Too Many Rules

by G. L. Snodgrass

  Smiling up at him I patted his shoulder again then called for Brantley. Time to go face the quiet of Nana's.

  .o0o.

  Okay, maybe Ryan was right. Almost every store was closed and all the stop lights were out. Making our one-horse town, a clogged up mess. To top it off, even those stores that were open were as dark as a cave.

  Our town only had a few places that I might be lucky enough to find what I needed. Not unless I wanted to hitchhike about twenty miles towards the Seattle suburbs. Mom would have loved that. She could have used that against me for the next three years at least.

  The stores were empty and looked like a picked-over carcass washed up on the beach. All I could find was a Number. 4 birthday candle that had fallen back behind the paper plates. It'd give me, at least, thirty minutes of weak light. I didn't think things could get much more ridiculous until I reached the check-out counter and realized my debit card wasn't going to work.

  The Clerk, an older lady, was writing on a large yellow legal pad next to the open cash register. She was adding up people's purchases and making change. Luckily I had barely enough cash to cover the candle, a couple of lighters and a bottle of Sprite. I didn't even bothering asking about flashlights or more candles.

  As I left the store, my stomach tightened up when I thought about how much we depended upon electricity. Ryan's speech was starting to make a little sense.

  I sighed in frustration. Pulling my jacket tight and zipping it closed I started the walk home. The walk into town had been fun, invigorating. The walk home soon became a drudge. One foot in front of the other. The realization that I had failed to find any kind of light for the night weighed heavily.

  A deep roaring vroom behind me made my shoulders shiver. I knew that sound. Jarret's brand new Mustang. It had to be. I'd know that sound anywhere. Whipping around I watched it approach then zoom past. Jarret behind the wheel as oblivious as ever. A whoosh of wind ruffled my hair as his car turned the bend disappearing out of sight.

  What was he doing out here? There was nothing on this road but some old farms and Ryan's neighborhood. I knew for a fact that there wasn't a person out here Jarret would ever stoop to talk too. Shrugging my shoulders I continued on. Secretly thanking the powers that be that he hadn't stopped and offered me a ride. The thought of getting in a car alone with Jarret McGee set off way too many alarms.

  Ryan's driveway was still empty. His mom hadn't come home yet. She'd probably spent the night working. I imagined it had been hectic at the Hospital. I thought about my mom, she was probably going crazy trying to get ahold of me. Somehow this was all going to be my fault.

  Brantley met me at the door with a welcoming bark and a fierce tail wag. I hugged his neck and let him out the back. While I stood there waiting for him I glanced over at Ryan's. What were they doing? I wondered. What were all my friends doing? Should I go over to Bri’s? Maybe Crystal's?

  After that long walk, I wasn't going anywhere. The idea of leaving Nana's house felt wrong anyway. Besides, this was where my mom expected me. If she came home and I wasn't here she'd totally freak and I'd never hear the end of it.

  Calling Brantley back inside, I set the birthday candle on a paper plate in the center of the dining room table and placed a lighter next to it, all ready for the darkness. Making sure I had the other lighter and matches in my pocket, I started another methodical search for some kind of independent light source. Something to get me through the night if the power didn't come back on. The longer it stayed off, the tighter my stomach got.

  Two hours, and a hundred drawers later, I had to admit to myself that Nana was candle and flashlight free. How was that possible in this world? We were going to have to have a serious talk when she got home.

  Sighing to myself, I flopped onto my bed and put my hands behind my head. What now? This not having electricity was getting boring. I guess I could make myself a sandwich or something, but I didn't really feel like eating.

  This was ridiculous. There had to be something. I could get one of Nana's books. It appeared my grandmother like to read Bodice Ripper romance novels. A picture I didn't want to explore kept popping into my head.

  Turning on my side I punched my pillow, trying to find a comfortable position. Admit it, Hailey, you want to go back over to Ryan's. Something about his quiet calmness pulled at me.

