The Rules of Rebellion

by Amity Hope

I hadn’t thought either of my parents would ever agree that Mike was in the wrong, but I’d had to lay it out for them. I had to at least try to make them see. Especially if there was any chance at all that Kylie was going to be a part of my life.

  As I trudged out to my shop, I felt more than a little defeated. Even though I’d talked to both sets of our parents, I didn’t feel like I’d accomplished a whole lot. None of them had really latched on to what I’d had to say.

  I swung the door to my shop open, then slammed it shut with the force of my frustration.

  “Bad day?”

  My rubber soles squealed against the concrete as I skidded to a surprised halt.

  “What are you doing here?” I demanded. I hadn’t seen her car in the driveway so she must’ve parked on the other side of the garage.

  Kylie slid off one of the stools that was edged up to my work table. Frowning, she said, “You don’t seem too happy to see me.”

  Conflicting emotions had been slamming around in my mind. Relief over having two confrontations behind me. Frustration over neither one going as well as I’d hoped. Irritation with myself for letting things spiral so badly in the first place.

  At that moment, happy wasn’t exactly on my radar.

  “I guess that depends on what you’re doing here,” I said cautiously.

  “I texted to tell you I was on my way,” she said. “I texted again when I got here.”

  My hand went for my back pocket. It was empty.

  She pointed toward the tabletop holding my sketchpad. “I found your phone over there. I figured it was only a matter of time before you came out here.”

  I walked over to the table to retrieve it. “That still doesn’t tell me what you’re doing here.”

  “I’m here because I can’t believe you came to my house today.” She shook her head, wearing an expression I couldn’t read. “I really can’t believe you cut your hair and you were wearing dress clothes.”

  “Your mom’s first impression of me wasn’t that great,” I said. “I was hoping to improve things a bit.”

  Going to her parents’ house might’ve been one of the hardest things I’d ever done. I had thought there was a good chance they wouldn’t let me in. Or that they would listen to me, but then throw me out. Or that Kylie would throw me out.

  It had gone better than I’d thought it would, but not as good as I’d hoped. As for Kylie, I wasn’t sure what she thought. I figured she was either here to tell me I’d completely overstepped, or to tell me that… Well, I was afraid to go there. In case I was wrong.

  “I showed up at your house and all you can comment on is my clothes?” I asked lightly.

  “Yes. No.” Her lips twitched with a slight smile, and I felt my tension begin to ease. She cocked her head to the side, and said, “I can’t believe you apologized to my parents.”

  “I didn’t think you’d be home,” I admitted. “I thought this was your Saturday to work. I wanted a chance to speak with your parents, alone.” I hadn’t expected Kylie to overhear everything I said, and I suspected she’d heard every word. My heart had skipped a few beats when I’d spotted her standing at the top of the stairs with her sister.

  A part of me was relieved her parents had ushered me out. I had hit my stress limit and hadn’t been prepared to talk to Kylie, too. At least not then. Not with her parents and Allie hovering nearby.

  I was definitely glad she was here now.

  “It is my Saturday to work,” she said. “Emily covered my shift.”

  I cringed. “I suppose you heard the whole conversation with your parents.”

  She nodded. “Pretty much. You said some really sweet things. You really shocked my parents. You shocked me, too.”

  Her smile slipped, and she fidgeted with a rusty thimble she must’ve taken off my table.

  “I need to apologize.” She sighed. “I wasn’t very nice to you through all of this. I should’ve been more understanding. At first I was surprised; hurt. Then I was angry. I couldn’t seem to get a grip on my emotions. It seemed easier to avoid you than to talk to you. I knew if I did, I’d want to spend time with you. And until today, until you talked with my parents, I thought that wasn’t going to happen.”

  “Everything’s okay with your parents now?” I asked.

  “It’s getting there.”

  “But they let you come over here. They did let you? Didn’t they?” I groaned as a thought occurred to me. “Tell me you didn’t sneak out.”

