dedicated to transfigure because she's a lovely person who writes beautiful stories and poems. ily.
YEAR: 2015
"GO FUCK YOURSELF, Kadence," Maverick says, giving her the bird. Kadence, finding this highly amusing, gives him a little smile as she takes a drag of her cigarette. They are at their usual spot at the bleachers - Maverick waiting for Braxton and Kadence waiting for Xienna.
Kadence has a knack for pushing every one of Maverick's buttons. It's why they get along so well, really. Kadence likes annoying people and Maverick gets easily annoyed. Perfect.
"You think this is funny, don't you, you narcissistic little Thai bitch?" Maverick asks, though Kadence doesn't miss the way his lips twitch, suppressing a smile.
"This is highly amusing," Kadence replies calmly, before offering him her cigarette. "Want a puff?"
He smirks and takes the cigarettes from her candle-like fingers. "Needed that."
"Aww," coos Kadence, "do I push your buttons that bad?"
Maverick rolls his eyes and wonders how Kadence and him ever became friends. "No, I'm used to it. It's just that-" he cuts himself off and runs a hand through his hair, tousling the golden locks. "Blaire and I had a fight."
This is why he went to Kadence in the first place. She doesn't respond like Xienna or Orianna or Greyson. Well, he wouldn't actually ask Greyson for help - but he knew that she would report everything she heard to Blaire.
Kadence doesn't tap his hand like Xienna or Orianna would. She raises an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Again?" she asks. "What is it, now?"
Maverick grins. "You'd never believe it."
"Try me."
"Blaire thinks I'm cheating on her. With you."
Kadence begins to cough, choking on her laughter. Her cheeks flush slightly, and she blames it on her Asian genes. Maverick has never been Kadence's type. Then again, she isn't sure she has a type, so she can't be a hundred percent sure. But she does know that the one person she wouldn't want to hurt is not Maverick - but his best friend. Braxton Ryce. The boy who Kadence avoids at all cost.
Because Braxton makes her feel something - and she's the ice queen. She's supposed to be made of steel and thorns and the tears of her victims. She's not supposed to feel anything, and that includes her budding romance with the lean brunette. She avoids the things she loves because she loves them with all of herself, and she suffocates them. And then they run or die or run and then die. She doesn't want that to happen to Braxton, and she doesn't want to have to lose him.
So she prefers to avoid him.
Kadence looks at the blond and quirks a brow. "You're not my type," she states blatantly. She isn't very interested in Maverick and Blaire's drama. They always fight, break up (or go on a break, Ross and Rachel style), fuck and then get back together. That's Blaire and Maverick's relationship. It was - and still is - messy, messy business. And Kadence does not want to get in the middle of their petty drama.
Maverick scoffs. "You're not mine either. Blaire's my type. You're not Blaire."
"And thank God for that," she laughs lightly, nibbling on the straw of her coke.
Maverick offers her a lopsided grin. "You know, if you were anyone but Kadence Gaardner, I'd take offense to that."
"Aw, c'mon, admit it, Mavi. You love me. You say you hate me but you don't. You would grovel at my fucking feet if not for B."
He scoffs. "Don't flatter yourself, Kade."
Kadence winks. "Denial is the first step to change."
"This is why you're failing Literature. I'm pretty sure the phrase is denial is the first step to acceptance," Maverick laughs.
She tsk-tsks. "Technicalities," she sings, totally off-tune. "Anyway, Lit won't take you anywhere in life. Not for me, anyway. Literature is basically finding depth in shallow ponds."
"Yeah, but you need to know how to speak English."
Kadence turns to him, her face the picture of unimpressed. "Am I not speaking English, Mavi?"
"Fuck you."
The two lapse into comfortable silence. This is another reason why the two get along so well. Despite all their bickering and disagreements, they were the two that had known each other since they were in Kindergarten. They tell each other everything - well, anything aside from the topic of love.
She would rather die than tell him that she likes Braxton.
"Do you remember what happened when we were in Kinder?" Maverick muses, breaking the silence.
Kadence shrugs and drops her cigarette, crushing it with her heel. "Loads of things happened in Kinder, Mavi."