  I lay there thinking about a boy I'd never thought about before. How was it possible for a person to care so little about what other people thought about him. A few little changes and he'd be perfectly acceptable in any of the social groups. I know the brainiacs and Nerds all looked up to him. He could have fit in with my friends if he tried.

  A change of wardrobe. My mind flashed to the Iron Man T-shirt he'd put on this morning. I mean he actually chose it on purpose. He'd have to get rid of that laptop bag he carried everywhere. Teach him how to hold a regular conversation. Maybe a haircut that looked like someone had tried.

  A sudden thought of the movie My Fair Lady jumped into my mind. That was it. I could teach Ryan how to fit in. Mold him, shape him, to fit my idea of what a socially acceptable high school boy should be. It'd be fun. Almost a charity case. My way of giving back to the community.

  Laying there I snuggled up to the idea then laughed out loud. One major problem. In the movie, Liza wanted to change, wanted to become someone better. Ryan didn't think he had a problem and in many ways, he was a lot farther gone than a simple London street urchin.

  It was a shame really because he could be sort of hot if he tried.

  Wow, where did that come from? Who would have ever thought that I would think Ryan Hardy had 'hot' potential.

  "You'd have to be careful Hailey," I said to myself. Jeez, a few hours alone and I was already talking to myself.

  If I was going to do this, I would have to be sly, subtle. Never letting him know what was going on. If he got any idea, he'd balk like Brantley being led to the vet’s.

  Smiling I swung my legs over the side of the bed. It felt good to have a mission, something to do.

  Chapter Six

  Ryan

  I was bouncing off the walls. This was way too long.

  The power should have been on long ago. My mom hadn't come home either. I was pretty sure she was okay, probably picking up extra shifts at the hospital but I wouldn't feel right until I knew for sure. Amanda was fine or would be until her MP3 player ran out of juice.

  After breakfast, Mark had left to check in at home. He lived on a farm about a mile down the road. Then returned a few hours later. He'd be fine as long as there was enough light to read comic books. Everyone was great, so why was I so antsy?

  Hailey had returned home a couple of hours ago. I'd peaked out the window and sighed to myself when I saw her walking up our road. Was she okay? I wished she hadn't gone into town. I liked the idea of knowing she was just next door.

  Besides a secret part of me didn't want her finding candles and flashlights.

  Admit it, Ryan, it wasn't all that secret an idea. You enjoyed having her here last night.

  I'd spent the morning not thinking about her. In fact, I had done such a good job that I had gotten it up to at least two or three minutes before my mind wandered back to remembering the way she had looked in the soft glow of the candlelight. Or how she'd laughed at my lame attempts at humor. How Amanda had smiled when Hailey agreed with her about Brantley's world-famous lack of bravery.

  This was ridiculous Ryan. No way are you going to spend the day sitting around moping about some girl who until last night barely knew you were alive and tomorrow is going to forget you ever existed.

  Getting up I made another round of the house to make sure everything was all right. Every window and door closed. Double checking to make sure every appliance was turned off. I glanced at the woodpile trying to decide if I'd brought in enough wood to last the night. We probably had three times more than we were going to need.

  We'd had sandwiches for lunch but Amanda had cleaned up the mess already.
<
br />   You know you're bored when you're disappointed that there aren't dishes needing to be washed.

  I could pull out my laptop, there were things I could be doing but I wanted to save the battery. The idea of my laptop going dead filled me with a deep dread. I know it was sort of crazy but as long as I knew it had power in reserve then I knew that modern civilization still existed. Right?

  The quiet was interrupted by a soft knock on the front door making all of us jump. A sharp bark outside the door made my heart skip.

  Brantley.

  Brantley meant Hailey. Get it together Ryan. Wiping my hands on my jeans, I opened the door.

  Hailey stood there with Brantley on a leash. She'd put her hair into a ponytail and was wearing a fitted green blouse with Jeans and white tennis shoes. Looking for all the world like the perfect girl next door.

