The Challenge

"Did...did you just compare me to a bug?"

"Dustin! Hurry up!" Mike shouted followed shortly by a loud pounding on the locker room door. "Larry will get lonely!"

I slammed the locker shut as the sudden noise rattled throughout the empty locker room. "Larry is a turtle! He'll be fine!" I shouted over my shoulder.

A dramatic huff was heard from the outside of the door as I rolled my eyes at Mike's child tantrums. I grabbed my gym bag from where it lay on the floor and swiftly slung it over my shoulder. I opened the door to find Mike leaning against the wall beside it with a large pout on his face.

"Let's go," I said but Mike was already running down the halls to the double doors leading to the parking lot.

It was two hours after the final bell rung and everybody had scattered as far away from the school as they could go. I had to put in a couple more hours of basketball practice if I wanted that scholarship. My coach calls it dedication. I call it the only way to get out of this hellhole.

I sighed before grasping the strap of my bag and racing after Mike.
I burst through the doors to find Mike impatiently waiting by the side of my car. He had a box full of doughnuts in one hand and a bag of brown goop in another hand as he silently motioned for me to unlock the doors. That, oddly enough, wasn't the thing that had caught my attention.

Parked directly next to my silver convertible was a rusty red pickup truck. The paint was slightly scraped off and the wheels looked like they were about to give out if you pressed too hard. As I walked closer to the vehicle, I vaguely made out the shapes of two people sitting in the front seat throught the tinted windows.

"Dustin!" Mike whined as he motioned again to my car. I sighed and pressed the button on my keys. Mike grinned and hopped into my car as I stood outside staring at the red car come to life and pull out of it's parking spot.

No one has ever stayed this late before. Usually there was only one car in the parking lot after I leave practice, and that's mine. The blaring honk of my car caught my attention as I looked over at Mike who was angrily pressing down on my steering wheel.

"Okay! Okay!" I shouted as I pulled open the door of the drivers side and started the ignition.

"Hurry up! Larry is waiting," Mike complained as he jiggled in his seat like an anxious five year old.

"He's a turtle," I mumbled before pulling out of the lot. As I drove down the street I spotted the familiar red pickup truck directly infront of us. I couldn't help but notice that the truck went on every turn and street we went down. The entire way there I followed closely behind the truck waiting it for it to go in a separate direction, but it never did. Every corner and every red light, it went the same way we did. Even Mike picked up on it, and we all know Mike isn't the most attentive person out there.

As I pulled infront of Mike's house I was surprised to find the truck pulled up in the spot infront of mine. I nearly jumped out of my car, desperate to see the person hidden behind those tinted windows. But Mike made it out of the car before I did because of his motivation to see his pet turtle.

The passenger side of the door opened first and short, Latina with wild hair stepped out. She had to jump out of her seat because the truck was too high off the ground for her to safely step out. As she walked onto the sidewalk her attention caught mine and an immediate smile was planted on her face.

She squealed and ran over to the driver's side and shouted to someone through the window. She pointed over at me on more than one occasion, this only added fuel to my already eager attitude. The latino backed up as the car door inched open. I didn't even need to see the whole body to know who it was, only one person has those long caramel locks. She stepped out of the car and glanced over at me.