“Oh, it’s you,” I said disappointedly to Reece. “Where’s Dylan?”

Reece didn’t say a word and instead pushed passed me and entered the living room where everyone else was waiting. It took me a minute to get over the rudeness, but then I remembered that this was Reece. What else did I expect from him?

My friends were all huddled together, whispering in one corner of the living room while my family were on the opposite side, mumbling to themselves.

“What’s going on?” I ask the whole room. There was palpable tension and it made me nervous. “Where’s Dylan?”

All eyes fell on Erin who had stepped forward. She opened her mouth to speak but instead of words, all I got was a little squeak, followed by a rushed, “I can’t do this.”

“Someone, please,” I begged. “Anyone.”

Suddenly Reece was pushed to stand in front of me, his face emotionless.

“Dylan isn’t coming,” he forced out through gritted teeth. “Or, at least he’s not coming here. He’s meeting us at Merton House.”

“Why?” I shook my head bemusedly. “I thought the plan was we all met here and go together. What changed?”

Another deathly silence filled the room.

Reece winced, turned to face Erin and said, “I’m not going to be the one to break it to her. You do it. I’ll just get angry and shout.”

Erin looked terrified but came to stand next to me anyway. She took my hand in hers and spoke to the ground almost in a whisper. Almost, except for the fact that I heard every word she said.

“Dylan asked Ashley Pendleton to the Ball,” Erin says weakly. After moments of silence she looks up at me and sighs. “He asked her yesterday and she said yes.”

Numbly, I shook my head to clear my thoughts but I couldn’t. “Ashley Pendleton? The Taylor Swift lookalike?”

Mark, Sam and James sniggered.

Reece shot them a glare.

Erin nodded.

My family quietly left the room.

I stood frozen.

“What- When- Erin?” My words were a jumble, just like my emotions.

“I didn’t know, I swear,” Erin held a palm over her heart. “Reece just told us. I didn’t know, Cady.”

I shook my head and laughed. It was a strangle chortle, almost like a dying cat strangle. “No, it’s cool. He should go with someone, and he’s been flirting with Ashley for weeks, so it was… inevitable.”

The guys were starting to get uncomfortable with the whole scene and were quick to suggest we leave. Mark led the way, grabbing Erin’s hand as he passed. Sam and James both patted me on my shoulder comfortingly, but I couldn’t feel anything.

That was until someone slipped their hand into mine.

“You knew, didn’t you?” I ask Reece. My eyes were looking at him, but even I knew I was looking through him. “That’s why you were warning me earlier, wasn’t it? You knew.”

Reece shook his head and frowned. “I didn’t know,” he whispered. “Cadence, I promise you, I had no idea. If I had known I would have done everything in my power to stop him from hurting you like this.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I clear my throat and shake out my shoulders. It was a technique I had learnt in Drama class- clear your throat, roll your shoulders, shake your head, plaster on a smile, and get ready to show the world what you are made of. And tonight I was going to be made of steel. Because steel is solid. Tomorrow, I could be glass, all fragile, but tonight I needed to be unbreakable. “Let’s go. We’ll be late.”

“Cadence-”

“I said ‘let’s go,’” I repeated myself, letting Reece know that this was over.