Rules of a Rebel

Chapter 14: No Cell Phones

Rule #36: No Cell Phones

If we want something done, we do it face to face.

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RECAP: Peyton and Archer have made a truce to be friends. In their neighborhood, there's a barbecue every month. Andrew, Jake and Irene are Peyton's friends from Chicago who have come to visit. 

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"Turn around," Irene says, her chin on her hand. "I want to see the back of the jacket. It might contrast too much with the skirt."

"But I don't want to wear a skirt at all," I turn around anyways, hugging myself. "It's too sweet and cutesy. I want something hard and menacing, something that will make people turn away from me."

"Menacing flew out the window when Melody dyed your hair pink." - cue snickers from Andrew until Jake elbows him in the ribs - "And pink is not a menacing color. Not that we can help it. It's the patriarchy. Society associates pink with women and women are associated with weakness-"

"Irene." Jake, who has got to the most sane person in this room, sighs.

"Right. Sorry. Anyways, what I'm trying to say is that we should try to go for a completely different look. Like cute."

"Cute?" I rip the ribbon out of my hair. "Irene, that's the opposite of the look I want."

After climbing into my bedroom window at three o'clock in the morning (Archer had to make two trips since Julia and her friends had to carpool with us), Irene and the rest of my friends decided to wake me up again.

At seven.

To go shopping.

According to Irene, my hair and my clothes were so different from each other it seemed like I was a little girl trying to look mean.

Last time, it only took eighteen minutes for Irene to completely revamp my look - from preppy high heels to black boots - and gain her friendship. Now, it's been two hours and we still haven't come onto a compromise.

"I don't know, Peyton, you look really good as cute," Jake muses. He rests his head on Andrew's shoulder, eyes half-open. Andrew pats Jake's head in return, looking weary himself. "It suits you."

Irene nods, giving him a pleased smile. "See?"

I scrunch up my nose. "No. It'd look weird if I change so suddenly in the middle of the year - people would think I'm being desperate. And besides, I already told you. I want to keep people away from me - this makes me people think I'm friendly."

Andrew suddenly sits up, knocking Jake's head off. "People away from you? You still have friends, right? You aren't doing that same hide-in-the-parking-lot-during-lunch attitude again, are you?"

"Of course not," I lie. "Who do you think Archer is?"

Archer leans back, but still seems suspicious.

All of a sudden, Irene snaps her fingers. "I just got an idea! How about intimidating?"

I perk up a little bit. "Intimidating?"

"Intimidating," Irene agrees, but she's not looking at me anymore. Instead, she searches through the many clothes she's laid, picks three, shoves them in my arms and pushes me into the dressing room.

I sigh. Now comes the part that I hate. I strip out of my clothes, hating the way the cold hair touches my half-naked body, and pulling on my other clothes as fast as I can manage. Goosebumps crawl up my arms as I step out of the dressing room for what seems to be the hundredth time.