Rule #2: You Can't Crush on Your Sworn Enemy (The Rules of Love)

by Anne-Marie Meyer

I chewed my lip as I turned to him and nodded.

  He stepped out onto the deck and pulled the door closed behind him. I tried to ignore the fact that he was wearing his pajamas. Just like he did at home, before this all happened.

  “What are you doing here?”

  I shrugged. I didn’t want to tell him that I’d brought a group of delinquents here to deface his new girlfriend’s garage door. Or that I was stalking him. Or that I came here to find out who he’d replaced us with. “You left the address, and I wanted to see what you traded us for.” I winced at the bite in my tone. Man, I needed to get home and go to bed.

  He folded his arms over his chest as he studied me. “Okay,” he said.

  Not knowing what to do, I turned away. I didn’t want to be here right now. I needed to get home, take a shower, and go to bed. Too bad I had a thirty-minute walk back to the store to get my car.

  “Do you need a ride home?” Dad asked.

  I just waved away his question. At least with the walk, I’d have some quiet time. I’d be able to think, to process my thoughts, and decide what I was going to do.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The rest of the weekend sucked.

  Lucky for me, Mom and Patricia didn’t bother me, and Dad didn’t come around.

  I spent all of Sunday in bed, eating Pop-Tarts and watching ridiculous Hallmark movies. Anything to drown out the aching hole that was left in my heart from Cade’s absence.

  How had I grown so accustomed to him being around? We’d only just started tolerating each other. Why couldn’t I go back to hating him as much as I did before? Back when life was simple.

  As I buried myself under my covers Monday morning, I knew why. Because I’d seen the side of Cade that I never knew existed. The kind, loving, smart, and incredibly sexy side of him. And I missed all of that. He’d changed me, and I was never going to be the same.

  My alarm rang again. I groaned and flung the comforter off of me. I needed to get ready for school. I’d already completely screwed up my personal life. I couldn’t let my grades slip—even though the thought of going to school made me want to puke.

  I sighed. Too bad I couldn’t live in my bed forever.

  After a long shower, I got dressed in a t-shirt and jeans. I threw my wet hair up into a bun and grabbed my backpack. I tried to ignore the fact that I hadn’t done any of my homework all weekend. I was going to have some explaining to do when I got to school.

  And then my stomach churned.

  I was going to see Cade in a few short hours. Cade.

  My heart squeezed as tears formed on my lids. I missed him.

  I cleared my throat as I walked down the stairs. I couldn’t think about him anymore. We were done. I was completely wrong for him. We’d tried to make it work, and it didn’t. It was time that I started accepting that.

  Or, at least, force it from my mind so it didn’t break my heart every time I thought about it.

  I ate breakfast solo and then headed out the door. Mom and Patricia seemed to be avoiding the house as much as I had. I wasn’t even sure when I’d seen them last. What a strange turn our life had taken.

  When I got to school, I texted Crista. I didn’t want to be alone today. I needed my best friend.

  She responded right away: she was sitting at a lunch table, waiting for the bell to ring. I made a beeline for the lunch room. Just as I turned the corner, I ran into someone.

  He humphed and wrapped a hand around my arm to help steady me.

  “Sorry,” Cade said.

  Of course. Out of the 700 students here, I had to run into Cade. I cursed fate’s cruel humor.

  “It’s okay,” I whispered as I met his gaze. I couldn’t help it. I was like a moth to flame.

  He raised his eyebrows and he dropped his hand as if he’d been burned. He reached up to run his hand through his hair.

  The silence around us suffocated me. I had to say something.

  “Cade, I—”

  He held up his hand. “I think you’ve done enough,” he said as he stepped to the side and disappeared into the crowd.

  A tear slipped down my cheek as I ducked my head and slipped into the bathroom. I found an empty stall and collapsed against the wall.

  The tears fell more freely now. My heart was breaking in my chest, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. It was all my fault. As much as I wanted to blame someone else for my pain, I couldn’t. I’d been the idiot who ruined everything.

