Unspoken Rules (Rules 2)

The night has fallen, and the colorful lights spreading all around the site fascinate us almost as much as it does the many children still dragging their parents around. They’ll be going home soon and surrendering the amusement park to older crowds. The teenagers looking for a thrill will come flowing through the front gates soon.

“What about the Ferris wheel?” Mia claps her hands in excitement and points to the rotating ride.

“Why not? I could use a nap,” Haze mocks, and we laugh, as in all of us. Even Kendrick. I never thought I’d see the day these two would kind of get along.

“I wouldn’t mind,” Kass says, peeking at Will from the corner of her eye.

“Me neither.” He clears his throat.

I smile. Can they be any more obvious?

I bet these two are just dying to secretly hold hands up there.

“Why is it so far though?” I wince. I’ve been wearing my new shoes all day and my feet are killing me.

Haze doesn’t say anything, just steps in my way and beckons me to climb on his back, which I do without so much as a second thought. I laugh and wrap my legs around his waist as he runs across the crowd too fast for the guys to catch up. I snort like an actual pig and suddenly give the expression “piggyback rides” its meaning. We’re both howling like idiots. Yep, it’s official. We’ve just reached a whole new level of cheesy.

He lets me down, and we wait for the group to meet us in front of the line. When they do, we form the teams. Haze goes with me, Will goes with Kass—shocker—Alex with Mia and… Kendrick finds himself alone.

“What about me?” Kendrick complains.

“Don’t worry, I’ll go with you, handsome.” A sixty-something-looking lady in front of us turns around and offers Kendrick a toothless smile before taking his hand. “Come on, we’re next.”

Kendrick widens his eyes as she drags him to their seat. We’re all laughing so hard our stomach hurts. Minutes later, we’re good to go, the sound of the engine roaring indicating the beginning of very slow motion. The view is mesmerizing, top of the wheel or not. I look at Haze to see him already staring at me.

“View’s this way.” I smile, and he opens his mouth. I cut him off before he gets a chance to speak. “I swear to God if you say something cliché like ‘My view’s better,’ I’ll slap you in the face.”

“Why you always got to ruin my lines, Kingston?” he teases and puts his arm around me.

“I had to.” I put my hands up. “Before someone calls the cheesy couple police on us.”

He doesn’t reply, silently staring at me. Today’s been perfect. He’s been perfect. On his face is the smile that started it all. The smile that put my dumb ass into this mess in the first place. The only smile with the power to shake me, make me, and shatter me all at once.

“Is this the part when you kiss me on top of the Ferris wheel?” I ask, but I already know the answer.

He chews on his lip, his eyes falling to mine, and smirks. “You bet your ass it is.”

When his mouth meets mine and his fingers brush my jaw, I want to die. Not because I don’t love him. Not because I don’t care. But because I do. Too much. Too hard. Too everything. The love, the familiar taste of his lips, the feverish need only he gives me. It makes my heart bleed.

Because I know in a few days, I’ll be on a plane. A plane taking me

somewhere he won’t be.

“Attention please. We kindly ask the couple in the back to get a room. Thank you,” Kendrick calls from afar. Will, Alex, and Mia burst out laughing. We stop kissing. Kass and Will have been so busy mentally stripping each other down it’s a wonder they even noticed we were making out.

Then, the magical moment ends. We come back down to earth, the pressure of all the things the next day will bring weighing on me. I can’t believe that prom is tomorrow.

We spend the rest of the night talking with Irene, the kind granny Kendrick rode the Ferris wheel with. She’s sixty-eight years old, and her husband proposed to her on top of this exact Ferris wheel forty-seven years ago. They constantly came back for their anniversary until he passed away from cancer. Today is their anniversary. She still comes. Every year. Without exception. She does it to remember him. The love of her life.

This is the most beautiful story I’ve heard in a long time.

The drive back to Maria’s place feels heavy, stressful. It’s been like this since I told Haze that I was leaving. When night falls, marking the end of yet another day, he becomes this dry, cold person.

“Thank you for today.” I smile when he parks his new car on the side of the street. Maria’s working a night shift tonight, which means that Haze might actually be able to get in using the front door.

“Why?” He smiles.

“You didn’t have to say yes to them coming, but you did. Thank you for making a compromise.”