The Engineer & The Physicist

Chapter 2: The Engineer

CADENCE

Cadence gulped her last sip of alcohol before waving goodbye to her bandmates. She wore her leather jacket over her white graphic shirt and carried her guitar on her shoulder. She smiled and walked towards the exit of the pub. It was a fun night. It had been a long time ever since she played gigs and the thrill didn't leave her body at all. However, the night was bound to end. Thankfully, her home was just one jeepney ride away.

While waiting for a jeepney to arrive, her phone vibrated. She fished it out of her pocket and unlocked the phone screen. The name that flashed on her phone screen was Dinah. She smirked and accepted the call.

"Hello?" Dinah said.

"Hey," Cadence said. "What's up?"

Cadence heard some rustling over the phone. "I miss you, Cade." Dinah said.

"I miss you too." Cadence casually said.

"Cade, I'm just minutes away from the pub. Can I see you right now?" Dinah said. Cadence simply roamed her dark brown eyes and caught a glimpse of a girl a few meters away from her. She sighed. Cadence pretended not to see Dinah, the brunette girl leaning on her red car.

"Sorry babe but I'm going home now." Cadence said and ended the call. She returned her phone in her pocket and ignored Dinah's attempts to call. Cadence thought that if she agreed to see Dinah, she already had a free ride home, but she did not want to give Dinah another reason to fawn on her. Her relationship with Dinah was not official. They met weeks ago and they had a lot of fun. They messaged each other every night until it lasted. Cadence wasn't really serious at girls. She was just flirting with them and that was it. Maybe if she was in the mood, she might flirt with Dinah again.

She lifted her hand to motion the jeepney and it stopped. She climbed inside and sat near the driver. She looked at the streets and remembered the guy she spoke from earlier. Even if she didn't get to flirt with a girl that night like she planned to, Cadence felt good with her short conversation with the guy. It was not like every day, she got a chance to talk with a stranger with wits like that.

I forgot to ask for his name, she thought. She just shrugged and placed her headset across her ears. Halsey's raspy voice started to play. It was not like they were gonna see each other again. The interaction that Cadence and that guy had ended that night. There was no next time.

With the music playing, Cadence's eyelids started to feel heavier and she drifted off to sleep.

Cadence was sitting on her bed, next to her window. Her dark brown eyes were blank and she had layers of bags under them. She was alone in her dark room and the only light that made it barely visible was the moon. Despite this, Cadence was hearing voices. Voices that sounded as if there were people constantly nagging her.

From the reflection of the mirror hanging on the wall, tears started to fall from Cadence's eyes. She was not even making any sound. The silence seemed to fill the room but the voices inside her head kept on banging her sanity saying,

"I don't have a dumb daughter."

"Nobody loves an unstable."

"You're worthless. Why don't you just die?"

"The flowers will still bloom, the sun will still rise, and people will still go on with their lives, even without you."

"End it! End it! End it! End it!"

Cadence was crying silently. She lifted her hands slowly and covered her ears, hoping that the voices would stop tempting her. But, the more she resisted, the more the voices kept getting louder and louder.