Unspoken Rules

by Eliah Greenwood

  Hesitation spreads across his face.

  “Don’t listen to her. She’s getting inside your head,” Bianca screams at him. “She ruined your life, remember? She’d say anything to save herself. Kill her!”

  She obviously doesn’t want to do her own dirty work.

  “Blake, this isn’t the way. Think about it. You can have the family you deserve if you just untie me. You can’t kill me.”

  An army of anger and pain lead the war in his eyes. He’s conflicted. After a few unbearably long seconds, he puts the gun down. I let out a gigantic breath of relief, my heartbeat returning to my rib cage. But when something hits the back of his head and he collapses to the ground, I know the nightmare is far from over.

  Bianca just knocked him out.

  She drops the sharp and heavy rock she just used to silence her partner and looks at me.

  “You’re right. He can’t kill you,” she says as she steps over Blake’s unconscious body and picks up the gun that escaped his hands. “Which is why I’m going to have to do it myself.”

  Great.

  “Bianca, please,” I say in a hurry. “We can talk about this.”

  That’s when I see the motion.

  Right behind her.

  I see the shadow hiding behind the million-year-old barn.

  It’s him.

  The man I’ll love until my last moment, even if my last moments are soon.

  Haze.

  I can’t hold it back anymore. Warm tears come rushing down my cheeks. But they’re tears of joy. How did he find us? I can’t believe it. He’s here. Haze is here. Our eyes meet. He motions to remain quiet by pressing a finger to his lips.

  “Now, I’m going to let you choose.” Bianca checks out her perfectly manicured fingers with her available hand. “You tell me how you did it and you get the bullet to the head, quick and easy. Or, you don’t, and we do this the long, painful way.”

  “Tell you how I did what?” I sob, my lips trembling.

  “Don’t play dumb with me. You know what. How did you get him to commit, huh? How did you turn the heartless player into a good man?” She carefully analyzes my face as though she really thinks she’ll find the answer somewhere in my features.

  This girl is completely insane.

  Haze and I exchange glances from afar. I gather from his body language that he’s been dying to intervene, but he’s waiting for her guard to be down. He doesn’t have a gun. She does. One wrong move and it’s curtains for both of us. He needs to be smart about this.

  My hope dies when Bianca speaks again.

  “It’s all right, Haze, you can come out now!”

  No.

  Shit, shit, shit.

  How did she know?

  With a look of defeat all over his face, Haze exposes himself.

  “Please.” She chortles at his shock. “I knew it was you from the second we noticed someone following us.” She points the gun at him, and he has no choice but to put his hands up in surrender.

  “Bianca, please, listen to me, you don’t want to do this,” he says.

  “Shut the fuck up.” She makes it clear that she’s not asking. “Get over here.” Haze obeys, walking toward us. He’s still wearing his tux, the same way I’m still wearing my white dress—which is now brown due to the dirt on the ground. I can’t wrap my mind around how quickly our prom turned into a living hell. How fast the Cinderella dream became a nightmare.

  “You’ve come to save your precious Winter, I suppose?” Bianca asks, anger and jealousy flowing out of her. “What does she have that I don’t, huh?” She begins to cry as her once perfect mascara covers her face. Her arm is shaking. I desperately pray that she won’t pull the trigger.

  A part of me feels bad for her. The truth is, I don’t know why he chose me over her. Why do things happen the way they do? Why is life the way it is? She’s seeking answers that don’t exist.

  “Is it because she’s skinnier than me?” She gasps for air. “Because I can lose weight. That’s not an issue.”

  Wow, the girl needs help…

  And she needs it fast.

  “Bianca, put the gun down. Please.” Haze tries to take a step toward her.

  “Not another step.” She shouts so loud he freezes in place.

  “We both know you don’t want to shoot me,” Haze says.

  I scowl at him. Damn it, Haze. This is exactly what not to say to her. Now is not the time to test how far she’s willing to go.