  “No!” She shook her head and laughed. “I won’t be doing that anymore. My parents are still angry that I lied to them. I’m only here because Maddie talked to them. I’m not sure what she said, but my parents agreed to give me some time to talk to you.”

  “So let’s talk.” I pulled out both of the stools, and we each took a seat.

  Kylie tapped her fingers against my sketchpad, as if she wanted to flip it open to see if there was anything new inside.

  Instead, she gently pushed it away and said, “Believe me, I see the irony of the situation. I was mad at you for omitting the truth because I trusted you. Yet that’s exactly what I did to my parents. Francesca and Meg have bluntly pointed out on more than one occasion that it kind of makes me a hypocrite.”

  I fought down a smile, strangely relieved that her friends hadn’t just blindly taken her side. I guess maybe that’s because they were my friends, too.

  Kylie reached for the thimble again, now resting on the table. She began twirling it around. Without looking at me, she said, “I heard what you told my parents. You said that you love me.” She pulled her eyes away from the thimble, her gaze locking with mine.

  Embarrassment slammed into me. “Yeah. That wasn’t part of the plan. It just sort of slipped out.” It was bad enough I’d blurted it to her parents, even worse that she’d heard from the stairwell.

  “Well,” she said lightly, “I hope it’s true, because I have to say, I feel the same way.”

  Embarrassment was replaced by relief and a whole lot of happiness. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah,” she said with a sweet smile. She leaned toward me, but leaped backward when the shop door creaked open.

  Mom, looking completely out of place in her cream dress and red high heels, stepped inside. Her eyes widened in surprise.

  “Oh,” she said. “I thought we could talk for a few minutes. I didn’t know you had company. Is this your friend?”

  “This is Kylie,” I clarified.

  Mom put on her friendly hostess smile, though it was more reserved than usual. “Hello, Kylie. Leo was just telling his father and me about you.”

  “He was?” Kylie’s eyebrows shot up as she sliced me a questioning look.

  I shrugged. I hadn’t gotten around to mentioning that yet.

  “It’s nice to meet you.” She smiled tentatively at Mom, but she looked nervous enough to bounce off her seat.

  “Likewise,” Mom said. She redirected her gaze to me. “Your father went for a little drive. I thought maybe you and I could talk. But since you have company, it can wait.”

  “Okay,” I said. I didn’t want to wait. I was kind of dying to know how their conversation had gone. But I was also dying to finish my talk with Kylie. Feeling torn, I was anxious for Mom to head back inside.

  Her smile slipped away as she glanced around my workspace. “Perhaps Kylie would rather visit with you in the house. I’m sure you two could find something to do downstairs. No one ever uses the pool table anymore. And I know Jenna left stacks of movies here. Surely, you’d be more comfortable elsewhere. This place is a bit of a disaster.”

  I thought disaster was a bit harsh. Organized chaos was more like it.

  “Actually,” Kylie said her voice a little wobbly, “I love it out here. Leo has so much talent. Have you seen his sketches? Or watched him work? It’s fascinating. I can’t even imagine where so much creativity comes from.” She paused before adding, “I’m sure you’re aware that his creations are crazy popular with tourists. So much so that b
usinesses are seeking him out.”

  Businesses? It was one business, owned by Buster, but I appreciated the way Kylie was standing up for me. Given what she knew of my parents—my mom, especially—I was sure it wasn’t an easy thing for her to do.

  “Just think of all of the people that own Leo’s artwork. You must be so proud,” she said, her voice full of innocence, as if she didn’t know exactly what my mother thought.

  Mom blinked, looked around again, forced a smile, and said, “His work is definitely very…interesting.”

  That was Mom’s version of a compliment. She backed toward the door. “If you would like to stay for lunch, you’re welcome to join us.”

  My eyebrows shot up. Mom must’ve won whatever battle had been had after I’d walked out of the house. To be honest, she didn’t look particularly excited over the invite, but at least she was making an effort to be polite to Kylie. I had to give her credit for that.

  “Thank you for the offer, but I can’t stay much longer,” Kylie said.

