Page 114 of Unwritten Rules

“Jesus Christ, Garrett,” I breathed, gripping my chest. My anxiety would be the death of me.

“Meet me in your backyard?” His voice sounded desperate.

I shifted slightly. Kelly was still awake and there was no way to get out there covertly. Not that I wanted to; I felt like I didn’t know this guy to the full extent. He could have been trying to lure me out for who knows what.

“Can’t. Kelly is still awake. You can talk here if it’s that important,” I whispered.

He let out a huff. “Okay, well. For one, you didn’t have to sick Brent on me. What is up with you two? He’s with Sloane and she’s not a very...amicable person.”

I rolled my eyes. Was he being serious right now? “Next question,” I said flatly.

“Huh, as soon as I’m out of the picture... Anyway, I needed to clear some of these allegations. The Fitzgerald family is running amuck and acting like a mafia right now with some other families. The reason families like mine are being caught up in cases is because someone’s daddy calls the shots and doesn’t like when people don’t act like their little worker bees.”

To be honest, that tracked. Alexander had this aura about him that screamed ‘I’m a piece of shit and my daddy allows it’ and it made me sick.

“Okay? Doesn’t change that I can’t be seen with you. My advisors aren’t too thrilled with us being dragged into your guys’ drama.” I glanced around, wondering what else was lurking out there.

He grunted and I could tell a frown formed on his face. “Your family has been involved with this shit for longer than you’d think. I’m in the center of this drama spreading around campus because my dad wasn’t abiding by some secret group rule, but from what my family’s advisors and legal counsel are saying, there was some stuff your mom was into that has to do with a lot of what’s happening.”

Great, another mystery.Thanks, mom. Could have used a heads up, you know!I silently scolded her in my head as if she could hear me.

Okay, I was tired of the vagueness from everyone. “So, why are only a few families going down?”

“It’s all to do with the top ten and the group at the very top. You’ve seen the list? Those ten run a lot of shit, Fallon. Sloane's family keeps tabs and track of everyone, organizing shit. Yourfriendis in the family of blackmailers. I’m surprised you didn’t know that by now with your association with Vaughn. Also, tell him not to attack me again. Shit hurts.” He rubbed his face and in the shadows, it looked like he would have a nice shiner on his eye for a while.

I bit the inside of my cheek, unsure of how to respond. “How can I trust what you’re saying? I’ve been told things about you using me for protection from the fallout. So how do I know this isn’t a ploy?”

He groaned. “Why would I come here after you got my ass handed to me? I still give a shit about you, you know. Even if we never made things official.”

A small pang in my chest left me feeling confused. I didn’t know anything, and I had very little information to go off of in all the situations I found myself in. I was drowning with sharks—while bleeding.

Garrett seemed kind and caring and none of our interactions gave me red flags. But again, he could be a great actor like the rest of them.

On another hand... his family was going down.

I didn’t know what to think. These kids around me turned on each other in the name of self-preservation.

“I don’t know,” I whispered, putting my forehead to the window. “I just don’t know anything.”

He got closer to the window. “I won’t lie and say I didn’t figure out exactly who you were, and that a lot of the rumors aren’t my fault. I feel like a lot of this is my fault. But the charges, the feds, the other families gunning for some of us aren’t. Those are all the doings of the parents around us andallof us are canon fodder for each other to use in their wars. The only problem is some of the families aren’t scared of getting their kids dragged in, or worse.”

My eyes flicked up to him. “What do you mean ‘or worse’?”

“The kid who died? You think that’s an accident? Whatever the reports say, it’s a lie. He was killed in this war zone all our parents have created. None of us are safe—you especially. Your mom died a while ago and the predators have been circling and sharpening their nails in preparation for you. You’re about to be dragged into shit that you can’t come back from.”

He tried to get even closer to the window, a bush in his way. “Fallon, you cannot trust anyone from the top ten. Look what they did to me.”

My eyes shifted to look away from him. “I’m in the top ten, so...I shouldn’t trust myself?”

His hands gripped the edge of my open window. “You can’t trust any of them. If something happens to me, I can at least say I tried to warn you.”

I pinched my eyebrows together in confusion. “What the hell would happen to you?”

“For exposing the truth? A lot. I’m a dead man walking. Don’t play their games.”

And with that he stalked off into the night.

Exposing the truth? What was he about to do?

---