  “I had Blake put a bomb into your car just to get rid of her. I knew there was a risk it’d kill you, too. You really think I won’t shoot?”

  Comprehension hits Haze and me. It was her, working with Blake. They are the people Tanner said were after Haze. Blake was the one asking around the community. Seriously? That old “If I can’t have him, no one can”?

  “Do you know how many times I cried for you? Every single night when you showed up to my house, used me, and then left without a goodbye when you were done.” She’s hyperventilating at this point. My heart aches at the way she talks about him. Haze really was an entirely different person back then.

  I know he’d say that he told her what he wanted from the start, that he never lied to her or slept with her under false pretenses, but we both know he should’ve stopped this relationship the second she caught feelings. Haze said they were friends with benefits for six months. To an unstable girl like her, that’s a lifetime.

  “But her…” she says through the sobs. “She’s got the kisses, the I love yous, the promises. You’re even considering moving to another fucking country for her.” She makes herself angrier with every word.

  Realization flashes in her eyes.

  “You. This is all your fault.” She jolts around abruptly and points the gun in my direction. Haze immediately steps in front of me, his hands still up in the air.

  “Haze, don’t!” I cry.

  “You’re right, Bianca. You’re right. I’m an asshole. It was me. Not her. Me.” A bunch of words tumble out of his mouth. I know he’d say just about anything to calm her down and get her attention off me.

  Her sobs grow louder. “Why can’t you see that no one will ever love you like I do? I’m so much better than this skank. Deep down, you know that, don’t you? I’d do anything for you. Haze, I love you.”

  He doesn’t reply, glancing at me from the corner of his eye. He seems to be ready to pounce, to take any bullet coming my way, and it terrifies me.

  “But you don’t.” Her voice is quieter. “You don’t love me because of her.”

  “Bianca, please,” he begs.

  “Admit it!” she shouts.

  Haze

  “But I do,” I say and look her right in the eyes. “I love you, Bianca.”

  “What?” she chokes, her sobs reducing in intensity as the fire decreases in her stare.

  “I love you. I was just… lying to myself.” I take a step toward her, which she allows. That’s a good sign.

  “What about her?”

  “She’s nothing to me. She’s a distraction.” I keep stepping forward. I’m getting closer. I can take the gun away from her if I act fast. From there, all I have to do is knock her out.

  No, Haze, you have to at least try and get her to give it up by herself. You know what could happen if you fail. You can’t risk it.

  You can’t risk Winter.

  “You love me?” she repeats again, disbelief spreading across her features as she starts crying hysterically like she can’t believe that her dream is coming true.

  “Yes, I promise.”

  Just one more step.

  One more and I’ll knock her out.

  I can do this.

  “And you don’t love her?” She stares at Winter.

  “No, I don’t. I never did. I love you.”

  When I say the three magic lies, I anticipate a million things from her. I somehow convince myself that I can handle everything she’ll throw my way. But I was wrong. I wasn’t prepared for what was to
come. I would never, not even in a hundred lifetimes, be prepared for what was to come…

  “Great. Then you won’t mind if I do this.”

  It barely lasts two seconds.

  But it’s enough.

  The gunshot echoes in the silence of the night and I fall apart, shouting at the top of my lungs.

  “No!”

  Two seconds.

  One move.

  That’s all it takes for my world to come crashing down.

  35

  Home Is You

  Winter

  “No!”

  I close my eyes, anticipating the gunshot, anticipating the pain, anticipating the end. But nothing happens. I’m not dead. How am I not dead? The gunshot hisses in my brain as my hand jumps to my right ear. Blood comes dripping down my palm. The bullet grazed me.

  She missed.

  When he runs to me, Haze’s face is indescribable. His eyes are bloodshot, his mouth open. He captures my face in his hands and breathes heavily, his entire body trembling as he wraps his arms around me and holds me so tight it’s hard to breathe. He looks like the weight of the world has just been lifted off his shoulders.

