Monday morning. As the school year had gone on and the number of early mornings I'd gotten through had piled up, each one had gotten tougher. The only thing driving me on to get up now was remembering that there was only one month left of school, but not only that, one month left of high school.
After that, I'd end up at college. Despite my parents subliminally pushing me all my life to work hard to get into one of the best colleges in the country, and despite having test results that meant I actually could get into a very decent one, I didn't want to have to move a hundred miles away. That meant leaving behind my family, leaving behind the family business, leaving behind friends, and leaving Parker; home was where my heart was. I was aiming for the nearest college.
I slid out of my car,
