Page 1 of Unwritten Rules

Chapter 1

Fallon

This year was goingto be different.I could feel it.

That’s what I told myself while getting ready for my first class as a sophomore at Willow Bay University–a prestigious university attended by the richest of the rich, or the luckiest scholarship winners. Last year was such a whirlwind with Kelly and I was finally finding my footing.

I stayed to myself, mostly. Starting a new school in my new house was a big change, but I was grateful for my best friend turned sister. She was the social butterfly and I was the homebody with a far too large inheritance with depression.

The campus I arrived at last year was so large it was considered its own city in a sense. Willow Bay was known for its vibrant campus life and strong community spirit. At least online it was. The mascot was a shark–whatever that was supposed to mean. I’d assumed it was because we were close to the ocean.

How shark-like life could be...

Kelly popped her wild and wavy brown-haired head into the bathroom, breaking me out of my thoughts. Her honey brown eyes were always perfectly lined with sharp, black wings–she mastered the art of makeup. “Hey Fal, you excited for the fall semester? Oh. My. God. What are you doing?”

I leaned away suspiciously. “Uh, getting ready?”

She narrowed her–perfectly smokey–eyes at me. “Who are you and what the hell did you do with Fallon?” She came into the bathroom fully to pick at my hair–getting far too close to my face for an inspection–and inspecting my face with her eyes wide in disbelief.

I looked back at my reflection hesitantly, applying some lip gloss as a finisher. “It’s sophomore year and I feel like I can experiment a bit. Considering we have online classes and I only need to get ready three days a week, I didn’t think it wastoohard to get ready and dolled up.”

We both looked at my reflection in the mirror, my blonde beach waves were straightened and I applied makeup from a tutorial I found online. I looked back at her, kind of worried.

“Do I look bad?” I asked.

She let out a laugh. “No! I think you look fucking hot! I think sophomore yearanda boyfriend looks good on you. It gives me a good feeling about things–they’refinallylooking up!” She gave a quick smack to my ass, giggling as she left me to my devices.

“Me too,” I sighed “With some online classes, a house with my bestie close to campus, and a new look, this year is sure to be our best yet.”

I placed my makeup in my to-go bag that I planned to keep on me. My research on makeup had been silly, but it made me feel better about being the weird, sheltered rich girl.

Unlike all the other nepo babies at school, I grew up with a mother who wanted to keep me down to earth and normal despite her immense wealth–she never let me know justhowimmense it was.

Kelly and I linked arms as we marched into the kitchen, excited for breakfast and the big first day. She whipped up a wonderful first-day-of-school spread that included pancakes and alotof bacon. When she cooked, it wasalwaysbreakfast food.

I loaded my plate with a pile of each choice from the smorgasbord of breakfast options. “Geez, you went all out this morning, Kel.”

She beamed. “Only the best for my best!”

“Love you, dude,” I giggled.

“Love you too, Fal. Oh! I totally forgot–well, almost forgot–to mention that there is a giant back-to-school bash on Friday. It’s Greek Row shit,butI figured free drinks, dancing, and a good night out could do us some good. Make our debut as hot sophomores with hunky men to do our bidding.”

I almost choked on my orange juice at the mention of hunky men. “Do our bidding? What are we, mafia leaders?”

She threw me an evil grin. “We could be!” Her wild and wavy brown hair bounced as she emphatically nodded along with her train of thought. “I really want a boyfriend, Fal. I haven’t dated anyone since high school. You have Garrett now and I want to go on cute double dates!”

“Mhm,” I raised an eyebrow. “Except for Jake, Ryan, Xavier, Trent... Shall I go on?” I counted out the names on my fingers while she glared sternly. “Thosearen’tboyfriends,” she huffed. “I want arealboyfriend. You know the type: he doesn’t cheat, likes to talk to me, doesn’t just want sex, doesn’t lead you on, talks to you in public, doesn’t only text you at three in the morning...” she trailed off, listing many of the red flags from her previous hopefuls.

“I’m only teasing,” I said, poking her in the side.

She perked right back up. “Well, in that case... I get to tease you about still being a virgin.”

I rolled my eyes, toying with the eggs on my plate. “Don’t even. For one, I’m only twenty. Two, boys weren’t on my mind with my mom being sick for so long. Then there’s the issue of Sylvia being terrible.”

“Somehow you always get an out whenever I want to tease you.” She shoved a forkful of pancake into her mouth, mumbling about how good it was.

“Sorry, my dead mom gives me an out.”

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