Break Every Rule Read Free

dancing pretty close to him. As a rule, Arno was never surprised when girls were into him, but girls like Mimi, as a rule, never went with guys who were actually still in high school. He was a little bit surprised in spite of himself. He kept dancing with her until someone got up to make a speech, shushing the DJ and the crowd in the process.
    It was his father, Alec Wildenburger. He was standing on a raised part of the floor, and behind him you could see the outdoor sculpture garden through big, glass windows, looking magical in the glow of the orange street lights. In his hands were a champagne glass and a knife, which he was tapping together.
    â€œI hope the bright young things will excuse me for a few moments so that an old, dull fellow can say some words about one of the masters…,” he began in hissignature urbane drawl. “One of the masters, who, I might add, has kept my wife and me quite well fed for over a decade, and one of the masters who, it seems, characteristically, is hiding this evening…”
    Arno looked at Rob, who was silently making the international gesture for “Let’s Party” with his fists in the air. “This is fucking boring,” Arno whispered, though perhaps not as quietly as he could have.
    â€œCome out, Luc Vogel…,” Alec Wildenburger was saying. “Come out, come out wherever you are!”
    â€œI think I saw where they are keeping the champagne,” Rob hissed. He was definitely being a little noisier than was socially acceptable. “Let’s go get a bottle for all and start our own party!”
    Arno shrugged at Mimi. “You coming with?”
    She whipped her hair over her shoulder, and smiled knowingly. “I’ll go just about anywhere with you, Arno Wildenburger,” she said.
    Arno smiled to himself again—she was so into him that she’d forgotten all about meeting the brilliant Luc Vogel.

mickey always takes a dare
    Mickey Pardo got to the MoMA party just as Alec Wildenburger was finishing his speech, which was perfect timing as far as Mickey was concerned. Mickey’s dad was Ricardo Pardo, the sculptor, and he was represented by the Wildenburgers, so Mickey had heard these speeches before. They sucked.
    Mickey was squat and firey, just like his father, so he was instantly recognizable to the crowd of art-world insiders. They nodded at him with affectionate distaste. As Mr. Wildenburger disappeared into the crowd, the music came back on and people started dancing and talking and yelling. It actually looked like kind of a cool scene. Mickey growled sweetly at Philippa Frady, who was his girlfriend again that week.
    She shook her head and looked at him sternly. Then he remembered that he had promised her there would be no outlandish behavior that night. Also, no yelling. He tried to give her a smile devoid of mischievousness, and she sighed and kissed him on the forehead.Mickey and Philippa had been together (on and off) for a long time.
    They had finally agreed last fall that they should just be friends, at least until they went to college, or reached some slightly more advanced stage of adulthood. Their relationship could get a little intense sometimes, and besides, their parents were very invested in breaking them up. But then they managed to be back on just in time for Valentine’s Day.
    â€œDo you see Jonathan or anybody?” Mickey asked. He adjusted his powder blue tuxedo jacket, which he was wearing over dickies cutoffs.
    Philippa shook her head.
    â€œDamn,” Mickey said. “You’d think Arno would be at his own parents’ party, right?”
    â€œOh, he’s here,” Philippa said. “He and Rob are probably just scamming on freshmen girls somewhere.”
    â€œNah, Arno doesn’t date freshmen anymore,” Mickey said as they moved through the crowd. “Bad for his rep, apparently. Hey, why’s everybody staring at us?”
    â€œBecause last week we