  The warning bell rang, so I grabbed some toilet paper and dried my eyes. I took a few deep breaths and then opened the door.

  Just my luck, Tiffanii and a few of her posse members were standing in front of the bathroom mirror, applying eyeliner to their already overly lined lids.

  When her gaze fell on me, a sick smile spread across her lips. “Well, if it isn’t rich girl,” she said, turning to face me.

  I glared at her as I threaded my thumbs through my backpack straps and headed toward the door.

  “Whoa, hang on,” she said, grabbing my arm and pulling me to a stop.

  “Let go of me,” I said, glaring over at her.

  Her eyes widened as she dropped her hand. “Fine,” she said.

  I didn’t wait for her to continue. I focused on the exit. There was nothing that was going to stop me from leaving.

  “I thought you might want some information about Cade,” she called after me.

  Except that.

  I stopped and turned toward her. “What?”

  She smiled and leaned against the sink. She’d gotten my attention, and that made her happy. I didn’t know it was possible to hate her more.

  She folded her arms. “I thought you might want to know about Cade,” she repeated.

  I groaned. I didn’t want to play her games, but if she had information about him, I needed to know. Like, my body wasn’t going to do anything I told it to do until she spilled. “Okay. What do I need to know?”

  She grinned. “Oh, something about him getting arrested on Saturday.”

  I stared at her. “What?”

  “Apparently, the cops you called on us stopped him. They found spray paint all over his hands, and another source told them that they saw him vandalizing the house…” She sucked the air in through her teeth as she tapped her chest. “It didn’t look good for good ole’ Cade.”

  My stomach plummeted. My ears rang. My heart galloped in my chest. “He was arrested because of you?”

  Her smile spread across her face. “Oh yeah. And he’s in deep—” Her eyes widened as Mrs. Sanchez, the art teacher, walked into the bathroom. “Crap,” she said as Mrs. Sanchez shot her a pointed look.

  “What are you ladies doing in here? The warning bell rang. You should be headed to class.” She pointed her finger at us and then disappeared into a stall.

  Taking this as my opportunity to leave, I turned and slipped into the hallway.

  Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. I’d gotten Cade arrested? He must hate me. Here he was, trying to put his life on the right path, and I went and screwed it up for him. I was such an idiot.

  I slipped into Ceramics and tried to keep from looking to see where Cade was. But, my stupid body wouldn’t listen to me, so I spotted him a few seconds later. He was sitting in the back with his head down. His Calc book was open in front of him, and he was writing something down in his notebook.

  I stared at him as I walked to my seat. Inside my head, I was begging him to look at me. I needed him to know that I hadn’t meant for that to happen. It was completely my fault, and I was going to fix it.

  But he stayed focused on his homework until the bell rang. Mr. Meyer stood in front of the class and informed us of the new project we’d be working on in groups. I secretly hoped I’d be paired with Cade, but no such luck. Instead, I got stuck with chatty Caroline, who didn’t stop talking until the bell rang.

  I gathered my things as fast as I could and shoved them into my backpack. I had an hour of Economics and then Calculus. If I wante
d to talk to Cade, I needed to corner him now.

  Thankfully, he wasn’t in as much of a rush as I was. I made it out of the classroom and into the hall before him. So I stood next to the door, waiting. I felt a bit like a lioness waiting to pounce. But, when I saw him, my heart rate went galloping off, and it was all I could do to reach out and grab his arm.

  “Wait!” I said, too loud. I mentally slapped myself.

  Get a grip.

  I loosened my grasp. “I mean, can we talk?”

  Cade’s gaze moved from my hand up to my face. His expression was a mix of hurt and anger. “What do you want, Penelope?”

  I nodded toward the far alcove. He allowed me to lead him over to it. Once we were out of the throng of people, my throat went dry. Why did I decide that this was a good idea?

  When I didn’t speak, his eyebrows went up. “If you don’t have anything to say, I should go. I’ve got class to get to.” He pulled the strap of his backpack up onto his shoulder.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered. Why had I all of a sudden become mute? I had him. He was willing to listen to me. And yet, words wouldn’t form in my mind.

