Forgotten Rules (Rules 4)

“Well, you see, a kiss consists of two people locking lips—”

“Shut up.” She laughs. “You know what I mean.”

I pry my head out from under my pillow. “I don’t know, okay? It just happened.”

“Bullshit. A guy like that doesn’t just walk up to a girl like you and makes out with her.”

I can’t help taking offence to her remark.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean that you’re… you. You’re a good, respectable girl, Kass. He wouldn’t have made a move like that without you giving him some sort of green light. You’re not like Callie, bless her soul.”

“Ouch.” I’m upset for her. “So much for being her friend?”

“Oh, no, I’m not being mean. She proudly calls herself a ho.”

Well, then.

“Hey, don’t change the subject. What’s up with you two?”

“I’m not sure… We’ve been texting a lot recently. Hanging out. I guess we sort of became friends.”

Zoey snorts. “Honey, friends don’t almost fuck on the bathroom counter.”

“It was just a kiss.” I flush. Last night was euphoric. It was the most alive I’ve felt in a long time.

“Please, he was this close to bending you over the counter and taking you right there.”

“Zo!” I scold her.

She sticks her hands up. “Nothing but the truth, baby.”

“Shouldn’t you be mad?” I realize. “You spent the whole night trying to match him with Callie.”

“Are you insane? Don’t get me wrong, I like Callie. But you’re my ride or die. If I’d known about this, I would’ve been Team Kass in a heartbeat.”

Zoey might be a handful sometimes, but then… she says things like this. Makes you feel supported, loved. And that’s why it’s so hard for me to believe Will’s claims about her throwing me under the bus if it came down to me or her. She has flaws—we all do—but she also has these redeeming qualities, and for that one, short moment, when the good side comes out, it’s so easy to forget all that she’s done.

“I feel bad for Callie. She had such high hopes, and he still ended up in that bathroom with me,” I admit.

“Meh, I wouldn’t worry about it. He was just her flavor of the week. She’ll have found herself a new plaything by Monday.”

I wish I could believe her, but Callie’s dreamy eyes as she talked about Will last night suggest she most likely won’t go down without a fight.

“What do you think it means?” Zoey rolls to her side, propping her chin into her palm as she stares at me curiously. “Are you two like dating now?”

“Hell if I know,” I say, only acknowledging my lie when the words trickle out of my mouth. Unless Will turned into Prince Charming overnight, I do know. “I’m guessing it was just a drunken kiss. Until he tells me otherwise, that’s how I’ll look at it.”

Zoey proceeds to catch me up on what happened after I went searching for Morgan, telling me that as soon as I left, Will pushed Callie away and stormed off. No explanation.

“Water.” Zoey groans mid-boy-talk. “I need water. My mouth feels like the fucking desert.”

Four complaints later, I decide to put her out of her misery and go grab us cold water bottles out of the fridge.

“Can you get painkillers, too?” She gives me the puppy eyes.

“Coming right up.”