  “What were you saying? She means nothing to you? You’re a fucking liar, Haze.” Bianca sniffles. “It’s your fault. You’re making me do this. You’re giving me no choice.” She cries louder and points the gun at the guy she claims to love.

  There’s nothing we can do. We exchange glances that are filled with defeat. We don’t need to speak. Our gazes are saying goodbye. We’re saying “I love you” for the last time. We both close our eyes in anticipation of the inevitable. We hold each other and pray that this will be quick.

  That’s when a loud noise startles us.

  Another gunshot.

  A bullet ricochets on the ground next to Bianca and she jumps.

  We all turn our heads to see a car speeding toward us, its glimmering headlights blinding us as it approaches. The person responsible is stretching their arms out the vehicle window. Then, the driver of the car strikes the brake and all doors are swung open as three silhouettes climb out of the vehicle. Relief. That’s all I can feel.

  Will, Kendrick, and Alex.

  “About fucking time.” Haze glares at them. Panicked, Bianca stares at the three witnesses who just showed up and looks for a way out. The boys are surprised, shocked that the girl they’ve been going to school with since they were kids is behind this.

  She’s cornered and she knows it.

  “Bianca? Y-you did this?” Kendrick asks, and the seriousness of what she’s done finally dawns on her.

  The truth crushes her like a pile of bricks.

  She glances at the gun she’s holding and drops it.

  She falls to her knees and starts to cry. That’s all she does. She cries uncontrollably.

  Here comes the breakdown.

  “What the hell am I doing? I almost…” She sobs to herself as she shakes. “What’s wrong with me? I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” She wraps her arms around her body and rocks herself back and forth. “What have I done? What have I done?”

  The guys look at us as if they expect some sort of explanation, but they figure it out for themselves when they notice Blake passed out on the ground. Haze summarizes the previous events as best as he can. Then, without wasting another second, he gets me off the ground and into his arms. We’re still shuddering from the trauma.

  “I’m so, so sorry,” Haze whispers against my hair, and I let my tears wet his neck. I can’t believe this is the second time we’ve escaped death. The second time we’ve stood this close to the edge and somehow managed to see another day.

  “It’s okay. We’re okay,” I sob, and he presses his lips to mine. We make out in front of the boys, but there isn’t even a slight part of me who cares. “So much for being just a fling, huh?” I tell him when we pull away and he sighs.

  Kendrick stops him from answering. “Get her out of here. Now!”

  “What about them?” Haze eyes them.

  “We’ll handle them. Go.”

  Haze has no choice but to trust that they’ll do the right thing as he picks up my suitcase—that I’m really glad Blake didn’t throw into the ocean—and motions to get into a car I don’t recognize. I don’t ask questions. Just as he’s about to join me, Kendrick calls out to him.

  “Hey, Adams?”

  Haze turns around and stares at my cousin.

  “Thanks for always looking out for her.”

  This sentence holds so much more than it leads on. I remember the day Haze told my cousin he was in love with me. Kendrick didn’t believe him.

  He believes him now.

  Haze stops, his mouth agape, and finally puts an end to the war that’s been raging for far too long…

  Haze nods. “You know I always will.”

  “Whose car is this?” I narrow my eyes when Haze pulls up into Maria’s driveway and kills the engine. We’ve been driving in silence for a few minutes now. I think we needed a moment to ourselves.

  What happened tonight seems unreal, impossible. My brain keeps rejecting the information. It doesn’t want to be told that I almost died again. That Haze’s crazy friend with benefits took being jealous to a whole other level.

  I can’t keep living like this. This cannot be my life, no matter how much I love this guy. No matter how many promises we make… It really is time for me to go home.

  “You’re not going to like it.” Haze half-smiles before telling me he stole the car from Jackson Miller just as he was about to lose his virginity to a cheerleader. Poor guy. I hope he got lucky.

