Kissing Booth || Jarren

[ 1 ] Kissing Booth

"Ugh, goddammit!" Justin groaned, smacking the table in frustration.

"Hey!" Ryan shouted from across the room. "You disrespecting my mom's furniture? Huh? She'll whoop your ass if you leave so much as a scratch."

"Sorry, just stressed," Justin sighed. "The fundraiser idea is due tomorrow and we've got nothing."

The local spring carnival was the best fundraising opportunity of the year. Thousands of people flocked to every booth, practically throwing money at student-run stands. Normally, Justin and his friends would be part of the spectators, but this year they needed cash to enter an upcoming music competition. The winning prize was a stage at a music festival for emerging artists. In a place like Los Angeles, such an honor was sure to alter the course of their lives as aspiring musicians. The only problem was money. The competition's registration fee was $500.

"This is ridiculous," Sebastian complained. "How are we supposed to come up with that kind of money? Our parents won't pay for it."

"Statistically, it makes sense," Ryan pointed out. "The winners perform at a $20,000 venue. Since they're expecting around 50 competition participants, they need to charge at least $400 per entry."

"Stop tryna be smart," Regie called out. "It's annoying."

"Can a booth run by high schoolers even make that much?" Justin asked. "It's not like we can set up a shooting range or a food stand. We have a very limited budget."

"Yeah, we need something that's easy to set up but with high profit," Ryan agreed.

"Except all of our ideas suck," Justin replied. "It's even worse because there are so many rich kids at our school whose weekly allowances would totally cover this."

"It's actually crazy. I sit behind Kane Ratan in history class and he wears different designer shoes every day," Regie added.

"Speaking of Kane--" Sebastian started.

"Don't you dare," Ryan interjected. "Not hearing it. I'm in a really shitty mood right now."

"You always feel shitty," Justin objected. "Maybe if you touched grass and got some vitamin D, you wouldn't be so constipated."

"ANywAy," Sebastian continued as Ryan fired a glare at Justin. "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, Kane's loaded for sure. But you know who else bathes in cash? Darren Liang."

Justin suppressed a loud groan. He made it a point to not judge people based on their wealth. As a student in LA, he had plenty of friends who lived in swanky houses and had CEOs or celebrities for parents. Darren Liang was simply a prick who just so happened to wipe his sweat on Louis Vuitton t-shirts. Justin had a mental list of reasons why he never wanted to associate with that guy. He had no respect for anyone, he shamelessly flirted with every girl he saw including the ones who were taken, he periodically held obnoxious ragers at his mansion that flooded Justin's social media with awful depictions of his friends, and he was generally just an outright asshole.

Normally, Justin wouldn't waste his breath on a guy like that. He'd simply dismiss the jerk's existence as completely irrelevant to his own life. Except there was no dismissing Darren Liang. He turned heads in the hallway, he was the center of every gossip circle, and each time Justin made a move on a girl, she turned out to harbor some form of a crush on the infamous playboy. He was the king of the school and in some horrible twist of fate, he was in all of Justin's classes. Never before had the young musician longed for a person to just disappear from his life, but it seemed Darren Liang was the exception.

Justin remained silent as Sebastian rambled on about the high school heartthrob's silky hair and perfectly sculpted face, completely head over heels for him. Finally, after what must've been a full essay of disgusting admiration, Regie put an end to the suffering. "Man, stop pretending already. You wouldn't date him even if you could."

Sebastian shifted his weight and tilted his chair back, sighing dramatically. "True. His personality is rotten as fuck. But I bet he's a damn good kisser."

Ryan wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Since you're so enthusiastic, why don't you go find out?" he scoffed.

Sebastian grinned. "If only. Too bad he's straight. I'd even pay to make out with a face like that."

Justin rolled his eyes at the lovestruck pretty boy. Even his best friend had fallen for Darren Liang's irresistible charms. "Who the hell would cough up so much as a cent just to kiss a complete asshole who struts around like some K-drama prince charming?" he grumbled.

"Crazy teenage girls," Regie answered with a shrug. "They'll do anything for a hot guy."

"Bet," Ryan agreed. "Liv would probably pay 10k just to hold his hand."

"No shit. That girl wipes her ass with hundred dollar bills," Justin put in.

Sebastian laughed. "Still, there are at least a dozen people at our school who could put a price on their lips, including Darren."

"Sounds like a great investment," Justin muttered sarcastically. "If only they'd give that money to us."

Suddenly, he froze, a crazy thought creeping into his mind. Hang on. What if... He glanced around the room and saw his realization reflected on his friends' faces. Ryan's eyes widened. Sebastian leaned forward with anticipation. The corner of Regie's mouth turned upward in a mischievous smirk. Justin couldn't suppress a triumphant grin as all four boys leaped to their feet and shouted in unison, "KISSING BOOTH!!!"

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First chapter of my first story. Trying something new for fun!

I hope you enjoyed it! Please look forward to future chapters :)