  I know my eyes traveled over her body before I could stop myself. Closing my eyes, I recorded her image and tucked it into a special part of my brain. Something to be retrieved whenever I need proof of perfection.

  "Hi ... I, um, Brantley is getting bored. I was ... "

  "Brantley," Amanda yelled from the living room.

  The large dog let out a woof and bound into the house, pulling Hailey through the doorway and into me. She let out a small squeak as we collided. Letting Brantley free.

  I instinctively reached out to catch her. My hands grabbing her around the waist.

  For a moment, we were frozen there looking into each other's eyes. Time stopped as it always did when I was around her. My hands burned where they touched her and my heart raced so fast I was pretty sure she could hear it beating in my chest.

  Looking down into her eyes was mesmerizing. As if I was trapped in a tunnel with only Hailey Martin in my world.

  Her face began to turn a beautiful shade of red and I remembered where I was and who I held onto. Reluctantly I let my hands drop to my side. They felt as if all feeling had been removed from them, making them dead and useless.

  Hailey smiled weakly and moved past me into the house.

  "What are you guys up to?" she asked as she bent down to remove Brantley's leash.

  Another unbreakable rule. Blind girls and golden retrievers are made for each other. The smile on my sister's face could have lit up half of Seattle. The love these two felt for each other was just so obvious.

  Hailey smiled as she stood there and watched Amanda and Brantley reconnect.

  For some reason, I had the feeling she was purposely refusing to look my way. She even shot Mark a smile but wouldn't turn my way.

  Her face seemed to be holding onto that blush for a long time. Wow, who would ever believe that Hailey Martin could feel uncomfortable in any situation?

  There are moments in a person's life where we get these epiphanies. These insights into the reality of the world. Like seeing how duel-processors works with video cards, each taking turns to pass traffic down a bus connection. Once you understood the truth about something you could never see it any other way.

  Hailey was a person, a real live, breathing person. Full of doubts, dreams, and opinions. Not some iconic being put on this world to be worshiped.

  What did this mean? If Hailey was normal, just like the rest of us. Did that mean she was approachable? Could she ever be interested in someone like me and if not? What did that mean?

  If Hailey Martin was normal and still rejected you, did that mean the problem was with you, not with her exalted position? The realization was staggering. My stomach hurt and my forehead began to sweat.

  Mark looked back and forth between Hailey and myself. Shaking his head he muttered something under his breath. I'm pretty sure the word idiot was used. Thankfully Hailey didn't catch it.

  An awkward silence began to fall over the room when Amanda said, "To answer your question Hailey, nothing. We're not doing anything at all." She nodded towards Mark, "This one keeps complaining, and Ryan is about ready to climb out of his skin with boredom."

  "I know. Let's play Monopoly," Mark said.

  Hailey's brow shot up in shock as she looked at Amanda. Obviously worried my sister had been offended that Mark had suggested we play a game requiring sight.

  Glancing at Mark, she shot him a deathly glance of disdain that looked like it could put a man six feet into the ground. Please remind me to never get on the wrong side of this girl.

  Mark, being Mark totally missed it.

  "Oooh, that sounds great, good idea, Mark," Amanda said jumping off the couch. "I'll get the game and meet you in the dining room."

  Hailey's brow furrowed in confusion as she looked at me, raising an eyebrow.

  I smiled back at her. "I hope you like competition, these two are killer when it comes to Monopoly."

  .o0o.

  Hailey

  Okay, I was confused. How could Amanda play monopoly?

  It seemed like my mind had refused to work ever since Brantley pulled me into Ryan. The boy was definitely a lot more solid than I thought he would be. Barely moving when I slammed into him like a stumbling ballerina. Not one of my more graceful moments. My cheeks grew warm every time I thought about it.

  An old-fashioned oil lamp on a side table made the dark dining room come alive with shadows. Where had they found that I wondered, and where could I get one?

