Page 1 of Rules for Rule Breaking
Winter Park
1. WE WILL NOT BE FRIENDS
The term “family friend” implied said friend was a friend to the entire family; therefore, the term was decidedly a bullshit one. At least as it applied to Bobby Bae and Winter Park, nemeses since the ninth grade. Or first grade if you ask Winter.
They were the only two Asian kids in their school, so they were frequently on the receiving end of comments like “I didn’t know you were allowed to have more than one kid in China”—which was problematic because one: They were not related, and two: They were Korean. It was either that or the ever-persistent assumption they were dating.
Winter hated spending time with someone as uptight as Bobby Bae. Yet, when she asked her parents if she could visit MIT over summer break, he was their first choice to accompany her.
“No,” Winter said plainly. “Just because you and Bobby’s family are best friends doesn’t makeusfriends.”
Their parents had met when Bobby’s family moved from New Jersey to North Carolina. It was during a back-to-school night when Winter’s parents, who had formerly been the only Asian parents in the PTO, spotted the Baes from across the room and adopted them as their so-called family friends. Since then, it’d been all sunshine and Melona bars for their parents. However, for Winter and Bobby, if their relationship had a mascot, it’d be an eye roll.
Winter’s father wrinkled his nose. “You both are too competitive. It’s always something with you—class rank, attendance, even marching band.”
“Because he’s such a try-hard for no reason,” Winter huffed. “And what’s wrong with a little competition?”
“You’re usually on the same team,” her mother replied. “We don’t need to have this conversation again. We’re well aware of your rules.”
Of course her parents knew the rules, but Winter feared steam would come out of her ears if she tried to hold in the reminderandrefrain from further slandering Bobby. Multitasking wasn’t one of her strong suits. She took in a sharp breath and was not surprised when her parents’ voices echoed her own. “We will play nice in front of our parents. We will not be seen talking to each other at school. We will not meet outside of school,” the three chanted in unison.
“It’s a legally binding contract!” Winter said. Bobby had even tried to get it notarized at one point, but the notary refused on account of it having been written in crayon.
“Then your mother and I can sue because you gave up on rule number one years ago,” Appa said. “And how many amendments have you added since then? Forty?”
Winter’s shoulders tensed as she said in a defeated tone, “I would rather walk to Massachusetts than be stuck in a car for eighteen hours withBobby Bae.”
Bobby was, for lack of a better word, boring. He spent all his free time padding his college résumé with any and all extracurriculars, and it was unclear if he had any interests of his own other than making sure people thought he was a saint. Plus he was dating Jacqueline Charlotte “Three Names” Turner, who, like Bobby Bae, always seemed to be thinking of her next quip ratherthan actually listening to what anyone was saying.
“You’re being dramatic, Soon-hee,” Winter’s mother said as she idly flipped channels, not bothering to look up. “You can’t walk that far.”
“Not true, Umma. Frodo did it, and he wasn’t even wearing shoes,” Winter retorted.
Umma looked up for the sole purpose of rolling her eyes. Sarcasm was lost on Winter’s mother, who was the most literal woman in the world. Winter was named Winter because she was born in, well, winter. Umma didn’t mince words, and she didn’t entertain Winter’s theatrics. She was a hard-looking woman with a pin-straight graying bob that was customarily clipped to the side and a revolving door of floral blouses and sensible black shoes.
“Bobby is a nice boy,” Appa chimed in. “I don’t see why you don’t get along. You have so much in common.”
Winter bristled at the wordboy. If she were a boy, her parents probably wouldn’t be hassling her about being too competitive or begging her to be more polite so aboywould like her. Bobby’s parents never gave him grief about anything.
“What do we have in common other than being Korean?” Winter asked.
With a sigh, Umma replied, “You both get good grades, play instruments, are involved in student council, have good heads on your shoulders; you’re kind, family-oriented, want to go to school in Boston, maybe a little stubborn—”
“Okay, I get it,” Winter interrupted.
“Why do you need to visit the campus anyway?” Umma asked. “You are going to school to learn, not look at buildings.”
“I’m not going to move into an entire school sight unseen. I’m not a Property Brother.”
Appa breathed in slowly. “Bobby is visiting several schools on the way to Harvard. Go with him. He’s a very good driver. He took lessons with your appa. We’ve already discussed it with his parents, and they would feel better if you went with him.”
“No, Appa,” Winter whined.
“You can go with Bobby, or you don’t go at all,” Umma said, and she changed the volume on her Korean drama from background noise to uncomfortably loud. “And I don’t care if you wear shoes or not.”
“You don’t care if I wear shoes? That’s a bald-faced lie. We’re Asian,” Winter said loudly, trying to be heard over the TV. “I’m in the National Honor Society, my robotics team has made nationals every year since I joined, my school had to create an AP Latin course just for me, and I’m one of two students taking classes at community college this year. But who cares, right? As long as Bobby Bae is my boyfriend.”
“You’ve proven your point, Winter,” Umma said.