  “You’re sorry?” He sighed. “For what?”

  Tears formed on my lids again. Blast these stupid emotions. I swear, before this week, I’d cried about five times, total. Now? It seemed I was tearing up every five minutes.

  I shook my head. I could be strong. “For this weekend.”

  He snorted, but the pain was written all over his face. “It’s okay. I’m used to getting screwed over.” He met my gaze again, and I could see the wall he’d put up between us.

  I’d hurt him. Bad.

  He turned and stepped toward the hall. “I should go. If that’s all you wanted, then you did what you needed to do.” He hesitated as he looked over at me again. “I hope you feel better now.”

  And with that, he slipped into the crowd and disappeared.

  I was alone. Again.

  I covered my mouth with my hand as a sob escaped my lips. What had I done? How had I become this person? I was horrible and I’d treated Cade even worse. He didn’t deserve just my apology, I needed to fix this. I’d made a mess of my life, and he’d been the one to suffer because of it.

  I allowed myself a minute to compose myself before I forced the tears to stop. Once I’d contained my emotions, I shouldered my backpack and stepped out into the hallway. After school, I was going to make this right. I was going to fix the things that I’d broken.

  I could do this.

  Chapter Twenty

  After school, I met up with Crista. I needed to apologize to her for not meeting her this morning—and get her advice. I needed to run things by the people who knew and loved me. I’d made too many mistakes over the past week, and I doubted my ability to make good, rational decisions.

  I walked out of school and over to my car. Crista had agreed to ride home with me. I was grateful that it gave us more time to chat.

  Crista was standing next to my car with her blue hair sticking up all over the place. She had her ear buds in and was bobbing her head to whatever was playing. When I approached, I threw my arms around her and hugged her.

  She laughed. “Whoa, Pen. What’s going on?” she asked.

  I looked up at her. My expression must have said it all because her brow furrowed. “You okay?” she asked.

  I shook my head as I walked over to the driver’s side and opened the door. She climbed in, and I started the engine. As soon as we were on the road, I parted my lips and the entire story spilled out.

  By the time I was finished, I’d parked in front of my house. Crista had remained quiet the entire time. I was hoping that was because she was listening and not because she’d suddenly realized how crazy her best friend was and was rapidly rethinking our relationship.

  I snuck a peek over at her. She had a contemplative look on her face. I winced as I asked, “So, what do you think?”

  And then she laughed. Like a full belly, loud as heck, laugh. I stared at her. What was happening? I replayed what I’d told her in my mind and couldn’t find where any of it was this hilarious.

  The only conclusion I could draw was that I’d shocked my best friend so much that she’d officially snapped.

  Her laughter died down to a chuckle. She wiped at her eyes as she glanced over at me. “Oh, Penny. Sweet, naive, Penny.”

  My eyes widened. Why was she talking to me like I was a kid?

  She reached over and patted my hand. “Your innate desire to please people has come back to bite you on the butt.” She grinned at me.

  “What are you talking about?”

  She sighed. “I’ve known you your whole life, and you’ve spent every minute trying to please everyone. When you’ve finally found yourself unable to please anyone, you snapped.” She patted my knee. “It’s good to see that you’re not a robot.” Then her expression grew serious. “Cade was good for you.”

  The sound of Cade’s name made my heart squeeze. Also, the word “was.” Cade “was” good for me. He was in my past, even though I so desperately wanted him to be my future.

  I let out a breath as I leaned my head against the seat. “So what do I do?”

  Crista tapped her chin. “Let me find out more about Cade. You”—she pointed toward me—“talk to your dad. If the police are involved, I have a feeling that he pressed charges. If you talk to your dad, maybe he’ll drop them.” She shrugged

  It was worth a shot.

  I nodded. Good. That was something I could do. Why hadn’t I thought of that before? We both got on our phones. I was texting Dad and she was texting someone who might know about Cade.

