Unbroken Rules (Rules 3)

“The trial’s in two days. We have to meet up with my lawyer. Are you good to get home?” my dad asks me.

“Yep. I’ll ride with Kendrick.”

“All right, I’ll see you tonight, pumpkin” is the last thing my father says before both he and Judy walk away.

“You have got to get a car.” Kendrick gets his keys out of his pocket as we make our way to the second exit.

“Meh. One day, maybe.” I shrug.

“I mean, unless Matthew’s chauffeur drives you everywhere from now on,” he taunts.

Sliding into the passenger seat of Kendrick’s car, I contemplate how much my life has changed during the past ten months. I certainly did not expect that my father would be planning his second wedding so soon, or that we’d find ourselves fighting for the custody of my sibling before I turned twenty. I decided to take a year off shortly aft

er I dropped out of school, and I’m pretty damn happy I did. I needed time to figure myself out. I’ve been looking into psychology for a while now. For the first time in so long, I’m actually excited to go back to school, but before I apply, I want to travel a bit. Matt has been talking of going to Europe this Christmas. I could definitely use the time away.

Maybe I’ll even stop looking for him in the crowd when I come back. Maybe I’ll stop hearing his voice at every street corner.

I remember the day we broke up like it was yesterday. The few tears in his eyes, the freaking ocean in mine. I walked out of Vic’s apartment, got into a cab, and never saw him again. Sometimes, I wonder if he’s still in Canada. I have no clue really. Logically, if Marcus is here, he is, too.

“How’s Waze?” I ask.

“He’s so big now. You should come and see him soon,” Kendrick says. It’s such shame that I couldn’t keep him after Haze and I broke up. With my Dad’s injury, it would have been unsafe to have an excited pup running around the house. Not to mention that I was at work most of the time. Waze deserved an amazing life, owners who could take him outside every day and play with him. Kendrick and Allie could give him that—I couldn’t.

“There’s something I have to tell you.” Kendrick’s voice requests my attention.

“Mm?” I ask absentmindedly and text Matt back.

“They found Haze.”

I almost drop my phone.

“I’m not even supposed to know. I showed up when you were still in the shower this morning. I heard your dad on the phone. He said something about Haze calling him yesterday.”

Like my mind is dead set on rejecting any information regarding this guy, it plays Kendrick’s words on repeat.

“W-What?”

“Your dad’s lawyer wanted him to testify. They already asked him.”

“And?” Anxiety grips me.

“He said yes.”

One second you think you’ve moved on, that you don’t care anymore, and the next? You’re crumbling to pieces.

“So, he’s still—”

“In Canada? Yeah. He never left.”

I’m stunned, crippled by confusing emotions.

“I can’t believe my dad didn’t tell me,” I whisper.

“I’m sure he would’ve tonight.”

Haze is in Canada.

I somehow convinced myself that he moved back to the US the day I ran out of Vic’s dirty two bedroom. That maybe Marcus left maple syrup and snow behind and Haze followed. The thought of him miles and miles away made coping slightly easier. It meant I would never have to worry about running into him on the street. Although deep down inside, I really hoped that I would. I had this perfectly rehearsed scene in my head. This moment that would tell me what I always knew.