The Rules | ✅ Completed

Chapter 1

Junior year. One step closer to getting out of this town. The thoughts rattled on in my head as I sat on the wall that ran the length of the quad just outside of the high school. My phone buzzed and Heather's face appeared on my screen. It was the second message she sent claiming only five more minutes. A flood of heart emojis filled a second message. She was always fashionably late. I weighed the excuses she could possibly use when I heard someone call my name.

Looking up, I caught sight of my brother with his crew coming over to me. I scanned the faces and smiled at each of them. Lucas, my brother, effortlessly jumped up onto the wall beside me. "Why aren't you inside yet?"

"Waiting on Heather," I shrugged. Shane jumped up onto the wall, taking up the spot on my other side. He lazily slung his arm around my shoulders.

"Our little, Lainy is all grown up," he croaked causing the guys to all smirk or laugh. "About to embark on her junior year. It seems like only yesterday she was running around-"

"Finish that sentence and you won't be able to throw a ball for a week," I muttered, heat creeping up my neck.

Shane and Lucas had been friends for as long as I could remember. He was like an honorary member in the Lester household and had no problem reminding me of it. If I didn't know all the crazy things he had done, or witnessed them first hand, I probably would have crushed on him. He was the starting quarterback, and looked like the perfect specimen. Heather has asked me to set them up, but it felt too wierd.It would be like she was dating my brother.

"She's feisty this morning," Joseph, the brickwall of a lineman, chuckled as he shoved Finn. Both boys were sporting huge smiles at my current situation. Lucas forced Shane's arm off of me and shot him a look.

"Hands off man," he muttered. Shane threw up his hands and leaned away from me. I gave him a knowing smile.

"No harm, no foul," Shane mused. A pair of senior girls passed by us and his attention was suddenly elsewhere. "I'll catch up with you guys in home room."

He was off the wall and half way across the quad before any of us could say anything. I rolled my eyes, making Joseph laugh. Jumping off the wall, Lucas picked up my backpack and held it out to me.

"Come on, Lainy," he wiggled my bag back and forth on his finger. "Let's get you to class."

"But Heather-"

"Heather is going to be ten minutes late," he smirked. "And you, my dear, sister aren't going to be late on your first day of school."

"Bossy," I muttered before jumping off the wall. I wiped off the back of my jeans before taking my bag from Lucas. Joseph's hulking form cleared a path as we entered the school building. I was used to people staring at this group whenever I was with them. I, to my liking, was always overlooked. As we entered the hall where my locker was, the guys said their good-byes as my brother hung back.