Jon walked into the living room and saw that his whole family was there. His mom (Jane), his dad (Mark), his 15-year old Goth sister (Zoe), and his 10-year old brother (Mikey). They all seemed a little grim. Jon got a bad feeling in his gut. Maybe he didn't want to know which family was chosen for them.
"Sit down, Jon," his mother said. And he did. "I know this will be hard for everyone, but at least we're getting paid for it."
Zoe rolled her eyes. "Like that's a good enough reason? You can't make me do anything, even if you pay me a million dollars."
"They're paying a million dollars?" Jon asked.
"No, stupid," Zoe spat at him. "I was just making a point."
"Stop it, you two," their mom said. "We're doing this. We have to do it. Yes, they're paying us. But if we don't do it, they can legally arrest us."
"That's bullshit," Zoe said. "There's no way the cops are gonna agree to that."
"It already happened. I work for a lawyer, remember?" their mom said. "The program is completely backed by the police. They think that Life Lessons will reduce crime. And they'll do anything they can to help make sure it goes as smoothly as possible."
"Well, I'm not doing it anyway," Zoe said.
"Would you rather spend the next few months in jail? Because that's the alternative," her mother said.
Zoe just looked away, annoyed. She still thought it was stupid that she was being made to do this, but she really didn't want to be imprisoned for months, or even just days. Surely, enduring this insanity was better than that, right? And even after the Life Lessons program was over, she could just return to her Goth lifestyle. It's not like she'd want to stay like whatever she was going to be taught to be. She was a Goth and she'd always be a Goth.
Seeing that Zoe was going along with Life Lessons, her mother continued. "The family that had been picked for us is the ..."
