Page 66 of Rules for Rule Breaking
“Don’t move.”
He said it with such force that she immediately fell quiet.
Winter was not alone in admitting that she loved when people played with her hair. She closed her eyes and listened to the gas meter roll. Bobby ran his fingers up the nape of her neck, and she took a sharp intake of air. She didn’t know if it was accidental or not, but the sensation made her tense up. She jumped when the gas nozzle clicked, signaling that it was done.
Bobby secured her hair in the elastic and sat back to admire his work. Winter looked in the mirror. Her hair was in the neatest French braid she’d ever seen.
“You’re such a show-off,” she said. “Why do you even know how to do that?”
“Jacqueline.”
“Oh,” she said, sinking into her seat.
Winter finished eating in silence. Bobby got his credit card back, gave Winter some hand sanitizer, and they got on the road. They’dtaken to negotiating their school activities so they could be more civil when they returned.
“You can have treasurer, and I’ll take class historian,” Bobby said.
“You want to be historian?”
“I enjoy documenting things. Plus the student council looks good on a college application, but I don’t have time for president and neither do you.”
Winter shrugged. “You’re right. Okay, deal. Now for the science fair—we only use trifolds. If we have any table displays or experiments, we have to let the other know so they can adjust their projects accordingly.”
“Deal. And we can’t have the same guidance counselor this year. They always end up comparing us, and frankly, it’s annoying.”
“Oh my God, I know! I’m not convinced Mrs. Sweeney knows we’re not related. Isn’t there, like, a confidentiality agreement or something?”
Bobby wrinkled his forehead. “One of us will have to take stinky old Ms. McCleary instead.”
“I’ll do it as long as you don’t challenge me for marching band captain. You can be a section leader.”
“Done,” Bobby said, and they smiled at each other.
She and Bobby settled into a comfortable silence and stayed that way for a long while. They drove with the windows open, letting the hot summer air whip them in the face. It was crisp and earthy, and the clouds drifted across the sky like ducks in a pond with nowhere to go. The highway had steep rock cliffs on either side, with thick forests on top. There were pools of probably toxic waste that’d give you a third limb if you fell into them and aluminum towers that connected the world. The dirt was being kicked up andswirled around before being shot through the car vents, drying out Winter’s eyes as she and Bobby cut through like Snowpiercer. It was a freeing feeling—not like she’d been let go, but more like an escape.
Winter and Bobby shared a quick smile before returning their eyes to the highway.
Bobby Bae
30. WE WILL NOT DO ANYTHING EVEN IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF FLIRTING
Thewelcome to new yorksign was underwhelming. It looked like any old sign, and they easily could have missed it had they been talking. They were listening to an oldies radio station. Winter liked to perfectly curate her playlists and podcasts, but against his better judgment, Bobby found something charming about the randomness of the radio. It was one of the only places where a certain amount of controlled frustration seemed fair.
“Did you know that it’s illegal to flirt in New York?” Winter asked as they whizzed by the sign. She had her hand out the window, and she was making a wave motion with her arm.
“Illegal?” Bobby said with a smirk. “Couldn’t we just round up anybody who’s currently in a relationship? We have to assume there was flirting at some point.”
“Round up? This isn’t a sting operation,” Winter said. “You only have to pay a twenty-five-dollar fine.”
Bobby was overtaken by a smile. “Okay, then. Hit me with your best pickup line. If I can keep a straight face, you give me twenty-five dollars.”
“Are you serious?” Winter was grinning from ear to ear. She was sitting completely sideways, facing him with her legs folded on the seat. “You go first. If I don’t laugh, the same deal applies.”
Bobby put his finger to his chin as he thought of his best pickup line. He wasn’t a master flirter, he did hear one or two cheesy pickup lines that Mr. Bae dropped on Mrs. Bae every now and then. It had always been vomit-inducing. He never thought they’d be useful.
He grinned and took Winter’s hand. “You ready?”
“Yeah, don’t be dramatic. Just go.”
