Breaking Rules Read Free Page A

self-imposed rules, I found it a lot easier to retain control of my life. I was the one standing at the helm, so it was my responsibility to make sure each day was smooth sailing from start to finish. Right then, I knew that the only rule that would suffice would be Rule #4: Never let one moment define the rest of the day .
    I stepped outside and hustled up to the building, entering through the auditorium doors. For the first time since leaving home that morning, I didn’t have to remind myself to breathe.
    “ Mandy?” a familiar voice said as I crossed through the doors. I turned to greet Lashell, one of the head program staffers for the Raddick Initiative.
    “Yes,” I said, nodding to confirm that she’d remembered me correctly.
    “Good morning.” She beamed a smile. “I’m so glad you could make it out today.”
    “Yeah ,” I said, trying to bury my insecurities, but I knew that I failed miserably. I closed my eyes and attempted to shake away the guilt and fear that still lingered deep inside me.
    “Honey, are you okay?”
    “I’m fine,” I said, nodding a few times, and then I managed to feign a halfway believable smile.
    She watched me closer, and h er wide grin slowly faded into a sympathetic one. She knew I was lying.
    Though I ’d only met her the day before at the information assembly, I’d quickly pegged Lashell Dunham as one of the most giving and caring souls I’d ever met. Nearing her sixties and having committed decades of her life to charity and volunteer work, Lashell knew a thing or two about the best programs to get involved with. The Raddick Initiative was the best of the best.
    W hile I’d sat and listened as she told us all about the program and her many, many years of working toward a brighter future, I felt inspired to take that leap and sign my name. With my signature, along with Bailey’s, I promised Lashell I’d see her bright and early for the orientation meeting today. I’d made no such promise about my sister.
    “No Bailey?”
    “No Bailey.” I matched her disappointed expression. “I figured it’d be a long shot.”
    She nodded. “You can go ahead and have a seat with the others, hon,” she said, nodding to my few classmates who’d also signed up. “But, first,” she turned to a table she’d set up at the doors, pulled a white t-shirt from a cardboard box, and tossed it to me with one swift throw. “Slip into this. The colors are school-specific. We’d like you to wear that to each of your events over the next six weeks. It’s just for pictures and identification purposes. The SCHS volunteers are in white, and the staffers,” she looked down at her own shirt, “blue. Everyone affiliated with your team will be wearing navy or white with the RI emblem.”
    “Noted,” I said, slipping the crisp, white tee over my own shirt. I looked down at my chest and observed the emblem on the left pocket. Underneath a small global illustration, a bold text read: RI Volunteer. “Thanks.”
    I joined my classmates in the first row, and fifteen minutes later, we were a complete group of eleven students, one teacher, and Lashell.
    “I have packets and pamphlets,” Lashell said, passing them around to each of the eleven students. Our teacher and school supervisor for the project, Mr. Davies, also took a set. “There is one important thing to remember as we start and progress through the project. You are not here to raise money for the Raddick Initiative. RI exists to raise money for nonprofits and bring people together to create positive change in our communities. Every penny you raise will go directly toward local charities.”
    Lashell paced the floor in front of the first row.
    “Today is going to operate as a basic, brainstorming session. We’d like you to break into small groups and come up with some charitable ideas.”
    “Like fundraising?” one of the junior girls asked.
    “Fundraising-focused events are not at all discouraged,” Lashell said. “But don’t