  “Perhaps we’ll see you around then.”

  Mom and Kylie said polite goodbyes.

  When the door clicked closed, Kylie turned to me, her eyes wide. “What was that? I didn’t know that you told your parents about me. Do they know about Maddie? I mean, that she’s my sister?”

  “They do now,” I said. “I told my parents they needed to get their heads on straight about my brother. Your name kind of came up during the conversation.”

  “How did that go?” she asked.

  I thought about the lunch invite. “Apparently, it went pretty well. I think my mom has realized Mike isn’t the angel she wants him to be.” Studying the iguana that rested in the corner, I said, “Thanks for defending my artwork.”

  “I’m not sure it did much good,” she admitted.

  “I doubt you’ll change my mom’s mind. But it was still pretty awesome of you to try.”

  “Talking to my parents and yours? You’ve had a busy day,” Kylie said. “My parents were really impressed with your apology. If they hadn’t been, I wouldn’t be here.”

  “But you’re still grounded.” It wasn’t really a question.

  She nodded. “Yes. And then when I’m not—”

  “When will that be?”

  “No idea,” she admitted with a frown. “But when I’m allowed to date again, they expect me to have you over for dinner.”

  I grinned. “No problem.”

  She quirked an eyebrow.

  I shrugged. “After facing them today, a dinner should be a piece of cake.”

  She laughed. “We’ll see about that.”

  “I was hoping they would go easier on you if I could prove more of the blame belonged on me.”

  “That’s just it,” she said. “It didn’t all belong on you. I’m the one who broke their rules. I’m the one who rebelled. I’m not thrilled about the punishment, but I can’t say I don’t deserve it.”

  “Do you think this punishment of yours will end before prom?” I asked. “Assuming you still want to go with me.”

  “Of course I want to go with you. As for whether or not I’ll be free by prom, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

  Epilogue

  Kylie

  I was grounded up until the day of our prom. My parents allowed me one exception. I had one Saturday of freedom. Julia, Meg, Francesca, and I drove to Sapphire Bay. We spent the day trying on prom dresses, picking out shoes and accessories.

  Not once while I was on lockdown did I attempt to sneak away with Leo. I saw him before school, ate lunch with him, and had a few precious minutes with him after school.

  It was enough to get us through.

  The day of prom flashed by in a whirlwind. Us girls spent the day at Julia’s house. We did facials, manicures, and pedicures first. Next came the task of expertly applying our makeup, followed by the much more daunting task of creating elegant hair styles for all of us.

  By the time the guys arrived in the limo late that afternoon, we felt as if we had a full day in already. The guys were lucky. All they had to do was slip into their tuxes and show up. Maybe mess with their hair a bit.

  Julia’s parents welcomed the rest of our parents over so they could click photos to their heart’s content. Leo asked his parents not to come. He claimed they were okay with that, as long as Adam’s mom forwarded a few to them. I wasn’t sure if that was true, that they didn’t care, or if he was simply trying to avoid any drama that might arise given our parents’ history.

  After an absurd number of photos, we were finally on our way.

  Luke had reserved a private room for us at Natalia’s, the fanciest restaurant in town. After an elegant dinner, we returned to the waiting limo.

  I was soaking up every bit of the experience. The only downfall was that with so many people, I hadn’t managed a second alone with Leo other than a few murmured words between photos.

  I wish I could’ve snapped a picture of his expression when he first caught sight of me in my dress. His eyes had widened, then he’d sent a smile my way that caused a delightful cascade of shivers to shimmy down my spine.

  My dress was jade green, floor length, with an elaborate halter line beaded in silver. Matching silver heels and a silver beaded clutch completed the look. I felt like a princess, minus her tiara and the gorgeous stone castle with magical creatures lurking in the corridors.

  I’d thought Leo looked put together the day he’d apologized to my parents. That was nothing compared to seeing him in a tux.

  After dinner, it was a quick limo ride to the dance. With everyone chattering, Adam dancing in his seat, and Leo wedged in beside me, I already knew it would be a night I would never forget.

