The Only Rule

"Now the real question is..."

Liam smiled as he looked toward the stacked rows of seats in the classroom, letting out a long.. exaggerated sigh of relief. Spinning around, he surveyed the rest of his group. Everyone was now dressed in their usual campus attire, blending in like nothing had ever happened. But the moment his eyes landed on Tyler, Liam's face twisted in outrage—

"Why didn't we make this Plan A in the first place?!"

Tyler rolled his eyes, rubbing his temples as if Liam's outburst had physically hurt him. "Stop whining and do the job!" he snapped. Beside him, Dominic was fidgeting nervously, stealing glances toward the hallway every few seconds.

You and Talia arrived at class at your usual time—five minutes before the bell. Still mumbling to herself, Talia squinted at the rows of desks, tilting her head in consideration. "Where should we sit—" she began, but her voice quickly trailed off as her eyes rested on a group of very familiar faces..

"HOES—CHARGE!"

Tyler's voice thundered across the classroom, startling everyone, and before you could process what was happening, Talia had vanished from your side.

"Hey! What is this?!"

"What the—"

And your head snapped toward Talia's voice—to see her already sandwiched between Dan and Val. Their grinning faces radiating mischief as Talia stared at them in stunned bewilderment.

"Sorry, Ren, seat's full."

You turned to glare at.. Tyler, face mockingly apologetic. Next to him, Liam smugly smirked, both looking like two fallen angels about to cause trouble. "Oh, wait!" Liam gasped, feigning surprise while his grin widening. "There is one seat left.."

The group's gaze collectively shifted toward the back of the room.. and your stomach sank as you followed their line of sight.

"Over.."

At the very last row sat a familiar figure, the seat next to him glaringly empty.

"There."

Dominic, sitting there.

He was already watching you, but the second your eyes locked on him, he looked away, pretending to examine the desk as if it were the most fascinating thing in the world. Then, almost shyly, he glanced back at you, a faint smirk tugging at his lips.

Of course.

You clenched your jaw, boiling anger rising. You were just about to spin around and ditch class entirely—when the professor strolled in, his voice booming, "Alright, everyone, take your seats."

Damn it.

Reluctantly, you turned and marched toward the dreaded empty seat. Dominic didn't say a word as you sat down, but you could feel him grinning beside you, his head angled slightly downward as if he were trying to suppress laughter.

Meanwhile, his friends at the front of the room erupted into silent cheers. Dominic shot them a victorious grin, mouthing a triumphant 'YES.'

Down below, as if they'd just won a war, the rest of the group broke into celebratory hugs. Talia, however, was trapped in the middle, forced into a suffocating squeeze with a comically annoyed expression.

Tyler clapped his hands together, adopting the air of a heroic leader. "I'd like to thank everyone who believed in this mission and supported me as your fearless leader," he declared, his voice trembling with overacting emotion. Then his gaze landed on Liam, who was crying dramatically. "And you Wyatt! I know we don't always see eye to eye but—HOES BEFORE BROS—"