Rule #2: Isolation
Rebels Stand Alone
- () -
Even with the dreary clouds, chilly wind, and the fact that it's Monday, I'm in a good mood today. Maybe I've finally finished my college applications. Maybe it's because the effects of my concussion are fading away. Maybe it's because Archer kissed me back.
It's probably because Archer kissed me back.
Eventually, the last bell of the day rings. I go to my locker because Archer has swim practice after school and therefore, can't drop me off at work. By the time I reach M111, Sebastian and Archer are already there.
They're busy in a conversation so I don't interrupt. Instead, I swing open my locker and trade my textbooks for my skateboard. Then, I slam the locker door shut and hurry outside. Before I even exit the hallway, however, Archer grabs my wrist and tugs me back to his side.
"Meet me by the treehouse tonight?"
I attempt not to look dazed. "Yeah, sure."
He kisses my cheek. The contact between us lasts less than a second, but that's all it takes for me to jerk away and my cheeks to hear up.
"Archer."
"What?" He's grinning.
I take a step back, tucking my skateboard under my arm. "We'll talk about this tonight."
"I'll look forward to it."
I roll my eyes, but smile. But I'm already running late to work, now that I don't have Archer's car, so I just wave a goodbye and walk towards the front doors.
"What the hell was that about?" I hear Sebastian grumble.
By the time Archer responds, I'm too far away.
The wind, chilling and angry, hits me hard as I exit the school, nearly knocking me into a bush. I can't balance on my skateboard with it, so I just run to work instead. I reach Lily's Pet Shop eight minutes later after my shift is supposed to start. After chucking my skateboard behind the building, I enter the store.
The store is almost empty. Besides the soft jingle of the bell from when I open the door, the area is silent. Even the animals don't make any noise. Mondays are slow for us, so it's not unusual for there to be a lack of customers. But even the mood today is different.
Nobody stands at the front register so I head towards the back of the pet shop, combing my fingers through my disgruntled hair. In the office, I find my manager, Peter, and my coworker, Leo in the back.
"Sorry, I'm late," I breathe, tucking the last of the stray hair behind my ears. Peter and Leo both share a grim look. "Is something wrong?"
"They found Susan Smith," Peter is the first one to speak.
I take a moment to process this information, unsure of whether to anticipate or dread what's going to come next. "Where?"
"Las Vegas," Peter takes a deep breath before continuing. "Our previous assumptions were right. They uncovered a dog fighting ring. It seems that they relocated every few months in order to evade the police, hence the abandoned house that Susan Smith left behind."
My good mood from earlier today is shut down. "Holy shit. Did they find the people behind it?"
"Susan Smith and a couple of other men were arrested. The police are talking to them now."
"How many dogs did they find?"
Peter and Leo share another grim look. "We don't know that yet."
"And - and Harper?"
A sigh. "Don't know that either."
- () -
"I'm sorry to hear that, Peyton," Dr. Robinson's says.
"Me too," I pick at the loose threads of my shirt. "It's disturbing. I know dog fighting is still a thing in the US, but I never really - I don't know - thought about it much."
"Most people don't. It's understandable to not want to think about things that make us feel upset or hurt."
I nod.
"Alright," Dr. Robinson settles back on her chair. It squeaks as she moves. "So have you finished the homework I told you to do last time? Did you try something new that you've never experienced before?"
"Yeah," I clear my throat. "I kissed Archer."
"You did?" Even though I'm not looking at her, Dr. Robinson sounds surprised. "Wow, Peyton, I'm impressed. Taking the first step in a relationship is a brave thing to do."
"I guess."
Damn. This is embarrassing. I shouldn't have brought it up like that.
"How did Archer respond?"
"Oh, you know," I snap off one of the threads. "I think he took it pretty well."
"Excellent, so are you glad you did it?"
"Yeah, I am."
"Would you do it again?"
"What? Kiss him?" Startled, I look up.
Dr. Robinson is watching me, mildly amused. "A new experience, like the one we discussed in our homework."
"Oh yeah," I clear my throat. "Yeah, I definitely do it again."
- () -
After dinner, everybody is busy. Melody yells at the TV while watching Say Yes to the Dress, dad plays Pacman on his laptop and mom's reading a romance novel that Bettie suggested. None of them pay any attention to me as I sneak out the backyard.
The night is gentler than the day.
Instead of a furious wind, there's a soft breeze that brushes the hair off my shoulders. Inky black waves shift against the graying sand. The rope ladder sways from side to side when I reach it. I wait for a pause in the wind, then begin to climb.
Archer is already inside the treehouse when I arrive.
He sits at the corner, underneath one of the windows. With a flashlight perched on his shoulder, he's currently drawing the night landscape (with an additional sea serpent sticking out of the ocean) on the sketchpad he managed to sneak away from his parents.
I settle against the doorway, where the light from the houses still reach us, and let one of my legs dangle in the air.
Archer signs his signature in the corner of his drawing, then turns off the flashlight. The treehouse goes dark. I blink to get adjusted to this lack of light. I can't see Archer at all, so I move inside. The boards creak under my weight.
"What do you want to talk to me about?" I say, purposefully keeping my voice loud. Whispering feels too intimate.
"Just a second."
"I think that -"
Archer's mouth cuts me off then, swallowing my words. His hands run over my body, starting from my shoulders than running over my sides. It tickles, just barely, and I accidentally arch my body forward. His fingers go up my sides again, purposefully digging in more, until a laugh rips out of me.
"Okay," I gasp. "That's - that's enough."
Archer smiles against my lips, but pulls away. His hands, however, remain on my waist.
"So," I say, in order to distract myself from his touch. "W-what did you want talk about?"
"Silly cub," He separates his legs, then pulls me in between them. "Of course you'd assume I want to meet you because I wanted to talk."
