CITIES BURN.

there’s little stopping justin from becoming prey under highs school standards, he’s always known that to be true but the way kenny’s figure towers over him is a grave reminder.   he’ll take it on the chin.  his lips squeezing into a thin line, arms folded over one another as he looks up.  he had always thought his sister would be the first of them threatened with jail time;  even going as far as to storing bail money under his mattress for that inevitable future event.  whatever, his own lawyer was one click away on his phone.   “you know, i was pretty drunk.”    not true but there’s a cock of his head with his words.   “and i think there’s a few laws against providing minors with alcohol.”   something the child of a world famous lawyer should be just as worried about.  “but i’ll bite, what’s the arrangement.”

"well, i got a lot out of it.”   he put no effort in concealing the implications, rather letting a smug smile sit comfortably on his face. it’s not that justin thought he was invincible, but he never took the consequences to his action into account when making decisions. "i suppose not.”  the not so subtle attack was amusing to the say the least.  an inhale as he releases a scoff,  a smirk still on his lips.   something was clearly bothering the jock, whether or not it had something to do with the thousands of dollars worth of jewelry justin stole from the norrington residence was anyone’s guess.   in all honesty, he’d like to think kenny was more level-headed than to get upset by that:   it’s merely business.   “so no trade.  what brings you down here then?”

“we’re currently in the midst of revamping, tying up some loose ends so any business is  good business right now.” but mostly because he’s saving up for the newest iphone. as vain as justin was in his business, he figured seeming more humble would be better. “we’re just trying to get by the economy is rough right now.”

@knorrington  /  “you know this is actually worth ten times the amount i’m charging you for.”  hidden underneath the outside bleachers, he hooks a rose gold, open heart pendant on the wrist of a junior, wearing an endearing smile while doing it.   justin’s not certain of the actual price of the stolen jewelry - he was merely basing the prices off of assumption. nothing too pricey that will turn people away, but enough to put a decent amount of cash into his pockets.  the knorrington family has pretty good taste when it pertains to their accessories  -  accessories that lay comfortably in a briefcase inside his locker  - so it wasn’t hard to sell them. as the sale goes through, he nods his head at girl in front of him, waiting for her to walk away before he sifts through money. his attention is caught by the figure of someone else,eyebrows wrinkled in confusion upon realizing who it was.  “kenny! hey, man, long time no see! your party was a blast.”  he shoves the wad of cash into a back pocket, .  “here for business? i don’t remember seeing your name on the appointment list.”

“and you don’t know how it ends?”  his question is rhetorical, letting his hands fit around a pen as he pushes a piece of paper towards the blonde.  “spoiler alert: they die.”  he places said pen in front of elissa.  “i need you to write your preferred age, name and date of birth here, please.”

"oh it’s very true. here’s my business card.”   he pulls a laminated card from his pocket, JUSTIN PRINZ on the top with a cheesy headshot in the corner.   “fake ids, test answers, you name what you need and i can get it done.   for a fair price.”

“it's a condom package.”   he says for certain, a red solo cup in his hand as he peels on his toes to get a better look. “yeah - i saw a few compensating jocks pull it from their pockets and try to aim it in the bowl. a dare or something, i guess.”

“i did.”  justin nods, incredibly proud of the accomplishment, especially since it was all done with a credit card he found in an abandoned purse.  he’s learned that sometimes when people get drunk they also get careless. leaving their shoes at the door, wallets hanging out the pockets of their coats and purses hanging in a closet.   “pepperoni, cheese, vegetables -  even hawaiian in case someone wants to use it as a dare.”

“okay, and you’re  aware that your boyfriend originated from all hallows’ eve, right?”  justin had an inkling that he was certainly not aware of that fact. frankly, his ego is bruised that the guy had the gall to  correct him in the first place,   even if he were wrong he’d find it offensive. in this case, thankfully, he’s not.    “do you need me to explain what an origin is too or do you understand that one?”

“they’re not teaching us how to make a significant other for sophia the robot it’s basic science.”   after his short, belittling retort, he turns his attention back to the paper.     “plus burning down the school would do more good than not so - help yourself.”

“art’s the guy from, uh, hallow’s eve or something like that, right?     cool.  just as long as you don’t plan on dressing up as the nun or that blonde chick from frozen.”

“you should charge by the person.   hear me out: the worthington’s have money, right?  and there’s some deaf, irish chick talking about a castle or whatever.  those two have to carry at least 50 on them - minimum.”    assuming people even still carry cash on them.   “15 to 22 is good for people like pearson but a lot of other people in this town live slightly above middle class.  you can’t make a living by being reasonable”

being a make-up artist around the time of a northlake high dance was an idea justin had never even thought of.   “how much do you charge?”   it wasn’t for him, he was merely interested. “if it’s less than fifty, it’s not worth it.”

as much as he loathed losing arguments, tristan was accurate in his response.  the idea that justin was above the majority of students at northlake high school had a tendency to lead him down this similar road.  “sure.”   he gives him, too proud to admit his lost  - if it’s fair to call it that. whether it was prinz nature or merely justin, he demands a winning goal in everything he does.   at least in this situation there was no table to flip over. his attention flickers back to his homework, making sure the marks made on his sheet were evidence that he’s completely capable of answering his own questions.    “and i prefer the term business, not schemes.”  he starts in jest, reflecting back to the prior usage of the word.  “i even have my own customized cards to show how white-collar i am.”

“one would argue that your memory is your intelligence.”   that one would be him and he’d primarily argue it just to argue.  “if you forget everything you’re taught it’s like you were never taught at all thus making you a dumb ass and useless.”   his eyes remain on his paper until the jock corrected the wrong answer justin had circled. an answer he would have corrected himself if given the chance to check over his work.   maybe.       “i know that.”  his words are rancorous as he erases the circle around A, and places one around C. “i was getting there.”

“sounds like you might.” for the simple fact that she brought it up when he was actually attempting to enjoy his lunch.  "it’s high school, everyone cares. it wouldn’t exist if people weren’t feeding into it.”

“true.”   it’s important to note that justin, himself, didn’t clump himself with the rest of the male species. he was simply a lot better than them -  it ran throughout the prinz family genes.   “specially the guys around here.”  it was a comment made in passing, hearing far too many conversations in the halls of northlake high school for him to make assumptions about how exhausting 90% of the male population was. standing at his full height, he places the camera to his face, adjusts the lens to get a clear picture of his sister’s face.   "ready,”  a tap of his finger as a flash of the camera floods out, when he pulls the object from his face he lets his eyes scan over the digital image. “good.” then, in true business fashion, he walks back to his desk, picks up a pin and jots down the number of  the photo on to the back of his hand.  “i’ll write you up a script and email it to you,” because texting was too juvenile, “and you’ll get the ID when i get the first image.” which was still some form of a family discount, according to justin.   “good?”