  Ryan pulled out a chair for me as if we were at a fancy restaurant and held it until I sat down. As I was getting situated, Amanda returned with the Monopoly game and quickly started to set up the board. Leaning over I reached for the cards to help when Ryan gently pulled my hand back and shook his head.

  "We let Amanda set things up, that way she knows where everything is."

  I watched as her hands flew across the game items, noticing that each of the colored money had different notches cut into the corners. The same for the game cards. That was how she was able to keep track.

  "Only a couple of rules," Ryan continued. "One, Amanda is always the bank, Mark cheats."

  "Hey, one time. I make a minor arithmetic error and you guys give me a hard time about it for eight years."

  "The last time you made a math error was when you were two and miscounted your toy blocks," Amanda said with a smile as she started counting out the money into four piles.

  "The second rule is that Amada is always the Race Car for her token."

  "It's the closest I’m ever going to get to being a driver," she said with a laugh.

  "Three, when Amanda rolls, we all say the number on the dice at the same time. That way she knows we're being honest. That's about it. Otherwise, it is every person for themselves, take no prisoners."

  I nodded my head in understanding. Apparently, Monopoly was a blood sport with these people.

  The game started and I quickly learned how ruthless some people could be. Amanda was amazing. She had memorized every rent and every position on the board. Calling out 'Mine' before a person could move to one of her properties.

  The quick banter and inside jokes flew at a furious pace. These three had obviously spent a lot of time together and my heart quickened as I realized that Ryan had obviously gone out of his way to include his little sister in his life. Making sure she was happy. I couldn't imagine Jarret ever being nice to his little sister. He hardly knew she even existed.

  Ryan Hardy was a nice guy I realized. I'd already thought that but it was nice to see it confirmed.

  Several hours into the game a soft chime from the living room made everyone jump. Mark reached for his back pocket then looked up. "My phone," he said with a confused look.

  "Well go get it," Amanda demanded.

  Mark retrieved his phone and walked back into the dining room. "I've got bars," he said as if he'd just won the lottery. My heart dropped to be replaced by a jealous lump of coal. My phone was still back at Nana's in a bag of rice.

  "Nothing, everything is busy," he said after trying several different times.

  "Let me go get mine," Ryan said as he left the room.

  "Why will yours be any
different," I asked. "My mom told me that after Nine-Eleven the phones were crammed for days and no one could get through."

  Mark laughed. "You really don't know our boy genius do you."

  Before I could question him more, Ryan stepped back in with his phone. He caught my confused expression and smiled.

  "The phone company keeps a list of special phone numbers. Police, government officials, first responders. In a time of crisis, these phones go to the head of the list for access to the cell systems.

  Okay, so? I kept my confused look, waiting for more.

  "Last year, I did a little work for the phone company," he continued. "I sort of added my number to the list," The shoulder shrug was priceless. As if he admitted helping an old lady across the street.

  "You hacked into the phone company?" I asked, my voice rising with each word.

  "No, No, Well not technically. They let me in so I could do some testing. I came across the list. And you know, I couldn't pass it up."

  Mark laughed. "Ask me about the University of Washington sometime. That story will blow you away."

  Ryan held the phone up to his ear shooting his friend a serious frown that told him to shut up. I was definitely going to have to hear that story.

  "Hi is Mrs. Hardy there? ... May I talk to her please," Ryan said into the phone.

  My breath let loose. I hadn't realized how important it had become that we make a connection to the outside world.

  "Hi Mom," Ryan said with a big sigh. I could see that he had also been worried. "Yes we're fine, everything is fine. How about you, when you coming home?" His head bobbed up and down as his mother talked on the other end. His soft smile let us know that everything was fine.

  "Really, No I didn't know, that's pretty serious. Any idea why? Who?"

  Again with the head bobbing. "Yes, sure I understand. Listen. Mrs. Thompson's granddaughter Hailey Martin is staying here until the power comes back on. She was house sitting when it happened. ... Yes that Hailey Martin," he said. I swear the tips of his ears began to turn red. It seemed my mother wasn't the only one that could embarrass her child.