Broken Rules

Chapter Two

"I'm sorry, he what?" My best friend, Ellis, asks as she trails behind me from the front door to her kitchen. She watches as I slump into one of the stools at her kitchen island.

After getting into my car and leaving my apartment, I didn't know where to go. That apartment was my home, after all. So, I just started driving aimlessly around until I ended up parked in front of her house on the Eastside of Seattle.

I quickly wipe away the tears with the sleeve of my sweater, my voice wobbly around the edges. "He was with another woman, Ellis."

"What?" Ellis questions, leaning forward, her eyes scrunching together like she's having a hard time grasping what I'm trying to tell her.

I close my eyes as I blow a breath between my lips and shake my head once, trying to pry loose the image of the girl in my bed. "He was having sex in our bed with another woman."

"He's cheating on you?" Ellis questions again, her gaze dropping to the counter as she processes the information before meeting my eyes again. "Are you sure? Like, did you actually see another woman?"

"God, Ellis. Yes, I'm sure," I croak out. She scrunches her nose at me as I continue, this time more softly. "She was blonde, and she had those same hoopy earrings you always like to wear."

"Oh my god." She reaches up to tug on the earrings she has on. "How could he? You know Delaney is going to kill him."

I look up at her, eyes blurry from tears, and it's only now that I notice her hair – one side perfectly curled, the other left straight. My brow furrows in confusion. "Why is only half of your hair curled?"

"Hmm?" She looks back at me, her hand absentmindedly patting her head as if she forgot. "Oh, I was filming a reel for Instagram."

She shakes her head and waves it off dismissively before quickly moving around the kitchen island to pull me into a tight hug. Ellis has always been good at hugs. "Are you okay, June?"

I manage to muster a watery "No," shaking my head again.

"God, of course, you're not," Ellis murmurs, rolling her eyes at herself as she pulls back to hold me at arm's length. "Why would I even ask that? You need alcohol."

Standing from her stool at the counter, she crosses the kitchen, heading towards the cabinet where she grabs two glass cups, then to the bar cart for the bottle of vodka.

I bury my face in my hands, my voice muffled by my palms as I speak, "I don't know where I'm going to go. I can't go back there." I lift my head up from my hands. "Oh my god. I'm going to have to move back home with my parents."

My parents mean the world to me, and I know they'll be heartbroken about this whole situation. But the thought of living with them feels suffocating. They're wonderful, they really are, but I'm their only child and they tend to hover and ask too many questions. Not to mention, their house is way too far from Seattle, a good hour up north.