The Rulebook

Chapter Three

Ethan

Right after June left, my mom came in to wake me up.

"Up, up, up! Time to get learning," she chirped.

"Ugggghh," I let out a groan to show that I wasn't up for learning today, but when I turned to look, she was already gone.

June was fidgeting all night and I couldn't sleep knowing that there was something bugging her. Any time she would start to furrow her brow and twitch a little I would pull her closer to me so she knew she wasn't alone. It seemed to work too. She was at peace in my arms.

"Ethan! Get your butt outta bed now!"

With that I was up and off to the bathroom to get ready for school.

***

I was sitting in class, adjusting the tie on my uniform when my phone buzzed in my pocket. Mr. Clark was teaching us something about graphing imaginary numbers and honestly, I wasn't paying one bit of attention.

Junebug: Hey, thanks.

"For what," I sent.

...

Junebug: Last night. It helped, so thank you.

"It was nothing, see you later Juniebug 😘" I responded.

Class wrapped up not long after our conversation and after a few more classes and a quick lunch, I met up with June.

"Hey, what do you want to do today?" I asked.

"Actually, I was gonna hang out with Julie and Amanda today, sorry."

"It's fine, we'll hang later though, right?" I asked like I didn't already know the answer. It was Friday so we didn't have school tomorrow.

"Of course! See you later," She gave me a quick hug and a peck on the cheek, then left.

I walked across the town square, thinking about the day before when they announced that the book had been stolen. How was I gonna figure out who took it? I mean the courthouse would be the first place to look, obviously, but if there were any clues the police would've found them, right?

I headed down the street and glanced at June's house before I turned to the courthouse. I was halfway up the steps before my phone started buzzing again. I pulled it out of my pocket, wondering who it could be since June was with her friends and mine were probably off somewhere playing football or studying.

Unknown: Looking for clues? Don't.

As I looked around, I was baffled. I hadn't told anyone about my suspicions except for June.

I responded "June? Is this a joke?" She couldn't be serious.

Unknown: No. Stop poking your head where it doesn't belong, kid.

I put my phone back in my pocket and looked around. I was about to walk into the courthouse. Maximum security, no problem. I strolled right through the open doors and looked around for a second. If anything, there would be evidence near the book so I took a left and started walking down the hall toward it. What the heck was I looking for? A hair? A note.... I was staring at the wall behind where the book used to be and there it was. Just what I was looking for. I paused for a moment and before anyone could kick me out, I snapped a picture of it with my phone and headed back home. June was gonna freak out.

***

I had been waiting. For three hours. What could June have been doing that was more important than this? Maybe she forgot...

Junebug: Hey, what's up?

"Where are you?!" At least she finally responded. I dropped my phone into my lap and looked up to find her leaning on the window frame, arms folded carefully under her chin, a playful grin displaying her slightly crooked teeth.
With her index finger she tapped the glass twice.

"Are you gonna let me in?" She uttered.

I bolted to the window and unlatched the lock, helping her climb in and shutting it again behind her as if she'd been in my room the whole time.

"We need to talk," we said at the same time, laughing once we realized what had happened. I took a deep breath at the end of my fit of laughter and smelled the sweet scent of perfume on her. It was one of my favorite smells and there's no way it could've lasted through the night.

"You go first," she spoke, finishing her laugh.

I nodded away previous thoughts and sat down as I spoke.

"Well, I went to the courthouse again... and there were definitely clues."
I flashed the picture triumphantly.

"There are secrets about Carolina that you do not know. 'A'." She read. "What the heck does that tell us?"

"Well I don't know but I was thinking we could see the mayor to ask about it."

"Are you crazy! They'll lock us up and throw away the key if they find out you took that picture!"
She stole the phone and to my dismay, erased the picture.

"Did you see what the message was made with?"

"Yeah," she replied. "Pages from the book."

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Hey guys! Chloe here.

I just wanted to let you know how excited I am about this book and where it's headed. School is just around the corner so please don't expect weekly or even monthly updates. I'll probably get one more chapter in before school starts, but after that it could be a couple months between updates. It's my junior year and i'm not sure how much homework i'll have but I'll let you know!

Thanks for reading!

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