ignored her best judgment to get rid of the uncertainty.
         “Well it’s part of the religious program at our school. We’re the ones who organize retreats.” Adam explained. “I’m heading peer counseling which means that I’m available to talk to other students with issues about God, school, personal things, and such.”
         “That sounds a little weird.” Cadence wasn’t really sure how she was supposed to respond to it. To her it kind of sounded like she had befriended the kind of people that came door to door telling you the mystery of God and that the end is near and if you repent and join their religion you’ll be saved. All of it sounded like a bunch of crap to Cadence. She wanted someone to explain to her why any kind of “savior” would kill her best friend in the whole world and leave her completely alone. No, to Cadence, God was just like Santa Claus. All those years you believed in flying reindeer thrown away once you decided to stay up late to catch that one glance at the man in red and all you wind up seeing is your parents wrapping all the gifts and chowing down the cookies you made especially for Ol’ St. Nick. God was a joke.
         “Well you can think what you want. A lot of people think it’s weird. I’m not the kind to complain though. If you want to join you can. No one’s forcing anything on you.” Adam had a certain confidence about him that even Cadence couldn’t ignore. He was real and that was something even she had to admire about him. He also wasn’t afraid of what she or anyone else thought about him.
         “I know. Anyways, what do you guys do at parties?” Cadence was curious to know what Kansas kids did for fun.
         “Um, hang out?” Erin replied.
         “Haha. Cadence if you want to drink they’re playing beer pong in the basement.” Jen responded.
         “Well why are you all up here then?”
         “Oh, well normally be stay up here because Jen-” Kayla attempted to say.
         “-because Jen gets hungry! But I’m not hungry now so we can all go downstairs.” Jen finished for her. Kayla gave a worried look over to Erin and then stared at Jen who shook her head a mouthed that it was fine. Something was going on but Cadence wasn’t sure it was her place to say anything so she stayed quiet and followed the group to the basement. When they got down there immediately another girl Cadence recognized from lunch came up to the group and frantically hugged everyone like it was a race. When she got to Cadence she screamed and then turned around to everyone downstairs.
         “Everyone! California Cadence is here!” Everyone gave out a little cheer and Cadence realized this wasn’t as small a party as she had originally thought. There were people packed into this basement and the faint dim of music she had heard upstairs had turned into a blaring blast. Cadence overheard Jen saying something to the girl that hugged her and realized her name was Nicole.
         Nicole became friendlier and friendlier as the night wore on. She got drinks for Cadence and was her beer pong partner for nearly the whole party. However, as incoherent as Cadence was, she couldn’t help but notice Jen who was drinking water on the couch by a guy and a girl that seemed to have no problem with PDA. Cadence managed to stumble over and slammed down on the couch beside Jen.
         “What are you drinking water for?!” Cadence almost screamed this at Jen and immediately apologized while laughing. Why she was laughing she had no idea.
         “I don’t drink anymore.” That was something Cadence could not seem to understand.
         “Are you serious? Why the hell not?”
         “I’d tell you but you probably won’t remember so there’s really no point.” At this Adam walked over and Cadence immediately jumped on him.
         “Heeeey Adam. Hey hey heeey do you know what? I think you’re cute. I even think it’s cuuuuute how you believe in God. Lauren believed in God too. Some good it did her, huh?” Cadence was seriously not in control of her speech anymore.
         “Who’s Lauren?” Adam was trying to keep Cadence on her feet.
         “My dead best friend. Ha, you see, God loved me sooooo much that he decided to take away the one person I actually cared about. HA what a great guy, huh?” Cadence reached for a cup on a table but Adam blocked her from it.
         “I think you’ve had enough for tonight.”          
         “What? I’m just getting started.”
         “Yeah, right.” And just like that Adam had pulled Cadence all the way upstairs and out of the house.


























5
          
         
         As Cadence yawned, stretched her arms, and looked around she immediately jumped off her bed she had found so comfortable. But it wasn’t her bed and she had no idea where she was. She checked to make sure she had clothes on and breathed a short sigh of relief. She questioned what in the world she had done last night and vague memories of a ping pong table and red cups floated around blurred faces. Cadence removed the blanket, a blue plaid pattern, from herself and began to get off the bed. Her motion, however, was stopped due to a grunt from under her feet and a very tired looking Adam pushing himself up with his elbows.
         “Ah and she arises.” Adam said, “Wasn’t expecting you up so soon.”
         “What time is it?” Cadence’s tone had suddenly become urgent. As messed up as she was, she still remembered she still had a curfew and she had never told her parents anything about staying over anywhere. Adam seemed to have read into this because he made a motion with his hand that Cadence took to mean not to worry, although he was gesturing very half heartedly so she couldn’t be sure and insisted he give her a proper explanation.
         “Jen called your parents.” Cadence suddenly felt sick to the stomach and once again Adam sensed what she was thinking. “Don’t worry. She only asked them if you could stay the night with her.”
Cadence let out a long sigh of relief as Adam got up to put a shirt on. He didn’t have a half bad body she noticed but presently she was still a little concerned about what happened the previous night.
“Um…about last night..” Cadence was hoping that Adam would assure her that nothing bad had happened but she was not so lucky.
“Let’s just say you may want to lay off the alcohol for awhile. It makes you say some things I’m sure you didn’t want out in the open. Plus, the kicking and scratching was a little overboard.” Cadence felt completely embarrassed. Adam looked at her and let out a sort of chuckle.
“Wow you really don’t remember, do you?” At this Cadence shook her head. Words seemed too difficult to grasp when she was busy picturing her drunken, idiotic self. How could she have been so careless? She knew what happened when she drank. The last time she had woken up not knowing where she was, she was with Lauren. The thought stung as remembered that it had been Lauren who convinced Cadence to stop drinking. She wiped her left eye of a tear that had made its way onto her cheek. Adam looked at her concerned and sat down on the bed beside her.
“If it makes you feel any better, it could have been a lot worse.” Suddenly Cadence worried that she had hooked up with anyone but before she could ask Adam simply said, “And when I say it could be worse I mean you didn’t get on anyone. I mean, you tried getting on me but yea...” It was Adam’s turn to be a little embarrassed.
“Well, um, thanks for, er, taking care of me.” What a lame excuse for gratitude Cadence thought to herself.
“Anytime Ms. Ashby.” At that, a cell phone rang and Adam moved to answer it.
“Hello?....yeah, yeah she’s up now….what?....Yeah I guess but I could take her home…Well geez are they chopping at the bit for her?…Than there is no need hurry...Look, Jen, just call them and tell them she left your house this morning to eat breakfast with me…Well than fine, say you two are going instead…Ok ok, compromise. I’ll take her out to breakfast and then bring her to your house and you can bring her home, deal?...Good..I’ll see you later.” Adam closed the phone and looked at Cadence.
“So you want to get some food? Or, maybe just some coffee?” Cadence had half the mind to refuse but instead obliged his request.
“Coffee sounds great.” Cadence couldn’t be sure but she was sure she saw a smile flash across Adam’s face.