"Well, then what do you - oh."
Archer chuckles, then kisses me again. Even though this kiss isn't as shocking as yesterday's, I can't help but startle when he pulls me in close and nudges my lips open with his. Again, I forget to close my eyes so I shut them quickly.
At first, it's easy to lose myself in his touch, his warmth, his taste. But soon, even now, my thoughts get the better of me.
I still can't believe this is happening.
Just a few days ago, kissing with Archer like this wasn't a possibility. A few weeks ago, it wouldn't have even been a fantasy.
But now it's a reality.
"What's wrong?" This time, Archer breaks our kiss. He wipes away the tears before I even notice them. "Peyton, bear cub, what's wrong?"
"Sorry," I hadn't even realized I was crying. "It's just been a long day."
"What happened?"
"We found some more information about Harper. It's likely he's been into a dog-fighting ring."
"Oh Peyton," Archer runs his hand hand through my hair. A shiver runs down my spine. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine," I swallow the rest of the tears before they fall. "I feel better now anyways."
The night isn't as dark anymore. The faint outline of Archer's shirt, button-down as always, is starting to show.
"I didn't get a chance to properly confess to you yesterday," I say in a rush, playing with one of his buttons. "So I'm just going to do it now. Archer, you made living here a lot less miserable than it would be if I was just by myself. So, thank you."
"It was my pleasure."
"I'm not finished."
"Sorry."
"You gave me friends, made me laugh, listened to all my animal facts. You're kind and an amazing person," I take a deep breath. "So, in conclusion, I have a crush on you."
"I knew."
"What?"
"Andrew told me."
I accidentally yank Archer's button out of his shirt. "What?"
"He texted me about it. Told me that you texted the group chat complaining about how much you liked me."
"He - I -"
"It was around the end of December. The same day as we got the flu shots, I think."
"Oh my god," I say.
Oh my god, I think. Andrew told Archer about my crush on him? On the same day that I told Andrew about it? That bastard didn't even wait a day before texting Archer and spilling all my secrets.
Wait a minute.
"Hang on," I push myself away from Archer's chest to see his face. His eyes twinkle mercilessly as he looks down at me. "You knew for a month now? Why didn't you say something?"
"I didn't want to push you into a relationship," By the unapologetic grin on Archer's face, I know he enjoys this situation immensely. "And also, it was kind of cute watching you freak out sometimes."
"That traitor. I'm going to fly to Chicago and rip out his guts with my hands -" I stand up so fast that my head hits the ceiling and I fall down again.
Archer's on his knees in a second, taking my hands and pulling me towards his chest. I struggle against his grip as he runs his fingers over my scalp.
"You have a concussion, Peyton," He growls. "Be careful."
"I'm fine," I say and shove at his chest. "Let me go. I need to kill Andrew."
"Don't pretend to be angry at Andrew so that you can hide your own embarrassment."
I gawk at Archer open-mouthed, hardly believing he said that. Archer takes the opportunity to plant another kiss on my lips and tug me in our original position again. I curl my hands around his shirt, my nails digging into his shoulder.
"Wow," I manage to get out. "You've become blunt, haven't you?"
"Now that I know you have a crush on me, I guess I have."
"Ugh."
Archer laughs. The faint lights from the houses outside dance over the right side of his face. My lips feel soft, almost tender, now. I decide that it's too much energy trying to be angry and relax instead.
"Date me."
"What?"
"Be my girlfriend," Archer curls a strand of my hair around his finger. "Please?"
"Y-yeah, sure."
Archer grins, then leans in (probably for another kiss). Just as I begin to respond, I remember one of the things I wanted to talk about.
"Wait," I place a finger on his lips, causing Archer to open his eyes. "Before we start dating, I think that we should establish some ground rules -"
He snorts.
"I'm serious."
"I know you are," He nudges my finger away, then sighs, more out of exasperation than annoyance. "Alright. What are your rules?"
"Okay, so first, we shouldn't tell our parents. Especially our moms. My mom would try to get us engaged and your mom would kill me."
"Good point. I'll agree to that."
"Second," I hold up two fingers even though Archer probably can't see it. "We cannot pressure or each other into sexual activities -"
"You've been thinking about our sexual activities"
"Shut up. Third, we cannot tell anybody about the intimate details about our relationship because they might use against us and/or tell our parents about it."
"For somebody who claims to be a rebel, you sure have a lot of rules."
"Fourth -"
"For god's sake, Peyton, how many rules do you have?"
"I mean, I've only come up with sixteen so far," I wait for him to interrupt me, but he doesn't so I continue. "But you know, when our relationship continues, we can add or take away some. And, if you have any suggestions, I'm all ears."
"Okay."
I look up at Archer's face, but only catch the upward curl of his lips and his grey eyes, still twinkling. "Really? You're not going to argue with me on this?"
"Nah," His voice is soft. "Your obsession with rules is one of the many reasons I like you."
"Rules are important," I defend. "They work."
"Just like your plan to get rid of your crush on me?"
I groan. Archer laughs in response, then tilts my chin up to kiss me, still laughing.
- () -
So let me explain the pacing of RoaR for just a few seconds.
For me, the most meaningful (and fun) parts of a romance novel isn't the relationship itself, but about the journey it takes for the couple to have one. That's why I focused on Peyton's phases of liking Archer (hatred, tolerance, friendship and romance) instead of having them make out in the 20th chapter or something.
Hopefully that makes sense!
"..."
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Happy New Year! I am so grateful for the love you showed Crackers last year (I think he's gained some weight, lol). This update's dedications go to honneybunney, roxy175, and teafame.
Thanks for reading!
QotC: How are you going to make this year YOUR year? (and don't give me the bs that it's not going to be your year or i'll give you a virtual slap)