Lunatics {Book 1 ✔️}

BONUS CHAPTER

Author's Note

In celebration of Amazon Prime Video's newest series Panic, I am thrilled to be teaming up with Amazon Prime Video and Wattpad to write this exclusive chapter that puts my characters from this story into the world of Panic!

I hope this chapter intrigues and inspires you to learn more about Panic. Visit the #PanicWritingContest on Wattpad for the chance to put your creative writing chops to the test and learn more about the show!

To find out more about the contest, prizes, and how to enter, check out the #PanicWritingContest here: wattpad.com/AmazonPrimeVideo

Don't forget to watch the series premiere on May 28th, only on Amazon Prime Video, here:http://primevideo.com/

-----------------------------------------

We all knew how dangerous it was- that wasn't what caused everything to go to hell. The issue was: we didn't care.

By first period Monday morning, the news had already circulated around the entire school about the first challenge. Try as I could to ignore it, Panic seemed to follow me everywhere. Even more than it normally did.

"You heard, right?" Ben asked, sliding into the seat next to me with no other greeting.

"Yep."

"That's all? 'Yep?' You have no other reaction to-"

"Nope."

My best friend glared at me and I simply grinned and batted my eyelashes back to him. Ben, like all of my other classmates, had the slightly unhinged glint in his eye that only the promise of money to a teenage kid could give. However, unlike my classmates, Ben didn't want one dime for himself. Instead, there were three little boys and their futures that he was thinking of. He saw college funds, new shoes, and maybe a little bit of security for his little brothers.

But that was the allure of Panic, wasn't it? $50,000 in prize money had a draw all its own. The money meant a different thing to each kid who played, but to most it meant the same thing: a chance. To Ben, it meant a chance at keeping his brothers from knowing any more hardship than they already had gone through. To me... it meant a chance for a bunch of kids to do dumb and dangerous challenges before somebody died.

Like last year.

"They're announcing the first challenge tonight! Tilly was just telling me that somebody from the baseball team read something online that told everyone to keep a close eye out for the notification around third period," Harry added, taking his seat behind Ben.

"That sounds like a reliable source of not-at-all vague information," I deadpanned, rolling my eyes.

The two boys continued their excited discussion between themselves. At the end of the day, Panic was a game- a competition- to them regardless of the repercussions. Legal or otherwise.

In the few months since I'd moved to Carpe, I'd heard endless stories about the games and the challenges other senior classes had done. One year, players had to climb to the top of the water tower and spray paint their initials. Another year, kids had to swim the length of the lake in the middle of the night and retrieve a flag.