I'm at the kitchen table for breakfast when Cadence comes up next to me.
"So, Ari," She whispers lowly, as if she's a mysterious figure coming up to me. With her bright pink shirt and jean shorts, though, it's fairly difficult to be mysterious. Through muffled bites of quesadilla, I say,
"What do you want?"
"I want you to show me Theo, your boy-"
Almost instinctively, I clap a hand over her mouth to shut her up, this time more frantically because my mom and dad are on the sofa in front of us, and if they even catch a hint about having a boyfriend, it's going to be a never-ending lecture about using protection.
Jeez.
"And why do you want to see him?" I ask in a hushed whisper, pouring more hot sauce onto my quesadilla.
"To see if he's worthy of you, silly. My sister only deserves the best."
I roll my eyes at Cadence, waving her off as she begins to ramble about how her friend's sister is dating a 'loaf' that doesn't do anything around the house. For a nine-year-old, Cadence has more drama than I do.
Pulling out my phone, I glance at my top notification and nearly choke on my food. Dahlia's birthday is tomorrow. How could I forget? All these years, I've had that as a mental reminder, so why did I forget now?
Dahlia's parties are legendary; Her parents are super rich, so they have no problem spending any money on her birthday, and half the time, they aren't even there, probably on some date. Last year, she invited nearly half the school, and the party was so wild that some people stayed the night, and Dahlia didn't notice until a girl named Brianna came out of her closet at 9 AM.
A party worth going to.
I finish up my breakfast and grab my keys to head to the store to pick up some gifts.
"Where are you going?" Dad asks, eyebrow raised with the TV remote in his hand.
"Picking up some gifts for Dahlia."
"Right... Take Cadence with you. She can get out of the house for some time instead of watching TV."
"Dad!" Cadence shouts.
"Hey, you didn't hear it from me."
I smirk at Dad and Cadence's playful banter before I head into the garage, purse in one hand and phone in the other. As we head to the store, Cadence bombards me with questions.
"Is he hot?"
"How tall is he? My ideal man's height should start with 6, otherwise I don't want him."
"Hopefully he'll be at the market, I'd love to see him, especially if he's got you grinning at your screen like that,"
As we pull into the parking lot, Cadence is bouncing in her seat. "So, are you going to ask him to dance at the party?" she asks, her eyes wide with anticipation.
"Dance? That's a bit... ambitious, don't you think?" I reply, trying to calm my nerves. "We're just friends."
Cadence gives me a skeptical look. "Just friends who text all the time and has you smiling like this?"
"Okay, okay, just be quiet, you rascal," I say with a nudge, my cheeks warming. The thought of actually dancing with Theo sends butterflies swirling in my stomach. "But let's focus on your ideal man first."
"Fine, but I'm just saying," she says, crossing her arms dramatically. "My ideal man is 6 feet tall, with cool hair, and he definitely has to know how to dance!"
As we step out of the car and head toward the door, I see Theo walking up the path, probably headed to the same door as I am.
"You said you wanted to meet him, right?" I whisper, trying to hide my surprise. "It's Theo!"
Cadence's eyes light up. "Let's go say hi!"
"No, Cadence! I'm not ready!" I try to tug her back, but she's already sprinting toward him.
"Hey, Theo!" she calls out, waving her tiny arms like she's trying to flag down a plane.
He turns around, face confused at the little girl running toward him, but once he catches my disgruntled expression, he probably puts two and two together. "Hey, Kiara! This your sister?"
I nod, heart racing. "Yeah! What are you doing out here?"
"Just taking a walk," he replies, glancing down at my phone. "I bought my gift for Dahlia's party. You're going, right?"
"Yeah, that's why I'm here," I say, trying to sound casual while internally freaking out.
Cadence leans closer to Theo, her voice dropping to a whisper. "You know, Kiara's been looking forward to the party. She's been practicing her dance moves."
I clutch my forehead.
Theo chuckles, his eyes brightening. "Practicing? Now I have to see this!"
I laugh awkwardly, trying to cover my embarrassment. "No, I can't dance to save my life,"
"Hey, it's all cool. I can't dance either, remember?"
Cadence cuts in, clearly enjoying this. "You should totally dance with each other! Then you'll both learn!"
I can feel my cheeks burning as Theo raises an eyebrow, a playful smile on his lips. "I'll keep that in mind. Sounds like fun." He waves goodbye and walks away, and Cadence claps her hands excitedly. "Did you see that? He's totally into it! You're going to dance with him!"
"Shush! You're making it worse!" I laugh, shaking my head, but the smile doesn't leave my face.
As we head inside the shop, I can't help but feel slightly more excited about the dance.
Not because of Theo.
Right?
A/n: I LOVE CADENCE SHE'S A VIBE
I'm so excited for the next chapter(s) you have no idea...
Love you!
