Knowing Xavier Hunt ✓

Bonus | 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/

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Xavier

Staring down into the water, I don't know what I was thinking.

It's too dark to make out the rocks at the bottom, and cold wind tickles my skin, raising the hair on my arms and legs. I shift my foot an inch forward, closer to the edge of the cliff I'm standing perched on. My breath comes heavy and my heart pounds against my ribs, blood rushing in my ears and blocking out the sound of waves crashing below.

I must be crazy.

"Declare your name!"

The words ring out loudly in the distance, a command to me like all those before me and those to come after.

I turn my head slightly to look into the distance, the flickering of torches and hazy figures moving in the shadows. They're all watching me, non-silent spectators of what they assume I'll back out of. Even from the distance, I can hear them loud and clear, judging me, assuming I'll back out and refuse to take the plunge. They don't want me to do this, not because they care about me, but because they want to see me fail. They want to see me live up to what they've always thought I was.

A loser.

A freak.

Someone just going to rot away.

My chest heaves and my breathing comes heavy as I search the distant crowd for the familiar face. I finally see her near the very back, standing there alone with a hand over her mouth. Even from miles away, I can see the tears in her wide eyes, her hair a disheveled mess.

Haley.

When everybody yelled at me and murmured behind my back, she stood by my side. When everybody talked bad about me or called me a freak, mocked my mom and ridiculed my life, she fought for me. When I had nowhere to go, no place to stay, and not a penny to my name, she gave me all of it. A home. A family. 

Today, though, she's in the same boat as everyone else here.

She doesn't want me to do this.

'You don't need this money, Xavier,' she'd told me over and over before I came here. 'We'll find another way.'

'What way?' I asked.

'You'll get a scholarship.' Her eyes were wide and pleading.

'I won't. I'm not as smart as you are.'

We both knew I was telling the truth.

'We can try to find you a job,' she suggested.

'What job can a high school failure get?'

'You're not a failure.' She sounded offended; she hated when I talked bad about myself. 'You underestimate yourself.'

'You overestimate me,' I corrected her.