  From the lobby of the Laurel Inn we had a clear view through the double doors that led into the ballroom. An abundance of decorations—streamers, twinkle lights, and an elaborate archway—transformed the large room into what was supposed to be a fantasy land.

  I grabbed Leo’s hand, holding him back from our friends. The other three couples paraded onto the dance floor, but I wasn’t ready to join them quite yet. Meg looked back and shot me a questioning look. I flashed her a smile, letting her know we were fine and we’d be joining them all shortly.

  “Everything okay?” Leo asked.

  “It’s perfect.” I couldn’t imagine a way for the night to be more perfect. Even now, I was having a hard time wrapping my head around being here. I knew I was being stereotypical, but prom felt like the epitome of must-have high school experiences. I couldn’t believe I was here, wearing an amazing dress, enjoying time with my best friends, all while being escorted by the most amazing date in the world. Only a few months ago, I would’ve rolled my eyes at the suggestion I’d attend my prom, let alone with Leo.

  Yet here we were.

  “I needed a moment alone with you,” I admitted.

  His eyebrows shot up as his lips quirked into a knowing smile. “I like the sound of that.” He moved in, ready to nuzzle my neck, but was interrupted by a loud ahem.

  He jumped back and met the amused gaze of Miss Perez, our guidance counselor and one of tonight’s chaperones.

  He flashed her a sheepish smile. “Hey Miss Perez. How’s it going?”

  “Just fine, Leo, thank you for asking,” she replied. Appeased that Leo and I now had a respectable amount of space between us, she hustled across the lobby to greet Colton and Bethany, who were in a full-on lip-lock.

  If she thought she would be able to curtail all PDA tonight, I felt a bit bad for her. She was going to be a very busy woman.

  I led Leo over to a wrought iron café-style table tucked away in a corner. It rested near a window overlooking the hotel’s courtyard. It was swarming with other prom-goers.

  Keeping an eye on Miss Perez, Leo leaned in. “You’re killing me in that dress. You know that, right?”

  My cheeks heated because he’d managed to whisper something similar, only a bit more detailed, already.

  “I could
say the same for you in that tux.” I reached up and ruffled his hair, which was perfectly styled. With product, even. “I kind of miss the carefree look,” I admitted.

  “It’ll grow back,” he said. “It might take a while, though.”

  “I guess it’s a good thing I’m not going anywhere.”

  The air was filled with the chatter and laughter of people moving through the lobby. Music from the ballroom floated our way. I was anxious to see the full effect the planning committee had created out on the dance floor.

  “This will only take a minute,” I assured him.

  “Take all the time you need.” He watched me with curiosity. “As long as I’m with you, I don’t care what we’re doing.”

  I popped my sequined clutch open. It was only big enough for the essentials. My phone, a powder compact, lip gloss, a pen…and my list. I took out the badly wrinkled, tightly folded pink paper from my purse. I laid it on the table and did my best to flatten it.

  “Your checklist,” Leo said with a smile. “I didn’t know you carried it around with you.”

  “I don’t, usually,” I admitted. Though we talked about the list, he hadn’t seen it since the night he’d given it back to me. “Tonight is a special occasion.” I had discreetly crossed off number fourteen, riding in a limo, while us girls had checked our makeup at Natalia’s.

  Only one line remained.

  His gaze landed on the paper, now resting on the table.

  Taking the sparkly purple pen from my purse, I held it over the page. Now that we were here, I was feeling a bit melancholy about putting an end to the list that had started it all.

  “I guess it’s time to finish this off,” Leo noted.

  With a solemn nod and a little flourish, I put a line through number fifteen, and when I did, I felt a little tug on my heart. The page was full. It was too bad my sister had such a small diary.

  Senior Checklist

  1. Skinny-dip (sort of)

  2. Sneak out (but don’t get caught)

  3. Prank someone (nothing destructive)

  4. Go to a party (no drinking)

  5. Kiss a boy (make it mind blowing)

  6. Watch a sunset (so romantic)