He ignores her and closes his eyes. "Blaire DuMonte moved to Avensgrove." He pauses and opens one eye. "D'you remember?"
A breath of laughter escapes from her lips. "Of course I remember. Totally wrecked our friendship, for one."
"Don't be so salty, Kade."
She laughs and pushes a strand of hair back. "It's true!" She remembers when the girl with chestnut hair walked into their class on the last year of Kinder. Maverick began helping her with everything, and it got worse in Grade school.
He grins, and Kadence knows that he's thinking about that day too. See, at first it was just Kadence and Maverick. Then, it became Kadence, Maverick and Blaire - that's when Kadence decided that she hates third-wheeling. Slowly, their clique evolved into what it is now.
"How many times do I have to apologize?" he laughs.
"I'm going to hold it against you forever, you know. Like now. Buy me a brownie."
"I'm not your slave. Buy your own fucking brownie, bitch."
"You chose Blaire in Kinder for the school play. You realize how that scarred me forever, right?"
"So if I buy you a brownie, you'll forgive me."
"I might."
Maverick and Kadence stare at each other, starting one of their stupid staring contests. Kadence feels her eyes begin to water, but she holds her ground. Staring contests have been the Gaardner-Fawkes tradition since Maverick split his pants on the first day of school and Kadence was the only one to help him.
"Are you two eye-fucking?" a voice asks, raspy and husky and one that makes Kadence's skin crawl and lose the staring contest.
"Ha!" exclaims Maverick, chin jutted up in confidence.
Kadence turns to the Heath-Ledger doppelgänger - Braxton goddamn Ryce - and narrows her eyes. "Fuck you, Ryce. And Mavi, you still owe me a brownie."
"I do not."
"Does to!"
"Do not!"
"Wait, you want a brownie?" Braxton asks, interrupting their conversation.
Kadence nod-shrugs, looking away shyly. This is another reason why she has to demolish Braxton Ryce - he makes her shy. No one makes Kadence Gaardner shy.
Braxton grins. "Cool. My mom made some brownies," he says, opening his backpack. He grabs a Ziplock full of brownies and tosses it to Kadence with a boyish grin.
She grins and exclaims, "Thanks!" Then, Kadence realizes that she just made a display of affection and immediately replaces the overly-enthusiastic with a frown. She lifts the brownie to her lips and nibbles on it.
Braxton plops down on the space beside Maverick and glances at the brownie-eating Kadence. "Shit!" exclaims Maverick. "It's Blaire. Back in a sec."
"Mavi-" Kadence hisses, annoyed at the fact that she has to spend alone-time with Braxton, who grins at her and scoots a bit closer. "What?" she snaps, eyes narrowing.
"You're avoiding me," he states blatantly, grin unwavering.
"Am not," she retaliates, folding her arms over her chest. She is, though, and she can't say that she's surprised he noticed. Back when she was the queen of one night stands (she likes to think she still is), Braxton and Kadence were undeniably close. They texted a lot, Snap-chatted each other a lot, talked a lot. And then one day, when Kadence was tired and done with everything in the world, Braxton swung an arm over her shoulders and held her while she cried. That's when everything wen downhill, and when Kadence decided to push him away as far as her arms can manage.
"Kade, what's wrong?" he presses, his hand grasping hers. Vaguely, she wonders if he feels the sparks from their touch too, or if he dismisses it as simply static.
She pulls her hand back fiercely and hisses, "Nothing's wrong." Her eyes narrows into slits as she stands up, snatching her backpack. Braxton jumps up, prepared to stop her. She bristles. "Nothing's wrong except your invasion of my personal space."
His eyebrows furrow in confusion, and Kadence almost hugs him out of pity. She hates this. She hates being a bitch to him. She hates pushing him away. She hates hurting him. But it's necessary. "Why are you doing this?" he asks.
His honest, genuine question takes her by surprise and the retort dies on her lips. Why am I doing this? The question echoes in her head. She wants to tell him why - but in the small town of Avensgrove, secrets are jewels, and she cannot afford to give hers away. So, she turns away and sprints down the steps, not once looking back.
