“Command wants us back on base by sixteen hundred.”

“I’ll be at the workshop by three thirty,” I said.

“No rush,” Kenneth said, stepping back up onto the curb.

“Matty’s essay comes first.”

I pulled out of the middle school lot onto Shoreline Drive, the ocean wind pushing a faint smell of salt mist through the truck’s vents.

Matty reached over and tapped the edge of his paper folder on the dashboard.

“My teacher said I get five more minutes for my reading because of the dog demonstration,” Matty said, looking out the side window.