  Soon, our phones were chiming with messages. Dad agreed to meet me at his new house for dinner while Stephanie, the school’s gossip, told Crista that Cade had a hearing on Wednesday.

  That meant I had two days to fix this mess.

  That evening, I pulled up to Dad’s new house. I killed the engine as I stared at the garage. Someone had tried to scrub the words off of the door but hadn’t been successful. I could still see the faded letters.

  Acid rose up in my throat. How was I going to do this? I didn’t want to walk into Dad’s new house and ask for forgiveness. He hurt me. He hurt our family.

  Just as my anger bubbled to the surface, I pushed it down. I was doing this for Cade. I was going to fix this.

  I pulled my keys from the ignition and threw them into my purse. I opened the car door and stepped out. I took a deep breath and made my way up to the front stoop. I stared at the dark wood door with a lion’s head knocker.

  This was it. I was going to meet my new…whatever she was.

  I steeled my emotions as I raised my hand and rang the doorbell. I could hear it chime on the other side.

  A few seconds later, the door opened, and I was met with the woman I’d seen kissing Dad a few days ago. She was short with dark skin and black hair. Her eyes widened as a slow smile spread across her lips.

  “You must be Penelope,” she said.

  I tried not to glare, I really did. But the thought that this woman was the reason we were no longer a family flooded my mind. Instead of talking, I just nodded.

  She seemed to understand my reaction because she didn’t press me. Instead, she stepped aside and waved to the foyer. “Come on in. Your dad’s setting the table.”

  Ugh. I was actually going to have to eat here.

  I managed a small, “Thank you” as I followed after her.

  We entered an enormous dining room, where Dad was setting the utensils next to the plates. When he saw me, he smiled.

  “Hey, Pen. I’m glad you could make it,” he said as he straightened and came around to hug me.

  I stiffened. I wasn’t ready for that kind of physical contact just yet. Sure, I was here to apologize and take ownership for what I did. But I definitely wasn’t here to forgive Dad or his new girlfriend. That was a whole other wound that still needed to heal.

  Dad noticed my reaction. He pulled
away and pushed his hand through his hair. “I’m making lasagna. I know it’s your favorite. Why don’t you have a seat, and I’ll grab it.” He glanced over to his girlfriend. “Want to help me, Jenny?”

  Oh, so her name was Jenny. Lovely.

  As they left the room, I slipped onto the seat that he’d motioned toward. I was grateful for some privacy. When I was alone, I didn’t have to pretend that everything was okay. I should be able to show my real feelings about what they’d done to our family. I didn’t have to fake a smile.

  I closed my eyes as I refocused my thoughts. I just needed to get through this dinner and then I could get as far away from this place as possible. Distance and time were the only things that could heal me from what my parents had done. And there was no forcing it to make it go faster.

  When they returned, Jenny set a bowl of garlic bread next to the bowl of salad, and Dad set a steaming pan of lasagna in the center. We dished it up and ate in silence. Their occasional glances to each other weren’t lost on me. They were anything but subtle.

  After I cleaned my plate, I set my fork down and turned to them. I was ready to get this over with.

  “I was the one who spray painted your garage.”

  Dad’s eyebrows rose. “What?” he asked.

  I took a deep breath. “I was the one who spray painted the garage,” I repeated.

  “No, honey. It wasn’t you. It was a boy,” Jenny said, resting her hand on the table in front of her.

  I shook my head. When she talked, my skin crawled. I stilled my frustration and turned back to them. This wasn’t the time to get all smart-alecky on them.

  “It was me. I came here on Saturday to apologize for how I treated you, Dad.” My voice grew quieter with each word. I cleared my throat. “But when I saw what you replaced us with, I got angry. I drove to the grocery store to get some ice cream and that’s…” Was I going to tell them about Tiffanii? I decided not to. It had been my decision, and I needed to own up to all of it. “That’s where I found the spray paint. I came back here, and Cade showed up. He’s…a good friend.”