fair/unfair

20.

  i wrote this instead of doing my homework so y'all better leave a lot of comments

       Fireworks were illegal in Virginia.

       Which is why Reid and Blake were here. South of the Border. A giant, lit up sombrero and ton of flashy lights greeted them as they rolled into Dillon. Fake cacti lined the roads and giant statues of chickens and cartoon Hispanic men continuously grabbed their attention, and Blake whistled as they pulled into the parking lot of a building with FIREWORKS advertised across it.

       Reid grimaced, wincing at the lights and sat up, having slept the last hour away. He quickly glanced at the time on his phone as Blake put the car into park. 9:17 PM.

       "Here, kid."

        Reid turned to look at Blake, jumping a little when the older man slapped a wad of cash and a folded-up slip of notebook paper in his hand.

       He closed his hand around it and looked at Blake quizzically. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

       "You stupid? Buy the fireworks. You got your ID?"

       "Yeah, but where are you—"

       "I've gotta run a couple of errands," he said before Reid could ask. "Just get what's on the list and I'll be back in like thirty minutes, okay?"

       "What am I supposed to do for thirty minutes?"

       "Not my problem." Blake was already putting the car back in drive. He nodded towards the fireworks stand. "Hurry. Before they close."

        Reid mumbled an insult under his breath but took the cash and climbed out of the car, slamming the door behind him. Blake spun out of the lot, kicking up gravel, before Reid had even turned around.

       Buying the fireworks surprisingly took fifteen minutes, having to stand in line with fellow Virginians and other North Carolinians all bypassing the illegality of fireworks in their state by coming to South Carolina. The fourth was just around the corner so even at nine o'clock at night, the lines were long. Thankfully, all Reid had to do was slide the list across the counter and flash his ID, and, after a pause and an eyebrow raise, the worker on duty retrieved everything he needed and handed it to him in a bag.

       Now, he sat outside on the curb, eating a couple of tacos he purchased from Blake's leftover change. He checked the time.

       Thirty minutes. Blake should be here soon.

       Except, he wasn't. Another thirty minutes passed.

       Reid sighed, and scrolled through his messages. The last text Reid had sent Mal was asking if he was around earlier today with no response. He typed up another.

       You up?

       Ten minutes passed. Nothing.

       He pulled up Instagram. While he was here, enduring a ten-hour drive with Blake, possibly one of the worst motherfuckers in existence, his best friends were off at some party by the looks of their stories. He smirked, watching the series of videos and pictures, laughing out loud when Jax yelled some expletive at Grace and she knocked his phone out of his hand.

       The next was a video of him going "Shh," in one of the videos as he snuck up behind Grace and then dumped a bottle of water on her head. She shrieked and the video went shaky as Jax ran away and then a loud clatter and it went black.