Page 8 of Drive Me Wild (Owl Creek #2)

I don’t hear a peep out of Zoe all day until she leaves for the sandwich shop. She comes through the garage to thank me and then ducks out the side door so she can exit through the alley.

My high school dropout sidekick left after lunch, so I’m in the shop alone when she heads out.

It’s good because the teenager kept asking me about Zoe all morning, and I didn’t want to talk about it.

Or her. I just told him to keep it a secret about her being here if he wanted to keep learning from me.

That bought me a weird look and some welcome silence.

I head upstairs to take a shower and get ready to go to the high school to hand over my background check paperwork and meet the kids in the robotics club.

The high school is a short drive from the shop, sitting on a small hill at the edge of town. I park in the lot on the side near the gym and take a walk down memory lane as I stroll through the building.

The pale green hall leading from the gym to the lunch room is where I got into my first fistfight.

I had my first real kiss in the corner near the janitor’s office.

Ms. Johnson’s math class is where I learned how to use my charm to get out of an assignment.

As I reach the office door leading to the admin area, I flash on the day I was sent to the principal for getting caught by the janitor fooling around with Cindy Becker in the girl’s bathroom after school.

I stride in and greet the secretary. She can’t be more than eighteen and tries to hide a smile as I lean against the counter and ask for her boss.

I hear her before I see her.

“I thought we’d seen the last of you. Come to terrorize the school again?”

Mrs. Treadwell. She’s the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth of the school. Nothing gets past her, and she looks the same as she did when I was a student here almost a decade ago.

Her salon-curled hair is straight out of the sixties, even though I don’t think she was alive back then.

She smells like mothballs and soup, and her clothes look like hand-me-downs from a grandmother.

Seriously, I don’t know why she doesn’t update her look.

She’d probably be somewhat attractive if she tried, but I’m not here to help her live in the twenty-first century.

I’m here to hand in my paperwork so I can help Buzz with the robotics club.

“I brought in the paperwork you guys asked for. So I can be a club advisor for robotics.”

I hand her the papers, and she looks over her cat-eye glasses at me before scrutinizing everything.

“Seems it’s all in order. We’ll run the checks and let you know if you cleared.”

“Is there anything else you need?”

She looks me up and down like she’s hungry, and all of a sudden, I feel very exposed. Is Mrs. Treadwell checking me out?

“No. Good to see you’ve cleaned yourself up and made something of your life. Just like your brothers.”

My brothers.

Brave and perfect Cole Barone and smart and mysterious Cody Barone. I love them both, but it’s exhausting being the one between them.

I’ve always been compared to them. Or I’m being passed over in favor of them. And the worst part is I don’t think anyone in my life knows they do it. But death by a thousand cuts is real when it comes to being the lesser twin. The troublesome little brother.

I nod at Mrs. Treadwell and her shy assistant and leave the office. I find the classroom where Buzz is working with the kids and let myself in.

“Hey, son, did you get everything squared away?”

“I did. Now I just have to wait and hear back.”

“Alright, well, it shouldn’t take too long. We’ll meet again on Thursday, and I’ll introduce you to everyone then.”

I look around the room at the ten or so kids. Mostly boys and a couple of girls, but everyone is so wrapped up in the tools and hardware in front of them that they don’t even notice me.

“Quiet bunch.”

“I just gave them all the hardware for their first robot brains. They’re geeking out.”

“What should I bring with me on Thursday? Assuming all the paperwork goes through.”

Buzz casts his eyes on me and then tenderly squeezes the back of my neck. “You got nothing to worry about. Just bring yourself and some patience. They might be the most studious kids in school, but they are still hormonal teenagers.”

“I got one of those working in my shop right now.”

“Yeah? An apprentice?”

“Something like that. He dropped out last year and needs to learn a trade. Used to hang out with his big brother at the race track. Asked if he could come around and learn some things before he goes to his job at the car wash.”

“That’s good of you.”

“He’s a natural.”

“Just like you were.”

“Yeah. I’m going to head out. I’ll see you Thursday, okay?”

“Sounds good, son.”

Buzz claps me on my back, and I head out the door and to my truck. There’s a couple of boys standing nearby checking it out.

“Cool truck, man.”

“Thanks.”

“Are you Caleb Barone?”

“Yeah, why do you ask?”

“Is it true that you ripped doughnuts across the football field in your car after homecoming?”

“That was a long time ago, guys.”

“Woah. That’s badass.”

“And I got in a lot of trouble for it.”

“Still. You’re a legend.”

I open the door to the truck and lean against it, trying to find the right words. How is it that I’m suddenly a voice of reason? Can I really do this? I swallow my concerns and blurt out the best advice I have.

“Being a legend for the wrong reasons is stupid, guys. Do yourselves a favor, and don’t be like me. The people who are my age who are doing legendary shit now? They studied hard and applied themselves. I’m just a guy who works on cars.”

“Yeah, but you’re the guy who works on all the winning cars at Stratton Speedway, right?”

This kid knows way too much about me.

“What’s your name?”

“Nathan Treadwell.”

“You’re Mrs. Treadwell’s kid?”

He grimaces. “Yeah. Sucks to be me.”

“Look, trust me on this. Don’t fuck up like I did. Do the work, graduate, and become someone who makes a difference.”

“Yeah, alright, man.”

They slink off as I slide behind the wheel. I just gave my first ‘responsible adult’ talk, and I think I blew it.

Can’t I think of something more inspiring to say than stay in school and study hard?