cruel summer | ray hall [panic]

chapter 20

chapter 20 - DEAD-END

☀︎☀︎

"We haven't heard from the judges in, like, a week," Heather complained as she sat on Natalie's bed.

The girl had recovered quickly from injuries after the fire but was becoming nervous. All the Panic contestants were becoming nervous. It had been radio silence on the judges' end since the Graybill challenge and no one was sure what was to come next if anything.

"Guys, if they call off the game, we're fucked," Heather continued, her nerves radiating off of her. Grace watched from the chair in Natalie's room across from the bed. She was also worried, but not as severely as Heather.

"You want to keep playing?" Grace questioned Heather, surprised after the girl got seriously hurt last challenge.

"Well, I don't want to stay in Carp," Heather spoke. "You know, I want to apply to a real college. And I want to...," the girl took a breath, collecting her thoughts and dreams that she had for her life after high school. "I want to have a dorm room. And a roommate from a different state. And I-I want, I want to see people that I haven't seen every day of my fսcking life."

Grace felt bad for Heather. She and Nat wanted to use the Panic money to achieve their dreams, yet Heather needed it to get out of Carp. She was truly stuck if she didn't win. Natalie didn't seem to register that though, and naively stated, "You don't need Panic to go to college."

"No, you don't need Panic to go to college," Heather snapped at Nat. "I'm poor, remember?" Heather paused for a moment, recalling a memory. "Do you remember in eighth grade when April was, like, freaking out because I was wearing Adam's sweatshirt and she thought I was, like, hooking up with him?"

"Yeah," responded Natalie and Grace nodded along, though neither was sure exactly where the story was going.

"He had donated it to Goodwill. And that's how I had it. And then I just made him swear not to tell anyone anything." The girls took in Heather's words, and Grace realized the extent of Heather's financial situation. It wasn't just that she couldn't afford college, but she couldn't even afford clothes at times.

"Why would you do that?" Natalie finally responded. "She gave you shit for weeks."

"Because it was better than people knowing that I never get the first pick of anything," Heather sighed before she made her way out of the room. Nat called after her but it was pointless.

Grace soon stood from her chair and said, "I should probably go too. I have work soon." Natalie nodded in understanding. "But I can still sleep over after the Demo Derby tonight, right?"

"Yeah, of course," Nat responded with a smile. The girls hadn't had much time to hang out with the chaos that Panic had caused all summer.

Grace smiled too and said goodbye. She made her way outside to her bike and rode into town to Dot's Diner.