Rules Of The Game: Book 1

17; Partners In C̸r̸i̸m̸e̸ Project

𝙾𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟸𝚗𝚍, 𝙵𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚊𝚢
Miles POV

American high schools are nuts.

Every single school year, when homecoming week rolls around, it's like everyone in high school loses their shit and their common sense. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for a fun time and a wild party, but this is insanity.

I dodge around another group of giggling girls trying to take a selfie, their hair braided intricately, faces decorated with polka-dots, and outfits adorned in an overload of purple and neon school colors.

People are celebrating in the halls like we won the damn game already. Any guy on the football team trying to get to class is either slowed down or stopped entirely like a celebrity in the crowd.

Out of the corner of my eye, I notice some more boys huddled near the lockers, making legit cash bets on what team will win tonight.

I can't make this shit up.

Hearing the pep band making their round up ahead makes me backtrack my path and swing through a different hallway. Everyone in the main hall cheers as the first few notes of The Final Countdown are played, but I walk faster so my eardrums won't be busted. I made the mistake of walking by the band earlier on my way to first period.

Either way, I'll admit that I'm in a rush to get to history class. I would make a bet that Greyson is going to be late to his own class since he seems to enjoy the fame and the limelight, except I'm not in a hurry to see the teacher.

I loop my thumbs through the straps on my backpack and wrap my fingers into fists, turning at the first intersection of the hallway.

Now that I'm away from the main hallway, things are calmer, and I can think properly.

It would probably be helpful to think over the speech notes for today's project. Yet, my thoughts keep gravitating away from the subject and toward the partner.

Oh, Parker. What a fascinating guy. I used to think he was fucking with my head with his daily personality changes, but ever since our talk at that restaurant a few nights ago, I feel like I see him in a whole new light.

He affirmed what I already knew about not acting 100% like himself around our classmates. Since he said that, it cleared a lot of confusion in the air.

I turn another corner as I think, lost in thought.

What I used to mistake as stand-offish was him holding back his personality. Sure, yesterday during class, he was quieter than usual, but after class, he apologized to me for being reserved, saying something about being nervous about football.

I totally get it, except it also makes me wonder if he's nervous about playing or nervous about performing in front of hundreds. Because if I gained anything from our little midnight chat, he's not entirely enthralled with the game. Not how people think he would be.

I swing a right at the next intersection in the hall, then come to a stop. This isn't the correct damn hallway. Instead of a line of classrooms, all I see are rows of lockers.

Fuck this damn school and its maze-like setup.

I should look up the architect who built this place and give them a piece of my mind. Not that I have any money to sue them with or any real leverage to make them scared.