If I Love You Was A Promise

Rules (Syrah's POV)

I wake up the morning after my spiral, and for a while I forget what stressed me out that bad in the first place. I think to myself, "I don't have to message this early in the day, plus he said he'd text me first today, so I'll have to take his word for it."

I end up opening the new computer anyway, not even noticing I have a new email from an unknown number. At first, I was hesitant to open the email, but I give into my curiosity and click the tiny box titled "new rules." "This has to be from the people selected to monitor and change the game." I thought to myself before reading the words written on the page."We have decided to appoint a new system in order to shake up the game a little, so other people don't get bored with the updates. This new system will consist of stages, in which there will be five.

Stage 1 will consist of basic conversations between the two individuals playing the game, along with only three physical attributes that must be told to one another.

Stage 2 will consist of newly added phone calls between the individuals *no family members or friends* along with three more physical attributes allowed to be listed.

Stage 3 will consist of personal life details being shared between the two players, along with a request of a photo of the other person.

Stage 4, names can be shared .

Stage 5 (last stage), both players may exchange personal information about one another as long as they can prove they have not formed a "bond" at the end of the game.

As I finish reading these "stages" I think to myself, "well that last part shouldn't even be that difficult because my Pen-Pal won't even take the time out of their day to have an actual conversation with me. Come to think of it, we've never gone past the required amount of messages. "Am I really that bad to talk to?" I say aloud as if someone could actually hear me.

Just as I was about to see if my Pen-Pal is online yet I hear a knock at the door. When I open the door I see someone who looks around my age standing right outside. He has dark brown hair, and as I'm scanning I also notice he has hazel eyes which is a very complimenting feature for this particular boy. I zone out as I'm memorizing his appearance, but I snap back to reality once he starts speaking.

All he says to me is, "could you keep it down please, I have to work on a dumb project and I promised my 'partner' that I would reach out first." Speechless, I look at him with a dumbfounded look as I say, "I only said one thing, and I wasn't even that loud. Stop over exaggerating and go work on your 'project'. Now let's go back to minding our own businesses because I also have some work to get done and it's stressing me out."

As I turn to shut the door, the boy was already gone, without saying a word or giving a second thought, I rush over to the computer to see one new message.