Worth the Reward

CHAPTER 3

People always told me that high school would be the best years of my life. Famous words spoken from the mouths of those who peaked in those four years.

It hadn't been an altogether awful experience for me. In fact, my time at school had seemed more enjoyable than my time at home; time away from Dad was time well spent. I'd had a pretty healthy social life -made friends with many of my fellow classmates, along with nearly all the teachers. And while that had earned me the title of "suck up", it had paid off to be able to get away with almost anything with nothing more than a gentle reprove.

And that was the exact treatment I still received every time I went to pick up Luke from school with the windows rolled down, blasting whatever wildly inappropriate song I could find on my playlist so loudly that the speakers nearly blew out. Today it was Lil Wayne's I'm Goin In.

The reaction it elicited was exactly what I always aimed for.

"Parker Dodds." Mrs. Clarke's voice alone was a rebuke, but there was a small boys-will-be-boys smile on her face as she shook her head and crossed her arms.

"Hey, Mrs. Clarke," I called warmly through the passenger window, waving briefly.

All the kids turned to stare and laugh while Luke ducked his head and hunched his shoulders as he made his way over to me. He got in the car quickly, sinking as far back into the seat as possible while clutching his bag in his lap.

I turned the music down, wearing a huge, shit-eating grin. "Hey, buddy!"

"Four more months, four more months," he repeated to himself softly.

"Until what?"

He opened his eyes and glared daggers at me. "Until I turn sixteen and get my own car so you don't have to drive me around anymore!"

I couldn't help the burst of laughter that exploded out of me. Something about the look on his face, I just couldn't stand it.

"You are such an asshole," he muttered, crossing his arms.

"Hey," I said, slipping on my serious mask. "Watch you goddam language."

He peeked at me from the corner of his eye and I let the mask slip when I saw the tiny grin sneak onto his face.

"So," I began with my best doting-mother voice as I pulled away from the school, "how was school? What's new?"

"Other than the zombie apocalypse, nothing much."

I gave him a sideways glance. "Okay, what?"

"Seriously? How have you not heard about this?" He dug his phone out from his pocket and began tapping away. "People are saying it's from the virus going around."

"Oh my god," I whispered to myself as I let my head fall back against the headrest. "Not you too."

"You have to see this video. It's insane. This lady is literally eating someone. Cops shoot her, like, three times and she just keeps coming. Look." He faced the phone toward me.

"Okay, well as lovely as that sounds, I'm driving. So you'll just have to show me later."

"When we get home, then." He settled back into his seat. "It's all anyone's been talking about today. I mean, yeah, it happened in Chicago, so not really close to here, but they say it's spreading fast."

"They," I repeated. "Who's they?"

"Umm, everyone? On the down low anyway. Government's trying to hide it."

"You kids watch too many movies."

"Do you have any idea how old you sound when you say stuff like that?"