Unbroken Rules (Rules 3)

“Hiding from your own party, huh?”

I scoffed. “I highly doubt they miss me.”

“What happened?”

“What do you mean?”

“All this. You throwing a last-minute party. The drinking. This… This isn’t you, Winter.”

And you think I don’t know that?

When I didn’t reply, he walked in, closed the door, and sat down on the floor next to me. “What’s wrong?”

I still didn’t utter a word, bringing the bottle to my lips. His disapproving eyes stung but not nearly as much as the ache in my chest did. So, I kept drinking.

“I’m not going to stop bugging you. Might as well spit it out.”

I sighed. When I’d called Allie that morning to tell her my mom and siblings were going out of town and I wanted a party, she was so excited she hadn’t bothered to ask why. Not that I would’ve told her if she’d questioned my change of heart. I’d pushed my feelings down, eaten breakfast alone, and pulled myself together the best I could. But right now, all I wanted to do was tell someone. Anyone.

Maybe just so I could get some sleep that night.

“It’s my family. They… hm… They didn’t leave tonight.”

“What?”

“They left this morning. When I was still sleeping. My mom took my siblings on a trip. I—”

“Wait.” He paused. “She left you?”

I nodded, terrified to meet his eyes.

“Did you… spend the whole day alone?”

The pity lacing his voice cut right through me.

“Yeah, but it’s okay. I had homework anyway.”

He didn’t know what to say, which was understandable.

“Twenty bucks say she won’t even come and pick me up at the airport when I get back

from Florida,” I cackled.

“I’ll do it.”

I frowned, assessing my best friend.

“I’ll come and pick you up, no matter what, I promise.”

His kindness felt foreign to me, unprecedented.

That’s when the waterworks hit.

My heart betrayed me. It shattered the walls I built around myself, the lies I’d tried so hard to believe. The drizzle turned into a storm, and I started to sob.

“I’m sorry.” I covered my face in embarrassment, “God, I’m such a baby.”

“No, you’re not.”