Unbreakable Rules (Too Many Rules Book 3) (5 page)

A brief look of fear flashed across their faces as each of them thought about living in a world without toilets.

"Hailey, you and Mark start filling containers in the kitchen. Pots, Tupperware, etc. I'll fill the bathtubs, then start a fire. It’s going to get cold tonight. When we're done, we'll go over to Mrs. Thompson’s and do her house."

"What about me?" Amanda asked.

"I need you to get blankets and pillows. I think it would be better if we all hung out down here tonight, that way we can cut down on the number of candles."

"I don't need lights, remember," Amanda said with a smirk.

"No, but the rest of us do," Hailey said with a faraway look in her eyes.

The sharp yellow morning sun peeked through the window blinds, waking me from a nasty dream where Jarret was getting strangled by an electric cord. I couldn't tell who was holding the other end, but I was pretty sure it was me.

I put my hand up to block the light and slowly remembered where I was and what was going on. A quick look around confirmed it. Ryan's living room. Power outage. Darkness.

The candle and fire had burnt down to nothing. A cold shiver ran over my skin. The room had that morning chill I remembered from camping trips with my dad.

A wash of sadness passed through me at the thought of him. I hadn't thought about him at all last night. Had I finally moved on? He'd left eight years ago, moving to Los Angeles. I'd visited a couple of times, but Sherri wasn't exactly welcoming. To her, I was a burden to be endured and when the baby came, it had only gotten worse.

There comes a time in a girl's life when she's got to cut her losses. I’d always feel bad about losing my dad, but I no longer obsessed about it. At least not when things were normal. It was when things became strange that I missed him the most. And, it didn't get much stranger than this.

Mark Jones slept in the middle of the floor in a sleeping bag he'd retrieved from the closet without having to be told where it was. Obviously a frequent guest.

He snored lightly, his mouth hanging open. I cringed inside thinking that I might have looked like that a few minutes ago. What if I had woken up last and everybody else had watched me snore, or worse, drool. Thinking about it sent a shiver down my spine.

Amanda was curled up on the couch on her side with both hands folded under her head. She'd had to pull her legs up tight because Brantley was hogging the other end of the couch. He'd sprawled out, his legs twitching as he dreamed of being chased by rabbits.

Ryan was in the other recliner. Laying on his side, facing me. He looked so peaceful. As if he didn't have a care in the world. I flashed back to when he'd knocked on my door last night.

You were lucky Hailey
. I couldn't have imagined spending the night all alone in the dark in Nana's house. I'd have been a raving lunatic by the time the sun came up.

He'd been so calm, so confident that things were going to be okay. All three of them had welcomed me. Amanda had seemed happy that I was there and ecstatic to have Brantley. Even Mark had avoided shooting me any snide remarks. But, it had been Ryan that had made everything seem almost normal. His quiet confidence was very reassuring.

Brown hair had fallen across his forehead and into his eyes. I had a sudden urge to brush it back so I could see all of his face. He was good looking. A very straight nose and a small cut on the top of his ear. A boy becoming a man. Wow, who would have imagined I'd be thinking about brushing the hair out of Ryan Hardy's eyes.

The haunting quietness let me know that the power was still out.  It was like being outside at night after a heavy snow. The continued absence of a background buzz had a chilling effect.

What now? How long was this going to go on?

I slowly got out of the chair, being careful not to wake anyone. Brantley lifted his head to see what I was doing. Probably trying to figure out if he was in danger or not. Then settled back down, resting his head on his paws, his eyes following me as I picked my way across the room to the downstairs bathroom. Thankfully, it had a high window that let in enough light.

When I stepped out Mark was waiting, hopping from foot to foot. He shot me a smile, then hurried into the bathroom.

"Good morning Hailey," Amanda said with a smile. She stood at the kitchen counter pouring milk into four cereal bowls. "I hope you like corn flakes. Ryan said to use up the milk because it'll spoil first."

"Um, sure, thank you, that'll be great."

At that moment, Ryan came down the stairs. He’d probably used the upstairs bathroom.  He stepped into the kitchen. His rumpled hair made him look as if he was half asleep. He'd changed into an Iron Man T-shirt and was fiddling with some kind of gadget. This was the Ryan Hardy I knew. It was the first time I'd really gotten a good look at him. He was tall and lanky, but he'd lost some of that skinny, beanpole look I remembered. He'd grown shoulders to go with that height.

His brow softened when he looked at his sister. The love and caring written all over his face. He gave me a shy smile and a quick nod, then took a bowl of cereal to the small kitchen table. So much for early morning pleasantries.

Each of us retrieved a bowl and joined him. Amanda moved around the kitchen with confidence. I studied her out of the corner of my eye. She did everything slowly, but confidently. Her hair was brushed and she looked fresh and ready to face the world. The next time I wanted to bitch about life, I'd think twice.

I needed coffee before I could face the world. Lots of coffee.
Not today Hailey. Today you have to face it without a caffeine fix.
I shuddered at the thought.

"So what do we do now?" Mark asked between bites of cornflakes.

"I'm tearing my grandmother's house apart looking for some kind of light. If that doesn't work I'm hiking into town," I said. There were probably a dozen things I needed. Candles and flashlights being highest on that list.

"Uh ... That might not be smart," Ryan said with a frown. "Maybe you should wait until my mom gets home. I could give you a ride."

His statement startled me. Things had been going fine until then. I didn't need someone telling me what I should or shouldn't do.

"I think I can handle a little shopping trip, Ryan," I answered. It might have been a little snippy, but I hadn't had my morning coffee.

He shrugged his shoulders and returned to his cereal. I hoped I hadn't offended him, but come on.

"I should probably get going," I said. "Thank you for helping me out last night. You guys were great. I can't imagine spending the night all alone without any lights. Thanks."

Everyone nodded and said no problems. The typical response. What's more, I was pretty sure they were being honest. I placed my empty bowl in the sink while Amanda gave Brantley a goodbye hug.

Ryan walked me to the door, holding it open.

"Thank you for rescuing me last night Ryan. You're my hero," I said as I patted him on the shoulder. A sudden urge to reach up and kiss him on the cheek flashed through me. What would my friends think if they knew I was thinking about kissing Ryan Hardy? An even bigger question was why was my stomach all fluttery.

He seemed to read my mind because he turned red and stepped back.

"If you need anything, or if you get bored, you're more than welcome to come back over. We'll probably be sitting around with the shakes and sweats craving our MP3 players and computers."

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

Okay, maybe Ryan was right. Almost every store was closed and all the stoplights 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 Nr. 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 and 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 to.  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 Brie'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 doesn’t think he has 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.