After all, some secrets can never surface - not if it means death.
- - -
"Blaire, hey," Maverick says, smiling to himself. "What's up?"
Her voice is stone cold, flat, brittle. "Maverick," she bites frostily. She has always reminded Maverick of snow - beautiful but cold. "Are you at the bleachers?"
"Um, yeah. Why do-"
"Great," she interrupts. "Meet me behind the moldy bleachers."
Before Maverick can reply, she ends the call, making Maverick scowl slightly. People - both his friends and onlookers, the ones that live on gossip - think him a fool for dating Blaire.
It's not easy to love Blaire Angeles DuMonte. Theoretically, it is - with her chestnut hair, eyes ringed with green, fair face dotted with freckles. But practically, loving Blaire is anything but easy. Maverick would know.
But still, he loves her unconditionally, which is why he sighs and follows her wishes. He leans against the rusting pole of the bleachers. Vaguely, he thinks that he ought to go back to save his two best friends. As much as Kadence denies her feelings for Braxton - or anyone except Xienna, for that matter - Maverick can see right through it. And as much as Braxton attempts to be chill and cool and suave, it doesn't take a genius to see his bravado slip whenever he's around her.
Just as he's about to check that Kadence didn't have a meltdown, he sees a flash of chestnut hair and he freezes. Maverick likes to think that he's immune to Blaire's charm, but truth be told, he still is and always will be bewitched by her heart-shaped face and tiny lips.
Maverick takes a step forward and says, "Blaire."
She puts up a manicured hand and sends him a disgusted look. "I saw you and Kade hanging out earlier. God, I knew it, Maverick. I knew that you were going around behind my back-"
"What are you talking about? Blaire, I love you-"
Blaire scoffs and shoots Maverick a glare. "You have some nerve, you know that? God, you absolutely disgust me."
"Blaire, please, listen."
"To what? To your lies?"
"To the truth," he says, running a hand through his hair, eyes wild with desperation. This is the effect Blaire has on people. While Kadence is blunt and tactless, Blaire is about as blunt as a double-edged sword. She weaves words into weapons, and knows exactly what to say to get her way.
Blaire, tiny and compact and seemingly innocent, leans against the metal pole. "Go on."
Maverick steps forward. "Kadence loves someone else. She told me herself," he says. The last part is a lie. Kadence hates telling anyone about her love-related feelings.
She quirks an eyebrow. "Oh? Who?"
He falters. He can't betray Kadence, not when she's stuck with him since they were kids. "I can't say."
Blaire rolls her eyes, laughing airily - humorlessly. "And why would I believe you?"
"Because I love you, Blaire."
She snorts and turns on her heels, hair flicking. But she knows Maverick better than she knows her own sister, and so she isn't surprised when he grabs her wrist. She feigns shock as she snatches her hand away. To her, this is all part of the act - it's a good thing she's the best actress in their whole damn school.
"So, if I tell you who Kade likes, you'll believe me?"
Suddenly, Blaire slips into a new role - as easy as changing shoes. She becomes small and shy and sweet. "I guess."
Maverick hesitates, debating. "You can't tell anyone."
She bats her eyelashes. "Why would I?"
He opens his mouth, searching for the words - to keep the girl he loves more than anything, or to stay true to his best friend. It won't hurt. She won't tell anyone. "Braxton."
Blaire's eyes go wide and she claps her hands together. "No way!" she shrieks, before planting a soft kiss on Maverick's mouth. "I'm sorry I ever doubted you, babe. I just can't stand the thought of you loving someone else," the words flow from her mouth easily.
He smiles. "I would never."
Blaire presses her fingers against his lips. "I'm so glad we had this conversation, Ricky." She bats her eyelashes. "I have to go meet Grey, now. Talk to you later?"
His grin grows, and Blaire feels her pride swell - she knows Maverick's Achilles' heel all too well. She is, after all, Maverick's Achilles' heel. She shoots him a playful wink and skips away.
This is Blaire DuMonte - cunning, manipulative, dangerously charming. Greyson always tells her that one day, her scheming would be the death of her.
But she's not dead, isn't she?
At least - not yet.