Romans & histoires Rule Number 5

Basic rules. Living arrangements. Privacy. Confidentiality. Nothing surprising. I turned to another page. Reached Clause Five. And froze. "What the hell?”

He added, face looked void of emotions. “I'm nothing sir,” I said, my voice cracking. Arguing with this man was baseless, how would I tell him that these rules are too rigid for a human? “Rule 5: You must be able to navigate my child's mood no matter what happens. All your actions should tally with my daughter 's mood and reaction.” “Absurd!” I exclaimed, laughing out loudly at the man in my presence. “What was such a reaction?” He said, his voice was loud enough to choke me up.

“The first team to score five goals wins!” “Isn’t that too little?" Davy muttered, squinting at the ball. He had refused to put on his glasses even when I had begged him, claiming they ruin the aesthetic. “Pfft. We are trying to go easy on you guys; hence, five.” She sang, dropping the ball and moving towards her goalpost, which was basically two stones set apart. “What are the rules again?” Aaron asked, looking bored out of his mind. “No rules,” Kim stated, stretching her body while Aaron helplessly gawked at her. “Anything goes. Now let’s play!”

Without warning, he shifted closer, closing the space between us until I could feel his presence press into mine. "While we're still on good terms," he said calmly, "there are a few things you need to understand." I turned to look at him. "Like what?" "The rules," he said simply. "There are five." I blinked. "Rules?" He smiled, but there was nothing soft about it. "First," he said, voice firm, "you don't talk to other men unless I say you can." "Second, don't test my patience. I don't handle disobedience well."

Fifth Rule: “Thou shall respect your fellow students, teachers, and staff. This includes security. Disrespect will be met with the most terrifying fate: explaining calculus to a room full of angry kindergarteners.” Charlie: “...” Inner Devil: ‘I can’t even imagine!’ Guardian Angel: ‘That would be hilarious.’ Sixth Rule: “Thou shall not be a judgmental know-it-all. If you judge my daughter or any other student unfairly, be prepared—I might just buy the entire block your family lives in and evict you personally.”

I couldn't fight the urge to roll my eyes, the rules were becoming more absurd than the last. Rule 8: Party B shall not engage in any behaviour or activity that could potentially tarnish the reputation of Party A's company or family name. This includes causing a public scandal, saying something controversial, or behaving badly. Rule 9: Party B shall not, under any circumstances, develop romantic feelings or fall in love with Party A. Any breach of this rule shall result in immediate termination of the contract, and Party B shall forfeit all rights and privileges granted herein. I couldn't help but laugh, tears welling up in my eyes at the absurdity of falling for Mr. Harrison.

“Petty guy.” She skimmed the rules aloud: “Rule one — obey and respect, no matter what. Rule two — no dirty words. Rule three — don’t dare fall in love with me.” Avery burst into laughter. “Please, you should be more worried about yourself.” Kieran’s lips twitched into the faintest smirk. “We’ll see about that.” “Rule five — no interfering in each other’s personal lives. And the last one… every action comes with a reward or punishment, decided by you. Huh. Interesting.”

Ava’s POV There were only a few rules I lived by in college. Rule number one? Never fall for a jock. It wasn’t just a personal preference. It was survival; I had to avoid them in order to do well. I had seen too many smart girls throw away their GPA for a 6'0 something guy with biceps, a quarterback playboy and a bad attendance record. Not me, no way, I'll never do that, that's how I survived my first year in Westbridge University, and I'm not going to break that rule in my second year.

I stammer, fixing my gaze on the road. "Those are the rules. It has always been like that. There won’t be thousands of people, just the pack. We’re only a few." I shrug, curse for a while, and end up rolling my eyes. I’ll accept the curse like Emily asked me to, but it’s very different doing it in front of everyone. "I hate rules, they’re ridiculous. Just a bunch of excuses from people who can’t control anything," I complain angrily, downplaying everything that has happened to me as I walk toward Sam’s apartment.

She pouted when she saw what I wrote. "What?" She didn't reply, she only shrugged her shoulders. "You wrote just five rules here. First one, we will not invade each other's privacy. Two, Number Five is very very important" She looked at me and I gave her the go ahead look. "Three, we can bring in friends but no late night parties. I don't do parties, I don't have much friends" She said before she continued "Four, Rule number Five is very very important and specially important. Five, please do not cook" she dropped the book in anger and I tried holding myself back from laughing.