Page 38 of Unwritten Rules

“Did you tell him that you’re feigning for Brent? Or did you say yes?”

I tried to play it cool but opted to hide my face behind the sleeves of my oversized sweater. “Ugh! I amsoinexperienced. The only thing that ever happened to me before this year was a kiss as a dare in sixth grade. But I told Garrett I would think about it. We hung out a bit in his car...and then he dropped me off and we almost had a full make out session on the doorstep.”

It was true. I hadn’t done much, and I didn’t know how I felt about it. Secretly, I wanted to get my virginity out of the way so I could stop stressing out about it. There were some opportunities last semester, but I couldn’t get myself to do it with a random.

“Do you think you’ll actually sleep with him at some point?”

Maybe, but I would be surprised if it was anytime soon. “I haven’t given it much thought. However, when we kissed, I got some fuzzy feelings.”

She giggled. “At least we know he turns you on.”

I fully buried my face in my sweater-covered hands. “I feel like a teenager.” My voice was muffled by the fabric. I looked back up at her and said, “I need some air since it’s getting hot in here with all this talk. Want to come to the back porch with me?”

She agreed and we sat on the porch while I refocused my thoughts to potential holiday plans and future landscaping endeavors for the yard. My mind drifted back to the board of directors and Evans telling me how my life would look in the very near future. The meeting was an introduction–I got some names I wouldn’t remember along with the faces of a bunch of stuffy looking men in suits. They wanted to catch me up to speed as soon as possible with the goings on in the business.

I didn’t want to change my major. I didn’t want to be told what to do. Despite my mother leaving me everything, I knew nothing of businesses–or how to run them. She left me a broken-down car. And I wasnomechanic.

To say I was nervous was an understatement. What would running an international company like The Montgomery Group even be like? What was expected of me? Would I make it, or would I run the company into the ground, destroying everything my mother had built for us?

Those were questions for me to address later. I shook them off and tried to lighten my thoughts back to the present. To sitting with Kelly on the porch. “Do you think we should put in a hot tub?” I pulled out my very own pack of cigarettes and a pink lighter I purchased when no one was looking.

Maybe I did want to impress a man. Attention felt nice.

“Since, um, when do you smoke?” Kelly gave me an incredulous look. She never saw me smoke a day in my life–or do anything edgy, actually.

Since Brent, I thought. I wouldn’t tell her that, though.

Ignoring her question, I offered the cigarette out to her. It felt like I was mimicking Brent in a way. “Want one?”

“You should try weed sometime, since you’requitethe bad girl now.” She took it from my fingers and brought it to her lips, drawing in a long puff.

“Very funny. I’m changing topics now. I wanted to get some work done out here and a hot tub installed so we can have some of our own parties.”

“Only if you hire the hottest contractors so we can watch them work.”

“Deal,” I said, scrolling through my phone to find some contractors on a services app. It looked like there was some availability within the next week.Hot contractors here we come!

I swapped apps to look at some travel websites. We talked about heading to Europe for a vacation, but I was feeling like we wouldn’t be able to head out until after Christmas with the business shit I was being thrown into. Despite that, I looked into some places that offered full itineraries.

“What do you think about this?” I showed her my phone. “It’s a six-day trip spanning France, Germany, and Italy.”

“Now that sounds fun.” She released a puff of smoke, looking out into the yard. She seemed to be lost in thought.

She disappeared after we hung out on the porch into her bedroom—-she had a weird look, but I didn’t think too much of it. She reappeared hours later while I was into my homework.

“Hey girl, I’m off!” Kelly adjusted her earring while running out of her bedroom. She had her pinky looped through a pair of heels while she tried to fix her hoop into her ear.

She was always off to someplace with someone. I looked up at her over my laptop. “What’s the adventure this time?”

Before she could answer, a knock at the front door pulled both of our attentions to the foyer. I popped up and went to look through the peephole. “It’s Shane,” I whispered, plastering a mischievous smile on my face.

Kelly was such a maneater. That, or he had a great stash of nose candy. Kelly had a preference for the rich kid substances on occasion—I told her it was no good, but she was in her wild child era.

I opened the door to see Shane standing awkwardly with a bundle of flowers. He also dressed up from his standard casual attire. Kelly stumbled back into the hallway to ready herself just out of our direct line of vision.

“Wow,” I said. “Are these for me? You shouldn’t have.” I held out my hands and took the flowers from him.

He gave a nervous laugh as I took them. “Is Kelly ready?”

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