Bonus Chapter: Panic

                                    

                                          
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/
                          
--
                          
The news caught like wildfire: Panic was starting.

                          
But my car wasn't.
                          
I leaned my head against the steering wheel and felt my heart sinking to the filty floor mat. Of course, on the very night I was making a move toward changing my circumstances, this would happen to stop me. I needed to get up to the lake in order to enter Panic, the game that could win me thousands of dollars. The game held by graduating seniors in Carp, TX every year, where contestants compete in a series of stunts and challenges through the summer. Apparently the pot this year would be the biggest it's ever been. But of course, my shit car—one of the reasons I neeed to play Panic in the first place—was going to try to stop me. 
                          
I took out my phone and, reluctantly, called my boyfriend, Noah. He answered on the first ring. "What's up?"
                          
"It's starting."
                          
"I know."
                          
His voice was frosty. We had been over this a million times: he was dead set against Panic. It was easy for him, being the son of the richest man in town. I was Panic-curious, due to being poor, like most people in Carp. Winning Panic—winning all the money raised from each senior every day of the school year, enough to get the fuck out of here and start my podcast studio—was too much to pass up. 
                          
"My car died," I said. 
                          
Noah was silent.
                          
"So I was wondering if you could take me."
                          
He inhaled deeply. I heard the distant clinking of his keys.
                          
"Thank you, babe," I murmured, letting my voice go all soft the way I knew he liked it.
                          
Noah hung up without another word, but that was okay. He was coming. His temper never lasted long once we were face-to-face. It could be fiery, but like the fireworks in the night sky right now, signalling the beginning of Panic, it would burn out quick. 
                          
I waited at the end of my driveway, breathing in the thick, humid Texas air. Cicadas shrieked nearby. The night felt like it was crackling with more than just the fireworks. Anticipation. Fear, for sure. But also potential—so much potential. If I won Panic, I could get out of here. Start my podcast studio, move somewhere that matters a whole hell of a lot more than this shitty little rundown neighbourhood. Noah was driving over from the nice part of town. I remembered how I felt all those months ago, the first time Noah came to pick me up in his slick luxury car. All I could think about was what he must be thinking as he drove down the streets lined with rundown houses and rustbucket cars. He never said a word, but still: it motivated me to get the hell out of here as fast as I can. Take Noah and my ambition and get out. God knew he had something to escape, too.
                          
Noah's black car turned noiselessly onto my street and stopped in front of me. I got in and buckled up.
                          
"Hey," I said.