There she was: Jessica, the most beautiful girl in the world. Or, at least, the most beautiful girl at Morty's high school. That's the world, right? Morty leaned against his open locker door and watched as she talked with her friends. Most of the time he didn't even listen while they talked, just watched her mouth move and admired her laughing. Somehow, everything about her was perfect from her hair to her shoes to her perfect teeth. He sighed and closed the door just in time to hear the last bit of the girls' conversation.
"I don't know, I just wish guys around here were more mature! Like guys with money, you know?" Jessica enthused.
Morty felt his heart leap. He was mature. He was practically an adult after all the shit he'd gone through with Rick. All he had to do was find a way to show Jessica that he was mature enough for her. Then, there was the second part of that statement; Morty needed a way to get money. Sure, with one of Rick's weird invention things he could get as much money as he wanted, probably, but Jessica had toseehim make money. Then, she would see that he was mature. All of this led to one conclusion: he needed a job. He had considered getting a job when his dad got fired, but he was only fourteen at the time. Now that he was barely older, he was sure he could snag a position at any fast food place in town. Maybe he could work at the gas station or something like that. There had to be just tons of employers out there looking for minors with zero skills or experience!
He was making a mental list of every place he was pretty sure would hire fifteen year olds when the bell finally rang. He headed toward Mr. Goldenfold's room quickly, knowing if he was even two minutes late, they'd assume he wasn't coming. They would have been right to assume that, because Morty was only a couple feet from the door when Rick scared the shit out of him by popping out of a portal in the middle of the hallway. He grabbed Morty's arm and pulled him back through, ending up in the garage. "Morty, my main," he spoke through burps, "my main man! Let's get ready to gooooo."
"Rick, what the hell, uh I would've come anyways, you don't have to- to grab me like that."
Rick actually did not care what Morty was saying. He grabbed his grandson's arm again, pulling him through yet another portal, this time with some device in his other hand. When they came out the other side, Rick still stood normally, while Morty mostly fell onto his knees. Maybe in a year or two, he'd get the hang of it. He was already better at it than he was when they first started their adventures together. To be honest, he was getting better at pretty much everything. Rick was pretty proud of his grandson, despite him being a total pain in the ass most of the time.
"Ow, Rick, what the- like what the hell, man? Y-You gotta explain yourself sometimes," the boy whined.
Rick laughed emphatically and Morty could tell it was fake as he gestured toward him. "Ha, my grandson everybody. He's, uh, haha, he's a reeeal character. So funny," Rick pointed. "And as you can see, Melanie," Rick said as he turned to a man-looking thing with weird tentacle fingers, "I'm greeeeat with kids."
"R-Rick, what the hell? Did you drag me out of school so you could get laid?" Morty whined.
"Haha, Morty, shut up," Rick grumbled, trying to sound friendly through his teeth.
It wasn't often that Morty genuinely got mad at his grandfather. Usually there was a sense of pity and sadness and sometimes even guilt, but Morty couldn't find it in himself to feel bad for Rick. If somebody asked him to explain how he felt, the kid probably couldn't come up with a word other than red. The idiot. "C-Can I talk to you for a second, Rick?" he seethed. Rick brushed him off, laughing with Melanie. "Rick! Riiiick," Morty pushed.
"Jesus Christ, Morty, what do you want?" Rick snapped.
Something in Morty broke and he just fucking screamed. "Rick, you know, you're being a real, you know, a real dick right now. Are you even l-listening to me right now? You can't keep pulling me, pulling me out of school just so you can get y-your dick wet, Rick."
"Yeah, yeah, Morty, we'll talk about it later," Rick waved.
"No!" Morty stomped. "Take me home or take me to school. I can't, I can't keep missing out on my own life." When Rick didn't answer, Morty just kept going. "You are the most, the selfish-est person I've ever met. D-Do you even care? You're kinda ruining my life, you know, and it'd be c-cool if you would just take me back."
If he didn't know his grandpa, Morty would have thought he'd seen an emotion go over his face. Face red with anger or disgust or embarrassment, Rick opened a portal, still looking at his grandson. He didn't even look at the portal as he motioned to it. "Gooo, if that's what you want. I don't care, Morty. Go rot in school," he said as he turned away to talk to another party-goer.
Morty stepped through without a second thought. He didn't fight with Rick often, but lately he'd been pushing it. And Morty had just been so irritable. Call it hormones or just too much time together, Morty was beginning to resent his grandfather. Of course he loved him and he was afraid of losing him and all that sappy shit, but whatever. He tripped into the hallway almost exactly where Rick had picked him up not ten minutes ago, a couple speds from across the hall staring at him as he fell. Morty just glared at them through the window as he walked into Mr. Goldenfold's room.
"Morty Smith," the man chided. "I'd say I'm disappointed you're late, but I'm just surprised you're here."
The class gave an obligatory chuckle, the ass-kissers, as Morty walked by. He ducked his head, ears warm with anger and embarrassment. Fuck these guys. The only person in the school worth knowing was Jessica, and he'd be damned if he stayed invisible to her much longer. He'd walk home today, he decided. And he'd stop at every store and restaurant on the way and grab applications.