  “You have to give him his car back,” I say.

  “Yeah, yeah. I will.” Haze smiles faintly. “Maybe.”

  He gets a small grin out of me, which is only something Haze could do in such a serious moment, and helps me out of the car. He refuses to leave my side in case I’m hurt. He insists on helping me get around. We then step inside the house that I’ll be leaving tomorrow.

  When I open the door to my bedroom after changing out of my dress, I fight every nerve in my body telling me to beg Haze to come with me. Because I know what his answer will be. He made it clear when we were dancing. He’s not coming. Whether or not he follows, I’ll be on a plane back to Toronto first thing in the morning, and there’s nothing no one, not even Haze, can do about it.

  It used to break my heart but not anymore. After what happened tonight, after I got kidnapped for the second time and almost lost my life again, I’m finally ready to accept that going back home is for the best.

  Home is safe.

  Home has my stepfather and stepsiblings.

  Home has my best friend, Allie, who I bet is just dying to get me to binge-watch cheesy shows with her again.

  Home has everything.

  Except for one thing…

  Home doesn’t have Haze Adams.

  Haze

  “How’s your ear?” I ask Winter when she comes back from the bathroom with her prom dress in her arms. She hangs my tux, that I’ve just swapped for a pair of sweatpants, and puts her dress away.

  “It’s okay. I sterilized it. It barely hurts.” She lies on her bed. Silence streams down on us, and we welcome it. Or at least, I do. Because I know what will happen once it leaves us.

  After a few seconds, she says it.

  “What does this mean for us?”

  My heart twists in my chest. I sit on her bed and look at the hardwood floor like I’m waiting for it to slip from under my feet. I can’t face her. I know I wouldn’t survive her teary gaze and sad smile.

  “It means that I’ll be visiting you as often as possible. That we’ll spend Christmas and every holiday together. That we’ll FaceTime, text, and call every day. It means that you won’t even have time to miss me.” I gather what’s left of my courage to look into her eyes. Just as I expected, it kills me. No, it crucifies me.

  It destroys me because she starts to cry.

  “Don’t cry, baby, please. This isn’t
over. You hear me?” I lift her chin up. “We’re not breaking up. I’m never going to stop fighting for you. I mean it.”

  She wipes a tear away.

  “At prom, you said—”

  “It was bullshit. All of it. I freaked out and told you a bunch of lies because I’m a fool. I’m a fucking imbecile who would do the craziest thing to keep the girl he loves by his side.”

  She doesn’t reply right away, chewing on the inside of her cheek.

  “Please say something,” I beg.

  She takes a breath and gives me what I want.

  “Something.” She does to me exactly what I once did to her, and I laugh in relief.

  “I bet you were just dying to plug that one in, weren’t you?”

  She chuckles, the tiniest smile warping her lips. I wrap my arms around her body, feeling this fervent need to tear the oversized hoodie she’s wearing off her. I need to feel her, even if it means that I’ll hate myself even more for letting her go tomorrow.

  “You really think we can do this? The long distance?” she whispers into my neck.

  “I know we can.”

  I mentally smack myself for putting her through this.

  Damn it, Haze. Why can’t you just tell her?

  “I’ll… I’ll miss you,” she chokes out.

  “Winter, please… you’re killing me right now.” I’m so busy trying to swallow the painful lump in my throat that I don’t even realize tears are welling in my eyes.

  I didn’t want to admit it, but I’ve known it for a while now. The bastards are right. All of them. This girl has changed me. She’s made me vulnerable. She’s taught me to feel when I didn’t want to. When I didn’t even know that I could.

  “I love you,” I whisper, and she sighs.

  “I love you, too, you goddamn idiot.” Her voice shatters as she climbs onto my laps and encloses my lips with hers. I immediately kiss her harder. I know what she’s doing. She’s giving our bodies a chance to say goodbye.